NCAAB Best Bets: UNC vs Florida: Key College Basketball Clash

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00:00Now let's talk a little bit of college basketball. North Carolina has struggled

00:08mightily this year against power conference foes. Florida now in the top

00:12ten. One of five remaining undefeated teams this season at the division one

00:17level. Jumpman Classic starts tonight in Charlotte and Florida is a slight

00:22favorite against UNC. Joe how do you break it down? I like this Florida team

00:28but my question is Ben is now the time to buy low on UNC here? There is nothing

00:36I can say bad about Florida except for the fact that they've played the hundred

00:39and sixty first toughest schedule in college basketball according to Ken Palm.

00:44What that means is they haven't played anybody. They certainly haven't played a lot of the

00:48North Carolinas of the world and on the flip side North Carolina has played one

00:53of the toughest schedules in the country so I don't know this feels like a

00:58possible buy low spot on North Carolina Ben. I would agree Joe when you look at

01:03UNC they have lost all four games in non-conference action against power

01:08conference foes. Florida has won all their four but the level of difficulty

01:13of those games slightly different. This might only be December but it's a big

01:19Tuesday night in college hoops. We've got Big East action in a big way. We've

01:24got a matchup in Charlotte in the Jumpman Classic with a top 10 Florida

01:29team and North Carolina and plenty more to entertain. So on this Tuesday we

01:35welcome in Jon Rothstein joining us on behalf of the FanDuel Sportsbook of

01:39course one of the best in college basketball working with CBS Sports. Jon

01:44as always we appreciate your time live right here on this Tuesday morning on

01:48the early line on sports. Ben happy holidays to you and your beautiful

01:53family. Thank you very much Jon. Right back at you. I've got a Hanukkah

01:58dinner tonight as we'll have some great college hoops in the background.

02:03What does one eat at a Hanukkah dinner? We got some latkes. We're gonna have some

02:08brisket. I think okay lots of all soup. Is that okay? Look you and I are you and I

02:14are both proud members of the tribe but we know as well as anybody else that

02:18members of the tribe make one thing especially well for dinner and that's

02:22reservations. That's very good Jon. I wasn't sure we were good. That was very

02:28very good. All right let's go to a big matchup tonight in Charlotte the Jumpman

02:33Classic with one of the five remaining undefeated Division one men's basketball

02:38teams on the stage tonight welcoming in the in-state team in North Carolina. Jon

02:45Florida now number seven in the country in the AP poll released yesterday. The

02:51Gators a perfect 10 and 0 this year and a three and a half point favorite

02:55against the UNC team that already has four losses to its credit this season.

03:01Let's start with the game itself. How competitive do you expect tonight's tilt

03:05to be in Charlotte? Well really competitive because it's a matchup of

03:09elite perimeters. I think you know Florida is the least appreciated team in

03:13college basketball right now and Walter Clayton Jr. Florida's star guard is the

03:19least appreciated player in college basketball. He's having an all-american

03:22type season but the troika that Todd Golden possesses on the perimeter Walter

03:27Clayton Jr. Elijah Martin a transfer from Florida Atlantic and Will Richard

03:31might be the most underrated perimeter in the sport and then you look on the

03:35other side you have a North Carolina team whose strength is clearly on the

03:39perimeter with Elliot Cadeau, RJ Davis, Seth Trimble, Ian Jackson, Drake Powell. So

03:44I expect this to be a high-scoring affair a very aesthetically pleasing

03:48game on deck tonight in Charlotte. When you look at North Carolina all four

03:53losses in the non-conference against power conference foes. Florida has four

03:57wins in non-conference action against power conference competition as well. You

04:02have covering as the favorite in all four of those games. John let's keep it

04:07with Florida right now but in the bigger picture of the SEC when you look

04:11around the SEC five of the top seven teams in the AP poll from the

04:16southeastern conference including the Gators. Seven of the top 14, eight of the

04:21top 17 in the AP top 25, 13 of the top 50 in the net rankings. John when you look

04:28at the SEC is this the best conference of the country in college basketball?

04:32It's not even close Ben and you know I remember in the 2011 season in the 2011

04:39NCAA tournament when the old Big East got 11 teams into the NCAA tournament.

04:44The SEC this year is going to fully take aim at that record as you had referenced

04:50as of yesterday 13 of the 16 teams in the SEC are ranked in the top 50 of the

04:57net as of Monday and the bottom of the league Ben is really what's so

05:02surprising. Oklahoma was picked 15th in the SEC preseason poll. Oklahoma is

05:07undefeated 14th in the country according to the AP. I'm 10th in the Rothstein 45

05:12and Oklahoma gets a crack at a very good Michigan team tomorrow night in Charlotte.

05:16Vanderbilt picked dead last in the SEC has played very good basketball under

05:21Mark Byington who did Yeoman's work last year at James Madison. The bottom of this

05:26league has been extremely capable. The SEC no doubt will be a double-digit bid

05:31league in 2025 and again will take aim at the old Big East record of 11 teams

05:36in the NCAA tournament. Quick follow-up ten and a half if I set that as the

05:41over-under for SEC bids to the big dance you going over or under? Over. I like that

05:48they will look to make history this year in the Southeastern Conference.

05:53Oklahoma as John alluded to in a top 25 tilt in the Jumpman Classic tomorrow in

05:58Charlotte against number 24 Michigan. The Sooners one of those other five

06:03undefeated teams still remaining at the D1 level. John as we talk about the Big

06:08East we'll show those conference championship odds as well. Big nights in

06:12the Big East. A lot of Big East action fully underway this week. UConn and

06:19Marquette will make their Big East debuts tomorrow and those are still the

06:23two top teams in terms of the conference odds. Plus 175 for the

06:27Huskies plus 195 for the Golden Eagles. Do those two clubs John still remain the

06:33clear favorites to win the Big East regular season title? Yeah I think so. I

06:37do think that St. John's is being a bit undervalued nationally considering what

06:42the Red Storm have had happen to them in the non-conference portion of the

06:46schedule. Ben you remember the game against Baylor and Bahamar as well as I

06:50do. If St. John's were to close that out, if St. John's were to make free throws

06:54or Jeremy Roach misses that shot, St. John's is the top 15 team now in college

06:59basketball but that didn't happen. St. John's I think a little bit

07:02undervalued going into Big East play starting tonight against Purdue, excuse

07:06me against DePaul at Karnosak Arena. Marquette's been obviously outstanding

07:11under shock. The smart Cam Jones is a National Player of the Year candidate and

07:14UConn has regained its mojo, has regained its form during this four-game winning

07:20streak since the Huskies came back from Maui. Long before Dan Hurley was a

07:24two-time national champion, he thrived in the role of challenger. The Maui

07:29Invitational this year brought Dan Hurley back to his roots. You know it

07:33wouldn't shock me that at the end of this week we're again looking at UConn

07:37as a runaway train and the question Ben is will anybody be able to catch him? But

07:42you know as well as I do, this is only December. It certainly is only December.

07:46St. John's at Karnosak, a 12 and a half point favorite against DePaul tonight.

07:51Villanova opens up Big East play laying eight and a half against Seton Hall. John

07:55let me direct your attention to undefeated Drake and Ben McCollum

07:59headed to the Little Apple today to take on K-State. Is that the best game

08:04elsewhere in college hoops tonight? Well it's definitely one of them. You know Ben

08:08McCollum has been a revelation after such a successful career as a Division

08:13Two head coach. He's 9-0 entering tonight's game against Kansas State and

08:17you know we have seen non-Division One head coaches have great success

08:22transitioning to the D1 level. Josh Schertz who's at St. Louis now is at

08:25Indiana State last season is obviously the latest example. But Ben McCollum, a

08:30D2 coach, now he's a Drake fan. He started from the bottom now he's here.

08:35What a catchphrase to end it John. Thank you. More of the early line next.

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