College basketball best bet: Pitt, Terps on a tasty parlay

Tuesday night features a full slate of college basketball games, but two in particular stand out to us. And when you combine the two into a parlay, you get good odds. Not quite even odds, but close.

Our first leg is Pittsburgh (-6.5) via the alternate spread line against Louisville, and this is by far the safest of our two legs. Louisville is 3-20 on the season and 1-11 in ACC play. And to top it off, the Cardinals have dropped 11 of their last 12 games. Talk about a rough stretch, and we don’t see it getting any better on Tuesday against the Panthers.

The spread for Tuesday’s game is set at 16, but we’re going to alter the line, and take the Panthers to win by at least seven. Pitt beat Louisville by 21 three weeks ago, so winning by just seven should hardly be a problem for the Panthers. Plus, the Panthers have won three straight and five of six.

But that’s not all. The Panthers are the second-best team in the nation against the spread at 16-6-1 and are just a half game out of first in conference play. Outside of Georgia Tech, Louisville is the doormat of the ACC, and even though the Cardinals have played a little bit better as of late, the Panthers are just on an entirely different level.

As for the final leg of our parlay, take Maryland (+6.5) to lose by no more than six points against Michigan State on Tuesday. Michigan State might be 9-2 at home, but they’re just 6-6 in the Big Ten and 14-9 overall on the season.

Meanwhile the Terrapins have won four straight, and haven’t lost a game by more than six in nearly a month. MSU is favored in this one, so don’t be shocked if they win, but we’d be surprised if they win by more than two possessions. Maryland is arguably playing its best basketball right now, so even if they don’t pull off the road upset on Tuesday, expect them to be in this one till the very end.

Pittsburgh Panthers (-6.5) AND Maryland (+6.5) (-119 odds via FanDuel)

Bet $119 to win $100