The Huskies have lost four straight games, which includes three games from the Big East, and what started as a very promising season has gone downhill fast. Connecticut lost three of those games by three points or less but it is coming off its worst showing of the season as it lost by 14 points at Georgetown on Wednesday. That is a type of game that can either sink a team further down or come back stronger and the latter should be the case here as the Huskies look to improve upon their 10-2 home record. Seton Hall is playing worse. The Pirates were off to a great start as they opened the season 15-2 and were part of the national rankings. An NCAA Tournament bid was all but assured and then things went south. They have lost five straight games since then and only one of those was arguably close. This includes three losses on the road and for the season, Seton Hall is 1-4 in conference road games. The defense has been decent but the offense has dried up, averaging only 56.6 ppg on 34.7 percent shooting during the skid. Connecticut went scoreless for more than seven minutes in the loss to Notre Dame, were held to their lowest point total in nearly two years, and went 3-13 from three-point range. And then it got worse. In the loss to Georgetown, the Huskies were held to 44 points, four fewer than against Notre Dame, while going 2-20 from long range. A combined 5-33 (15.2 percent) from behind the arc is not going to get it done but they have been a lot better than those numbers show as they are shooting 39.4 percent at home. This is certainly a big game for both sides but even more so for the Huskies which came into the season with much higher expectations. They are now 4-5 in the conference and after a 2-0 start, they were handed their first loss at Seton Hall by 12 points which was the first loss to the Pirates since 2001, a span of 12 games. That makes this payback time for Connecticut which has covered six of the last seven home meetings against the Pirates. Look for the Huskies to finally break out on Saturday. 10* (534) Connecticut Huskies

LSU is coming off a loss at home against Kentucky last Saturday which was expected but what was not expected was the fact that the Tigers looked to have given up midway through the second half which is not part of the persona of this team. It was their fifth loss in six games in a rugged January stretch that included four SEC road games in five and a run of three games in a row against ranked foes. It won't be much easier here but at least there is a step down in class. Arkansas meanwhile is coming off a home upset against Vanderbilt as it pulled away late thanks to a big run. The Razorbacks improved to 16-1 at home with that victory but now they hit the road where things have been tough all season. Arkansas is 0-5 away from home this season, covering just one of those games which was the game played last Saturday at Alabama. That was due to a 17-8 run to start the second half but it faded once again as the defense on the road remains a big liability. The Tigers have been a lot more competitive this year than the last couple but the effort last week has head coach Trent Johnson seething. "The only thing that's disturbing to me is, forget the score, during the course of the second half, we just stopped fighting and stopped competing and that's the first time I've seen that from this group," Johnson said. "It really bothers me." With a week off since then, it is pretty certain that Johnson got into his players about that effort and it will not be duplicated this Saturday. This is not the same as football, but this is still a big rivalry game and LSU is playing with revenge following a nine-point loss in Fayetteville last month. The Tigers went to the free throw line only 13 times while going just 3-18 from long range. LSU has won the last three meetings in Baton Rouge and is 7-3-1 ATS in the last 11 home meetings. The Tigers are 11-5 ATS in their last 16 games against teams with a winning record while Arkansas is 2-10 ATS in its last 12 games following a spread win. 9* (552) LSU Tigers

Catching Long Beach St. is the Big West Conference but CS-Fullerton does have a chance at catching Santa Barbara for second place and it can do so with a win on Saturday. The Titans are coming off a lopsided victory over a decent Cal Poly team on Thursday as they won by 22 points to move to 6-3 in the conference. The game probably could have been even worse but Fullerton went ahead by 14 points at halftime and eased up on the gas in the second half. The Gauchos have a one game lead over the Titans and they trail first place Long Beach St. by two games and it will be tough for even them to catch the 49ers as they lost their home meeting so they will have to win at Long Beach and make up a game somewhere else, something that seems very unlikely. Santa Barbara has won three straight games, all of which have come on the road but those came against three of the bottom four teams in the conference which makes this one a tough one to overcome. The Titans are 8-2 at home this season and this is actually a rare home stretch for them. This is the first set of back-to-back games at home since January 2nd as they have played six of their last eight games away from home. They are riding an eight-game home winning streak following two early losses which never should have occurred. While Santa Barbara and Long Beach are the top teams, this is the biggest rivalry in the Big West Conference and the home court edge is bigger than most games. The Gauchos won the first meeting in Santa Barbara which sets up a big revenge spot for the Titans against their biggest rival. Santa Barbara went 8-16 from long range while shooting 46.3 percent from the floor compared to just 34.3 percent for Fullerton. The Gauchos also has the home court edge at the free throw line as they has a 29-18 edge in charity stripe attempts. The home team has won and covered five straight meetings and for good reason. The short price comes at a great time. 10* (678) CS-Fullerton Titans

It was a promising start to the season for Oklahoma which started out 10-2 in non-conference action but it has been a struggle since the Big XII got going. The Sooners are 3-6 in the conference but to their credit, the losses have come against some steep competition as they have lost to Kansas twice, Missouri, Baylor as well as tough road games at Oklahoma St. and Texas A&M. Oklahoma is coming off two road games including a 22-point thumping at Kansas so a return home here is big. We had what looked to be a winning ticket in hand with Kansas St. on Tuesday as the Wildcats built a 14-point lead over Iowa St. only to watch it dwindle and eventually lose it when the Cyclones hit the winning shot with just 1.8 seconds remaining. It was the second straight huge home win for Iowa St. as the first came against Kansas last Saturday and that spells major letdown. The Cyclones have exceeded expectations this season but they find themselves in a very difficult spot here. The Sooners have been solid at home this season with a 9-2 record, losing only to Baylor and Kansas. As mentioned, they have played some very tough teams and six of the first nine games came against ranked competition but the good news going forward is that they can make a late run as only two of the Sooners' final nine conference games are against teams currently ranked in the top 25. This is certainly no easy game here but it sets up well situationally for both sides. Iowa St. is a dangerous three-point shooting team as it leads the conference in three-pointers made with 8.6 per game. Oklahoma boasts a solid perimeter defense though as it is allowing opponents to shoot just 32.7 percent from long range including 29.4 percent at home. Limiting the long range shots could be the difference here. The Sooners have won five straight meetings in the series and nine of the last 11 as well as taking seven straight in Norman. 9* (610) Oklahoma Sooners

I've had this game circled for a while and we got the wish of Middle Tennessee St. coming into this contest undefeated in the Sun Belt Conference. The Blue Raiders are off to an incredible start at 21-3 including a perfect 10-0 in the SBC which sets up a great spot for Denver on Saturday. Middle Tennessee had won 12 straight games before going into Vanderbilt and losing last Saturday. It bounced back with a win at North Texas on Thursday but it was a narrow two-point victory. Denver fell to 6-4 in the conference with an overtime loss at Louisiana on Thursday and while that would normally lead to a possible letdown in the next game, that will not be the case here. The Pioneers have played four of their last five games on the road, two of which resulted in one point overtime losses, so the schedule has been a difficult one of late. Denver is 10-2 at home this season with a loss in overtime against Iona and a loss against West Division leader Arkansas-Little Rock. The Pioneers are off to their best start in nearly 70 years and they have been solid in many aspects. Denver is fifth in the nation in free throw percentage at 77.5 percent, 12th in three-point field goal percentage at 40.3 percent, 20th in field goal percentage at 48.3 percent, 17th in three-pointers per game with 8.5 per game, 21st in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.28 and 24th in assists at 15.9 apg. Middle Tennessee does have edges in some of those numbers but not many and not by much. This is one of the best home courts in the country over the past few years and the game was switched to 4:00 ET to accommodate an ESPN2 broadcast. It marks the first time ESPN2 will ever broadcast a basketball game from Magness Arena and this is just the second time Denver has ever appeared on an ESPN network. That makes this a very big home game for the Pioneers which are 4-0 ATS in their last four home games against teams with a winning road record. 9* (614) Denver Pioneers

The Volunteers are off to a 2-5 start in the SEC but the schedule has had a lot to do with that. They have lost to Kentucky twice, Vanderbilt and Mississippi St. which is a trio of elite teams. The other loss came at Georgia in overtime so the Volunteers have some extra incentive to step up on Saturday. It was a game Tennessee never should have lost as Georgia shot only 34.9 percent from the floor including 2-19 from long range but the Volunteers turned the ball over 20 times. Georgia has lost three straight games as well as six of its first seven conference games with the only victory being that overtime win over the Volunteers. The Bulldogs are 1-5 on the road with the lone road victory coming against a bad USC team. Not much was expected of Georgia this season and so far that has come to fruition. Even though Georgia has a slightly better record than Tennessee, it has beaten up on some much weaker competition and most of those came at home. Not much was expected of Tennessee this season after everything that took place with head coach Bruce Pearl last season and so far that has held true as well. The Volunteers still have a strong home court edge as they are 9-3 and they do own quality home victories against Florida and Connecticut and that loss to Kentucky was by only three points. Even though it is a down year, Tennessee ranks fifth nationally in home attendance and this being a night game heightens that edge. Despite the loss earlier this season, Tennessee has won 14 of its last 18 games against Georgia and also has triumphed in nine of its last 10 home games against the Bulldogs. While the Volunteers are playing with revenge from that loss last month, they are also playing with revenge from last season at home as Georgia snapped the nine-game home winning streak in the series for Tennessee. Look for the Volunteers to bounce back from their 25-point loss at Kentucky and get payback on Georgia as well. 8* (656) Tennessee Volunteers

Oregon is coming off a win at Utah that was a lot tougher than expected. The Ducks were tied at halftime and actually fell behind midway through the second half but used an 11-0 run to pull away in what can be considered a misleading final score. Oregon improved to 16-6 overall including 7-3 in the Pac 12 as well as upping its road record to an impressive 5-2. The Ducks have won three straight away from home but they will be facing something that the players have not yet encountered. I'm jumping on Colorado again as the teams coming into Boulder are not prepared for what they are up against. The altitude situation in Colorado is new for a lot of these players and we have seen the opposition no even being able to compete in some of these games. Making it even tougher Saturday is that Oregon played in Utah Thursday which is also of the same air quality although it is much worse in Colorado. Three Ducks starters played 32, 35 and 39 minutes which is not a good sign for this game. The Buffaloes are coming off an easy win on Thursday against Oregon St. to improve to 7-3 in the conference as well and they are a very impressive team at home. This being the first time that many teams have had to come to Coors Events Center makes a big difference and gives Colorado a big advantage. It has won nine in a row at home including all six games within the conference and for a team not expected to do much in its first year in the conference, the Buffaloes are playing with huge confidence. The Colorado defense was the difference last night and has been the difference all season. Oregon St., which came in averaging a conference-best 82.4 ppg, scored a season low 60 points as it shot just 36.2 percent from the floor. The other big factor is that Oregon was unable to get out of Salt Lake City at all on Friday as weather grounded the team. They are flying out at 8:00 am local time, if they can even get out. Let's hope they can get out and have a tough time getting ready and not have this game postponed. 9* (674) Colorado Buffaloes

Could this finally be the year? In what is the last meeting between Kansas and Missouri in Columbia in the Border War, it would be fitting for the Tigers to snap their five-game losing streak to Kansas at home before they bolt to the SEC. Missouri is undefeated at home with a 12-0 record and not that any more incentive was needed, for the first time in school history, ESPN's College Gameday will be making the trip to Columbia. This is going to be one crazy environment. The Jayhawks responded with a big win over Oklahoma following their loss at Iowa St. last Saturday. Kansas is still in first place in the Big XII with an 8-1 record but the real meat of the schedule is about to take place as the Jayhawks close the season with five of their last nine games taking place on the road to go along with tough home games against Missouri and Texas. Kansas is still the team to beat but we have yet to see how this young team performs in a tough environment. Kansas did start the season 4-0 on the road but the first three games came against USC, Oklahoma and Texas Tech, not exactly murder's row and the fourth came in Austin in a tough environment but Texas has shown many times this season it is not ready for the big time because of its youth. The Tigers are 22-2 in their last 24 home games going back to the end of the 2009-10 season. Both losses have come against Kansas so it is safe to say that Missouri will be out for some payback. Missouri is a very complete team. Overall, it leads the Big XII in scoring offense at 81.9 ppg, scoring margin at +18.2 ppg, free throw percentage at 77.8 percent, field goal percentage at 49.9 percent, assists with 16.14 apg, steals with 9.43 spg, turnover margin at +5.5 tpg, assist-turnover ratio at 1.54 and rebounding defense at 31.1 rpg. Also, the Tigers have been extremely efficient this season, averaging 1.13 points per field goal attempt which leads the Big XII by a big margin. 9* (680) Missouri Tigers

Orlando is coming off back-to-back wins for the first time since mid-January but those were against Washington and Cleveland and both came at home so it is not overly impressive. The Magic have really been struggling since a five-game winning streak as they are 4-6 over their last 10 games including a 1-3 record on the road. Despite the recent winning streak of a modest two games, the Magic are a team that cannot be trusted, especially when facing a quality opponent. Indiana is coming off a win at Dallas last night to make it four straight wins to improve to 16-6 overall. That four-game streak started with a win at Orlando so while the Magic will be out for revenge, you can argue Indiana is also. The Pacers were getting their own payback in Orlando following a home loss to the Magic five days before that. That is the only blemish on the Pacers home schedule as they are 6-1 on the season and those seven home games are the fewest of any team in the league. The fact that 15 of the first 22 games for Indiana have come on the road and it still possesses the third best record in the Eastern Conference is very impressive. Indiana is 11-4 this season against teams ranked outside the top 16 of the NBA and because of the Magic freefall, they are now part of that group. The Pacers defense has been strong, allowing opponent to shoot just 39.3 percent from the floor which is second best in the NBA. Look for that to continue after a poor effort in the first meeting here. The Magic are just 2-5 against the top ten teams in the NBA and they have played the 27th ranked schedule in the league so they have been beating up the small guys and losing to the big ones. It doesn't help matters the travel situation is a tough one for Orlando. Because of the Super Bowl, the team had to fly into Cincinnati because there were no rooms available in Indianapolis and then fly out of Cincinnati Saturday afternoon to get into the city in time for their game. 9* (502) Indiana Pacers

We played on the Hawks on Thursday and that was an absolutely horrible call as they fell down early and seemed to give up as they were blown out by 19 points against Memphis in a game that was even worse than that final score indicates. Still, Atlanta is 8-2 at home this season and it has been great coming off a loss as it is 4-0 in its last four games coming off a defeat including a 2-0 record at home coming off a loss, winning those games by 30 and 27 points. Philadelphia is coming off its worst game of the season as it lost by 20 points at home to Miami last night. That dropped the Sixers to 16-7 on the season and while that is still pretty good, it may not be as good as you think. The schedule has had a lot to do with that as Philadelphia has played the easiest schedule in the NBA up to this point as they have played only seven games against teams ranked in the top 16 in the league and they have gone 4-3 in those contests. One of those wins came against Atlanta at home back in mid-January to the Hawks will be playing for some payback following that 14-point loss. The 76 points scored were the second fewest they have put up all season with 74 being the season low coming against Chicago. That is pretty important as the Hawks were able to get their payback against the Bulls as they won by 15 points at home in the follow up game which has been their only revenge game so far this season. While the Sixers have played the easiest schedule in the league, their recent run has been helped by a home-heavy slate. Philadelphia has played seven straight games at home, 10 of its last 11 have been played at home and 15 of its last 18 games have been played at home. That is a pretty friendly schedule. The Sixers are 1-2 in those road games, losing at Miami by 21 points and at New York by six points. The only win came against lowly Washington which is certainly not saying much. 9* (504) Atlanta Hawks

This is the third game in three nights for the Nuggets which is the second time they have encountered this situation this season. They started off with a game in Los Angeles against the Clippers and then traveled back home to face the Lakers and are now off on the road once again in Portland. The Nuggets are 5-2 ATS when playing with no rest this season but one of those losses happened to come in Portland by nine points which came after a home game the previous night. Portland meanwhile has had a day off to stew about its loss in Sacramento on Thursday which was its fourth straight loss on the road. Overall the Blazers are 3-9 in 12 road games but the story is a lot different at home where they are 10-1 on the season. That only loss came against Orlando which may not look very good right now with the way the Magic are playing but it was right before the start of a six-game roadtrip for Portland so the loss can at least be somewhat justified. The Nuggets lost last night to the Lakers and while sometimes it is wise to be backing good teams coming off a loss but the loss last night was a little different as it was a hard fought game throughout and one that will be tough to bounceback from. As mentioned, this is the second time Denver has had a three-in-three situation and it went 2-1 the first time, losing the opener and winning the final two games. However they got to play those final two games at home so the travel aspect was on their side. Not only did the Nuggets lose to the Lakers, but they lost center Timofey Mozgov to an ankle injury and he did not travel with the team to Portland. The Blazers catch them at the right time and they are in need of a rebound win themselves. The Blazers are winning by an average of 26.8 ppg during their 4-0 stretch at the Rose Garden and overall the defense is leading the way, allowing only 88.5 ppg. Portland is 9-1-1 ATS in its last 11 games as a home favorite between 5.0 and 10.5 ppg. 8* (526) Portland Trailblazers

We won with St. Louis last night but we will be going against the Blues tonight. They won at home against the Kings to improve to 22-3-4 at home, adding to their league leading win total at home. Things have not been as good on the road as the Blues are just 8-10-3 away from home on the season and this is a rare road game. St. Louis has played seven of its last eight games at home with the one road game coming at Detroit, another great team at home. And again, that will be the case tonight. The Predators are back home for the first time since January 23rd as they are coming off a three-game roadtrip with the last game resulting in a loss on Thursday in Philadelphia. Losing consecutive games has been a rarity of late for Nashville and losing in general has not happened too often either. The Predators are 3-0 in their last three games following a loss which dates back to just after Christmas and that shows how rare losing has been,. Nashville is 13-3 in its last 16 games. Entering tonight’s game, the Predators have won 12 of their last 14 home games, giving them 16 home wins on the season. Nashville ranks among the League’s best on home ice since the beginning of the 2005-06 campaign, compiling 171 home victories which third-most behind only Detroit (178) and San Jose (173) over that stretch which is pretty impressive company. The Blues are just 9-23 in their last 32 road games against teams with a home winning percentage greater than .600. Predators goalie Pekka Rinne has been the catalyst during this recent hot streak as he has won a franchise record 10 consecutive games dating back to January 7th, allowing two goals or fewer in nine of 10 outings. He will be back in net after having the night off in Philadelphia. He is 11-5-2 with a 1.89 GAA and a .934 save percentage lifetime versus the Blues, and has stopped 105 of 109 shots in the three meetings this season. All of those resulted in Nashville wins. 10* (70) Nashville Predators

Matt has erupted for a POWERFUL 95-53-3 (64.2%) run to start 2012 which includes an AWESOME 38-24-3 (61.7%) in CBB! It is Super Bowl weekend and Matt has big plans! He has EIGHT CBB Plays Saturday and all are available right now! Do not forget his 10* Super Bowl Enforcer as he extends his PERFECT 3-0 record with 10* Enforcers!

Arizona is coming off a massive win on Thursday as it won at California, ending the Golden Bears' 17-game winning streak at Haas Pavilion. The victory improved the Wildcats to 6-4 in the conference and kept them two games behind Washington for first place. They have been decent on the road this season, going 5-3 overall including 3-2 in the Pac 12 but the other two wins came against bottom feeders USC and Utah. While the travel is not a lot, it still presents a tough spot. Stanford rolled over Arizona St. to also improve to 6-4 in the conference and like California, it has a strong home court edge. The Cardinal are 12-1 at Maples Pavilion with the only loss coming against Butler in non-conference action. The easy victory over the Sun Devils on Thursday allowed some rest for the starters as Stanford cleared the bench for a lot of the game as 11 players logged nine or more minutes of action and no starter played more than 27 minutes. The Wildcats suffered a tough loss last week with the loss of guard Kevin Parrom which hurts the depth of the backcourt. Now it gets worse as Thursday night, Arizona also lost the services of guard Jordin Mayes which really thins out the backcourt. Without Parrom and Mayes, the Wildcats’ bench basically consists of guard Brendon Lavender and center Angelo Chol. Freshman shooting guard Nick Johnson will be the backup point guard and the Wildcats now have only seven players logging double-digits in minutes. Stanford has Arizona in a position to snap its five-game losing streak against the Wildcats. Stanford's most recent victory over Arizona came back on Jan. 4, 2009 which was also at home. Overall the Cardinal are 63-17 at home since the start of 2007 so it is a tough place for the opposition to come into. They have covered 26 of their last 37 home games against teams with a winning road record and they are 7-1 ATS this season against teams coming off a win in their last game. 3* (568) Stanford Cardinal