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Weekend Preview: Top storylines to follow

John Calipari

Kentucky coach John Calipari reacts at the end of a loss to Duke during an NCAA college basketball game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012. Duke beat Kentucky 75-68. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

AP

The Weekend’s Top Storyline: Who bounces back on Saturday, No. 8 Kentucky or Baylor?

If you were paying attention, Kentucky’s loss in South Bend to the Fighting Irish shouldn’t have come as a surprise to you. The Wildcats are the youngest team in the country and were playing their first game on the road this season, and it just so happened to be against a veteran, disciplined Irish team in front of one of the toughest home courts in the country that was already fired up because their football team is headed to the national title game and their Heisman candidate was front row in the student section.

For the cynics and Scott Drew haters, Baylor’s start to the season isn’t a surprise, either. With enough talent to be a top ten team and win the Big 12, Drew has once again watched as his program struggles to live up to the hype and expectation, losing to Charleston at home after struggling with Boston College despite having as many as four future draft picks on the roster.

So who bounces back on Saturday at 12:30 ET? Will Alex Poythress be motivated? Will Pierre Jackson be distributing? Which athletic front line earns control of the paint?

Five More Storylines to Track:

Battle of the unbeatens: Ok, so it’s not a huge surprise that Alabama and No. 17 Cincinnati (Saturday, 3:00 p.m.) are both undefeated at this point in the season. Cincy was woefully underrated heading into the year, and Alabama appeared to have some addition by subtraction going on with Tony Mitchell and JaMychal Green. (You like back court battles? Sean Kilpatrick and Cashmere Wright vs. Trevor Lacey and Trevor Relelford should make you salivate.) But get this: Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech (Saturday, 2:00 p.m.) are also both undefeated heading into December. How many people saw that coming?

Missouri without Mike Dixon: At 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, the Tigers will take on Appalachian State at home as they take the floor for the first time since Preseason All-Big 12 guard Michael Dixon left the program amid multiple sexual assault allegations. How will the Tigers respond without him? We may not know that answer until mid-December, when Jabari Brown gets eligible.

UCLA without Joshua Smith: It’s been a rough week to be a Bruin fan. They blew an 18 point lead to Cal Poly with 12 minutes left to lose at home on Sunday night, and then watched as two former starters -- Tyler Lamb and Smith -- transferred out of the program this week. The Bruins now have depth and roster make-up issues, but they bounced back nicely with a big win over Cal Cat.-Northridge on Wednesday. But what happens when they are forced to play a top 25 program like San Diego State, one that can matchup up with them wing for wing? Jamaal Franklin vs. Shabazz Muhammad will be fun.

Jerod Haase is back: Jerod Haase played for Roy Williams at Kansas. He was an assistant there from 1999-2003, when he followed Williams to North Carolina. He’s a lifer ... well, was a lifer. This offseason, Haase accepted the head coaching position at UAB, and on Saturday, he’ll be taking his Blazer team into the Dean Dome for the first time.

Can Villanova or Vanderbilt turn their season around?: Neither one has been impressive this season, and while we knew that both the Wildcats and the Commodores would be rebuilding this season, how many people expected Jay Wright’s team to lose to Columbia and La Salle, or Kevin Stallings’ team to put up 33 points in a blowout loss to Marist? Both programs really needs a bounce back win.

Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.