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

If all you want for Christmas this holiday weekend is your two front teeth an incredible college basketball slate, then boy do I have some news for you: Santa (spoiler alert!) picked you for his nice list. Because Saturday presents an incredible day of action on the hardwood headlined by the annual CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta, which features ranked teams in each matchup and opportunities for both Kentucky and Ohio State to prove themselves after recent stumbles.

Throughout the day and into the night, 12 ranked teams are in action Saturday — among them No. 22 St. John’s and No. 12 North Carolina — and there are three ranked-vs.-ranked matchups to boot. One of those is perhaps the game of the day on CBS at 5:30 p.m. ET between No. 8 Houston and No. 14 Arkansas. But we also have No. 6 Purdue vs. No. 21 Auburn and No. 3 Duke vs. No. 19 Texas Tech as part of the nightcap. And for those who are staying up late No. 1 Arizona tips at 11:30 p.m. ET (!!) vs. San Diego State.

Like I said: a loaded slate.

The college basketball experts made picks straight up and against the spread for some of the biggest games of the day Saturday. Those picks are below.

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook | All times ET

12:30 p.m. on CBS, CBSSports.com, CBS Sports App, Paramount+ Premium: Rick Pitino is 1-0 this season facing teams he previously coached (St. John’s beat Iona 91-64 last week) and I anticipate that record moves to 2-0 Saturday. This Kentucky team has looked listless on offense for most of the last month, and the Johnnies are starting to figure things out defensively at an opportune time. This St. John’s team has whiffed on most of its chances to score a signature win out of the gate — it is 0-3 vs. ranked teams so far — but the worm turns vs. the Wildcats here. Pick: St. John’s -2.5

3 p.m. on CBS, CBSSports.com, CBS Sports App, Paramount+ Premium: A welcome test in the CBS Sports Classic both for UNC and Ohio State — and one I expect ends in favor of the Tar Heels. UNC is 3-0 vs. the Buckeyes in the CBS Sports Classic and it has played very well vs. high-major opponents thus far with wins over Kansas, Kentucky and Georgetown on its resume. The length and defense from the Tar Heels gets them the win. Pick: UNC -4.5

5:30 p.m. on CBS, CBSSports.com, CBS Sports App, Paramount+ Premium: Arkansas is the real deal and has proven as much on several occasions this season with wins over Louisville and Texas Tech. That’s not to say Houston’s not the real deal as well — I think Houston wins this game — but if I were to play it it’d be by taking the points with the Razorbacks. They have a tremendous defense, they’re getting great guard play from their backcourt and they have the personnel to match, or at least potentially keep up with, the physicality Houston will bring into this one. Pick: Arkansas +4.5

No. 6 Purdue vs. No. 21 Auburn     

6:30 p.m. on Peacock: Purdue wins but this one could be closer than people expect. Auburn nearly downed Houston in November and has notched wins over St. John’s and NC State in the last few weeks as it gains confidence in its personnel under first-year coach Steven Pearl. Tigers can score almost as well as any team in the country — but Purdue is not among them. Pick: Auburn +8.5

8 p.m. on ESPN, fuboTV (try for free): The 8-3 record doesn’t quite tell the story of how good Texas Tech is and how good it can be. I’m also a staunch JT Toppin stan and think that matchup with Cameron Boozer could be terrific. That said, this Duke team is operating at another level right now: its defense is No. 10 defending 3-pointers, No. 2 by 2-point percentage and No. 1 accounting for effective field-goal percentage. A win would be a heavy lift for a Tech team that has been good, not great, on offense so far even with the star turn of Christian Anderson. I’m taking the points with the dog but Duke wins this one by multiple possessions. Pick: Texas Tech +8.5 — Boone

Who will win and cover in every college basketball game? Visit SportsLine to get picks from the model that simulates each game 10,000 times and is up more than $1,200 for $100 players on its top-rated spread picks the past six years.