While some people may wait until March Madness to begin betting on college basketball, I prefer getting some action down before the tournament to make sure I enter the big dance with some confidence. Let’s dive into our top college basketball parlay picks for today, Monday, January 29, including a college basketball bet for tonight’s Houston-Texas game. Need more action? Check out the rest of our college basketball articles — or our parlay builder and our guide to parlay betting.
College Basketball Parlay Picks Today: -103 Teaser Bet for Monday
Houston Moneyline (College Basketball Parlay Picks)
Let’s kick our two-team teaser off with the highest-profile leg: tonight’s game between the Houston Cougars and the Texas Longhorns. Although Texas gets to host this one, I don’t expect a bounce-back showing from Rodney Terry’s squad in this spot. Texas is coming off a brutal road loss to the BYU Cougars on Saturday, while Houston is coming off a monstrous 22-point drubbing over the Kansas State Wildcats.
At 18-2, Houston’s only losses came in a rough two-game stretch two weeks back in which the Cougars dropped close games to TCU and No. 23 Iowa State. Meanwhile, 14-6 Texas just suffered its sixth defeat on the road last week, which came against No. 21 BYU. Houston beat that same BYU squad by seven in a road matchup last Tuesday. The Longhorns have already suffered a pair of home losses this month, dropping games to unranked UCF and No. 20 Texas Tech.
The math points to an edge on Houston tonight. Bart Torvik’s projections make Houston a 9.4-point favorite, which is a much larger advantage than the 4.5-point spread the books have posted. Houston’s win probability of 85% is far higher than their implied moneyline odds at DraftKings of just -218 (68.6%). With Houston at 8-7 against the spread (ATS) in road games since 2022-23 — and Texas just 13-17 ATS at home through that sample — I’m confident the Cougars will get the job done.
Grambling State Moneyline (College Basketball Parlay Picks)
The Grambling State Tigers will host the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions tonight. Both squads are 8-11 on the season, but with the Tigers at 5-1 in conference play and the Golden Lions at 3-3, there’s a clear discrepancy between the quality of these teams, and we’re taking the home team for this one.
Grambling State will benefit strongly from home-court advantage. The Tigers have gone 6-1 at home this season and are 8-6 ATS at home since last season. Meanwhile, the Golden Lions are a laughable 2-8 on the road this year and are 11-17 ATS on the road since last year.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s two road wins aren’t impressive, either. Their most recent was a one-possession win over a bad 6-12 Texas Southern team that ranks 275th in KenPom. Their lone other road win was back in November, and it came over a Central Arkansas team that ranks 334th.
Bart Torvik’s projections make Grambling State a 7.9-point home favorite, which is a slightly wider spread than what you’ll find at DraftKings (-6.5). Likewise, their win probability of 78% outpaces their moneyline odds of -285 (74%).
Final College Basketball Picks & Parlay Bet Today
Today’s Teaser
Leg 1: Houston Moneyline
Leg 2: Grambling State Moneyline
= -103 at DraftKings
Although we’re able to lock this parlay in for odds of -103 (50.7%) at DraftKings, Bart Torvik’s projections would list the odds for this parlay bet at around -197. While his numbers may be a bit overconfident in Houston, that’s far too much edge to pass up. Lock this one in for a unit and hope for Houston to keep rolling and Grambling State to keep winning at home.
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