The college basketball season is heating up as we're about a month and a half away from Selection Sunday.
That means each conference matchup gets bigger and bigger, and we're treated to two critical, ranked matchups (Louisville vs. Duke, Arizona vs. BYU) on Monday.
Read below for NCAAB picks and predictions, including how to bet the two ranked "Big Monday" matchups.
Big Monday Best Bets
The team logos in the table below represent each of the matchups that our college basketball betting staff is targeting from today's slate of games. Click on the team logos for any of the matchups below to navigate to a specific bet discussed in this article.
| Game | Time (ET) | Pick |
|---|---|---|
  | 7 p.m. | |
| 7 p.m. | |
  | 9 p.m. | |
Specific betting recommendations come from the sportsbook offering preferred odds as of writing. Always shop for the best price using our NCAAB Odds page, which automatically surfaces the best lines for every game. | ||
How To Bet Louisville vs Duke
By Ryan Minion
Louisville Cardinals Preview
After a scorching start to its 2026 campaign, Pat Kelsey’s bunch has hit some speed bumps along the way as we enter the heart of a stacked ACC schedule.
Star point guard Mikel Brown Jr. — who many scouts project as a top-five selection in the 2026 NBA Draft — has been dealing with a lower-back injury, resulting in the freshman missing eight consecutive contests for the Cardinals.
After a 9-1 start to the season, Louisville lost five of its next eight games.
Kelsey received great news this past Saturday, though, as the Cardinals' superstar was finally cleared to return to action for a Louisville team desperate for offensive production.
While former Xavier guard Ryan Conwell has played extremely well in Brown's absence, it became clear that Louisville was a different team with the future NBA prospect running the offense.
Coming off a much-needed victory over Virginia Tech at the KFC Yum! Center, the Cardinals now head back on the road to Durham in what will surely be their most difficult matchup of the 2026 season.
Duke Blue Devils Preview
In Jon Scheyer’s fourth season as Duke head coach, the former Blue Devil has led his bunch to a spectacular 18-1 start, quickly cementing themselves as one of the best teams in the country.
For a 2025 team that had national title aspirations behind a generational talent in now–Dallas Maverick Cooper Flagg, Duke suffered a heartbreaking Elite Eight defeat at the hands of Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars, blowing a seven-point lead in the final 35 seconds of the game.
While that Elite Eight exit was certainly disappointing for Scheyer in his third year at the helm, he made significant progress in the offseason, landing the No. 3 prospect in the 2025 class — Cameron Boozer, the son of former Blue Devil Carlos Boozer.
Duke also secured his twin brother, Cayden, another highly touted five-star prospect.
For a team that lost one of the most talented college basketball players in decades in Flagg, the 6-foot-9 freshman forward Boozer has quickly picked up the slack, averaging over 23 points per game along with 10 rebounds through his first 19 games.
In what is one of the most talented NBA draft classes in recent memory, Boozer is widely viewed as a lock to become a top-three selection in 2026, alongside Kansas star Darryn Peterson and BYU forward AJ Dybansta.
Along with 6-foot-11 powerhouse Patrick Ngongba II, the Blue Devil frontcourt is among the best in college basketball on both ends of the floor. Duke ranks inside the top 10 nationally in both offensive and defensive efficiency, according to KenPom.
Finding open looks in the paint has been a nightmare for opposing forwards, as both Boozer and Ngongba are excellent rim protectors.
At the point, 6-foot-6 sophomore guard Isaiah Evans orchestrates a Blue Devil offense that’s averaging over 85 points per game through the first 19 contests. Evans has also established himself as a strong two-way player, averaging just under 15 points per game while dishing out more than three assists.
Junior guard Caleb Foster rounds out a very talented Duke backcourt.
Our Louisville vs Duke Pick
Monday night’s matchup between fellow ACC foes will be must-watch television, as Louisville looks to get back on track while Scheyer’s Blue Devils continue their quest for another No. 1 seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
While Duke won by double digits on the road at Louisville in the teams’ first matchup in early January, the Cardinals were without one of the best players in the country, Brown.
If Louisville is to complete its revenge tour on Monday night, it'll start on the defensive end of the floor with junior center Sananda Fru.
The 6-foot-11 German has been spectacular defensively and has largely held together a Cardinals unit that ranks just outside the top 40 nationally in defensive efficiency.
The majority of Duke’s offensive production comes inside the lane, where Boozer has been an absolute menace. However, the return of Louisville’s 6-foot-5 freshman guard should also make a substantial impact on Kelsey’s defense.
The Blue Devils have undeniably been one of the best teams in college basketball through the first 20 games of the season. However, their lone loss came at the hands of a Texas Tech defense featuring JT Toppin — a big who could match Boozer’s athleticism.
In that game, Boozer was outworked on the glass, grabbing eight rebounds compared to Toppin’s 10.
I think Fru is up to the task in a marquee defensive matchup against the Duke freshman. Like Toppin, if Fru can play elite interior defense while staying out of foul trouble, Louisville’s sixth-ranked offense should be able to match Duke’s firepower and keep this game competitive for the full 40 minutes.
Scheyer’s offense holds a clear edge in the paint, but at full strength, Louisville arguably boasts the best backcourt in the country in Brown and Conwell.
The Cameron Crazies should succeed in creating a hectic environment at Cameron Indoor Stadium, but with the return of Louisville’s star freshman, I view Kelsey’s Cardinals as a legitimate national title contender.
In what should be an extremely challenging ACC road matchup, I believe Duke will have its hands full containing the athleticism and 3-point shooting of Louisville’s guards. While the Blue Devils have been stout defensively, they’ve had far more success protecting the rim than limiting opponents from beyond the arc.
Louisville’s offense lives and dies by the 3-point, with nearly half of its field-goal attempts coming from beyond the arc. If the Cardinals are able to convert from deep, this should be a tightly contested matchup on Monday night.
Given the return of Brown. I’m comfortable backing Louisville while getting multiple points against a Duke team that’s likely to face some regression as it navigates a brutal ACC schedule.
I love Louisville in this spot catching 7.5 points. This is a team that has legit national champion upside with Brown back in the lineup.
Pick: Louisville +8.5
PRO Pick For Louisville vs Duke
While the Cardinals are priced at over 3-to-1 to win Big Monday's matchup with the Blue Devils, our tools indicate there's an edge with Louisville in this massive road ACC matchup.
Our Action PRO projections have the Cardinals' ML closer to +200 than +300, giving us an A+ edge over the market in this matchup.
Bank on the Cards to pull off a huge upset, especially with Mikel Brown Jr. back in the lineup.
Pick: Louisville ML
How To Bet Arizona vs BYU
By Ryan Minion
Arizona Basketball
Given Tommy Lloyd's significant recruiting experience as Mark Few’s right-hand at Gonzaga, Arizona hired him prior to the 2021 season after several disappointing early exits in March under Sean Miller. While Miller led the Wildcats to the Elite Eight three times, the Arizona Athletic Director felt it was time for a change.
The Wildcats head coach wasted no time securing an NCAA Tournament bid in each of his four seasons at Arizona. Lloyd brought in a stacked 2025 recruiting class featuring the likes of 6-foot-8 forward Koa Peat and 6-foot-4 guard Brayden Burries.
The freshman duo both ranked among the top 12 recruits in college basketball and have made an immediate impact for an undefeated Arizona team that excels on both ends of the floor. Both Peat and Burries are projected to be top-10 selections in the upcoming 2026 NBA Draft.
Peat’s near 15 points and six rebounds per contest lead an extremely athletic Wildcats frontcourt that also features Ivan Kharchenkov and 7-foot-2 forward Motiejus Krivas. The two European forwards have been stellar under the basket, making it extremely difficult for opponents to find open looks under the basket.
This superb rim protection has been a vital component at the core of a defense that ranks third in the country in defensive efficiency, according to KenPom.
On the other end of the floor, Burries leads the point for a third-ranked Arizona offense, posting over 90 points per game over the first two months of the season. Lloyd’s star point guard has been an extremely effective 2-way player in his first season with the Wildcats.
Arizona’s offense operates at an incredible pace, making it very difficult for opponents to keep up with the Wildcats’ offensive firepower. Dwayne Aristode and Tobe Awaka have also been essential in a Lloyd scheme that operates like a well-oiled machine.
The youth and athleticism of college basketball’s top-ranked Wildcats has overwhelmed its first 20 opponents, rattling off six Quad 1 victories over the likes of Florida, UConn, UCLA, Auburn and Alabama.
While Lloyd’s bunch has been largely unstoppable thus far, an extremely difficult conference schedule featuring a gauntlet of loaded Big 12 foes lies in wait.
BYU Basketball
If there's any other team in college basketball that can match the offensive output and overall efficiency of the Wildcats' offense, it's Kevin Young’s 13th-ranked Cougars.
BYU enters Monday night’s Big 12 showdown with Arizona having won 17 of its first 19 contests to start the 2026 season.
The Cougars’ offense is racking up nearly 87 points per game, ranking inside the top-five scoring teams in college basketball.
Leading the charge for BYU is the 2025 class' top freshman recruit in 6-foot-9 forward AJ Dybansta.
The projected future top-two NBA draft selection is a top-five scorer in the country with 22.5 points per game. BYU’s star freshman has been a matchup nightmare for opposing frontcourts, as his exceptional athleticism — paired with an NBA-ready physique — has made him an unstoppable scoring threat.
The freshman is undeniably the best mid-range scorer in college basketball.
With a remarkable agility for a player of his upper-body strength and size, Dybansta has quickly cemented himself as one of the best two-way players in the country.
Behind a frontcourt that also features 6-foot-8, 230-pound forward Keba Keita, BYU plays with an unmatched level of physicality and brute force on both ends of the floor.
BYU’s physicality under the basket is a vital component for its offense, enabling its ability to use exceptional spacing to find open looks from beyond the arc.
Former Baylor guard Robert Wright III executes Young’s offensive schematics to a tee, implementing quick dribble hand-offs and consistent off-ball movement that constantly require defensive adjustments.
Young’s success as an offensive mastermind dates back to his experience coaching in the NBA, prioritizing the need to convert on field goal attempts off-the-dribble.
BYU’s offense implementation of backdoor cuts and effective off-ball screens to create space to dribble — and then shoot — closely mirrors that of an NBA-style offense.
The sophistication of this Cougars offense has terrorized opposing defenses that aren't used to seeing that level of efficiency in the half-court, especially in combination with an ability to push the pace and score in transition.
Arizona vs. BYU Betting Analysis
I expect Monday night’s showdown to be extremely closely-contested and one of the best matchups of the season. This features two of the most dominant offenses in college basketball.
While Arizona remains just one of three unbeaten teams in the country, the Big 12 undoubtedly has the most difficult conference schedule in college basketball, making the Wildcats’ unblemished record all the more at risk with every single matchup.
Monday’s battle in Provo will be the most difficult test for the Wildcats thus far.
I saw the potential of Lloyd’s bunch in the preseason, and I hold a 35/1 ticket on Arizona to cut down the nets come March.
In my view, the Wildcats are the most complete team in all of college basketball, next to Michigan. That said, nobody runs the table in college basketball, and Arizona heads into Provo matched up with a BYU team that can match its offensive firepower and ability to push the pace.
Arizona’s first loss is coming sooner rather than later, and I think Young’s Cougars are catching the Wildcats at the perfect time. Coming off a close defeat to Texas Tech last week, BYU will surely be motivated to prove it can hang with any opponent in the country.
I think the nation’s top team suffers its first defeat on Monday night, so I'll be backing BYU to get the outright victory in this Big 12 shootout.
Pick: BYU ML
