Dean Etheridge
The big college basketball match tonight sees Arkansas take on the Alabama Crimson Tide at the Bud Walton Arena. Here we look ahead to the Top 25 clash in our NCAAB betting picks.
- What; NCAAB
- Who; Arkansas Razorbacks vs Alabama Crimson Tide
- Where; Bud Walton Arena, Fayetteville, Arkansas
- When; Wednesday, January 11th, 2023
- Start Time; 7 pm ET
The Crimson Tide are on a roll at the moment. But coming to Fayetteville and winning will be far from easy. Arkansas is ranked 15, Alabama is 4. This is the first time the two teams have met this season, and it promises to be an absolute cracker.
2023 NCAAB Championship Winners Betting
In the latest betting to win the 2023 Championship, Alabama have made great strides and the best college basketball betting sites now make them just +1400 to win it. Tonight’s opponents Arkansas are outsiders at +3300.
Elsewhere and the betting favorites are still the Houston Cougars. The Cougars have drifted slightly and are now +700, having been +650 at the beginning of the week. Behind Houston, and just ahead of Alamaba, are a whole host of teams. Kansas, Connecticut, Purdue, and Tennessee are all +1200.
The above odds are all from BetOnline, one of the best college basketball betting websites on the internet. You can read more about them, including details of their great new customers offer, at our BetOnline sportsbook review.
While below, you will find even more 2023 Championship winner betting odds from a selection of bookmakers recommended by MyTopSportsbooks.
| NCAAB Tournament Winner Betting 2023 |  |  |  |
| Houston Cougars | +700 | +700 | +700 |
| Kansas | +1200 | +1200 | +1200 |
| Purdue | +1200 | +1200 | +1200 |
| Connecticut | +1200 | +1200 | +1200 |
| Tennessee | +1200 | +1200 | +1200 |
| Arizona | +1400 | +1400 | +1300 |
| UCLA | +1600 | +1600 | +1800 |
| Alabama | +1400 | +1400 | +1400 |
| Gonzaga | +2200 | +2000 | +2000 |
| Virginia | +2800 | +2800 | +2500 |
| Baylor | +3000 | +3000 | +3300 |
| Texas | +2800 | +2800 | +2500 |
| North Carolina | +2800 | +2800 | +2800 |
| Arkansas | +3300 | +3300 | +3300 |
Arkansas looking to bounce back from third lose of the season
The Razorbacks suffered their third defeat of the season at the hands of the Auburn Tigers at the weekend. The Tigers won 72-59, having done most of the damage in the first period, where they raced into a 36-25 points lead.
The defeat to the Tigers came after the Razorbacks mounted a magnificent comeback to defeat the Missouri Tigers last Wednesday. Trailing 34-27 at the halfway point, Arkansas scored a mammoth 47 points in the second half, with Missouri managing 34. In the end the Razorbacks ran out 74-68 winners. But it did take an exceptional comeback from Arkansas to get the job done.
NO. 13 ARKANSAS HOLDS OFF NO. 20 MISSOURI 🔥
Mizzou makes a late push, but it's not enough as the Razorbacks get it done in Fayetteville 👏 pic.twitter.com/CH523mCJMh
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) January 5, 2023
Tonight’s match against Alabama is the third successive match for the Razorbacks against Top 25 ranked opposition. And probably the most difficult of the three.
Alabama on a winning streak
The Crimson Tide has found form again and are on a four game winning streak that has seen them go top of the Southeastern Division.
Their last defeat was against Gonzaga, when they lost 100-90 at the Legacy Arena in the week before Christmas. Despite the result, it was a closer match than the scoreline suggests.
On Saturday, No. 4 Alabama fell to the No. 15 Gonzaga Bulldogs 100-90 in a hard-fought matchup between two of the country’s best.
“If we want to make sure we don’t keep losing, we have to play harder,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said.@Mathey_Gibson1 https://t.co/H0XeCcdp4X
— The Crimson White Sports (@CWsports) December 17, 2022
Since that loss the Crimson Tide has defeated Jackson State 84-64, Mississippi State Bulldogs 78-67, Mississippi 84-62, and most recently, they beat Kentucky 78-52.
Arkansas vs Alabama Betting Odds and Picks
The best March Madness betting sites for college basketball can’t separate these two teams. BetOnline has Arkansas with a +1 start on the handicap line at -115, with Alabama at -105 from a -1 start.
Elsewhere, Bovada has the two teams starting from scratch, with both sides priced up at -110.
On the total points spread, Bovada are 150.5 points, with both over and under at -110. BetOnline has the spread set at 151.5. Again both over and under is -110.
Who will win?
So, who do we think is going to be victorious at the Bud Walton Arena tonight? The best NCAA sportsbooks think it will be a close game of Basketball. But I’m starting to see signs that this might not be the case.
Arkansas has lost two of its last three matches. Even in the match they won, they needed an exceptional comeback to get the victory. They’re reaching the end of a tough sequence of matches. And but for their strong second period showing against Missouri, they would be coming into this match on the back of two straight defeats.
The Crimson Tide have won four on the bounce. Okay, the opposition wasn’t the strongest. But they won all four games in style.
With confidence higher amongst the visitors, I’m making the Alabama Crimson Tide my bet to win the match on the moneyline.
Total Points Picks
You need to go back six matches, to the 88-78 win away to Oklahoma, to find the last time a match involving Arkansas topped 151 points. The next five have all fallen well short of that total.
As for matches involving Alabama, their four wins have seen aggregate points totals that also fall well short of the 150.5 target. The last time the Crimson Tide played a match that beat that amount was their 100 points to 90 defeat to Gonzaga.
But I’m going to ignore the statistics for this match. I think it will be a high scoring affair. These two sides will be going for it, and I expect end-to-end action. So taking that into consideration, I make over 150.5 total points with Bovada my second betting pick.
