For the first time ever, the NIT Tournament Final Four will be held in Fabulous Las Vegas. A bracket that began with 32 teams has been whittled down to four semifinalists. In Tuesday night’s first NIT Semifinal, the Wisconsin Badgers of the Big Ten will battle the North Texas Mean Green out of Conference USA. The Wisconsin vs North Texas college basketball betting picks are expecting this to be both a close and low-scoring contest.
The following game preview provides the college basketball betting odds, trends and KenPom ratings before sharing our official Wisconsin vs North Texas prediction for the NIT Tournament semifinal matchup.
Wisconsin vs North Texas Prediction | College Basketball Betting Picks
NIT Tournament Semifinal
Wisconsin Badgers (20-14) vs. North Texas Mean Green (29-7)
Time: 7 p.m. EST
Venue: Orleans Arena — Las Vegas, NV
Coverage: ESPN
Wisconsin Badgers Preview
Coming into the NIT Tournament 2023, Wisconsin had lost three of four games. The late-season swoon included a First Round exit in the Big Ten Tournament which officially ended any lingering NCAA hopes. Funny enough, Greg Gard’s team is now the only Big Ten school still playing basketball. The Badgers began their NIT run with a blowout win over Bradley. Subsequent games against Liberty and Oregon were closer, but the Badgers were still able to pull out wins by four and three points, respectively.
North Texas Mean Green Preview
North Texas was one of three high-quality teams in Conference USA this season. As such, it was a bit of a disappointment that the Mean Green failed to reach the championship game in the conference tournament. Since that loss to fellow NIT Tournament semifinalist UAB, Grant McCasland’s squad has been playing phenomenal basketball. After obliterating both Alcorn State and Sam Houston State, UNT outlasted Oklahoma State in overtime on the road to advance to the NIT Final Four in Las Vegas.
Wisconsin vs North Texas College Basketball Betting Picks and Odds
College basketball betting odds for Wisconsin vs North Texas can be found at BetUS Sportsbook.
Moneyline: WIS: (+105) | UNT: (-125)
Point Spread: WIS: +1.5 (-110) | UNT: -1.5 (-110)
Total: 114.5 — Over: (-110) | Under: (-110)
College Basketball KenPom Ratings
The following table displays the KenPom adjusted efficiency ratings for the two teams involved in Tuesday night’s first NIT Semifinal. In addition to overall efficiency margin, offensive, defensive and tempo ratings are included.
| Team | Overall AdjEM (Rk) | AdjO (Rk) | AdjD (Rk) | AdjT (Rk) |
| Wisconsin | +12.79 (62) | 107.2 (132) | 94.4 (23) | 63.4 (342) |
| North Texas | +16.62 (33) | 111.0 (70) | 94.4 (22) | 59.0 (363) |
Wisconsin vs North Texas College Basketball Betting Trends
- Badgers are just 1-9-2 ATS in their last 12 games following a straight up win.
- Eight of the Badgers’ last nine neutral site games have stayed UNDER the total.
- Badgers are 1-5 ATS in their last six games against Conference USA opponents.
- Mean Green are 10-2 ATS in their last 12 games following a straight up win.
- Four of the Mean Green’s last five games overall have gone OVER the total.
- Mean Green are just 1-5 straight up in their last six games against Big Ten opponents.
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Wisconsin vs North Texas Prediction | College Basketball Betting Picks
Despite coming from two very different conferences, Wisconsin and North Texas are similar in more ways than some might expect. Both teams are at their best on the defensive end of the floor. The Mean Green actually rank as the top scoring defense in the country on the season, allowing only 56.3 points per game. Wisconsin is not too far behind at 63.8, good for 27th nationally.
Combine the defensive prowess of both teams with the fact that each side also plays at a very slow pace and it’s no wonder that the college basketball betting odds have set the game total incredibly low at 114.5 for tonight’s NIT Tournament Semifinal. According to KenPom, Wisconsin ranks 342nd in adjusted tempo while North Texas actually averages the slowest adjusted pace of any team in the sport!
In addition, both teams each have guards who are capable of taking over in crunch time. Wisconsin’s Chucky Hepburn has shot nearly 40% from beyond the arc on the season. His ability to distribute only makes him more dangerous with the ball in his hands late in close games. Meanwhile, UNT’s Tylor Perry is one of the most underrated scoring guards in the country. He may only be 5’11”, but the C-USA Player of the Year has the ability to knock down the biggest of shots when the Mean Green need it most.
North Texas’ defense was on full display in the Quarterfinal Round against Oklahoma State. At the end of regulation time, only 110 total points had been scored. Thus, looking to bet the Over on the low game total for Tuesday’s semifinal may not be as straightforward as bettors would think. In fact, doing the exact opposite may be the best approach despite the line having already moved a point and a half to the Under.
Wisconsin’s blatant size advantage could be a major factor in this matchup. Aside from leading rebounder Abou Ousmane, the Mean Green are very much a guard-oriented team. Wisconsin should be able to exploit this on the boards and at the offensive end by getting the ball to Steven Crowl and Tyler Wahl. If the Badgers can get Ousmane into foul trouble, they will have a major leg-up when it comes to the final outcome.
WISCONSIN COVERS will be our official college basketball betting Wisconsin vs North Texas prediction for the NIT Tournament Semifinal matchup.
For what it’s worth, the ESPN Matchup Predictor gives North Texas a 55.2% chance to win this game outright.
Bet: Wisconsin +1.5 (-110 at BetUS Sportsbook)
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