College Basketball is back! On November 9th, many college basketball teams will play their first game of the season including plenty of notable programs. The two biggest games on November 9th are both at Madison Square Garden in a tournament called the Champions Classic.
Below you can read about them and find how to bet on these particular games according to the latest NCAAB odds.
Kansas vs. Michigan State
Tuesday, November 9, 2021 – 07:00 PM EST at Madison Square Garden
There’s not much to go off of before a season begins, however, KenPom has Kansas rated as the third-best team in the nation while Michigan State is ranked 22 on KenPom. Michigan State lost five key players but has added a few potential good freshmen and Tyson Walker who transferred from Northeastern.
The coaching staff has changed a bit for Michigan State but the big hole for Michigan State last year was not having a point guard. Walker is that guy for Michigan State this year. Meanwhile, Kansas only lost Marcus Garrett from their team last year. They’ve also added big-time transfers like Remy Martin from Arizona State, Joseph Yusefu from Drake and Jalen Coleman-Lands from Iowa State.
This team is stacked with plenty of upperclassmen and experience. Kansas should be hunted throughout the year and I’d be surprised if they lost the first game of the year with the upperclassman on their team.
Kentucky vs. Duke
Tuesday, November 9, 2021 - 09:30 PM EST at Madison Square Garden
Kentucky struggled a bit last year but they’re going to come back very strong this year. This team lost a bunch of big-time players to professional basketball but added Kellan Grady from Davidson, Oscar Tshiebwe from West Virginia, Savir Wheeler from Georgia and CJ Fredrick from Iowa. That’s a load of distinguished talent on this Kentucky team. But they’ll be tested by a Duke team that should develop into the top ACC team this season.
It was a disaster last year but Duke has added transfers like Theo John and Bates Jones to give them depth off the bench this year. That was lacking a bit last year once Matthew Hurt and DJ Steward were on the bench. This game figures to be very tight but if Kentucky is able to gain chemistry quickly, this team is going to look much better than a young Duke team on opening night.
How to Bet Them
Shop around and find the best lines on all of the sportsbooks that are currently rated on BookmakersReview.com.
There are currently no lines out for these games but, for my NCAAB picks, I would take Kentucky on the moneyline over Duke at a short price and roll with Kansas over Michigan State by as much as laying six.
I would also recommend not betting on a high volume of plays early. Once we get some stats to work with, things become easier. Sometimes it could take until conference play in December to start to actually get stats that make sense. Some teams play a much harder schedule than others when it comes to non-conference play. Therefore, some stats could be skewed depending on the level of competition.
