3 Best Bets for a LOADED College Basketball Saturday

Georgia Tech +5.5

Florida State Seminoles basketball has been rolling, winning four of its last five, including wins at Virginia Tech and at Clemson. They also played No. 11 Virginia close all game and lost by three.

But I’m not fooled.

I remember the Florida State team that lost to Dayton by 28 and got beat by the very mid UMass Minutemen. I think FSU’s Cinderella run is over. For that reason, I’ll be taking Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets basketball +5.5 at home — a team with nothing left to play for but a little pride.

Iowa State -9.5

Texas Tech Red Raiders basketball was absolutely rolling. They were the only team to beat the No. 1, No. 2, and No. 4 ranked teams in the country. Then they took a weird trip to Arizona State for a game that tipped at 11 p.m. Eastern, lost the game, and lost their best player, JT Toppin, for the season.

While I’m impressed with how they responded — dropping 100 on a dead Kansas State team and beating a feisty Cincinnati squad at home that had just beaten Kansas outright — I have to stand on business here.

This team will fall off a cliff without JT Toppin, and unfortunately for them, playing the Iowa State Cyclones basketball in Ames, Iowa is the perfect place for that to happen.

Give me Iowa State -9.5. BY BELT.

Tennessee -4.5

Alabama Crimson Tide basketball has won seven SEC games in a row and hasn’t lost since February 1 at Florida. Yet they find themselves 4.5-point dogs to a **Tennessee Volunteers basketball team that’s 20–8, has shown it’s beatable, and is coming off a loss to Missouri.

I know Knoxville is a tough place to play, but given how these two teams have performed lately, I’m surprised this line isn’t closer to a pick ’em or Tennessee -2.5.

So I’ll trust the number.