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 12th, 12:00 ET: #13 Syracuse Orange @ #15 Louisville Cardinals
College Basketball Trends of Note
-The home team is 5-2-1 ATS over the L/8 meetings in this series
-Syracuse is 12-5 ATS in its L/17 games away from the Carrier Dome
-The Orange are 5-12 ATS in their L/17 games played on Saturday

Series History
These two teams don’t have the same type of deep rooted history that some of the other big boys do in the Big East, but what little history there is all belongs to the Cardinals. These teams have met seven times as conference foes, with the Redbirds winning six of the seven, and they have gone 5-1-1 ATS in those tussles. Syracuse only won the first meeting at the Carrier Dome 79-66 in 2006. The ‘Cuse have never won a game in Louisville, where the Cards are 15-2 this season.

Current NCAA Basketball Betting Odds: Louisville -2 (137.5)

Saturday, February 12th, 1:00 ET: #18 Kentucky Wildcats @ #24 Vanderbilt Commodores
NCAA Basketball Trends of Note
-Kentucky is 3-7 ATS in its L/10 against SEC foes
-Vandy is 3-7 ATS in its L/10 home games against teams with a road winning percentage of less than .400
-The ‘Dores are 3-11 ATS in their L/14 games played on Saturday.

Series History
Kentucky has done well in this series, going 5-2 ATS over the course of the last seven meetings. However, it is really hard to ignore just how bad this team has been on the road this year, winning just one game in conference, at the South Carolina Gamecocks. This is the first of two meetings this year of these two teams. The home team had won six in a row in this series before UK came into the Music City and won last season 58-56. However, that was their first win here at Memorial Gym since 2005, something that will be hard to overcome on Saturday.

Current NCAA Basketball Betting Odds: Vanderbilt -1 (144)

Saturday, February 12th, 9:00 ET: #4 Pittsburgh Panthers @ #10 Villanova Wildcats
College Basketball Trends of Note
-Pittsburgh is 6-2 ATS in its L/8 games played in the Big East
-The Wildcats are 1-4 ATS in their L/5 games overall
-Villanova is 5-2 ATS in its L/7 home games

Series History
Home teams have really ruled the day in this series, going 10-4 ATS over the course of the last 14 tussles. U-Pitt did win last year at home as short underdogs to the Wildcats, but it hasn’t visited the City of Brotherly Love since 2009, and it hasn’t won here since 2007. The Panthers are 5-2 ATS over the course of the last seven meetings of these teams. If Pittsburgh wins, it will open up a commanding lead in the Big East and most likely will not be caught. This is probably the last chance that Head Coach Jay Wright’s team has at even thinking about a regular season Big East championship.

Current NCAA Basketball Betting Odds: Villanova -3 (139)

Saturday, February 12th, 2:00 ET: #1 Ohio State Buckeyes @ #14 Wisconsin Badgers
NCAA Basketball Trends of Note
-Ohio State is 7-2 ATS in its L/9 road games against teams with a home winning percentage of greater than .600
-The Buckeyes are 9-3 ATS in their L/12 road games
-Wisconsin is 9-3 ATS in its L/12 against teams with a winning record SU

Series History
Expect to see a brutal one when these two teams square off, as there hasn’t been a meeting between them hit even 120 points since 2007. These two foes met already once this season, with the undefeated Buckeyes winning 60-51 at Value City Arena. The scene has shifted to the Kohl Center though, a place where Ohio State hasn’t won a game since January 2000, going 0-8 SU and 4-4 ATS. The Badgers are a great home team, and obviously, this is the biggest home game of the season for a bunch of fans that are historically very rowdy.

Current NCAA Basketball Betting Odds: Wisconsin -1 (122.5)

On Tuesday night, the Tennessee Volunteers were dismantled by the Vanderbilt Commodores 90-71. No, it wasn’t a loss that is totally going to shake the core of the entire city of Knoxville the same way that HC Lane Kiffin’s departure for USC did, but it could be a sign to come for a team that may be set to freefall through the SEC standings.

Maybe HC Bruce Pearl shouldn’t be smiling so much. After all, he dismissed G Tyler Smith from the basketball team 11 games ago, and since then, the team has only averaged 71.2 points per game, which is a far cry from the 76.7 for the duration of the season.

It’d be hard to picture an NCAA Tournament without the Volunteers, but let’s take a look at their resume right now just for fun, shall we?

Sure, there are some pretty good conference wins over Florida and Ole Miss, but all in all, a 6-3 record with only two road wins isn’t remarkable. Outside of SEC play, a win against Kansas is going to go a long way, but just like a lot of other major conference schools, there really aren’t any legitimate road wins on the slate.

The only really shameful losses as of right now were to Southern California and Georgia.

An SOS of 36, an RPI of 19, and an 18-5 record looks pretty solid, right?

So why am I wasting my time putting down the Vols? Just check out what’s left on this schedule…

Away @ Kentucky, Home vs. Georgia, Away @ South Carolina, Away @ Florida, Home vs. Kentucky, Home vs. Arkansas, Away @ Mississippi State, SEC Tournament

Hmm… A team that was 18-4 coming into yesterday will almost certainly be 18-6 by the time this weekend is over. There are only two games on this schedule that feel like absolute wins (Home vs. Georgia, Home vs. Arkansas), but the Hogs have already proven that they can play anywhere in this conference when they went on the road and took out Ole Miss in Oxford. A slip up in that game and a few road follies, and the Vols could suddenly be a 20-10 team going into the SEC Tournament and possibly needing a victory in that tourney to nail down a ticket to the dance.

For our money though, we’re far more concerned about how badly the Vols have been against the college basketball spreads. Tennessee dropped to just 1-5 ATS in its L/6 games, and it still only has one cover away from Rocky Top in the SEC. UT has also only scored 80+ points once in conference play this year after pulling that feat off five times in ’08-’09. This is also a squad that is struggling from beyond the arc on the season, shooting just 33.1%. That won’t get it done in the SEC, and it certainly won’t accomplish anything in the postseason either.

The oddsmakers haven’t really caught on quite yet, and before they do, it’s time to capitalize. Keep rolling against the boys from Rocky Top!