Our free College Basketball picks are out for Saturday, January 22nd, 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 @ #18 Texas Tech – 12pm ET
The first featured Big 12 Conference clash of the evening has the West Virginia Mountaineers going up against the Texas Tech Red Raiders. West Virginia enters this one unranked while Texas Tech is 18th in the country. Both teams have good records this season as WVU is 13-4 and Texas Tech is 14-4 on the year.
Denis Kirilov
West Virginia started off this season on a positive note as they won 11 out of their first 12 matches. A loss to Marquette was, however, something acceptable having in mind the high level of play of the Golden Eagles. The Mountaineers managed to defeat strong opponents like UConn, Clemson, and Oakland which gave them further strength in chasing an 8-game winning streak. They eventually didn’t find a way to keep their top performance as they lost three out of their last five games against teams from a higher tier – Texas, Kansas, and Baylor. Taz Sherman leads the way for West Virginia with 18.8 points per game, while Sean McNeil follows him closely with 14.4 points.
Their opponents from Texas Tech are enjoying a decent season as well. The Red Raiders hold a 14-4 record as they had some of the toughest schedules in the NCAA. However, they managed to outclass the likes of Tennessee, Kansas, Baylor, and Iowa State which is an incredible achievement. They became the first team to defeat the unstoppable Bears this season which was definitely an enjoyable experience for their fans. With players like Bryson Williams, Kevin McCullar, and Terrence Shannon Jr., the Red Raiders, the team is looking great and I think that they will be able to squeeze past West Virginia on Saturday.
Denis’ College Basketball Pick: Texas Tech (-400)
Tony Battalio
West Virginia comes into this game with a record of 13-4 on the season. The Mountaineers are currently on a two game losing streak after dropping back to back games against Baylor and Kansas. They won’t have the luxury of having an easy victory in this one either as Texas Tech has been red hot as of late. West Virginia will have to play a near perfect forty plus minutes of basketball if they want to pick up a victory on the road in Lubbock in this one. They could really use the victory to improve their current 2-3 record inside the Big 12 Conference that has them sitting in seventh place at the moment, 2 games out of first.
Welcome aboard🛫#HailWV pic.twitter.com/6nsZwH3UO5
— WVU Men’s Basketball (@WVUhoops) January 21, 2022
The Texas Tech Red Raiders have been red hot as of late as they have won five straight home games and will be looking for a sixth straight victory at home in this game. They come into this game with a record of 14-4 on the season and a 4-2 record inside the Big 12 Conference that has them in second place. Texas Tech has won their last 11 home games as they have yet to lose at home this season. As for the result of this game, I have them picking up another win inside of conference play as I think the Red Raiders will beat the Mountaineers in this one.
Tony’s College Basketball Pick: Texas Tech (-400)
Noah Dunlap
West Virginia has looked virtually exactly like what we would expect a Bob Huggins led team to look like. They’re decent, they have a good record, and they play pretty good defense. They’re almost certainly a tournament team, but as they’ve shown in their past two, which were losses to Kansas and Baylor, they aren’t a legitimate threat to make a deep run, which is why, despite a 13-4 record, they still find themselves unranked.
Texas Tech, on the other hand, has looked better in conference play then they did as they took on their non-conference slate. They enter this one at 14-4, and 4-2 in Big 12 play, including having massive back to back wins over Baylor and Kansas, and they’ve also picked up another big win over Iowa State as well. They may not be the most talent team around, but they play extremely hard, disciplined basketball, and that has allowed them to create one of the best resumes that the country has from anyone this far. With all of that in mind, I’m taking Texas Tech to get a win at home, in a game that I think has the potential to come down to the wire.
Noah’s College Basketball Pick: Texas Tech (-400)
#12 Kentucky @ #2 Auburn – 1pm ET
The first of two featured top 25 SEC matchups on this Saturday slate is perhaps the best one of the evening. As the 12th ranked Kentucky Wildcats head south to Auburn to play the 2nd ranked Auburn Tigers. Both teams will be looking for a huge top 25 victory in this game as they both look for leverage in the SEC standings.
Denis Kirilov
The Kentucky Wildcats will face the 2nd-seeded, Auburn, in what promises to be a great spectacle on Saturday night in the NCAA. The Wildcats have been doing pretty well this season as they hold a 15-3 record ahead of this matchup. Coming on a 4-game winning streak, they will be looking to further build on their momentum as they are looking at a tough schedule until the end of the Regular Season. Oscar Tshiebwe has been fantastic this season, putting on a “one-man show” for the Wildcats. He averages 16.1 points and 14.8 rebounds and also tops the leaderboard in steals and blocks.
The Auburn Tigers have been majestic so far. With a record of 17-1, they top the Southeastern Conference, keeping Kentucky, LSU, and Texas A&M right behind them. Their sole loss came against UConn as the Huskies had to go through two overtimes to reach the final victory, 115-109. Defeating teams like LSU, Alabama, and Florida certainly means a lot to Auburn, but they are yet to face a tougher opponent this season. Looking at their most recent results, it seems that they might be close to losing their winning streak that is standing at 14 games at the moment. In my opinion, Kentucky is able to snap Auburn’s run and that’s why I will pick them for the match on Saturday.
Denis’ College Basketball Pick: Kentucky (+142)
Tony Battalio
The Kentucky Wildcats may very well be playing the hottest basketball in the country at the moment. Since losing on the road to Notre Dame and LSU, Kentucky has looked nearly untouchable. They have won their last four games by an average margin of victory of 15 points. Now they will be looking to knock off the number two team in the country with a huge win in this game on the road. If Kentucky keeps this up they will start to climb into the conversation of being considered a serious national title contender as the year starts to come to a close.
The Auburn Tigers aren’t only the best team in the SEC, they are perhaps the best team in the country this season. Auburn enters this game with an impressive record of 17-1 on the season. Their only loss of the year so far came at the hands of Connecticut in the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament way back in November in double overtime. Since that loss they have been nearly untouchable as their closest margin of victory since then has been four points over their rivals Alabama. As for the result of this game I have the Auburn Tigers picking up another victory as I look for them to beat Kentucky at home.
Tony’s College Basketball Pick: Auburn (-172)
Noah Dunlap
On a loaded day of great college basketball action, I like this game to have the potential to be the best game of the day. Auburn comes in ranked number two nationally, and you can make the argument that their resume should be enough to get them to number one over Gonzaga. They enter this one at 17-1, with a lone loss to UConn early in the year as part of a Thanksgiving week tournament, and since then they’ve simply been dominating teams. The one concern I have for this Tiger team right now is that they haven’t played the toughest schedule around, as arguably their two best wins have come against Alabama and LSU, which are great, but with a relatively weak rest of the schedule, I’m still a touch hesitant on thinking this Auburn team is a championship contender quite yet.
They get Kentucky in this one, and it’s a Kentucky team that has similarly looked really solid, apart from two games that they slipped up in, games to Duke and Notre Dame. For the Wildcats, the talent is phenomenal, the only question is whether they can show up against the best teams in the country, which has been the issue with John Calipari-led teams over the past few years. In this one, I’m actually going to take Kentucky to pull off the upset, as I like TyTy Washington and Oscar Tshiebwe to have big days, as I like the Wildcats to travel south to Auburn and pull off a huge upset in a tight one.
Noah’s College Basketball Pick: Kentucky (+142)
#5 Baylor @ Oklahoma – 3pm ET
The second featured Big 12 Conference clash of the evening has the Baylor Bears going up against the Oklahoma Sooners. Oklahoma enters this one unranked while Baylor is 5th in the country. Baylor is still looking to bounce back from a rough stretch, while Oklahoma is looking for a resume worthy victory.
Denis Kirilov
The former top-seeded, Baylor, failed to deliver in two straight games which resulted in their demotion to 5th place in the overall rankings. They lost their first match for the season against Texas Tech and four days later, they were surprisingly outplayed by Oklahoma State. However, they managed to pick up some pace with a clean 9-point win over the tough team of West Virginia on Wednesday. The Bears have been considered to be the best team in the NCAA for the last two years, but it seems it’s time to see a slight decline in their performance. James Akinjo and Adam Flagler have been missing a lot this season, despite averaging slightly more than 43% from the field. In my opinion, LJ Cryer is their most valuable asset as he leads the way for the team with 13.9 points per game on 49.1% from the field and 47.4% from the 3-point line.
Oklahoma has been playing quite well until the end of 2021. They managed to pick up victories over two top 15 teams – Florida and Arkansas. The Sooners played well defensively and had a decent performance from the field as well. However, they suffered a slight decrease in their efficiency after Christmas. They had a real chance to defeat someone like TCU or Kansas in the last two matches, but they failed due to shooting around 40%. The Sooners surely have all it takes to be a better team as they have talented players who can compete against anybody. Overall, I think that Baylor is quite better than the Sooners and this tough schedule will take the better of Oklahoma who will get tired at some point and bust a game by 20 or more points. That’s why I would suggest picking Baylor’s spread in this one.
Denis’ College Basketball Pick: Baylor -3.5 (-110)
Tony Battalio
The Baylor Bears went from being the best team in the nation and looking like they were going to easily repeat as national champions to losing back to back games and barely recovering. In their last game against West Virginia, the Mountaineers gave them a fight before ultimately falling by a score of 77-68. Now Baylor will look to make it two straight victories as they head to Norman to play the Sooners. Baylor comes into this game ranked inside of the top 5 in the country at 5th in the nation and with a record of 16-2. They will be looking to reclaim their top spot in the conference as they look to still get back on track from those two straight losses.
ICYMI: Take a look back at Tuesday’s gutsy win in Morgantown 📽#SicEm | #CultureofJOY 🏀 pic.twitter.com/bYSDq9xkcQ
— Baylor Men’s Basketball (@BaylorMBB) January 21, 2022
The previously mentioned Oklahoma Sooners come into this game unranked and with a record of 12-6 on the season. Oklahoma has now lost three games in a row and four out of their last five, including once to Baylor already this season. Losses to Texas, TCU and Kansas in their last three has killed off any hope the Sooners had to potentially win the Big 12 this season, and unless they manage to come out and play perfect for 40 minutes in this one, they will likely drop another game. In the first game against Baylor, the Bears came out on top by double digits winning 84-74. As for the result of this game, I expect more of the same as I have the Bears picking up the win and completing the sweep over Oklahoma.
Tony’s College Basketball Pick: Baylor -3.5 (-110)
Noah Dunlap
After looking like a potential sleeper candidate in the Big 12, the Oklahoma Sooners have fallen on hard times, and now just seem to be in free fall, as they’ve lost three straight, and four of their last five. I think part of their initial surge to start the year was the fact that their non-conference slate wasn’t actually that difficult, apart from a big win over Arkansas that they seem to be hanging their hat on to a degree right now. They do also have a win over Iowa State in conference play that can boost their resume if the Cyclones can get things rolling again, but apart from those two wins, the resume is lacking, which I think has the potential to be troublesome for the Sooners, who come into this one at 12-6, if they find themselves on the bubble at season’s end.
Baylor, on the other hand, has no such worries. They’ve looked like arguably the best team in the country for most of the year, apart from a rough week last week that saw them drop two games at home. Outside of those two losses, to Texas Tech and Oklahoma State, they’ve been great, including multiple really good wins on the resume. They’ve already taken down this Oklahoma team once already, and in this one, I really like the Bears chances of being able to complete the sweep over an outmatched Sooner squad.
Noah’s College Basketball Pick: Baylor -3.5 (-110)
#7 Kansas @ Kansas State – 4pm ET
The third featured Big 12 clash of the Saturday slate is a rivalry game between the Kansas Jayhawks and Kansas State Wildcats. Kansas comes into this one as the number 7 team in the nation, while Kansas State is unranked. Kansas is looking to pick up win number 16, while Kansas State is looking for a resume building win.
Denis Kirilov
The Kansas Jayhawks will face Kansas State in what promises to be a one-sided affair. However, the Wildcats managed to pick up two surprising victories over Texas Tech and Texas in their last two matches in the NCAA. By doing this, they snapped a 4-game losing streak that began on the first day of 2022 with a 2-point loss to Oklahoma. They are currently with 10 wins and 7 losses as they had to go through a very intense and tough schedule. Mark Smith has been playing really well for Kansas State averaging 47.3% from the field, while Nijel Pack leads the way for the Wildcats with 15.5 points per game.
Kansas, on the other hand, enjoyed a wonderful campaign so far. They lost just twice in 17 appearances, but their opponents until January seemed a bit easier. The Jayhawks faced a seeded opponent for the first time on January 7th when they suffered an 8-point loss to Texas Tech. They managed to make up for that performance with a narrow win over Iowa State in the upcoming match, but victories over West Virginia and Oklahoma further helped them pick up their form quickly. Their best players, Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun, have definitely had a huge impact for Kansas’ position so far. Agbaji averages 19.9 points, while Braul stands at 15.6 points per game. With both of them having more than 50% successful shots from the beginning of the campaign, the future of the team looks bright. That’s why I will trust them to cover their spread against the high-flying Kansas State.
Denis’ College Basketball Pick: Kansas -7 (-106)
Tony Battalio
The Kansas Jayhawks are coming into this game ranked inside of the top ten in the country at number seven in the nation. They are currently 15-2 on the season and are on a three game winning streak as they prepare to face their in-state rivals on the road in this game. Over the course of their three game winning streak they have picked up victories over Iowa State, West Virginia, and Oklahoma by an average margin of victory of 10 points. However it is fair to say those numbers are skewed as they only beat Iowa State and Oklahoma by a combined four points, but blew out the Mountaineers by nearly 30 points. They will be looking for a fourth straight victory in this game on the road.
The Kansas State Wildcats are having quite the opposite season than their rivals. As they come into this game with a record of 10-7 on the season. It has been an up and down year for the Wildcats however, they do enter this game off the backs of two huge upsets against Texas and Texas Tech. Outside of those two wins that hasn’t been much to brag about as they are in last place of the Big 12 conference and will likely miss out on the NCAA tournament this season unless they start racking up more signature victories. However, as for the result of this game, I can’t see that happening as I have the Kansas Jayhawks beating the Kansas State Wildcats on the road in this rivalry game.
Tony’s College Basketball Pick: Kansas -7 (-106)
Noah Dunlap
Kansas has looked like one of the best teams, not only in the Big 12, but also the country coming into this one. They enter at 15-2, with the two losses being an early season loss to Dayton, and more recently to Texas Tech, but outside of those two losses they’ve looked extremely solid. They have their season opening win over Michigan State, which looks really good, but the one concern is that they haven’t played much else to this point. They do face a bit of a tough stretch coming up soon, as they get arguably the best portion of their conference slate, but as for right now, it’s been a favorable schedule for the Jawhawks.
Their in-state rivals, the Kansas State Wildcats, come into this one at 10-7, and have been far less impressive this season, as they’ve been hit or miss so far this year. They have a few decent wins, but they’re more along the lines of just winning the games they were supposed to win, and more importantly, they have a few losses against teams that they shouldn’t have lost to. The good news is that they’re on a two game winning streak now, after dropping four in a row immediately before that. They’ve been hard to predict all year long, and I just don’t think they have the talent to hang around with this Kansas team, even with this one taking place in Manhatten. Give me the Jayhawks, and the points, as I think this ends up being a bit of a one-sided affair.
Noah’s College Basketball Pick: Kansas -7 (-106)
#13 LSU @ #24 Tennessee – 6pm ET
The second of two featured top 25 SEC matchups on this Saturday slate should be a great game as well. As the 13th ranked LSU Tigers head north to Knoxville to play the 24th ranked Tennessee Volunteers. Both teams will be looking for a huge top 25 victory in this game as they both look for leverage in the SEC standings.
Denis Kirilov
After what was a perfect 12-0 start to the current campaign, the LSU Tigers are now struggling following two straight losses against strong, but unseeded teams. They were outlasted by Arkansas and Alabama in back-to-back matches which surely raised a lot of concerns for their management. Despite defeating teams like Kentucky and Tennessee, the Tigers will need to further work on their consistency throughout the remainder of the season. Tari Eason, Darius Days, and Xavier Pinson have been the driving forces of the team so far and they will need to keep up that pace, if they want to be competitive enough.
Tennessee, on the other hand, dropped to 24th place in the overall rankings after three disappointing performances in the last couple of weeks. The Volunteers lost to Alabama, LSU, and Kentucky as they had some chances only in the match against the Crimson Tide. Santiago Vescovi and Kennedy Chandler have been helping the team in offense, while Olivier Nkamhoua and John Fulkerson have been a tough obstacle for the opposition. In my opinion, the Tennessee Volunteers will be looking to take their revenge against the LSU Tigers and in the end, both teams would have defeated each other once. So, my preferences go towards the 24th-seeded, Tennessee.
Denis’ College Basketball Pick: Tennessee (-220)
Tony Battalio
The LSU Tigers come into this game ranked 13th in the country. They are currently 15-3 through their first 18 games on the season. They will be looking to break a two game losing streak with a huge win in this game after dropping back to back games to Arkansas and Alabama. The recent losses have dropped the Tigers from a top team in the conference down to the middle of the pack. They will need to get things turned around quickly if they want to avoid playing themselves out of reach for a top seed in a stacked SEC, come conference tournament time, and that starts with a huge road win over Tennessee.
The Tigers are in Knoxville, TN for a rematch against the Vols on Saturday, Jan. 22 at 5:00 p.m. on ESPN.
full preview » https://t.co/s8EQPOBcMJ pic.twitter.com/UvGhRti7GH
— LSU Basketball (@LSUBasketball) January 21, 2022
As for the previously mentioned Tennessee Volunteers they are coming into this game ranked 24th in the nation. They currently possess a record of 12-5 on the season and an identical record of 3-3 in the SEC just like their opponents in this game. They have gone 2-2 in their last four games so they will be looking to establish some positive momentum with a victory in this one. They are in desperate need of some resume building wins to make their case for an NCAA Tournament berth as the season begins to head towards its most crucial moments. However, as for the result of this game I don’t think they get the win here, as I have the LSU Tigers picking up the victory on the road.
Tony’s College Basketball Pick: LSU (+180)
Noah Dunlap
I mentioned earlier in the year when LSU was still undefeated that I was somewhat hesitant to assume that they were the real deal, seeing as their schedule to that point had been extremely mediocre, and my opinion hasn’t changed at all lately. They’ve already fallen three times in conference play, and that was barely by the midway point in January. With losses to Auburn, Alabama, and Arkansas, it’s clear that they simply have a fear of schools that start with the letter A. Lucky for the Tigers in this one, Tennessee in fact doesn’t start with A, so you have to at least be cautiously optimistic that they can get it done.
Tennessee comes into this one in similar fashion, as through non-conference play they looked every bit as good as the top-15 team they were. However, in SEC play, they come in at 3-3 as well, and just haven’t looked like the same team many expected to see. The offense has struggled a bit, and the defense, while supposed to be good, has struggled at times, which is part of why the Kentucky Wildcats shot almost 70% from the field against them a week ago. If the defense can play better, the way we all know they can, I like Tennessee to win this one. If they don’t, then I like the Tigers to cruise. In the end, I’m going to take home-court advantage as the deciding factor, and with this one being played in Knoxville, give me Kennedy Chandler and the Vols to sneak out with a much needed, tight win.
Noah’s College Basketball Pick: Tennessee (-220)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
