Caleb Wilfinger
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The college basketball season is in full swing and Saturday brings us an absolutely fantastic slate, filled with nonstop action and marquee games from noon until deep into the night on the east coast. And what better way to celebrate a massive college hoops slate on Saturday than with a mega parlay? That’s right; I have crafted an NCAAB parlay for today’s games that pays out at over 9/1 odds at FanDuel Sportsbook.
And, like always, don’t forget to check out all of our college basketball predictions for today’s games.
Kansas ML (+112)
St. John’s ML (+165)
Baylor -2.5 (-110)
NCAAB Parlay odds: +973
Kansas Jayhawks ML over Houston Cougars (+112)
One of the biggest games of the weekend takes place in the Big 12, where the Kansas Jayhawks host Houston in a battle of AP Top 10 teams. Throw a dart at any almost metric site (KenPom, Barttorvik, etc.) and they’ll tell you that is Houston not only better than Kansas by a clear margin this season, but that the Cougars are the best team in college basketball. I’d be inclined to agree with them and Houston has looked the part to this point in the season. However, this is almost a game that you can almost blindly bet given the history and situation.
Historically, it doesn’t get much better than Bill Self in Allen Fieldhouse. Most college hoops have likely heard the stat about more Big 12 championships than home losses for Self in his Kansas tenure, but what’s most impressive is how well the Jayhawks play against the best competition in their building. In 21 seasons as the head coach, Self is holds an astounding 13-0 record at home against AP Top 5 opponents ranked higher than Kansas at the time. Needless to say, this will be a true “welcome to the Big 12” moment for Houston in the Cougars’ first game in this building. The Cougars haven’t exactly been invincible on the road in conference play, having dropped road games to both Iowa State and TCU already.
The numbers and eye test will tell you that this is far from one of Self’s best teams at Kansas, and I’d wholeheartedly agree. But given Self’s track record and that this is a game the Jayhawks desperately need in the Big 12 regular season title race, the short number is telling us that the ‘books are aware of the spot. Let’s back Kansas to get the outright victory.
Check out all of our college basketball predictions for today’s games
St. John’s Red Storm ML over UConn Huskies (+165)
This is a prime revenge in-conference spot for a St. John’s team that has just one loss at home in league play, a defeat that came via a 1-point loss to Marquette on January 20. Rick Pitino’s side likes to get out and run in transition, which bodes well against a UConn team that is outside the top 300 in adjusted tempo per KenPom. It helps that the Red Storm have a trio of veteran guards plus big man Joel Soriano in the paint to compete with Donovan Clingan around the basket.
There’s no doubt that this UConn team certainly looks scary when fully healthy. The issue for the defending national champions is that likely won’t be the case on Saturday. The Huskies have listed Alex Karaban as questionable with an ankle injury he suffered on Wednesday, and while I do expect him to play in this game, I don’t think he’ll be playing at 100%. The reports after the game indicate that Karaban’s ankle was “badly swollen” and he could hardly move down the stretch against Providence. If Karaban isn’t playing like his usual self, this should allow St. John’s to able to focus more on the Huskies’ interior play. In what should be a close game throughout, I like the Johnnies to pull off the upset Madison Square Garden.
Baylor Bears -2.5 over Iowa State Cyclones (-110)
The last couple of weeks have been an extremely unlucky period for Baylor, with the Bears having lost 3 of their last 5 games by a combined 9 points. In those Baylor losses, 2 of them came in overtime in which the Bears held leads in both periods, only to ultimately come up short when the final buzzer sounded. End of game variance can be a crapshoot and Baylor has experienced it firsthand to almost comically unfortunate levels in recent games. On the bright side, Saturday’s matchup with Iowa State in Waco does line up nicely from a situational perspective, and I expect this veteran Bears team to take advantage.
Outside of a triple overtime loss to TCU last Saturday, Baylor has been outstanding in front of its home fans this season, much like most teams in this conference. Baylor is also fortunate enough to be playing an Iowa State team that just shot nearly 50% from deep and knocked down 14 threes in a victory over Kansas in Ames. Considering that some shooting regression is due and this Iowa State offense already has trouble scoring consistently on the road this season, I expect that the Bears’ defense (the weakness of the team) shouldn’t be a net negative at home. Baylor is a top 5 offense per KenPom and the Bears backcourt should thrive at the McLane Center once again, so let’s take another Big 12 team to win and cover at home.
