Sunday’s Tip Sheet

Sunday’s college basketball’s betting board features a trio of nationally ranked teams trying to improve their current position in the polls. Early in the afternoon, the Big Ten’s No. 6 Michigan State Spartans will be on the road against Purdue.

Moving to the AAC, the No. 17 Houston Cougars face Tulsa on the road at the Reynolds Center. As the featured Sunday afternoon matchup on FOX, the No. 18 Villanova Wildcats will play host to Seton Hall in a Big East battle in Philadelphia.

Opening Odds

No. 6 Michigan State Spartans at Purdue Boilermakers (CBS, 1 p.m. ET)

Opening Odds: Michigan State -2, Total 147

Betting Matchup

The Spartans’ current straight-up winning streak reached 13 games with Thursday’s 82-67 road victory against Iowa. They covered the closing five-point spread as favorite to payoff against the spread in their ninth-straight outing. The total stayed UNDER 156 ½-points in that game and it has stayed UNDER in seven of their last eight games. Michigan State is 18-2 SU with a 16-4 record ATS overall. It is a highly profitable 9-0 SU and ATS in Big Ten play.

Purdue improved to 6-2 SU (5-3 ATS) with Wednesday’s 79-67 road victory against Ohio State as a slight 1 ½-point favorite. This was the Boilermakers’ fourth win in a row (SU and ATS) after losing to Michigan State 77-59 on Jan. 8 as seven-point road underdogs. The total stayed UNDER 152 points in that game. Purdue shot just 31.3 percent from the field in that first meeting while going 7-for-31 from three-point range. This compares to an overall field goal percentage of 45.6.

Betting Trends

-- The Spartans are a perfect 6-0 ATS this season on the road and the total has stayed UNDER in four of their last five road games.

-- The Boilermakers have covered in their last four games against a team with a SU winning record and the total has gone OVER or ended as a PUSH in 12 of their last 17 games coming off a SU win.

-- The road team is 6-2-1 ATS in the last nine meetings and the total has gone OVER in the last five meetings at Purdue.

No. 17 Houston Cougars at Tulsa Golden Hurricane (ESPNEWS, 2 p.m. ET)

Opening Odds: Houston -5 ½, Total 138

Betting Matchup

With Wednesday’s 94-50 romp over East Carolina as 18-point home favorites, the Cougars maintained their lead in the AAC at 6-1 SU (5-2 ATS). The lone conference loss came against Temple on the road in a four-point deficit as one-point underdogs. This was also the only blemish on an overall SU record of 19-1 (13-6-1 ATS) . The total went OVER 141 ½ points in Wednesday’s game and it has gone OVER in five of Houston’s first seven AAC matchups. The Cougars connected on 16 three-point shots against East Carolina.

Tulsa has dropped four of its last five games SU with Thursday’s 88-64 loss to Cincinnati as a 14-point road underdog. It started conference play with a 74-56 road loss to Houston on Jan. 2 as an 11-point underdog. The total stayed UNDER 134 ½ points in that game. The Golden Hurricane are scoring as many points (70.6) as they are allowing on defense (70.1). Senior forward DaQuan Jeffries leads the team in scoring with 13.4 PPG while shooting 51.7 percent from the field.

Betting Trends

-- The Cougars have an 8-1 record ATS in their last nine games on the road and the total has stayed UNDER in six of their last seven road games.

-- The Golden Hurricane are 6-2 ATS in their last eight home games with the total going OVER in their last four games played at home.

-- The favorite has a 4-1 record ATS in the last five meetings and the total has stayed UNDER in three of the last five games between the two.

Seton Hall Pirates at No. 18 Villanova Wildcats (FOX, 2:30 p.m. ET)

Opening Odds: Villanova -9, Total 146

Betting Matchup

Seton Hall’s current SU losing streak reached three games in a wild 97-93 loss to DePaul last Saturday night as a 7 ½-point home favorite. This followed road losses to Marquette and Providence in its previous two Big East matchups. The Pirates are 3-4 SU (2-5 ATS) in seven conference games as part of an overall record of 12-7. They are 8-11 ATS with the total going OVER in six of their last nine games. The 93 points against DePaul was the first time they crossed the 80-point mark in their last eight games.

Following a roller-coaster start, the Wildcats are starting to gain some traction with a SU seven-game winning streak while going 5-2 ATS. They beat Butler 80-72 on Tuesday night as slight 1 ½-point road underdogs after posting an 85-75 victory against Xavier at home last Friday to cover the 9 ½-point closing spread. Villanova is 15-4 SU with a 12-7 record ATS. This includes a 4-5 record ATS at home this season. In the game against Butler, senior forward Eric Paschall led the way with 23 points and senior guard Phil Booth added 17 more points to help pace the win. The Wildcats hit 12 three-pointers in that eight-point victory.

Betting Trends

-- The Pirates have covered in eight of their last 11 games on the road and the total has gone OVER in 11 of their last 15 road games.

-- The Wildcats are 11-5 ATS in their last 16 games coming off an ATS win. The total has stayed UNDER or ended as a PUSH in 10 of their last 11 home games.

-- Villanova has won the last five meetings SU with a slight 3-2 edge ATS. The total has stayed UNDER in seven of the Wildcats’ last eight home games against Seton Hall.