Where did the time go?
We arrive at the final Saturday of the college basketball regular season.
Once again, VSiN’s Steve Makinen has put together a special College Basketball Analytics Report, loaded with late-season systems, revenge angles, rematch data and conference-specific trends, along with the games that qualify.
👉 Read Steve’s Analytics Report.
Like I did last week, I ran Steve’s data through ChatGPT and asked it to identify the three spots where the most angles collide — conference trends, revenge systems, rematch history and late-season profiles all pointing in the same direction.
Coming a 2-1 record, the robot spit out this (in order of confidence):
🥇 Georgia Tech (+17.5) vs. Clemson (Noon ET, ACCN)
Georgia Tech hits five independent angles pointing the same direction:
1️⃣ Elite late-season ATS team: Georgia Tech: 23-4 ATS in final two weeks historically.
2️⃣ Rematch ATS edge: Georgia Tech: 14-7 ATS in rematches.
3️⃣ Double-digit revenge dog system: Teams that lost the first meeting and are now double-digit road dogs, 96-72 ATS (57%)
4️⃣ Clemson in spot that historically underperforms: Teams coming off 20+ point wins scoring 93+, 163-200 ATS (44.9%) next game.
5️⃣ Series trend: Road teams 7-1 ATS in Clemson–GT rivalry.
Robot: This is the classic “overpriced good team vs pesky conference dog” setup. Clemson is good, but the number is likely inflated by their ranking and late-season momentum.
🥈 BYU (-1.5) vs Texas Tech (10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Robot: Late-season BYU has historically been one of the strongest “finish teams” in the country. This is the kind of profile that usually means: Experienced roster + strong home court + tournament positioning urgency.
🥉 Arkansas (+1.5) at Missouri (Noon ET, ESPN)
Robot: Missouri has the bad profile of a shaky home favorite late in the year, while Arkansas fits multiple revenge + rematch + road dog angles.
I didn’t ask for it, but Chat GPT gave me a bonus pick as the best Total based on Steve’s Analytics Report: Northwestern-Minnesota Over 133.5
Greg Peterson has regular-season and conference tournament games among his Best Bets.
👉 Check the Conference Tournament Hub for everything we publish during Champ Week.
👉 Check here for Luke DiVasta‘s “Angle” picks. He has five.
ICYMI: Miami of Ohio finished the regular season 31-0, but it wasn’t easy. The RedHawks defeated Ohio 110-108 in OT (but didn’t cover the -3.5). Up next: The MAC Tournament, where Miami (+185) is second behind Akron (+100) to win the title.
Zach Cohen’s NBA Report
Tatum’s Return
Holy hell. After a dramatic couple of months playing the “Will he? Won’t he?” game, Jayson Tatum was finally back in the lineup for Boston on Friday night. He started slow, looking a bit hesitant while trying to find his footing with this Celtics team — but after the shaky start, he settled in nicely. He finished with 15 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists in Boston’s 120-100 victory over the Mavs (+15.5). And perhaps the most impressive number was 27, which was his minute total.
Considering how sharp he looked, I might lump the C’s in with Cleveland as one of the few Eastern Conference teams with legitimate championship upside.
Saturday Card
The Warriors and Thunder will clash on ABC at 8:30 p.m. ET, but Stephen Curry remains out and the Thunder will have a bunch of key rotation pieces listed as inactive. That takes some shine off of Saturday’s featured contest, but Magic-Timberwolves and 76ers-Hawks could be fun. We also have three clear legs for a “braindead parlay” as the Pistons are hosting the Nets, the Clippers are facing the Grizzlies, and the Bucks are welcoming the Jazz.
👉 Zach’s Best Bets and Steve Makinen‘s Analytics Report will hit around mid-morning on our NBA page.
UFC 326: Age-old problem
Las Vegas is the setting for tonight’s UFC 326 card, featuring Max Holloway (-215) vs. Charles Oliveira (+170) for Holloway’s “BMF” championship belt.
VSiN contributor Lou Finocchiaro has this nugget in his Best Bets column:
There are four fights with an age gap of six years or greater between opponents. Six years or more equates to at least a 62% rate of winning for the younger fighter in any particular battle.
👉 More UFC coverage: Dave Ross and Rob Moreno offer their top plays in the First Strike podcast.
