For the second time in as many nights, a top-5 college basketball battle is going down on the West Coast. Enjoy it, basketball fans (and grab some coffee, depending where you’re tuning in from). We might not see this much closely-confined March Madness.

On Saturday at 10:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. local time), the No. 1 Gonzaga Bulldogs host the No. 5 Texas Longhorns. Both teams romped their way to 30-plus-point victories in their respective season openers, but we don’t expect that kind of game this time around. Betting apps have Gonzaga as 7.5-point favorites, or -350 chalk on the moneyline.

Check out the college basketball odds for this matchup in the table below, followed by a look at our college basketball picks.

Odds are current as of publication. Betting sites may indicate different odds closer to tipoff.

5 Keys to Gonzaga vs Texas

Can Chet be contained?: Texas has rostered its fair share of lanky, highly-ranked hoopers over the years, but no one taking the court Saturday will be as heralded as Gonzaga freshman Chet Holmgren. 247 Sports’ No. 1 recruit in the 2021 posted 14 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and seven blocks in his debut on Tuesday.

Transfer of power: A key for the Longhorns this season will be the play of some of their big-name transfers, including Marcus Carr (all-conference with Minnesota last season), Tre Marshall (all-conference with UMass) and Dylan Disu (SEC rebounding leader with Vanderbilt). Experience is a hot commodity in college basketball.

Disu still questionable: Speaking of Disu, who didn’t play in Texas’ opener, he’s questionable for Saturday with a knee injury. He’s back to practice full time and will return “sooner rather than later,” according to Longhorns head coach Chris Beard.

Trouble from deep?: If there’s one potential flaw in Gonzaga, a team that has won 27 consecutive regular season games, it might be their 3-point shooting. The Bulldogs were 6-of-21 (28.6%) from deep in their first game, and none of their active players are better than 35% in three-point shooting for their careers.

Matchup history: Diehards may remember Kevin Durant’s game-high 29 points when these teams met in 2006, but more recently Gonzaga earned a five-point overtime win in 2017. The Bulldogs have won both matchups between these teams, and they were favored in both.

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Texas at Gonzaga Our Best Bet

With the exception of a five-point win over West Virginia last season, Gonzaga legitimately blew out every one of its 2020-21 regular season opponents. They lost three of their four top players to the NBA, but Drew Timme is still around and they added the nation’s top recruit. Not a bad way to recover.

We definitely like Gonzaga to win on the moneyline, even though a top-five team like Texas getting +275 at sportsbooks is pretty eye-popping. Teasing Gonzaga down to 4.5 points would preferred if you’re looking to bet on the spread.

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