Our free College Basketball picks are out for Saturday, January 1st, 2022! Make sure you check our expert College Basketball picks before the action kicks off.
Look below to find our free College Basketball picks for the best games on today’s schedule!
West Virginia @ #17 Texas – 12pm ET
This Big 12 Conference battle has all the makings of an instant classic as the 11-1 West Virginia Mountaineers take on the 10-2 Texas Longhorns in Austin. Somehow the Mountaineers are unranked, while Texas comes into this one ranked 17th in the country. This game could potentially be a preview of the Big 12 title game in a few short months.
Denis Kirilov
West Virginia will travel to Texas to face off the Longhorns on the first day of 2022. Both teams have been playing quite well from the beginning of the season. West Virginia is coming into this game on an 11-1 run, losing just to Marquette. However, they have only faced a seeded team once and that was in their ninth match when they defeated UConn, 56-53. The Mountaineers have a fantastic scorer in the face of Taz Sherman who averages 20.9 points per game.Texas, on the other hand, have lost some positions in the rankings, dropping to #17. They have lost both games against seeded teams this year. The first loss came against Gonzaga in their second match for the campaign.
Seton Hall was the other team that outplayed them, 64-60, in the beginning of December. The Longhorns have succeeded in holding their opponents below the 50-point mark in a lot of games and I think they will rely much on their defense against West Virginia as well. Timmy Allen is a fantastic player who is good on both ends, averaging 53.5% from the field. Tre Mitchell has been spectacular from the 3-point and on top of that, with the return of Dylan Disu, the team became even more stable in defense. I think that the Longhorns will win this one, but I don’t expect it to be a one-sided affair from the very beginning.
Denis’ College Basketball Pick: Texas -9.5 (-110)
Alexa, play Take Me To Texas#HailWV pic.twitter.com/Ev5rYsEDuP
— WVU Men’s Basketball (@WVUhoops) December 31, 2021
Tony Battalio
The West Virginia Mountaineers are coming into this Big 12 match up with a record of 11-1 on the season, but somehow find themselves unranked and outside of the top 25. However a win in this game would likely change that when the new rankings come out next week. The Mountaineer’s lone loss of the season came to Marquette in the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic. Since that loss West Virginia has won eight straight games. They will be looking to make it nine straight with a huge top 25 and Big 12 victory in this one.
The Texas Longhorns are coming into this conference matchup with a record of 10-2 on the season. They are currently ranked 17th in the country as well. Since their second loss to Seton Hall back in the middle of December, they have won four straight games and now will look to get the new year started off on the right foot. However I don’t see that happening as I have Bobby Huggins and the West Virginia Mountaineers picking up the victory on the road in Austin to start off 2022 on the right foot.
Tony’s College Basketball Pick: West Virginia (+385)
#1 Baylor @ #8 Iowa State – 2pm ET
The second featured Big 12 matchup of the day is a top ten matchup between the top team in the nation and the eighth ranked team in the county. Both of these teams are coming into this game undefeated and sadly one of them will be taking their first loss when it’s all said and done. Strap yourselves in and get ready for a great game of basketball for 40 minutes.
Denis Kirilov
The top-seeded team, Baylor, will travel to Iowa to play against Iowa State. Both teams remain undefeated in the NCAA this year, keeping a perfect 12-0 record so far. By looking through their schedule, I would say that the one of Iowa State seems a bit more difficult as they had to play Memphis, Xavier, and Creighton. On the other hand, the Baylor Bears have faced just Villanova from the seeded teams and Oregon seems to be among the best of their unseeded opponents.
Izaiah Brockington leads the way for the Cyclones as he controls the situation on both ends of the court. He averages 16.9 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. His 3-point performance is quite high, sitting on 42.3% from 26 attempted shots. However, Gabe Kalscheur and Tyrese Hunter will need to level up their game, if the team wants to keep their perfect record. On the other side, Kendall Brown has been fantastic for the Bears as he shoots 71.4% from the field. Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua averages 8.4 rebounds for his team, thus leading them in that aspect of the game. I think that the situation within Baylor is good enough to trust them to win their opening for 2022.
Denis’ College Basketball Pick: Baylor -7.5 (-110)
Tony Battalio
This game is by far the best one of the entire weekend slate and may just be a candidate for game of the year as long as it goes like it should. As we have a top ten matchup on top in the Big 12 between the number 1 and number 8 team in the nation. The Baylor Bears are by far college basketball’s best team so far this season. As they come into this game with an undefeated record of 12-0 and most of their wins have come by double digits. However this game against Iowa State will be their toughest test to date on the road in Ames, Iowa.
The previously mentioned Iowa State Cyclones are also 12-0 on the season. Much like Baylor, this will be the toughest game the Cyclones have played to date as well. As this game is likely to be an instant classic and only the first of two games, save for a potential date in the Big 12 Conference Tournament between these two schools. As for the result of this first matchup I’m giving the edge to Baylor despite being on the road as the Bears have looked nearly unstoppable all season long so far.
Tony’s College Basketball Pick: Baylor (-330)
#22 Villanova @ #15 Seton Hall – 2pm ET
These two ranked Big East teams will meet in a game that could help define how the conference will go this season. The 23rd ranked Villanova Wildcats will take on the 15th ranked Seton Hall Pirates in New Jersey. Both of these schools will be hungry to pick up a top 25 win and a conference victory as well. This is a game that should come down to the very end and potentially take overtime to determine a winner.
Denis Kirilov
The fixture between Villanova and Seton Hall will be yet another match putting two seeded teams against each other. Villanova suffered a huge downturn in their performance as they are only 22nd in the current weekly rankings. The Wildcats have lost 33% of their games so far, holding an 8-4 record ahead of this matchup. They have lost twice in a row against Baylor and Creighton in the week before Christmas. The team also recorded an anti-record, scoring just 36 points against the Bears on December 12th.
Villanova will surely look for a way to come back even stronger and this has been seen in their win over Xavier ten days later. They made a fantastic second half against the Musketeers, beating them by 21 points in the last 20 minutes of the match. Seton Hall started off on a positive note this season after defeating some of the top teams in the NCAA – Michigan and Texas. Jared Rhoden has been feeling it for the Pirates as he was the decisive factor for their wins. He averages 16.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, but still struggles to keep high percentages from the field. Ike Obiagu has been doing a pretty good job denying the opposing side as he averages 2.7 blocks. However, my opinion here will be in favor of Villanova who desperately needs to make a couple of straight wins in order to regain their confidence.
Denis’ College Basketball Pick: Villanova
Play Together. #ATTITUDE pic.twitter.com/xtEOQ8wnZm
— Villanova MBB (@NovaMBB) December 30, 2021
Tony Battalio
This is the second featured game of the day to have two teams ranked inside the top 25 facing off, and it has all the potential to be just as good as the first one. The Villanova Wildcats come into this game ranked 22nd in the nation and with a record of 8-4 on the season. In their last game the Wildcats picked up a top 25 victory over the Xavier Musketeers, which snapped a two game losing streak to end the calendar year. Now they will be looking to pick up their second straight top 25 victory and move to 2-1 inside of the Big East Conference with a victory on the road at Seton Hall.
The previously mentioned Seton Hall Pirates come into this Big East Conference matchup with a record of 9-2 on the season. To go along with their impressive record they find themselves nationally ranked at number 15 in the country as the calendar turns to 2022. The Pirates already possess a couple of resume building wins over Texas and Michigan. However they are currently winless in conference play after falling to Providence in their last game. Which is why a win in this game is super important as they will look to avoid starting 0-2 in conference play. As for the result of this game, I expect exactly that as I have the Pirates picking up the victory at home in this one over a tough Villanova team.
Tony’s College Basketball Pick: Seton Hall
#21 Providence @ Depaul – 3pm ET
The Big East is the most surprising conference in college basketball this season. Nearly all of their teams have put together great non-conference resumes. Now they will battle it out head to head over the next three months. In this one the 21st ranked Providence Friars take their 12-1 record on the road to play 9-2 DePaul in what should be a great matchup on New Years Day.
Denis Kirilov
Providence is one of the best performing teams from the beginning of the season. The Friars are on a 12-1 run so far and are looking to continue to build on this performance. They defeated two seeded rosters in their last two matches, UConn and Seton Hall, which further encapsulated them as a strong contender this year. Nate Watson leads the way with 14.8 points and 5.7 rebounds. He has been great from the field as well averaging 59.4%. Noah Horchler might come in clinical at some point of the season with his decent defending skills as he leads the Friars in rebounds with 8.3 per game.
DePaul is a tough squad that started off the campaign with 6 straight wins. However, they went on to win three of their next five games, resulting in their 9-2 record. Providence will be their first seeded opponent and this might take its toll on them. The Blue Demons might not have a fantastic squad, but they have an incredible leader in the face of Javon Freeman-Liberty. He averages 20.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1.8 steals per game. David Jones has also been clinical for DePaul with 17.4 points and 8.3 rebounds on a 52.3 performance from the field. However, I think that the current form of Providence is just too difficult to be matched and they will win easily in the end.
Denis’ College Basketball Pick: Providence -1 (-110)
Tony Battalio
The Providence Friars are coming into this game with a record of 12-1 on the season. As they find themselves nationally ranked at number 21 in the country prior to this game. Their lone loss of the season came to Virginia in the Roman Legends Classic. Since that loss they have won their last six games and gotten off to a 2-0 start in Big East Conference play. Now they will be looking for their third win in the conference and their seventh straight win on the season on the road in this game. Providence looks to be one of the favorites in the Big East this year.
DePaul comes into this game with a record of 9-2 as they are yet another Big East school who has put together a great season so far. They have already had a couple conference games postponed, so this one against the Friars will be their first of the season. In their last game they were defeated by the Butler Bulldogs by a margin of four points, so they will be looking to get back into the winners column and secure a top 25 upset in this one. However as for the result of this game I don’t see it happening as I have the Providence Friars picking up the hard fought victory on the road, to start 3-0 in Big East conference play.
Tony’s College Basketball Pick: Providence (-118)
George Mason @ #6 Kansas – 5pm ET
George Mason comes into this game with a record of 7-5 on the year as they will be playing their toughest opponent to date when they take on the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday. The Kansas Jayhawks come into this game with a record of 10-1 on the season as they look to get one final tune up game in before starting Big 12 play. Kansas is currently the 6th ranked team in the country.
Denis Kirilov
Kansas might seem to be off to a great start this season, but they are yet to face a seeded opponent. The Jayhawks lost surprisingly to Dayton and registered some good wins over Iona and St. John’s, but that’s pretty much it. The rest of their opponents have been at a really lower level and it would have been a shock if they didn’t manage to win each one of them. So far, Ochai Agbaji leads the way for Kansas with 21.5 points per game. He is also performing on a high level from the field as he has 56.3% FG and enjoys one of the highest percentages from beyond the arc, standing at 47.8%. Christian Braun is also doing a lot of things on both ends for the Jayhawks. He averages 17.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and 1.4 blocks.
George Mason is coming into this fixture on a 3-game winning streak. They have defeated Navy, Georgia, and American University. The team is still looking for a better ending to the season compared to last year when they finished off with 13 wins and 9 losses. The Patriots are now 7-5 and they can boast with a victory over the 20th-seeded, Maryland, in mid-November. Josh Oduro has been fantastic for George Mason, averaging 17.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. On top of that, he leads the way for his team in defense with 1.4 blocks. The quick forward averages 59.6% from the field which is an incredible achievement. On top of that, they have Davonte Gaines and Xavier Johnson who share great technique and dribbling skills. I think that George Mason can make Kansas’ life hard in their first game for 2022. Hence, I will trust the Patriots to cover their spread.
Denis’ College Basketball Pick: George Mason +19.5 (-110)
“I know it’s going to be a cold one, but Allen Fieldhouse is pretty warm especially when you pack the house like you do.” – @thejalenwilson
Still tickets available for tomorrow’s game ➝ https://t.co/5duXblHtRE pic.twitter.com/JY4pvyjkw8
— Kansas Basketball (@KUHoops) December 31, 2021
Tony Battalio
In the lone non conference game for Saturday’s featured slate, George Mason will take on the high powered and highly ranked Kansas Jayhawks on the road in this one. George Mason comes Into this game with a record of 7-5 on the season. They are currently on a three game winning streak after picking up victories over Navy, Georgia, and American. Their last two games have been canceled or postponed due to COVID-19, so when they take the court on Saturday it will be after a lengthy ten day break, so rust may play a factor in the outcome of this one. George Mason will need to play a near perfect game to have a chance to upset Kansas at home.
The Kansas Jayhawks are coming into this game with a record of 10-1 on the year. They are nationally ranked in the top 25 at number 6 as well. They have put together a great season thus far and look like a serious contender to make a deep run at a national title when March Madness comes around. After being upset by the Dayton Flyers back on Black Friday, the Jayhawks have gone on to win their last six games, and keep a perfect record in the month of December. As for the result of this game I expect them to add a seventh straight victory and cap off non conference play with a bang although I don’t expect them to cover.
Tony’s College Basketball Pick: George Mason +19.5 (-110)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
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