Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Kentucky makes five Super Tuesday appearances

John Calipari

Kentucky head coach John Calipari on the bench during the second half of a first-round NIT college basketball game against Robert Morris on Tuesday, March 19, 2013, in Coraopolis, Pa. Robert Morris won 59-57.(AP Photo/Don Wright)

AP

The lineup for “Super Tuesday” was announced earlier Monday and the schedule is loaded with quality Big Ten and SEC contests with Kentucky leading the way with five appearances.

The Wildcats will be one of the major stories of the upcoming season thanks to their insane amount of talent that includes six incoming McDonald’s All-Americans. The Big Ten should also have plenty of top teams and matchups as Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State return many pieces.

Here are five key matchups for “Super Tuesday” that you won’t want to miss:

Michigan at Ohio State (February 11th)

You might be thinking, “duh”, because this game is a longstanding heated rivalry, but both Michigan and Ohio State have enough talent in place to compete for the Big Ten title -- and possibly beyond -- and this conference clash in February should tell us a lot about where these two teams stand going into the homestretch of conference play.

Florida at Tennessee (February 11th)

Another rivalry game scheduled on the same night as Michigan at Ohio State leaves February 11th as appointment television for college basketball fans. Florida -- regardless of the Chris Walker situation -- will have a lot of talent in place and the post matchup between Gators senior Patric Young and Tennessee’s Jarnell Stokes should be very fun to watch.

Ohio State at Michigan State (January 7th)

On the opening night of “Super Tuesday” the two Big Ten powers collide in East Lansing for what’s sure to be a solid showdown. These two teams split in the Big Ten regular season last year -- with each of the road teams winning -- before Ohio State won the season series in the Big Ten conference tournament semifinals. It’ll be hard to re-live last year’s exciting series between these two, but there will be plenty of interesting subplots and I can’t wait to see how Gary Harris looks in the Big Ten for his sophomore season.

Indiana at Wisconsin (February 25th)

These two teams also meet on January 14th in a Super Tuesday contest in Bloomington, but it’s the late-season matchup that should give us a clearer picture of conference title aspirations. Wisconsin has quietly owned the Hoosiers in the Tom Crean era -- including defeating them twice last season away from the vaunted Kohl Center -- so seeing how Indiana responds to their tormentor in their hostile home should be a great matchup.

Kentucky at LSU (January 28th)

Kentucky will be the story of the SEC entering the season, but LSU could be the surprise of the SEC given their talent-level and depth of returning players. Johnny O’Bryant returns and paired with him inside will be fellow in-state McDonald’s All-American Jarrell Martin. It’s hard to say whether that will be enough to trump the Wildcats, but the Tigers have the talent to make noise in the SEC and what better way than a home upset on Super Tuesday.

Follow @phillipshoops