Every Friday, CBS Sports delivers you a lookahead to five of the most interesting games of the weekend.
Your early tour on where to look for notable action across the country starts here.
Our writers below make their picks both straight up and against the spread, giving you their reasons why they like a certain team to cover -- or not. With Saturday bringing the one-time in-season bracket reveal on CBS (12:30 p.m. ET), we're going to have a clearer view of which teams are most respected now, with about 75% of college basketball's regular season complete.
For more context on college hoops heading into the weekend, just push play on the podcast.
Eye on College Basketball Podcast: Weekend picks
All times ET
No. 18 LSU at No. 11 Auburn (-5.5)
12 p.m. (ESPN)
LSU lived on the edge during a 10-game winning streak that included an 8-0 start to league play. Will Wade's squad won six games in a row by four points or less during that span before finally losing at Vanderbilt on Wednesday. Maybe it was looking ahead to Saturday's showdown with Auburn. Bruce Pearl's team is 12-0 at home, riding a five-game winning streak and should have no problem covering the spread against an LSU team whose flaws have finally been exposed. Pick: Auburn -5.5 (David Cobb)
No. 16 Michigan State (-3.5) at Michigan
12 p.m. (Fox)
I don't factor too much into home court advantage in this rivalry, and in fact I think facing Michigan on the road might just the shock to the system that Michigan State needs after two straight losses. Sparty's recent form has resulted in a betting line that's far off from the 18 point margin of victory when they played in January, and I think that's created a lot of value for Michigan State in a good bounce back spot against a familiar foe. Pick: Michigan State -3.5 (Chip Patterson)
No. 15 Kentucky (-2.5) at Tennessee
2 p.m. (CBS)
Tennessee has lost three of its last four games, and meanwhile, Kentucky's won five of its last six. The momentum-meter is already trending UK's direction. Add that with the fact that the Wildcats are playing good basketball and getting quality production from their guards, Ashton Hagans, Immanuel Quickley and Tyrese Maxey, and I've got no choice but to take Big Blue here. Winning guard play and a Nick Richards bounceback should do the trick. This season they're 4-1-0 against the spread as the away team. Pick: Kentucky -2.5 (Kyle Boone)
No. 12 Seton Hall at No. 10 Villanova (-3)
2:30 p.m. (Fox)
I realize Seton Hall is 11-1 in its past 12 games and in possession of a two-game lead in the Big East standings. And I know Villanova has dropped two straight. But this season has been filled with weird twists and turns featuring teams losing bad games and then bouncing-back with great wins. Or vice versa. So, in that spirit, I'm expecting Jay Wright's Wildcats to bounce-back at home, cover the number and pull to within one game of Seton Hall in the Big East standings. Pick: Villanova -3 (Gary Parrish)
No. 7 Duke (-6.5) at North Carolina
6 p.m. (ESPN)
Sure, Duke-UNC can wind up being a great game -- and that would be a welcomed bonus to a solid weekend of hoops -- but on its surface this is the least urgent/interesting/compelling game between the Blue Devils and Tar Heels in ages. Making matters worse, the schools have to wear these below-practice-jersey-level uniforms on Saturday, in what purports to be a celebration of the 100-year rivalry but is instead an insult to both programs. This is the 183rd meeting between Duke and UNC, and it sartorially ranks as the worst in a century. As for the game, Duke has twice in the past 20 years won by double-digits at the Dean Dome. Those years: 2013 (by 16 points) and 2002 (by 29). That 2001-02 is maybe the worst in UNC history. This team's bad, but not that bad. And this year's Duke team isn't as good as 2001-02 Duke not by a long shot. Tar Heels give us a close one and fall away in the final minute. Pick: UNC +6.5 (Matt Norlander)
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| DUKE -6.5 |  |  | | | | |
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