We're one day away from the bracket unveiling, but before we get to Selection Sunday, there's plenty of storylines and betting value on Championship Saturday.
In fact, our staff has three college basketball games they're targeting — all conference championship duels — on Saturday night.
Read below for college basketball best bets, including three top NCAAB expert picks and predictions for Saturday, March 15.
(There's a parlay option below, even though that's not our official recommendation.)
College Basketball Best Bets for Championship Saturday
The team logos in the table below represent each of the matchups that our college basketball betting staff is targeting from today's slate of games. Click on the team logos for any of the matchups below to navigate to a specific bet discussed in this article.
| Game | Time (ET) | Pick |
|---|---|---|
  | 6:30 p.m. | |
  | 7:30 p.m. | |
  | 8:30 p.m. | |
Specific betting recommendations come from the sportsbook offering preferred odds as of writing. Always shop for the best price using our NCAAB Odds page, which automatically surfaces the best lines for every game. | ||
Creighton vs. St. John's
For the first time since 2000, the St. John’s Red Storm will play in the Big East Tournament title game, in the hallowed arena it calls home.
The Red Storm were incredible in Friday’s semifinals, beating Marquette. The Golden Eagles jumped out to an early 15-point lead, scoring 24 of the game’s first 33 points.
In the game’s final 32 minutes (and change), St. John’s bashed Marquette by a score of 70-39. Marquette’s offense, typically crisp and efficient, was completely flummoxed by the Red Storm defense.
Marquette had not committed more than 13 turnovers in a game this season, but coughed up 17 on Friday night, compared to just six assists. The Golden Eagles’ 6-for-29 outside shooting felt like a cold outing, though in reality, it was the result of being hounded by the Johnnies for the entirety of every possession.
Nothing was open for Marquette, except the doors to exit Madison Square Garden.
In the nightcap, Creighton outdueled a surging UConn team, that rallied from a 15-point deficit, but ultimately came up short of the Bluejays.
Creighton and St. John’s have met twice already this season, splitting the meetings with each team winning at home. In Omaha, Creighton made nine 3-pointers. Meanwhile, St. John’s merely attempted nine and made just two shots from long range.
That shooting discrepancy outweighed the effects of the Johnnies' swarming defense, including Creighton point guard Steven Ashworth’s 10 turnovers, a career high in his 160+ collegiate outings.
In the rematch in Manhattan, St. John’s outmuscled the Bluejays, nabbing 20 offensive rebounds and earning 29 trips to the free throw line.
The key matchup in both outings came when St. John’s had the ball.
Creighton has made a living for nearly half a decade playing four-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year Ryan Kalkbrenner in drop coverage in the middle of the lane. His teammates force shooters off the 3-point line, left with the choice to attack an elite shot blocker or settle for low efficiency mid-range jump shots.
The Johnnies, however, aren't built to shoot the 3. They do it poorly and sparingly. Rick Pitino’s guys instead attack the rim or operate in the mid-range. Constantly ramming at Kalkbrenner at the rim could be a fool’s errand, but St. John’s is more adept than that.
Besides, as much as we want St. John’s offense to make some kind of spark, the Red Storm win on the other end of the floor. The pressure of the St. John’s defense feeds everything Pitino wants from his team.
With the energy of a wildly pro-Johnnies crowd in the building, it would feel psychotic to not expect St. John’s to answer the bell.
I’ll take it to win and cover.
Pick: St. John's -6.5
Mount St. Mary's vs. Iona
By Sean Paul
The Iona Gaels pulled off the upset of the MAAC Tournament on Friday, with an 81-73 win over No. 1 Quinnipiac.
I wasn’t surprised to see it, though. Tobin Anderson’s squad is playing the best out of anybody in the MAAC, sitting over 50 spots ahead of the next closest team in T-Rank since Feb. 1.
In this particular duel, I’m targeting one stat that should decide the game — turnovers. Mount St. Mary’s has given the ball away over 21% of the time since February 1, which is brutal against Anderson’s full-court pressure defense that forces turnovers at a 19% clip.
Sure, Mount St. Mary’s beat Merrimack and Marist, but Iona is the best team in the conference right now. This is a totally different beast.
The guard duo of Adam Njie and Dejour Reaves has played great lately. They scored 20+ points apiece in the win over Quinnipiac, and I expect more of the same here.
Pick: Iona -3.5 (Play to -5)
Louisville vs. Duke
By Sean Paul
The Duke Blue Devils squandered a 24-point lead against North Carolina without Flagg, but a Jae'Lyn Withers lane violation allowed Jon Scheyer's bunch to advance to the title game.
Louisville, meanwhile, held on against Clemson after blowing a double-digit lead with three minutes left.
Life without Flagg is interesting. Duke still has no shortage of talent, including two surefire top-10 NBA draft picks in Kon Knueppel and defensive anchor Khaman Maluach. Still, Duke is without Maliq Brown, the backup to Maluach, so it's a bit thin.
