Seventeen teams currently ranked in The Associated Press Top 25 poll will be in action Saturday as a stacked college basketball schedule takes center stage here in late January. The fun begins at Madison Square Garden when No. 8 Michigan State faces Rutgers on CBS.
Michigan State is the lone Big Ten team that has yet to lose a game in conference play. The Spartans are off to a 7-0 start and sit atop the Big Ten standings ahead of Michigan, Purdue, and Oregon. Rutgers is coming off a loss to Penn State and sits at 3-5 in conference play.
The action continues into the afternoon when No. 12 Kansas hosts No. 7 Houston in a marquee Big 12 showdown. Houston is the only team (7-0) from the Big 12 that hasn’t dropped a game in conference play. Houston and Kansas split the season series last year when the Cougars were in their first season as a member of the Big 12.
The best matchup of the weekend is one of the final matchups on the slate. No. 1 Auburn will look to keep its perfect SEC record intact when Bruce Pearl’s program hosts No. 6 Tennessee. The Tigers have been without Johni Broome for the last two games because of an ankle injury suffered in a win over South Carolina earlier this month.
Odds via SportsLine consensus | All times Eastern
1:30 p.m. | CBS, CBSSports.com, CBS Sports App and Paramount+ with Showtime (try it free) — Michigan State is coming off a pair of narrow home wins and now must hit the road to play a talented Rutgers team at Madison Square Garden. The Spartans play a 2-point oriented style that runs counter to the game’s modern norms. That should allow the Scarlet Knights to remain in striking distance and within this spread. Rutgers isn’t polished, but it rarely gets blown out. Pick: Rutgers +6 — David Cobb
2:30 p.m. | ESPN2, fuboTV (Try for free) — Texas A&M is coming off a dramatic win over Ole Miss earlier this week. The Aggies closed the game on an 11-2 run to escape with a 63-62 win over the Rebels. Meanwhile, Texas has won two of its last three games. Texas A&M won the first matchup earlier this month by 20. Although this game should be closer than the first, expect Texas A&M to walk away with a win over its in-state rival on the road. Prediction: Texas A&M +1 — Cameron Salerno
6:30 p.m. | ESPN, fuboTV (Try for free) — Kansas is 3-1 all-time against Houston at Allen Fieldhouse. Houston has won 11 consecutive games and is on a roll heading into this matchup. The Cougars are 0-2 (Auburn and Alabama) against ranked competition, while Kansas has a 2-1 mark against top-25 opponents. Houston comes away with the win on the road behind its stifling defense, which allowed just 36 points to Utah in its last game. Prediction: Houston -2 — Salerno
8 p.m. | Fox, fuboTV (Try for free) — UConn finds itself in unfamiliar territory heading into a road matchup against Xavier. The Huskies have already lost two games against Big East competition heading into the last weekend of January after losing two total games in conference play last season. UConn needed overtime to defeat Butler in its last matchup, and despite being an underdog on the road, should come away with a win over an Xavier team that’s won three of its last four games. Prediction: UConn +2 — Salerno
8:30 p.m. | ESPN, fuboTV (Try for free) — No Johni Broome, no problem. Auburn’s star big man has missed the last two games due to an ankle injury, but his team still found a way to go 2-0 in that stretch against two ranked teams (Mississippi State/Georgia). The status of Broome heading into the weekend is up in the air, and if Broome can’t go, Tennessee should find a way to cover. The key to an upset win for the road team will be to get Tennessee star Chaz Lanier going. Lanier is coming off a 23-point performance against Mississippi State. Auburn wins, but Tennessee covers the spread. Prediction: Tennessee +6.5 — Salerno
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