Best Sports Betting Picks Today: NBA Rising Stars, College Basketball Predictions for February 14th | Deadspin.com

Watching the game may not be the most romantic thing to do on Valentine’s Day.

Betting on it and winning could certainly help you pay for whatever your special someone might desire. But what to bet on, you ask?

Try something off our best bets list for Friday, February 14.

If you don’t love any of these ideas, it’s OK. This is a good place to start if you’re trying to figure out which games to target.

Best Bets for Valentine’s Day: NBA Rising Stars Challenge

With something like this, it can be hard to judge just how good a team is going to be. Just because you’re great at playing a traditional 5 x 5 full-court game does not mean you’ll make a great 3 x 3 player. Then there’s the matter of chemistry. Whoever has it from the start will certainly have an advantage.

But we can’t know the answers to those questions, so we have to go with what we do know (odds via BetMGM):

· 40% of the tickets at BetMGM have been on Team Jeremy (+500) to win.

· 65.9% of the money is on Team Chris (+220) to win.

Do you follow the public and go with Team Jeremy or the sharps and Team Chris? While Team Jeremy is getting a high percentage of tickets, it’s getting just 7.3% of the handle. That tells me the public is putting a little down on the team with the longest odds in the hope of a bigger payday for taking on minimal risk.

However, Team Chris has three of the top five Rookie of the Year candidates on the roster and four of the top ten. With that caliber of young talent on one roster, I’m going with them.

Our Pick: Team Chris (+220)

Best Bets for Feb. 14: NCAAB

Saint Louis Billikens vs. Loyola Chicago Ramblers

Saint Louis has the better conference record of the two, but only by a half-game (7-5 to 6-5). However, the Billikens have been struggling of late. They’ve lost three of their last four (vs. Dayton, St. Joseph’s, and George Mason).

But the Ramblers have won three of their last four and their last four home games.

Our Pick: Loyola Chicago -2.5 (-110)

Cornell Big Red vs. Harvard Crimson

Cornell is one of the better teams in the Ivy League, currently tied for second in the conference with Princeton (both have 5-2 records). Harvard is one of the weaker teams in the conference at 2-5 in conference play. These two teams faced off just a couple of weeks ago, a game Cornell went on to win 75-60.

Neither team is great, but Cornell is certainly the better of the two. They may not win by 15 again, but they’ll cover the spread.

Our Pick: Cornell -6.5 (odds via FanDuel)

Nevada Wolf Pack vs. San Jose State Spartans

Nevada has gone 6-7 in conference play, while San Jose State is 5-9. Between the two, the Wolf Pack is headed in the right direction, having won their last three, albeit against three of the worst teams in the conference. San Jose State, on the other hand, has lost three of its last five, including its last two.

When these two teams played earlier in the season, Nevada walked away a winner, 75-64. It is a little concerning that the Wolf Pack are just 2-5 on the road, but San Jose State has been a. 500 at home (6-6). With momentum on their side, Nevada will cover the spread for this game.

Our Pick: Nevada -6.5