One of the most anticipated college basketball games of the year takes place on Saturday as No. 1 UConn duels No. 4 Marquette in the Big East. We also have No. 6 Kansas vs. No. 25 Oklahoma, among other juicy games.
While we won't touch on the two monster matchups in this piece, our staff went through the whole slate and found their college basketball best bets.
College Basketball Best Bets
The team logos in the table below represent each of the matchups that our college basketball betting staff is targeting from today's slate of games. Click on the team logos for any of the matchups below to navigate to a specific bet discussed in this article.
| Game | Time (ET) | Pick |
|---|---|---|
  | 12 p.m. | |
| 12 p.m. | |
  | 12:30 p.m. | |
  | 1 p.m. | |
  | 6 p.m. | |
  | 8 p.m. | |
Specific betting recommendations come from the sportsbook offering preferred odds as of writing. Always shop for the best price using our NCAAB Odds page, which automatically surfaces the best lines for every game. | ||
Texas A&M vs. Alabama
Over 158.5
By D.J. James
The Texas A&M Aggies are 13-11 ATS on overs this year, while the Alabama Crimson Tide are 17-7. Both of those marks say the market hasn't been correct in regard to judging these two offenses and their respective paces.
A&M has an above-average offense in terms of efficiency. Much of this is due to maintaining control of the ball, getting to the free-throw line and being the best offensive rebounding team in the country.
Alabama is dreadful on the defensive glass, so this should play right into the Aggies’ hands.
Andersson Garcia, Henry Coleman III, Tyrece Radford and Soloman Washington are the usual suspects in terms of offensive rebounding. Having multiple positions to crash the glass from has helped A&M offensively.
The Aggies also get to the line, and Alabama is one of the weakest teams in the country when it comes to not fouling. Wade Taylor IV should have plenty of chances at the line, as should Garcia.
On the other side of the floor, Alabama is the best offensive team in the country. It can also get to the line as well, and A&M fouls pretty often. Like the Aggies, expect the Crimson Tide to have their fair share of free-throw chances.
The best feature of the Alabama attack is pace and 3-point efficiency.
It ranks ninth in 3-point attempt rate while hitting over 38% of its 3s. A&M ranks in the bottom 25 in 3-point attempt rate defensively. Alabama should ultimately have a hay day from outside with multiple deep threats.
Take this game to go over the total to 158.5.
Pick: Over 158.5
Texas A&M +9
I like the spot here for the Aggies to hang tough in Tuscaloosa coming off a really disappointing loss at Vanderbilt on Tuesday.
A road win over a top-15 opponent would go a long way in securing a bid to the Big Dance for A&M, so Buzz Williams’ team should be plenty motivated for this one.
As far as the on-court action, Texas A&M has a huge rebounding edge that it should be able to exploit for a bunch of second-chance opportunities.
Alabama was burned by Auburn on the boards in an 18-point loss earlier in the month, and the Aggies have similar personnel in the frontcourt to really get after it on the glass.
Yes, Alabama is explosive from the 3-point line, but as long as it doesn’t make them at a crazy clip, A&M can absolutely hang around here.
Look for Buzz to switch his defenses regularly in this one to give the Tide different looks and break their rhythm.
I give A&M a small chance of pulling off the outright upset, and I see a ton of value on the Aggies as a double-digit underdog on Saturday.
Pick: Texas A&M +9 (Play to +8)
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Creighton vs. Butler
By Matt Gannon
This Big East battle is a rematch of one of the games of the year. On Feb. 2, Butler outlasted Creighton in Omaha by a score of 99-98.
For Butler, that game was a true outlier when it comes to shooting. Butler shot 55% from the field and a whopping 59% from 3 and still only won by a single point.
By no means is Butler a bad 3-point shooting team. It ranks 77th in the entire nation and hits triples at a 36% clip. Obviously anything can happen in a single-game setting, but shooting 23% higher than your season-long baseline is a tad crazy.
This gives me another angle to boast my Creighton love. The Bluejays are one of the top teams in the conference and will be super motivated to avoid a sweep from anyone in the Big East — let alone a middling team.
The Jays have advantages at the guard spots and down low as well. Butler will finally come down to earth from deep in this matchup.
It truly took an unreal shooting performance for the Bulldogs to beat the Jays last time, and that came by a single point. Even if Butler had an above-average shooting day, it wouldn’t have won that matchup.
I typically don't love small road favorites. but I expect the Jays to get the job done at Hinkle on Saturday.
Pick: Creighton -2.5 (Play to -5)
Albany vs. UMBC
The UMBC Retrievers (8-18, 3-8) will look to complete the season sweep of the Albany Great Danes (12-13, 4-6) in this matinee on their home court in Baltimore, Maryland.
When these two K9-themed programs last met on February 3, both programs let the proverbial dogs out in a high-scoring affair that resulted in a 114-102 Retriever win.
I don’t think that this game will be a repeat of that epic scoring performance in which both teams shot better than 50% from the field, but I do expect UMBC to be the higher scoring team again.
The Retrievers are the most accurate team in the America East, with an effective field goal percentage of 53.2% this season. Leading the way for UMBC is breakout guard Dion Brown, who leads the conference in scoring (22.6 PPG) and is third in rebounds (9.5 RPG).
UMBC really stands out with a combination of its tempo and 3-point accuracy. It ranks fourth in the nation in tempo, but will be met with an equally fast-paced Albany team.
However, the Great Danes can’t keep up from beyond the arc, where the Retrievers rank first in the league and 40th in the nation, sinking 36.7% of their attempts.
This game is checking a big box for me, and I wanted to jump on it and highlight it for our readers. I love short home dogs, and any time I can grab a home team moneyline in a very even matchup, I'm all in.
Our Action Network Pro Model is forecasting UMBC as 3.5-point favorites in this game. This represents five points of differential to executable markets, working out to a 10% edge. This dichotomy results in this game receiving our highest grade of A+, representing some of the highest model conviction on the Saturday slate.
I like backing the sharpshooting Retrievers at home in this contest, and I recommend betting them on the moneyline. I would play this to -120. If the moneyline isn't available at -120 or shorter, I recommend laying the chalk at two points or better.
Pick: UMBC ML -104 (Play to -120)
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Kentucky vs. Auburn
By John Feltman
Get ready for a thrilling game at Neville Arena this Saturday as the Kentucky Wildcats take on the Auburn Tigers.
Both teams have high-powered offenses, and we can expect to see a lot of scoring throughout the game.
Despite Auburn having the fourth-best Adjusted Defensive Efficiency, I'm confident Kentucky's offense will put on a great show. The Wildcats are an impressive 41% from beyond the arc and shoot about 75% from the free-throw line — a significant stat since the Tigers' defense fouls at a high frequency.
However, Kentucky's weakness is rebounding, which means the Tigers will have plenty of second-chance scoring opportunities.
Despite being the best interior defensive team in the country, Auburn will have a tough time containing Kentucky's talented players like Rob Dillingham, Reed Sheppard and Antonio Reeves, who can make it rain from deep, especially in transition.
On the other side, Johni Broome and Jaylin Williams have been causing nightmares for opposing frontcourts all season long, and they’re expected to continue their success in this matchup.
Kentucky struggles with defensive rebounds and turnovers, so Auburn's offense is poised for another big game.
Although it's hard to replicate a 101-point offensive performance, I'm confident the Tigers will have another great game against Kentucky's weak defense.
If you're a fan of high-scoring games, you'll want to take advantage of this one.
Pick: Over 164 (Play to 166)
Michigan State vs. Michigan
By Greg Waddell
Rivalry game round two. Since the first contest between these two teams (a 19-point Michigan State win in East Lansing), the Spartans have started playing to their ceiling, and the Wolverines have redefined how low their floor can go.
Michigan has lost 17 games already this season, but remarkably, it hasn't covered the spread one time in those 17 losses. When it loses, it loses big.
In its last two games, Michigan lost by 49 points combined to Nebraska and Illinois.
Meanwhile, Michigan State has flipped its season in the other direction, beating Illinois and then going on the road to grab a win over Penn State.
Michigan point guard Dug McDaniel can play in this game after he missed the first matchup due to an academic suspension. McDaniel has been the best offensive weapon that the Wolverines have to offer, but it's hard to see him getting going offensively against the MSU guards.
Between Jaden Akins, A.J. Hoggard and Tyson Walker, Michigan State has three veteran options to make McDaniel’s life miserable.
Furthermore, Tom Izzo and Juwan Howard have split this series every year since Juwan took over. With every successive loss, it becomes less and less likely that Howard returns to Michigan next season.
Izzo may have just one final shot to ensure that he finishes with a winning record head-to-head against Howard, and it would be a surprise to see the Wolverines hang tough.
Expect the Spartans’ hot shooting to continue against the porous Michigan defense en route to an impressive cover.
Pick: Michigan State -6 (Play to -8.5)
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