Less than two weeks remain in the college basketball regular season, and a sense of urgency is creeping in for teams that are fighting for top seeds in their upcoming conference tournaments.
It’s even more panic setting in for teams that have not done enough to make the NCAA Tournament in March, and those schools are fighting for postseason survival now.
With three big-time matchups slated for this weekend, what can bettors expect from Saturday’s jampacked college basketball schedule? We’ll cover our top three picks for Saturday below.
Tennessee will certainly be in the NCAA Tournament, but the school’s struggles in late January are continuing to haunt them. The Vols have won four of their past five games, but their loss last week at Kentucky shows Tennessee still cannot be trusted to win big games on the road.
Texas A&M is in a different place altogether this season. The Aggies lost on Tuesday against Mississippi State, ending their five-game winning streak.
Their victories over Missouri and Ole Miss earlier this year show that Texas A&M is going to be a contender in March to make a deep run in both the SEC tourney and the NCAA’s Big Dance.
Best Bet: Texas A&M (+1.5)
Iowa State is one of the best teams in the country, but a three-game losing streak in late January and early February pushed the Cyclones down the conference standings. The school avenged those losses, winning the past four games against lower-level Big 12 conference teams.
They’ll have a chance to show that their three-game losing streak was a fluke on Saturday when the Cyclones travel south to face the Houston Cougars. All Houston has done since early November is win basketball games, going 18-1 with their lone blemish an overtime loss to Texas Tech on February 1st.
The Cougars are among the hottest teams in the country, winning games with the NCAA’s best defensive effort in the country. Houston will continue their strong effort and win this game by a double-digit margin on Saturday.
Best Bet: Houston (-7.5)
The Duke Blue Devils will step outside of the ACC for a strong out-of-conference matchup against the Illinois Illini inside Madison Square Garden on Saturday. The primetime matchup will be among the biggest on both team’s remaining schedules.
Duke is playing for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, needing to win out and have a strong ACC Tournament showing to secure that slot. The Blue Devils have lost only once since December started, dropping a close game against Clemson two weeks ago for their only blemish in ACC play.
Illinois is fighting for a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Illini have wins over Arkansas out of conference and Oregon and Wisconsin inside the Big Ten. Yet Illinois has struggled since starting the season 12-3, winning only five of their past 12 games. A win against Duke should secure the Illini’s berth in the sport’s premier postseason tournament.
Best Bet: OVER 152.5 Points