College Basketball Picks and Predictions for Wednesday, December 7

The Thanksgiving tournaments are over and conference play starts up again as teams look towards the heart of the NCAA basketball season. Wednesday there are a couple of Big Ten matchups that we’ll look at to see if we can continue to cash tickets.

Tuesday, Dec. 7

Michigan State at Penn State
Nebraska at Indiana

Michigan State at Penn State

• Venue: Bryce Jordan Center
• Location: University Park, Pennsylvania
• TV-Time: BTN, 6:30 p.m. ET
• Matchup
• Expert Picks

In an early 6:30 pm start, the 5-4 (3-6 ATS) Michigan State Spartans head to Happy Valley for a matchup with Penn State. The Spartans started the season 3-1, including a win over #4 Kentucky with the only loss by one point to #2 Gonzaga. They’ve lost their last two and have seen six of their last seven games go over the total. Most of those are a result of everyone scoring at least 70 against them.

Penn State is 6-2 (5-2-1 ATS) and coming off of an overtime loss against Clemson where they allowed 101 points. That was the first time the Nittany Lions had allowed more than 68 points all season and broke a string of five consecutive under games where they had held four of their opponents to 62 or less. Including the 94 they put up in their last one, they’ve scored more points than their last game in four straight.

Score Prediction: Penn State 71, Michigan State 65
Best Bet: Penn State -3.5 (-110)

Nebraska at Indiana

• Venue: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall
• Location: Bloomington, Indiana
• TV-Time: BTN, 8:30 p.m. ET
• Matchup
• Expert Picks

Nebraska is 6-3 (4-5 ATS) and heading to Bloomington for a matchup with the 14th-ranked Hoosiers. The Cornhuskers have won and covered in three straight including their +800 upset of Creighton as 14 ½ point underdogs. They’ve held everyone but Memphis to 70 points or fewer, and that’s a big part of why their total record stands at 1-7-1.

Indiana was 7-0 before Rutgers ended that streak in their Big Ten opener. That loss dropped their record to 7-1 (5-2-1 ATS) and out of the Top 10. They hadn’t scored less than 77 up to that one but shooting 30% from the field against the Scarlet Knights led to just 48 points. The Hoosiers are also on an under run staying below the total in four of five mostly because they held the other teams to 65 or less in all four.

Score Prediction: Indiana 69, Nebraska 64
Best Bet: Nebraska +12.5 (-110)