College Basketball Returns

College basektball was halted by COVID-19 before it could finish most of its conference tournaments last year. Starting the 2020-21 regular season has been equally challenging with games getting canceled or moved. But even with the uncertainty, most of the games scheduled for today's openers look ready to tipoff as planned with a number of top-ranked teams in action.

In the early games, the Virginia Cavaliers will face the Towson Tigers in "Bubbleville" at the Mohegan Sun Arena. With the cancellation of last year's NCAA Tournament, the Cavs remain the defending national champion from the prior year. Virginia last played Towson in the 2018-19 season, beating the Tigers 73-42. Dunkel sees another dominant performance from Tony Bennett's team today and has Virginia to cover the Vegas line of 19.

Later in the afternoon, the Louisville Cardinals host the Evansville Purple Aces in the Wade Houston Tipoff Classic at KFC Yum! Center. The Purple Aces, who finished last year with a 19-game losing streak, are a late fill-in for Southern Illinois. But Chris Mack's squad has its own challenges as the Cardinals try to overcome an injury to leading scorer and rebounder Malik Williams, who is sidelined for at least 12 weeks as he recovers from surgery for a broken bone in his foot. Dunkel has Evansville to keep this just under the Vegas line of 22.

The early evening sees the Kentucky Wildcats take the floor at Rupp Arena to host the Morehead State Eagles in the Bluegrass Showcase. Per previous seasons, John Calipari is bringing in a whole new lineup after six underclassmen from last year's team entered the NBA draft. The only returning player who garnered any serious minutes is sophomore forward Keion Brooks Jr. But the Wildcats have won all 10 meetings against the Eagles and should cover the Vegas line of 23 according to Dunkel.

In the nightcaps, the Villanova Wildcats return many of the contributors to last year's 24-7 team with the exception of NBA-bound Saddiq Bey. With guards Colin Gillespie and Justin Moore coming back along with forwards Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Jermaine Samuels, coach Jay Wright has his sights set on another run at a championship. The Wildcats will open up against Boston College in the 2K Empire Sports Classic at Mohegan Sun Arena with Dunkel predicting Villanova to cover the 13.5-point Vegas line.

Even with all the chaos, it's good to have college basketball back! Enjoy today's action and check out all of Dunkel's picks under the Basketball category at the top of the page.