College basketball picks: Predictions, odds for top 25 games Saturday

Twenty-four of college basketball’s 25 ranked teams are in action Saturday. And sixteen of those teams are playing on the road. So as someone who has followed this sport closely for decades, let me translate: the forecast over the next 24 hours in the sport has a high probability of chaos. 

Just in the last week alone, we’ve seen three undefeated teams take their first loss of the season, and during that span 16 ranked teams suffered at least one loss. Chances of more mayhem continue into the weekend with the top six teams in the latest AP Top 225 poll all on the road Saturday. Of the top 20 teams in the AP poll, 16 are playing away from home.

We could be in for a fun and frenzied weekend in the sport as a result. So I called in the experts to help me make picks for some of the biggest games on tap for Saturday. Those picks straight-up and against the spread are below.

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook | All times ET

1 p.m. on CBS, CBSSports.com, CBS Sports App, Paramount+ Premium: All but one of our experts are riding Ohio State both straight up and ATS in this one. I am among them. The Buckeyes are back at home after a west coast trip where they have been at their best. They are 7-1 as home favorites this season and this sets up for a nice bounceback spot coming off a close loss Sunday at Washington. Pick: OSU -3.5 — Boone

2 p.m. on ESPN, fuboTV (try for free): Vandy has lost some of its shine after suffering its first loss of the season midweek at Texas. But I’m not jumping off the bandwagon. They get Florida in Nashville in an ideal rebound spot vs. a Florida team that has largely underwhelmed this season. This one could be close, as the spread indicates, but the Commodores get back in the win column. Pick: Vandy -3.5 — Boone

6 p.m. on Peacock: Let’s take a stab and go with an upset pick here, huh? USC has been hot and cold much of the last couple weeks. But it has largely found a way to play up to its competition at home. Eric Musselman will have his guys ready for this one given how dominant Purdue has been this season. A win here would do wonders for the Trojans. They can absolutely pull this off if Rodney Rice and Chad Baker-Mazara can neutralize Braden Smith. Pick: USC +8.5 — Boone

6 p.m. on ACC Network fuboTV (try for free): Coming off a five-point home win over North Carolina, Stanford getting Duke at home seems an inviting pick as a 10-point dog. But I’m not biting. Duke and UNC are within an hour of each other geographically but they’re lightyears apart on the court right now. Duke just has a different gear it can engage when Cam Boozer and Isaiah Evans are playing the way they are. Pick: Duke -8.5 — Boone

No. 11 BYU at No. 15 Texas Tech               

8 p.m. on ESPN, fuboTV (try for free): This was the hardest pick for me on the slate (and full disclosure: I picked BYU initially before flipping just before we published this). Texas Tech is just such a handful at home, and with Christian Anderson in the backcourt and JT Toppin in the backcourt, they have all the weapons to match with BYU. I think AJ Dybantsa has a big game but it comes in a losing effort. Pick: Texas Tech -2.5 — Boone