Best College Basketball Bets Today: NCAAB Picks for December 3

On Tuesday night, seven ranked teams will take the floor, including the third-ranked Tennessee Volunteers, who host the Syracuse Orange for a non-conference matchup.

Meanwhile, the now-unranked Indiana Hoosiers hope to bounce back at Assembly Hall when they face the Sam Houston State Bearkats.

Can Indiana turn it around after a terrible three-game showing in the Bahamas? Will Tennessee keep rolling in its home game against Syracuse?

Keep reading below for my analysis and best college basketball picks today for the Syracuse vs. Tennessee and Sam Houston State vs. Indiana games on December 3, 2024!

The following odds for today's college basketball are courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook. Place your bets at FanDuel and claim $150 in bonus bets with a $5 wager.

Syracuse @ No. 3 Tennessee

• Date: Tuesday, December 3

• Time: 7:30 pm EST

• Moneyline: Syracuse +1400 | Tennessee -4000

• Spread: Syracuse +19.5 (-115) | Tennessee -19.5 (-105)

• Total: Over 143.5 (-110) | Under 143.5 (-110)

All odds are available via FanDuel Sportsbook but are subject to change.

PICK: Tennessee -19.5 (-105) at FanDuel

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Any concerns about the Volunteers’ offense after Dalton Knecht departed for the NBA have subsided. And that is putting it lightly.

Even with Knecht, Tennessee had numerous offensive droughts last season, resulting in blown leads and bad losses.

However, so far this season, the Vols have been terrific on that end of the floor, ranking 11th in adjusted offensive efficiency, sixth in effective field goal percentage, and 46th in 3-point percentage.

The only area in which Tennessee can improve is in its ball protection. 

Luckily, Syracuse (328th in opponent turnovers) likely won’t force many turnovers on Tuesday night.

In fact, the Orange have been quite terrible on defense, sitting at 200th nationally in opponent effective field goal percentage despite a super easy schedule to start the 2024-25 regular season.

And unsurprisingly, the Vols have been just as dominant on the defensive end, a typical trait of a Rick Barnes-led team. They currently have the second-best defense in the country.

Tennessee is 6-1 against the spread so far this season, and a 19.5-point spread against this Syracuse team that barely squeaked by Le Moyne (four points), Colgate (two points), Youngstown State (nine points), and Cornell (ten points) is not wide enough, in my opinion.

Sam Houston State @ Indiana

• Date: Tuesday, December 3

• Time: 7:30 pm EST

• Moneyline: Sam Houston State +640 | Indiana -1000

• Spread: Sam Houston State +12.5 (-102) | Indiana -12.5 (-120)

• Total: Over 154.5 (-115) | Under 154.5 (-105)

All odds are available via FanDuel Sportsbook but are subject to change.

PICK: Sam Houston State +12.5 (-102) at FanDuel

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The Indiana Hoosiers are amidst another seismic collapse after losing two of their three games in the Bahamas, including a 28-point beatdown at the hands of Louisville, a program that won just four games in the 2022-23 season. Four.

The following day, Gonzaga pounded Indiana by 16 points. The Bulldogs shot 48.4% from the floor and outrebounded the Hoosiers by 15 boards. Yikes.

The Gonzaga game should have been a blowout, similar to the Syracuse beatdown; however, the Hoosiers were saved from embarrassment by Oumar Ballo and Mackenzie Mgbako, who scored a combined 38 points on 15-for-23 shooting from the field.

No other player scored more than six points.

Head coach Mike Woodson has continually refused to adjust his lineups, rotations, and schemes on both ends of the floor, making the Hoosiers a highly predictable basketball team.

As always, they will have a stagnant half-court offense that relies on entering the ball into the post and waiting for Malik Reneau or Ballo to make a play one-on-one.

Unfortunately, opponents can still collapse on them and force the Hoosiers to knock down 3s, which has been a problem for the team for several years.

Recently, Indiana has given up way too many layups and has been massacred on the glass, a perfect recipe for a team like Sam Houston State (102nd in adjusted offensive rating, per KenPom) to keep this one close.