NCAA Men’s Basketball ATS Picks - No. 5 Xavier Musketeers at Providence Friars Game Preview

The Xavier Musketeers are one of the hottest teams in college basketball, and are ranked among the best teams in the country. They hope to stay on that perch when they face off against the Providence Friars in a Big East battle.

Xavier has proven to be the superior team thus far and should enter as the favorite. However, Providence is the home team, which could give it a decent chance at pulling the upset. The conference is stacked with some solid teams and the Musketeers are currently out front by virtue of a 3-0 record.

At 12 p.m. ET, tune into FOX for live television coverage of this NCAA basketball game on Saturday, January 6, 2018, at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.

We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Saturday schedule.

Odds Analysis

Xavier is 15-1 straight up and 12-4 against the spread on the season. The Musketeers are 11-4 against the spread as the favorite this season and have covered in all three attempts on the road.

Providence is 10-5 straight up but has done poorly against the spread, covering in only three of 14 attempts. The Friars have been the underdogs four times and only covered once. They are 1-6 against the spread at home and will be aiming to flip all of those records in this one.

Lookahead Situation

Xavier could be in somewhat of a trap game here. The Musketeers know they are the better team but still must hit the road. Additionally, they have a big-time showdown at No. 3 Villanova in the ensuing contest, and so it wouldn’t be a shock for Xavier to be looking ahead.

Providence hasn’t played great this year but has enough talent to pull this upset if the Musketeers are not fully invested. It should be pretty apparent early on if Xavier is ready to go, or if it will be caught looking ahead at such a titanic matchup of top-5 foes against Villanova.

Xavier needs to keep stockpiling wins and a poor effort would be disappointing.

Player to Watch

Trevon Bluiett — Xavier’s senior guard is the team’s leading scorer and continues to be the go-to guy on the court for the Musketeers, but he has cooled off a bit compared to the beginning of the year. Bluiett started the season with a bang, combining for 117 points and 34 rebounds over the first five games of the season.

He is still averaging 19.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game this year for the Musketeers, but hasn’t been quite as effective as a shooter as of late . He has shot 40 percent or lower from the field the last three games so he will be looking to improve in this one.

Free NCAA Men’s Basketball ATS Picks

Providence has lost two straight games entering this matchup and wants to avoid a big skid early in conference play. The Friars are holding out hope they can make it to the NCAA tournament, but need to start picking up some marquee wins to impress the selection committee.

This would certainly be one as Xavier has been one of the most impressive teams in the country over the first two months. The Friars need to score at a prolific pace as Xavier can really score the basketball. While the numbers say Xavier in this one, don’t discount the motivational factor.

Providence badly needs a win and would like to put on a good showing for its home crowd. Xavier, meanwhile, could sleepwalk through this one while anticipating the game against Villanova. With that in mind, take the Friars to pull off the upset in this matchup. They should pay off nicely on the moneyline.

The “under” could be enticing in a sloppy matchup.

NCAA Men’s Basketball Odds: Providence 73, Xavier 69

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