5 Best Bets for College Basketball Saturday: Back the Hungry Dogs

Wake Forest (-3.5) vs. Clemson

The predictive metrics just don't do justice to how strong Wake Forest has been at home this season. It's as if they are a different team. The Demon Deacons possess a 15-1 home record on the season, while their road record of 2-9 drags down their predictions. This is one of the best teams in the nation when they are inside Joel Coliseum, and they will be desperate for this one on Saturday. With just two Quad 1 wins on the resumé and increasingly looking like they are on the wrong side of the bubble after that brutal Georgia Tech loss, we'll back the hungrier dog in this one.

Kentucky (+7.5) @ Tennessee

Kentucky may be worth a moneyline bet as well, given how volatile this team is. Since they possess such a wide range of outcomes, it often makes them an attractive bet as an underdog. We've seen stretches from the Wildcats this season where they have looked like a lost group of freshmen or we've seen times where they have looked like the most talented team in the country. They have really come into their own over the past month as winners of seven of their previous nine games, and this number just feels a bit too large on a team with this much talent. The big knock on Kentucky was the lack of experience. It's been 30 games, and the kids have seen plenty, let's get them a swing of the bat here in Knoxville.

Mercer (+8.5) vs. Samford (N)

We put the "N" here to clarify that this game will be played on a neutral site in the Southern Conference Tournament quarterfinals. While Samford has run through this conference for the entire season, the one team that has really given them some fits has been Mercer. While the Bears finished conference play under .500 at 8-10, they can hang their hat on an upset win over the Bulldogs three weeks ago and just a seven-point loss on the road back in January. Head coach Greg Gary may have the secret sauce to limiting BuckyBall, and we've seen enough to know to back him when this matchup rears its head. Don't be surprised if this is a game heading towards the midway point of the second half.

Texas Tech (-2) vs. Baylor

Baylor has been super fun in their past two games, knocking off both Kansas and Texas in the past week. The fact of the matter is that the Bears haven't done much on the road this season outside of their most recent road trip to TCU, where they downed the Horned Frogs, who were without starting big man Ernest Udeh. Outside of that, their best true road win this season came against UCF. Not a great showing of prowess away from Foster Pavilion, and it means we are more than happy to lay the short number with Texas Tech in our weekly fade spot.

Wake Forest (-3.5) vs. Clemson

The predictive metrics just don't do justice to how strong Wake Forest has been at home this season. It's as if they are a different team. The Demon Deacons possess a 15-1 home record on the season, while their road record of 2-9 drags down their predictions. This is one of the best teams in the nation when they are inside Joel Coliseum, and they will be desperate for this one on Saturday. With just two Quad 1 wins on the resumé and increasingly looking like they are on the wrong side of the bubble after that brutal Georgia Tech loss, we'll back the hungrier dog in this one.