Mike Kern's Saturday college hoops picks include Villanova, Penn State, La Salle, St. Joseph's, Drexel, Duke, Seton Hall, 2 MAC games & more

OK, time to rebound from what was not a good night for us in the Ivy League. It happens.

It’s Saturday, so there’s a lot to choose from, which probably means we like too much. Oh well.

Let’s start with some teasers, 'cause you know that’s the way we like to roll. I’ll take Iowa to win at home against Penn State, with Butler -3 at home against DePaul. Penn State has struggled the last week or so. The Nits beat Iowa at the Palestra by three way back when. I just think Hawkeyes will figure out a way to get payback. But it’ll probably be close, since most of the ones I get involved in usually are. Butler isn’t the same team it was a month ago, but DePaul stinks. So I’m guessing Butler can at least find a way to win by more than a field goal at its place. Or maybe any place, against the Demons.

I’m going to tease Providence up to +12 against Villanova in South Philly. Colin Gillespie’s status is iffy, but I’m guessing he’ll play, just at less than 100 percent. Nova is starting to rev up for the postseason, but Friars can be a gritty bunch too and I just think they can, if nothing else, keep it under double digits. And Cats have lost a few recently at the Center. I just need another game to put with this. So in keeping with the local theme how about Charleston -3 to visiting Drexel. The Dragons haven’t won in awhile, and this looks like a tough spot even though they could always hang around.

In the MAC, let’s go with Ball State +7 at Toledo, and Bowling Green +2 at Miami of Ohio. No real good reason other than my Midwest guy likes me to put something on his two teams. So go light.

In a move that I’m sure to regret (but when did that ever stop me?), I’ll stay local some more. Let’s try Saint Joseph’s to win at home over Fordham, which is really bad, and Saint Bonaventure to win at LaSalle. Bonnies are 10-5 in the Atlantic 10, and LaSalle just lost its best player. This one could come back to bite me, just because, but again you don’t have to go nuts.

Straight bets

I’m also taking Marquette -2 over Seton Hall at home. It’s the last home game for Markus Howard, and I just have a feeling Marquette can get it done in an emotional spot against a really good team.

I was also looking at two others but I’m not as sure so I’ll just throw them out there for your perusal. Duke is -3.5 at Virginia. It’s likely a sucker play, which of course has me written all over it. I just think the Devils aren’t going to lose, again, but it could always be close with the Cavs and the way they play. And they have been playing better. Same with Maryland -3 at home to Michigan State. Terps just keep finding ways to win. And Sparty is a tough group to get a handle on. So tread carefully. Maybe you just tease Duke and Maryland and simply root for both to just win.