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

Weekend Preview: Saturday will be the best college hoops day of the year

Duke v Syracuse

SYRACUSE, NY - FEBRUARY 01: C.J. Fair #5 of the Syracuse Orange takes a shot over Jabari Parker #1 (L) of the Duke Blue Devils during the first half at the Carrier Dome on February 1, 2014 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images)

Rich Barnes

Duke v Syracuse

SYRACUSE, NY - FEBRUARY 01: C.J. Fair #5 of the Syracuse Orange takes a shot over Jabari Parker #1 (L) of the Duke Blue Devils during the first half at the Carrier Dome on February 1, 2014 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images)

Rich Barnes

GAME OF THE WEEKEND: No. 1 Syracuse at No. 5 Duke, Sat. 7:00 p.m

This game has lot a bit of luster, hasn’t it? Three weeks ago, the Orange and the Blue Devils played the best game of the season. The rematch was supposed to be between a streaking Duke team and an undefeated Syracuse team. Instead, the Orange lost at home to Boston College while the Blue Devils dropped a game at North Carolina.

The key here? What is Duke going to be able to do against the Syracuse zone. They struggled when Maryland went zone last Saturday. They lost on Thursday because North Carolina switched to a zone, and while the 2-3 that Syracuse runs is very different from the junk defenses that the Terps and the Heels threw at them, it still doesn’t change the fact that Duke’s offense has struggled getting the ball into the middle of the defense.

THE OTHER GAME OF THE WEEKEND: No. 11 Louisville at No. 7 Cincinnati, Sat. 12:00 p.m.

This is the start of Louisville’s brutal last-season slate. In their last five games, they play at Cincinnati, at SMU, at Memphis and at home against UConn. The Cardinals have been much improved from the team that we saw earlier this season, but they’ve done it beating up on lesser competition that, quite frankly, they should be beating up on. Cincinnati, for lack of a better word, big-boyed the Cardinals the first time these two got together. Russ Smith vs. Sean Kilpatrick will be fun.

THE OTHER, OTHER GAME OF THE WEEKEND: No. 13 Michigan State at No. 20 Michigan, Sun. 12:00 p.m.

The two team in first place in the Big Ten square off on Sunday afternoon. Both the Spartans and the Wolverines and struggled a bit of late, however. Michigan State is finally starting to get healthy again, as Keith Appling is now back in the lineup. The Wolverines, who won the first matchup, have got to find a way to get Nik Stauskas more involved in ball-screen action as we head into the season’s final weeks.

FIVE MORE TO WATCH:


  • No. 16 Wisconsin at No. 15 Iowa, Sat. 12:00 p.m.: The Badgers seem to have righted their ship in recent weeks, which makes this win all the more important for an Iowa team that has yet to really prove themselves.
  • St. John’s at No. 9 Villanova, Sat. 1:30 p.m.: The Johnnies are probably on the wrong side of the bubble as of today, but that would certainly change if they can continue their hot streak and pick off the Wildcats.
  • LSU at No. 18 Kentucky, Sat. 4:00 p.m.: The last time these two got together, LSU smacked Kentucky around in Baton Rouge. It will be interesting to see how Kentucky responds in their own building.
  • No. 19 Texas at No. 8 Kansas, Sat. 7:30 p.m.: Texas might be the team best-equipped to beat Kansas given the size that they have along their front line. They can match up with the Kansas big men, and as long as Isaiah Taylor and Javan Felix are making good decisions, they’ll have a shot to win at Phog Allen.
  • No. 6 San Diego State at New Mexico, Sat. 10:00 p.m.: New Mexico is probably on the right side of the bubble right now, but they’re closer than they want to be. The Aztecs are easily the best available win for the Lobos, and they actually matchup with them fairly well. A shot at the MWC regular season title would probably go out the window with a loss.

WHO’S GETTING UPSET?


  • No. 2 Florida at Ole Miss, Sat. 12:00 p.m.: This will be the last chance for Ole Miss to do something that gets them in position to be an at-large team. They have to win this. If Florida plays the way they did against Auburn, it just might happen.
  • No. 23 UCLA at Stanford, Sat. 6:00 p.m.: UCLA is playing the best ball of anyone in the Pac-12 right now, but Stanford is a pesky team that could use the win to solidify their tournament resume. Who guards Kyle Anderson though?
  • George Washington at No. 10 Saint Louis, Sat. 8:00 p.m.: The Colonials picked up a big win at Richmond this week, which means that they won’t be at risk of a three-game losing streak should they drop this game. The Billikens struggled with George Mason on Wednesday, however.
  • No. 4 Arizona at Colorado, Sat. 9:00 p.m.: In November, this looked like it was going to be the best game of the Pac-12 season. That was before ACL injuries to Spencer Dinwiddie and Brandon Ashley.
  • SMU at No. 21 UConn, Sun. 2:00 p.m.: SMU has struggled on the road, but they have the pieces to give UConn a run.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH FOR:

1) A key Ivy League battle will be played on Sunday afternoon on the NBC Sports Network. Yale will be visiting Columbia. Yale is in first place in the Ivy League. On Saturday night, Cornell taking on Brown will be on the NBC Sports Network as well.

2) Drake will visit No. 3 Wichita State on Saturday at 8:00 p.m., one of three teams that will have a shot to end Wichita State’s undefeated regular season.

3) Texas Tech will make their return trip to Oklahoma State on Saturday, marking Marcus Smart’s first game back from a three-game suspension for shoving a fan in the Cowboys’ loss ... at Texas Tech.

4) Two more excellent games that are a bit off the radar: VCU at UMass, Fri. 7:00 p.m.; and Kansas State at Oklahoma, Sat. 4:00 p.m.

5) The weekend’s biggest bubble games:


  • Xavier at Georgetown, Sat. 11:30 a.m.
  • Baylor at West Virginia, Sat. 1:47 p.m.
  • Marquette at DePaul, Sat. 2:00 p.m.
  • N.C. State at Virginia Tech, Sat. 2:00 p.m.
  • Tennessee at Texas A&M, Sat. 3:00 p.m.
  • Fordham at Saint Joseph’s, Sat. 3:00 p.m.
  • La Salle at Richmond, Sat. 4:00 p.m.
  • Saint Mary’s at Santa Clara, Sat. 4:00 p.m.
  • Minnesota at No. 24 Ohio State, Sat. 6:00 p.m.
  • Missouri at Alabama, Sat. 8:00 p.m.
  • Purdue at Nebraska, Sun. 4:15 p.m.
  • Florida State at Pittsburgh, Sun. 6:00 p.m.
  • Providence at Butler, Sun. 6:00 p.m.
  • Arizona State at Utah, Sun. 8:00 p.m.
  • USC at Cal, Sun. 8:00 p.m.
  • Washington State at Oregon, Sun. 9:00 p.m.