College basketball Saturday parlay at mega +658 odds today 2/17: Huskies make a statement

The college basketball season is in full swing and Saturday brings us another great slate filled with nonstop action and marquee games from Noon until deep into the night on the east coast. And what better way to celebrate a massive college hoops slate on Saturday than with a mega parlay? That’s right; I have crafted an NCAAB parlay for today’s games that pays out at over 6/1 odds at FanDuel Sportsbook.

And, like always, don’t forget to check out all of our college basketball predictions for today’s games.

UConn -6.5 (-110)

South Carolina -5.5 (-110)

Maryland ML (+108)

NCAAB Parlay odds: +658

UConn Huskies -6.5 over Marquette Golden Eagles (-110)

In what is undoubtedly the biggest game of the day, the battle for the top of the Big East will take place at the XL Center between Marquette and UConn. Marquette is in the midst of an 8-game winning streak following its most recent victory at Butler, while UConn has won 13 in a row – which is the nation’s longest winning streak at the moment. It all starts on defense for Connecticut, as the Huskies hold opponents to a 41.8% effective field-goal percentage at home, while also holding Big East opponents to under 29% on perimeter shots. Given that the Golden Eagles score nearly 35% of their points from 3-point range in conference, Marquette is unlikely to make up for it at the rim given UConn big man Donovan Clingan’s ability to block and alter shots.

On the other side of the ball, Marquette allows a ton of perimeter shots, which is not a recipe for success against the Huskies. Dan Hurley’s team produces unguarded jumpers at a rate that ranks in the 98th percentile according to Synergy, and the Huskies have been scoring efficiently on those opportunities this season. Expect them to continue those scoring trends at home in a massive spot on Saturday. This could also be considered a bit of a revenge spot for UConn — which lost to Marquette by 2 points in the Big East Tournament last year — as if the Huskies needed a bit of information.

Check out all of our college basketball predictions for today’s games

South Carolina Gamecocks -5.5 over LSU Tigers (-110)

South Carolina was embarrassed in a 40-point loss to Auburn in the Jungle on Wednesday, but now they’ll return home, where the Gamecocks are 13-1 for the campaign. Even with that disastrous loss, South Carolina is still within striking distance of the top of the standings in its pursuit of an SEC regular season crown, and that goal of an SEC crown is certainly an obtainable one for the Gamecocks given the schedule in front of them.

Unlike the hosts, LSU has been an absolute disaster in SEC play to this point, having now dropped 6 of their last 7 outings, including losses by double digits in 4 of those games. This is a team that realistically has no shot at qualifying for an at-large NCAA Tournament berth and doesn’t have much to play for as the season winds down. Furthermore, the Gamecocks are 3-0 against the number when coming off a loss this season, and they match up well with LSU’s poor perimeter defense and lack of rebounding. Look for South Carolina to win convincingly in a pivotal bounce-back spot at home.

Maryland Terrapins ML over Illinois Fighting Illini (+108)

While betting on Maryland has been a painful endeavor this season, this is too good of an opportunity to back yet another Big Ten home team in a great spot against an overvalued opponent. Home teams in the Big Ten cash at a 55% rate against the number and given that this is such a short line at home, let’s grab a bit of extra value with the Terrapins money line in our parlay. Ranked teams on the road have also been an extremely unprofitable wager in college hoops this season, and Illinois will have its hands full against a stout Maryland defensive unit (5th in adjusted defensive efficiency at KenPom) that has kept it in games all season long. The Terrapins should see success on offense against an Illini defense that was shredded by Nebraska and Michigan State in recent games, so let’s back Jahmir Young and the Terps to pull off the outright upset at home.

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