We’re inching closer to March Madness, and the biggest games are getting bigger and bigger over the course of the weekend. We take a look at some of the biggest matchups on the board for the weekend, and some of the great NCAA basketball trends that you need to note before making your college basketball picks on the games!

Saturday, February 19th, 12:00 ET: #4 Pitt Panthers @ St. John’s Red Storm
NCAA Basketball Odds: Pittsburgh -3.5
College Basketball Trends of Note
The Panthers are 5-1 ATS in their L/6 against teams with winning percentages above .600
U-Pitt is 8-2 ATS in its last 10 following an ATS defeat
The Red Storm are 4-1 ATS in their L/5 home games against teams with a winning road record

Series History
We know that the Johnnies have had all sorts of luck this year against big time teams both inside and outside of the Big East, especially here at Madison Square Garden, but that doesn’t mean that they are going to have the best of fortune in this one. The Panthers have won five straight both SU and ATS in this series, winning all of these games by at least seven points, and most of which have come by double digits. Still, St. John’s does have two wins here both SU and ATS at home in 2005 and 2006 at home, but none of these victories have really been all that impressive.

Saturday, February 19th, 1:00 ET: #7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish @ West Virginia Mountaineers
College Basketball Odds: West Virginia -4
NCAA Basketball Trends of Note
The Fighting Irish are 16-5 ATS in their L/21 games against the Big East
Notre Dame is 10-4 ATS in its L/14 games away from Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center
West Virginia has failed to cover four in a row

Series History
If you’re looking for a barnburner of a game that could be a huge slugfest, this is the one for you. A whopping 11 straight in this series between these Big East rivals have ended with ‘under’ results, something that you might be looking forward to again on Saturday. The home team has won seven straight and nine out of 10, and the hosts are 4-1 ATS in the L/5 in this series. Here in Morgantown, the Mountaineers haven’t been beaten by the Fighting Irish since 2005, and that was the only road win in this series for either team since the early 2000s.

Saturday, February 19th, 2:00 ET: #2 Texas Longhorns @ Nebraska Cornhuskers
NCAA Basketball Lines: Texas -6.5
College Basketball Trends of Note
The Longhorns have covered seven straight on the road, all of which have come against teams with home winning percentages of at least .600.
Texas is 16-5 ATS in its L/21 games overall
The Huskers are 6-2 ATS in their L/8 against teams with a winning percentage of at least .600

Series History
This is going to be quite the interesting battle. Nebraska has only lost one game at home this entire season, dropping to the Kansas Jayhawks, while Texas is rarely beaten anywhere. The Huskers also really need this big time scalp to have any chance to get into the NCAA Tournament. The home team has won three straight SU and seven of the L/10 in this series. Nebraska had covered four straight in this series before the last meeting last year, as UT whooped up on the Cornhuskers 91-51 in Austin. Still, this is a significantly different type of test this year, and the Longhorns have to be very, very careful about the prospects of getting upset.

Saturday, February 19th, 4:00 ET: Boston College Eagles @ #19 North Carolina Tar Heels
College Basketball Lines: North Carolina -11.5
NCAA Basketball Trends of Note
The Eagles are 4-1 ATS in their L/5 played in the ACC
North Carolina is 7-1 ATS in its L/8 against teams in conference
The Tar Heels are 7-18 ATS in their L/25 at home against teams with a losing road record

Series History
The Eagles have already absolutely been clocked once in this series, losing 106-74 to the Tar Heels back in February up in Chestnut Hill, but that game was definitely not what we should consider to be the norm. Most of the meetings between these squads come down to the wire, which is why Boston College has a great run of 7-3 ATS over the course of the L/10 meetings. The Eagles know what it’s like to win here at the Dean E. Smith Center, as they have done so twice since coming over from the Big East, including in an 85-78 win in January 2009 as whopping 23 point underdogs.

Saturday, February 19th, 6:00 ET: Washington Huskies @ #13 Arizona Wildcats
NCAA Basketball Odds: Arizona -2.5
College Basketball Trends of Note
The Huskies are just 2-5 ATS in their L/7 overall
Arizona is 6-0-1 ATS in its L/7 overall
The Cats are 14-5 ATS in their L/19 home games against teams with a road winning percentage of less than .400

Series History
The Wildcats haven’t lost at home yet this year, something that is definitely worth noting in this battle atop the Pac-10. It’s also just as notable that U-Dub really hasn’t done that well either on the road, losing five times against quality opponents already this year. The home team is 6-2 ATS and a perfect 8-0 SU in this series dating back to 2007, but it’s definitely worth mentioning that the U of A is 7-2 ATS over the course of the L/9. Expect a high scoring duel in this one, as the winning team has averaged putting up 86.8 points per game over the course of the L/9 clashes of these Pac-10 rivals.

Saturday, February 19th, 9:00 ET: #24 Utah State Aggies @ #23 St. Mary’s Gaels
College Basketball Odds: St. Mary’s -4
NCAA Basketball Trends of Note
The Aggies are 39-19-2 ATS in their L/60 games following an SU win of at least 20 points
St. Mary’s has covered six in a row against the WAC
The Gaels are 19-7 ATS in their L/26 played outside of the West Coast Conference

Series History
BracketBusters normally pit all sorts of teams against each other from differing conferences that have never played each other before, but it was only two seasons ago that these two met for the first time in this very same event and in the very same venue. The deal with BracketBusters is that you get to play the team one year on the road, and the next season back at the opposition at some point early in the year. That being said, these next two years will be the third and fourth time that these top non Big Six schools have met in competition. So far, it’s been all St. Mary’s, as the Gaels have taken both of the first two meetings both SU and ATS.