The UConn Huskies take on the DePaul Blue Demons. Our college basketball odds series has our UConn DePaul prediction and pick. Find out how to watch UConn DePaul.
This is a game which is uniquely complicated. UConn, which was one of the last three unbeaten teams in major college basketball this season, is now 5-6 in the Big East Conference through 11 league games. It's quite a turnaround for a team which looked like a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament entering New Year's Eve. Now UConn probably won't be a top-four seed in the NCAAs this March. It might be a No. 5 seed. It might be a No. 6 seed. If UConn wants to get back to a No. 4 seed or maybe even a No. 3 seed after its sensational nonconference run, it has to win several games in a row. It can't tread water or finish near .500 in the Big East. It needs to start stacking wins and regain at least some of the form it displayed in November and December, when it dominated the opposition.
DePaul has had a brutal year, but as you will see below, there's reason to think the Blue Demons can make UConn sweat in this game.
Here are the UConn-DePaul college basketball odds, courtesy of FanDuel:
College Basketball Odds: UConn-DePaul Odds
UConn Huskies: -10.5 (-114)
DePaul Blue Demons: +10.5 (-106)
Over: 145.5 (-110)
Under: 145.5 (-110)
How To Watch UConn vs. DePaul
TV: Fox Sports 1
Stream: Fox Sports app
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET, 5:00 p.m. PT
*Watch UConn-DePaul LIVE with fuboTV (Click for free trial)*
Why UConn Could Cover The Spread
Coach Dan Hurley got UConn to the NCAA Tournament last season as a No. 5 seed, so even though UConn has struggled in Big East play, the Huskies have not regressed from last season on a larger overall level. UConn is on pace to match last year's NCAA Tournament seed, which means that the team is still a relatively solid team. It's not a mediocre team. It's not an ordinary team. A No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament (projected, of course, not finalized) is a very good team — not elite, but still quite formidable. UConn has lost to the Marquettes and Xaviers and Providences in the Big East, the quality teams in the upper tier of the conference. Against a bottom-feeder such as DePaul, UConn shouldn't have too many problems.
Why DePaul Could Cover The Spread
The Blue Demons did beat Xavier at home two weeks ago, which was a huge upset and something which frankly seems hard to believe even now. Keep in mind that after DePaul did upset Xavier, it lost to Georgetown, breaking the Hoyas' long Big East losing streak. Nevertheless, if this team is good enough to beat Xavier at home — Xavier is 9-2 in the Big East, tied atop the conference with Marquette and Providence — it is certainly good enough to beat a UConn team which is under .500 in Big East play through 11 games. Even if you are skeptical of DePaul specifically, you can also note that UConn has lost four of its last five games, one of them against a not-very-good St. John's team which needed a last-second basket to avoid an upset loss to Georgetown this past Sunday. Yes, most of UConn's Big East losses have been to the good teams in the conference, but that home-court loss to St. John's — an 11-point home loss — is a real eye-opener which shows that UConn's struggles are connected to factors other than the difficulty of the schedule. The St. John's loss had nothing to do with a difficult schedule.
Final UConn-DePaul Prediction & Pick
You might want to stay away from this game, but if you wanted to make a pick, you could convince yourself that UConn — while obviously struggling — can get its act together against a bad team. Your choice.
Final UConn-DePaul Prediction & Pick: UConn -10.5
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