College Basketball Picks Today: Conference Tournaments in Full Swing

Sunday’s slate of games marked the last regular-season matchups in the 2024-25 college basketball year.

All conference tournaments are finished, in full swing, or about to begin.

Read below for our best college basketball picks today for these two conference tournament games: Saint Mary’s vs. Gonzaga and Colorado vs. TCU.

Saint Mary's @ Gonzaga Odds

• Date: Tuesday, March 11

• Time: 9:00 pm EST

• Moneyline: Saint Mary's +136 | Gonzaga -164

• Spread: Saint Mary's +3.5 (-110) | Gonzaga -3.5 (-110)

• Total: Over 137.5 (-110) | Under 137.5 (-110)

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

PICK: Saint Mary’s ML (+136) at FanDuel

This season, Gonzaga has averaged the second-most points nationally (87.6 PPG), yet they have averaged merely 62.5 points per game against the Gaels.

What has been blatantly apparent in each game has been St. Mary’s ability to play at the pace it wants. Gonzaga has shown no ability to push the tempo and play stylistically (48th in adjusted tempo) how it would like to.

If the Bulldogs can’t find a way to either lock down defensively or be effective in transition against the Gaels, this could be the latter’s third consecutive win against Gonzaga this season. 

Get $200 in Bonus Bets at FanDuel With a $5 Winning Wager

Saint Mary's Prediction

This could be the season that the Saint Mary’s Gaels can finally make a significant run in the NCAA Tournament.

The usual combination of ball protection, defense, and rebounding has made the Gaels this season. Like Houston, this Saint Mary’s program has an “MO”. We know what to expect from them every year.

The Gaels play at a snail’s pace, which might be putting it lightly. 

Still, they rank 11th in adjusted defensive efficiency, 18th in opponent effective field goal percentage, first in total rebounding rate, and 10th in turnovers per game.

This team has a few problem areas, though. For one, 3-point shooting has sometimes been an issue; they shoot roughly 33% from behind the arc in a reasonably straightforward league. 

If they face an elite 3-point defense like Florida’s, it could be too tough to overcome.

Free-throw shooting has also been underwhelming, as the Gaels rank in the bottom third of the country in FT%.

Gonzaga Prediction

Relative to expectations, the Gonzaga Bulldogs have been one of the most disappointing teams in the country.

Ahead of the 2024-25 campaign, the Bulldogs were preseason ranked as the No. 6 team nationally; however, they are not even a ranked team in the AP Poll now.

Their preseason ranking made sense: They returned a handful of their top players and added solid talent through the transfer portal. 

Unfortunately, the ‘Zags have eight losses, with four coming in West Coast Conference play.

Still, don’t think this Mark Few-led team cannot turn things around ahead of the WCC and NCAA Tournaments, as they have the eighth-ranked offense nationally.

Colorado @ TCU Odds

• Date: Tuesday, March 11

• Time: 3:00 pm EST

• Moneyline: Colorado +105 | TCU -130

• Spread: Colorado +1.5 (-105) | TCU -1.5 (-115)

• Total: Over 134.5 (-110) | Under 134.5 (-110)

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

PICK: Colorado ML (+108) at FanDuel

TCU’s offense is bound to struggle even more than usual in a competitive tournament setting, which will pose a problem, even against a team as mediocre as the Buffaloes.

The Horned Frogs have failed to score more than 58 points in three of their past four games. During that span, they shot 38.7% from the field and 25.7% from 3-point range.

And their defense, which has been a bright spot this season, has allowed opponents to shoot an effective field goal percentage of 51.3%

Colorado, a team that has been playing better (3-4 in its past seven games), doesn’t have many favorable matchups, especially in the Big 12. However, this is one of them.

Bet $5 at FanDuel, Get $200 in Bonus Bets if Your Bet Wins

Colorado Prediction

Last season, the Colorado Buffaloes rostered three future NBA players: Cody Williams, KJ Simpson, and Tristan Da Silva.

Add talented big man Eddie Lampkin and rangy sharpshooting guard/forward J’Vonne Hadley to the equation, and the Buffs had one of the most offensively gifted five-man cores in college basketball.

The Buffs likely underperformed relative to their capabilities, but still at least managed to secure a Round of 64 win and took Marquette down to the wire in the Round of 32.

Unfortunately, losing your top five players, three now in the NBA, makes replacing that production even more challenging.

Colorado finished with just a 3-17 record in Big 12 play, which was somewhat to be expected, but, interestingly enough, the Buffaloes beat TCU in their final regular-season game.

They will now face the Horned Frogs once again in the first round of the Big 12 Conference Tournament.

TCU Prediction

Losing four of its final five games of the 2024-25 regular season likely doomed the Horned Frogs from finding any chance into the NCAA Tournament, short of a run through the Big 12 Tournament gauntlet.

Make no mistake, this team’s issue has not been on the defensive end of the floor. The Horned Frogs rank 32nd in adjusted defensive efficiency.

Instead, they have been nothing short of an atrocity on offense, ranking 201st in adjusted offensive efficiency, 341st in 3-point percentage, and 218th in assist-to-turnover ratio.