Betting the Big 12: Basketball Saturday

Ho hum, another day with the best conference in basketball. This weekend brings us 2 ranked matchups and all 5 games projected within 10 points. I know the NFL playoffs start today, especially with Brock Purdy leading the 49ers. If you are a multiple screens type of person, football and 5 Big 12 games are the way to go. I’ll save my complaints about ESPN+ and no flex scheduling for another day.

THE GAMES

West Virginia (10-6, 0-4) at Oklahoma (10-6, 1-3)

Tipoff: 11:00am | TV: ESPN2 | The Line: Oklahoma -3.5 | O/U: 137

Bob Huggins just fired a guy who had been on his staff since he came back to West Virginia 13 years ago. Think he’s feeling a little desperate? An 0-5 start to conference play all of a sudden makes the NCAA Tournament feel far away. Oklahoma might be a little overvalued after almost winning in AFH on Tuesday night.

Pick: West Virginia +3.5

#11 Kansas State (15-1, 4-0) at #17 TCU (13-3, 2-2)

Tipoff: 1:00pm | TV: ESPN2 | The Line: TCU -4 | O/U: 147.5

TCU can’t afford to lose another home game and stay in the conference championship race, but at this point don’t you have to keep taking K-State until they lose? They are 4-0 ATS in conference play for a reason, right?

Pick: Kansas State +4

#14 Iowa State (13-2, 4-0) at #2 Kansas (15-1, 4-0)

Tipoff: 3:00pm | TV: ESPN+ | The Line: Kansas -7.5 | O/U: 133.5

How long can Iowa State keep making shots? How long can Kansas keep getting away with barely scraping by at home (ok, they’ll probably get to do this forever). The game of the day in college hoops, no doubt. It’s a shame this is exclusively streaming, especially when you look at what’s on tv at this time. It shouldn’t be a surprise where I’m leaning.

Pick: Iowa State +7.5

Oklahoma State (9-7, 1-3) at #19 Baylor (11-5, 1-3)

Tipoff: 5:00pm | TV: ESPNU | The Line: Baylor -6.5 | O/U: 138.5

The power of the Big 12 is that Oklahoma State is by far the best 7 loss team in the country. I have to imagine people will look at the records and think only 6.5 points in Waco? Seems curiously small.

Pick: Oklahoma State +6.5

Texas Tech (10-6, 0-4) at #10 Texas (14-2, 3-1)

Tipoff: 7:00pm | TV: ESPN | The Line: Texas -8.5 | O/U: 141.5

Texas tried to buy themselves a home court advantage for basketball by building a tiny arena for their apathetic fanbase. So far that’s yielded a blowout home loss to K-State and barely beating TCU in conference play. This line doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Tech looks terrible. Why is this line under 10 points? I do feel a little better about this being a low scoring game though.

Pick: Under 141.5

For those keeping score at home, that’s 4 underdogs, and honestly I like all 5. Today feels like a hungry dogs run faster kind of Saturday.