New Mexico vs Southern Utah 11/7/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Southern Utah Thunderbirds and the New Mexico Lobos meet Monday in college basketball action from the Pit. Southern Utah managed to go 23-12 overall last season. The Thunderbirds finished second in the Big Sky standings. As for the Lobos, they went 13-19 overall last year, just two spots out of the basement in the Mountain West. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Southern Utah had a pretty solid overall season last year, but it’s tough not to feel disappointed with the finish. The Thunderbirds went 23-12 overall with a 14-6 mark in the Big Sky games. That result left Southern Utah in second place in the standings, behind only Montana State (16-4). 

The Thunderbirds were sitting at 15-6 overall at one point last year, but the team was a choppy 5-4 coming down the stretch. After a loss to Portland State in the Big Sky Tournament, Southern Utah won three games in the Basketball Classic before a loss to Fresno State. 

Over on the New Mexico side, they did better than the 2020-21 season (6-16 overall) last year at 13-19 overall. The bad news is that the Lobos went just 5-12 in the Mountain West matchups to finish two spots out of the basement in the conference standings. 

New Mexico finished the non-conference games at 7-6 last year before losing eight of their first nine Mountain West matchups. The Lobos would ultimately fall to Nevada in the first round of the Mountain West Tournament 79-72 to end their season. 

The Thunderbirds are 5-2 ATS in their last seven overall and 6-20 ATS in their last 26 Monday games. New Mexico is 5-1 ATS in their last six Monday games and 2-5 ATS in their last seven overall.

PICK: I might try New Mexico here. The Lobos are a trendy pick to take a big step forward in 2022-23. Jaelen House (16.9 PPG) and Jamal Mashburn Jr. (18.2 PPG) will provide some potent offensive firepower so the team should be able to score well versus comparable teams. That said, New Mexico struggled mightily with defense for most of last year (ranked No. 243 in adjusted defensive efficiency) so they’ve got a lot to work on entering the season. If all goes well however, New Mexico should make a significant jump in the standings over 2022-23.