NCAA Basketball Picks: Wisconsin Badgers vs. Ohio State Buckeyes

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Deshaun Thomas leads the Big Ten Conference in averaging 20.0 points per game, which is important to consider when making your college basketball against-the-spread picks Tuesday night, as the Ohio State Buckeyes (15-4) host the Wisconsin Badgers (14-6) at Value City Arena.

Sports bettors will find that the Buckeyes are 6.5-point home favorites in the NCAA basketball odds (courtesy of SBR Forum), while the total sits at 119.5 in the betting market.

Thomas combined to score 39 points in two games versus the Badgers last year, as the Buckeyes look to improve to 4-0 at home versus conference opponents during the 2012-13 season.

Let's take a closer look at this marquee matchup from a betting perspective, while offering up a final prediction along the way.

Wisconsin Badgers

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

The Wisconsin Badgers have won eight of their last 10 games, including a 45-44 victory over the Minnesota Golden Gophers as 3.5-point home favorites Saturday.

Sports bettors will find that the Badgers are 14-8 against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Bo Ryan era, with a 5-4 mark at Value City Arena.

Ohio State Buckeyes

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

The Ohio State Buckeyes really get after Big Ten Conference opponents on their home floor, as they've held three foes to a combined 30.3 percent shooting percentage in Columbus.

Sports bettors will find that the winning team in this series has covered the spread in nine of the last 10 meetings.

Prediction

I'm going to recommend that readers back the Ohio State Buckeyes as one of their NCAA basketball picks Tuesday night, as the Buckeyes have gone 17-8 against the spread in their last 25 home games.

NCAA Basketball Pick: Ohio State Buckeyes -6.5

 

Follow Jeff Grant on Twitter.