Scott Shapiro's Saturday college basketball preview

Kansas at Baylor highlights a loaded Saturday slate in the world of college hoops. The Jayhawks will seek revenge, after they were held to 55 points at home in their initial meeting with the Bears in January. I am looking forward to the Big 12 clash between two of the nation’s best teams, but I prefer others from a wagering perspective.

Here is my betting card for the day.

#8 Florida State at NC State, 4 p.m. ET (ACC Network)

The Wolfpack is on the NCAA Tournament bubble after a dominating, wire-to-wire beatdown of Duke on Wednesday night. In that 88-66 victory, NC State got 28 points from Markell Johnson and knocked down eight of its 13 shots from three-point range. Kevin Keatts' squad could use another marquee win to bolster its chances of getting into the NCAA Tournament and it has another shot against Florida State.

The Seminoles lost a number of key contributors from their team that lost in the Sweet 16 to Gonzaga a year ago, but they have hardly missed a beat. They have just four losses and head into Raleigh with 13 wins in their last 15 games. Their ability to hit the offensive glass is a major strength, and they rank 29th in the nation in offensive-rebounding percentage. This is a major concern for NC State, which did a solid job against Duke earlier in the week, but overall has struggled to clean up the defensive glass.

Coming off an emotional win, where NC State shot the three way better than its season-long rate of 32.4%, it will be difficult for the less-talented Wolfpack to put forth a similar effort against FSU. Look for the Seminoles to get a big road win to keep them squarely in the mix for a regular-season ACC title.

Pick: Florida State

#12 Villanova at Xavier, 2:30 p.m. ET (FOX)

If the season ended today, the Musketeers would be in the NCAA Tournament, according to both Joe Lunardi of ESPN (who has them as a No. 10 seed) and CBS’s Jerry Palm (who has them as a No. 8 seed), but they are nowhere near a cinch. Travis Steele’s group pulled out a tight one at Madison Square Garden against St. John’s on Monday night and has a shot to strengthen its résumé against Villanova.

The Wildcats shot the lights out on the road Wednesday night against a struggling DePaul team and have righted the ship after they lost three straight to start February. Jay Wright’s squad made 18 of 26 shots from three-point range in its 91-71 rout of the Blue Demons in Chicago, but points are not likely to come as easy against a Xavier team that has held its opposition to 29.5% shooting from behind the arc this season.

These teams met Dec. 30 in Philadelphia and Villanova won, 68-62. Xavier is not a good shooting team, but the Musketeers were especially poor that night and made just one of their 11 shots from three-point range. Expecting Xavier to light it up from outside is overly optimistic, but I expect them to be more efficient.

Xavier is just 4-9-1 against the spread at home this season, but the Musketeers are playing well and catch the Wildcats in their second road game in a row. I like Xavier's chances to get revenge.

Pick: Xavier

LSU at South Carolina, 6 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

South Carolina’s chances of making the NCAA Tournament appeared slim after its 63-56 home loss to Stetson on Dec. 30, but the Gamecocks have won eight of their last 11, five in a row at home, and cannot be counted out quite yet. If they want to get back into the dance, they have a near must-win game Saturday.

LSU enters off a deflating primetime loss in Baton Rouge against Kentucky. The Tigers battled with the Wildcats and beat them up on the boards, but could not overcome the hot shooting from Big Blue. Now they hit the road in what looks like a flat spot, against a team that is in need of a Quadrant 1 win.

The Gamecocks are tough to beat at Colonial Life Arena and their subpar offense should have enough success against LSU’s porous defense to make it six straight wins at home.

Pick: South Carolina

---

The NCAAB games get tougher as we inch toward the conference tournaments. Check out all the matchups and futures at BetAmerica!