Here are 5 items of interest to basketball bettors heading into the weekend.

1. Louisville coach Rick Pitino hasn’t had the best year.  And his basketball team has done little to buoy his spirits.  Pitino was highly critical of his team’s defense this week, saying “The effort is there.  The guys are willing to pay the price.  We’re just a weak defensive team.”  Catching three hoops at Vegas and online sportsbooks, the Cardinals head to Morgantown on Saturday, but may enjoy a bit of a matchup edge, as WVU’s strength is not at the point guard position.

2. The bottom half of the SEC West is weak, weak, weak.  LSU, Arkansas, and Auburn not only are all ranked 120th or lower in the country by the major power ratings, but have been pointspread disasters as well, with a combined 15-27 mark against the spread.

3. The equivalent teams in the Big Ten are Penn State, Iowa, and Indiana, none of whom crack the Top 100 in any power ratings and combining for 23-33 against the pointspread.

4. Kentucky was going to lose sooner, or later, but apparently not all of their fans were aware of that. The Get-A-Lifers among Kentucky’s loyal following have taken to using social networking sites to harshly criticize the Big Blue players directly. Patrick Patterson, among others, is not amused.   Does UK bounce back from their disapointing loss and take care of Vanderbilt as a sizable favorite?   Or does their disappointment show?   Off their big win in Knoxville, Vandy could be in letdown mode themselves, as road dogs off of a upset road win is a tough subset for bettors to make profitable.

5. The other side of that Kentucky upset, South Carolina, takes on an improving Georgia five on Saturday.   Their focus will be interesting to see and a letdown is possible, as the scene doesn’t get any wilder following an upset than it was in Columbia on Tuesday night.  Devan Downey’s coming out party wasn’t a great game for him until a few late clutch hoops were made.  In fact, the 30 points he scored on 9 for 29 shooting saw his scoring average in SEC games go down.

Good luck this weekend.  And be careful.