Best College Basketball Picks Today: Purdue and Michigan Face Off in Key Big Ten Showdown

Friday night’s college basketball slate boasts two marquee matchups, including the Villanova Wildcats versus the No. 10 Marquette Golden Eagles and the No. 21 Michigan Wolverines versus the No. 11 Purdue Boilermakers.

Purdue is fresh off a brutal home loss to the Buckeyes and will be looking for a rebound win against Michigan.

Meanwhile, Marquette also dropped a bad loss at home to Xavier recently and needs a win on Friday night to stay close to St. John’s for the top spot in the Big East.

So, what should we expect from these two big Friday matchups?

Keep reading our best college basketball picks today piece below to find out!

Odds for today's college basketball games are courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook. Place a $5 bet at FanDuel and Get $300 in Bonus Bets if Your Bet Wins.

Villanova @ No. 10 Marquette

• Date: Friday, January 24

• Time: 7:00 pm EST

• Moneyline: Villanova +360 | Marquette -480

• Spread: Villanova +9.5 (-110) | Marquette -9.5 (-110)

• Total: Over 142.5 (-110) | Under 142.5 (-110)

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

PICK: Marquette -9.5 (-110) at FanDuel

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Like Purdue, Marquette recently lost a game at home to a middle-of-the-road Xavier team. As a result, the Golden Eagles are now in solo second place in the Big East.

In their game against Xavier, the Golden Eagles turned the ball over 13 times, a substantial amount for them, considering they rank fourth in turnovers per game nationally.

Additionally, Marquette shot just 37% from the field and 27% from 3-point land; however, it held the Musketeers to a meager 2-for-17 shooting from deep.

The game was an outlier in a number of ways and the Golden Eagles quickly corrected course with a double-digit road win over Seton Hall.

On the other hand, Villanova has dropped three of its past four Big East games, with a two-point home win against Providence (90th in adjusted efficiency margin, per KenPom) being the only win in that span.

The Wildcats’ offense has tumbled a bit recently, which makes their margin for error virtually zero due to their horrendous defense (180th in adjusted defensive efficiency).

Villanova has averaged 10 fewer points per game on a field goal percentage that is 5% lower than its season average over its past three games.

The bread and butter for this team is from behind the arc, where it makes the 15th-most 3s per game at the fourth-highest clip in the country. 

But, again, the Wildcats have struggled a bit recently on that end of the floor, shooting shy of 35% in their past three games.

Meanwhile, Marquette has boasted a strong perimeter defense this season, ranking 44th in opponent 3P%. And frankly, I like its chances for getting back on track offensively against a really atrocious ‘Nova defense.

The Golden Eagles’ star guard Kam Jones had a few rough games before turning things around in the team’s last game against Seton Hall. 

In fact, Jones shot just 35.7% from the floor and 22.2% from deep over a four-game stretch but looked much more comfortable on Tuesday.

This one should be all Marquette.

No. 21 Michigan @ No. 11 Purdue

• Date: Friday, January 24

• Time: 8:00 pm EST

• Moneyline: Michigan +146 | Purdue -176

• Spread: Michigan +3.5 (-102) | Purdue -3.5 (-120)

• Total: Over 150.5 (-115) | Under 150.5 (-105)

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

PICK: Michigan +3.5 (-102) at FanDuel

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A home loss to an Ohio State team that had lost three consecutive Big Ten games? Woof.

That could not possibly be what the Purdue Boilermakers had in mind when they took the floor on Tuesday.

However, they still have plenty of time to make up ground on the currently undefeated (in conference play) Michigan State Spartans. 

While Purdue’s West Coast trip went well, as it finished with a 2-0 record with wins over Oregon and Washington, there has been a glaring weakness that needs to be improved: shooting.

The Boilers rank 18th this season in 3-point percentage, but they have had the second-worst 3-point percentage in the country over their past three games (among all major programs).

Besides Purdue’s recent shooting slump, there is also a clear matchup advantage for the Wolverines, who start two 7-footers, Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf.

Purdue’s interior defense is virtually non-existent; the Boilers rank 229th in opponent 2-point percentage and 331st in block percentage. 

Unfortunately for them, Wolf and Goldin help the Wolverines log the third-highest 2-point percentage and effective field goal percentage nationally.

Trey Kaufman-Renn will have his hands full tomorrow night.