Free Pick: NCAA College Basketball Best Bet 1/7/22

No.22 Xavier 11-2 (1-1) at Butler 8-5 (1-1)

This is a good matchup featuring two teams from the Big East meeting in famous Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Xavier: The Musketeers haven’t played since losing on the road to Villanova on Dec. 21st. They have very few COVID problems and should be healthy coming into this game. They have balanced scoring and if they can shake off the rust, they should have some success against the Bulldogs. They have wins over Ohio State, Virginia Tech, and Oklahoma State and their two losses have been to Iowa State and Villanova which are both ranked teams.

Butler: The Bulldogs lost 71-56 at home against Seton Hall in their last outing. They went on a scoring drought and score only 40 points in the last 33 minutes of that game. Scoring has been a problem all year for Butler and they are going up against a Xavier defense that is allowing only 62.5 points per game.

Xavier is a 6-point favorite. It’s always risky taking a team on the road especially with a spread of 5 or more points. But, that’s exactly what I’m going to do in this one. I don’t like the offensive problems that Butler is going through and I think Xavier will be good enough to cover.

Best Bet: Xavier +6