Saturday’s college basketball slate should be a doozy with plenty of excitement throughout the day. With 14 ranked teams playing on the road, most of them being narrow favorites or narrow underdogs, we may be in for a rowdy day in the sport that could shake things up again, just a week after a Saturday with 11 ranked teams stumbling – most in one day since 2011.
In the ACC, No. 10 Virginia and No. 17 Miami run at Wake Forest and Duke respectively. In the Big 12, No. 7 Texas draws a hard roadie in West Virginia, while No. 12 Iowa State and No. 21 Baylor travel to Sooner State to meet Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, respectively. In the SEC, No. 4 Alabama is in Missouri, No. 9 Tennessee heads to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to face LSU, and No. 16 Auburn signs a talented team from South Carolina at Colonial Life Arena.
Chaos reigns, so prepare accordingly.
Below, our experts have picks and predictions for the biggest games of the day in what appears to be one of the best standalone slates of the season so far.
Odds through Caesars Sportsbook | All times Eastern
Recommended game | Arizona Wildcats vs UCLA Bruins
2pm | ABC, fuboTV (Try Free) — This has a chance to be the best game on the slate on Saturday. UCLA, winners of 14 behind a top-five defense, head to the desert to face an Arizona team that has, if all goes well, arguably the most explosive offense in the sport. Zona has looked mortal on points this season, even at home, so I’m riding with the road team while the Bruins look good. Prediction: UCLA -1 — Boone
No. 7 Texas in West Virginia
Recommended game | West Virginia Mountaineers v Texas Longhorns
6pm | ESPN, fuboTV (Try Free) — West Virginia is a stingy team to play in Morgantown, West Virginia, but this is a rule that doesn’t make sense. Texas has more talent, a better overall roster and a body of work that surpasses that of WVU, which outside of a win over TCU has lost five of its last six this week. Texas +1.5
No. 4 Alabama in Missouri
Recommended game | Missouri Tigers v Alabama Crimson Tide
6pm | SEC Network, fuboTV (Try Free) — My favorite upset choice of the week here. Bama’s 16-2 and won 11 of 12 as Mizzou fell lately with three losses in the last five after a 12-1 start. The Tigers, who shot them in-house outside of Kansas earlier this season, were nails at home. I like that they give Bama a big push in this place. Missouri +6 — Boone
No. 17 Miami at Duke
12 hours | ESPN, fuboTV (Try Free) — At the Cameron Indoor Stadium and after losing to Clemson with a week to prepare, Duke looks set to play the chalk here as a narrow favorite to defend his home court advantage. But a few of us including myself like Miami on this place to pull the W straight up. With Jeremy Roach back but injured after missing several weeks, the Blue Devils’ backcourt can still be a sore spot and Miami’s defensive play, one of the best in the ACC, is well positioned to take advantage. Prediction: Miami +5.5 — Boone
Recommended game | Kansas Jayhawks vs. TCU Horned Frogs
1:00 pm | CBS, CBSSports.com, CBS Sports App (Free) — These teams split their series last season and TCU nearly recorded its first-ever win in Kansas before the Jayhawks got a late defensive stop in a thrilling game. The Horned Frogs are an experienced team who are not intimidated by the gritty atmosphere at Allen Fieldhouse. They’ve already had one Big 12 win at Baylor and will believe they can get another one. The Jayhawks are a better bet to win outright because of their dominance at home, but it would be a surprise if TCU folded easily in this top-15 battle. Prediction: TCU +7.5 — David Cobb
Who will win and cover every college basketball game? Visit SportsLine to get picks from the model that simulates each game 10,000 times and has soared more than $1,200 for $100 players on the top-rated spread picks over the past six years.
