If Kansas goes into Manhattan and drives back to Lawrence with a
convincing victory against in-state rival Kansas State, Bill
Self’s team can make a valid case for returning to the
position it began the season.
Number one.
If not, there is no shortage of candidates that can lay claim
to the top spot.
Syracuse may possess the most impressive resume –
certainly the win at West Virginia stacks up against any by a team
in the mix for the No. 1 ranking.
The ‘Cuse, coming off a home win vs. Georgetown, also
won at Seton Hall and Notre Dame in addition to neutral-site
victories against North Carolina and Florida.
The other candidate is Villanova, which has wins against
Georgetown at home, on a neutral site over Ole Miss and Dayton, in
D.C. against Maryland and on the road at Louisville.
Kansas may possess the least spectacular resume of the trio.
In fact, if the Jayhawks pull out a win at K-State,
it’ll be their first victory against a sure-fire NCAA
tournament team.
CAN’T MISS: Kansas at Kansas State, Saturday
at 7 p.m. ET – Even though Frank Martin’s team slipped
up at home against Oklahoma State last week, this is still a
terrific matchup and a heated rivalry. The Jayhawks, with
potentially the No. 1 ranking on the line, go into one of the most
hostile environments they will see all year long at Bramlage
Coliseum. If K-State can pull out the victory, the Wildcats will
remain in the Big 12 race. If not, it’ll become a battle
between Kansas and Texas.
UNDERCARD: Duke at Georgetown, Saturday at 1 p.m.
ET – A matchup of Top 10 teams. Remember, Duke is 0-3 in true
road games this season, losing at Wisconsin, Georgia Tech and N.C.
State. The Hoyas are coming off the loss to Syracuse and also fell
short in the home-and-home series a year ago down in Durham, 76-67.
MUST SEE: First place in the SEC is on the line
when Kentucky hosts Vanderbilt on Saturday at 4 p.m. However,
it’s the Commodores, fresh off a road win at Tennessee, who
come into Rupp as the leaders in the SEC East at 5-0 while
Kentucky, fresh off its setback at South Carolina, is 4-1 in league
play.
REAL DEAL?: UAB – I’m still not
completely sold on UAB, mostly because I’ve yet to see the
Blazers in person, but a home date with UTEP on Saturday night at 8
p.m. ET will provide a more definitive indication of whether Mike
Davis’ team is a legitimate Top 25 club or not.
UPSET SPECIAL: Seriously, my upset pick of
Arkansas over Kentucky might have been the worst prediction in
college basketball history. But I’m motivated to make up for
that temporary lapse of sanity. I’m going with a young
Arizona team to knock off Cal in Tucson on Sunday afternoon.
MID-MAJOR MATCHUP: This one is a no-brainer.
It’s a battle of the two top teams in the Ivy League when
Harvard travels to Cornell on Saturday night. Tommy Amaker’s
Crimson have a few impressive wins, but the Big Red will be favored
due to its recent league dominance.
MUST-WIN ON BOTH SIDES: Oklahoma State at Missouri
– Two teams that will likely be right on that proverbial
bubble come March. The Cowboys have a key road win against Kansas
State and followed it up with a home victory over Texas A&M
while Missouri has also beaten K-State (at home), but could use
another quality victory for its resume.
IMPORTANT: Louisville at West Virginia – The
Cardinals are 13-7 and 4-3 in Big East play, but are in need of a
big-time win and this could be it. In fact, Rick Pitino’s
most impressive win thus far this season just might be a home
victory against Cincinnati last weekend. That’s not good news
for Cardinals fans.
DANGEROUS: UConn – Yes, the Huskies got that
win at home against former No. 1 Texas, but they still aren’t
a lock for the NCAA tournament, especially after the setback at
Providence earlier in the week. UConn, which doesn’t have
another “resume” victory besides the one over the
Longhorns, will host Marquette on Saturday afternoon in what has
become somewhat of a must-win game for the Huskies.
UNDER-THE-RADAR: Maryland at Clemson – The
Terps have been one of the hottest teams in the country lately and
are smacking their opponents. Clemson has lost three straight games
and desperately needs a healthy Demontez Stitt.
PERFECTION AND REJECTION: Now that Kentucky has
fallen as the final unbeaten team in the country, we’ll focus
on the final two teams left without a victory: Alcorn State and
Bryant. Alcorn State has three straight on the road beginning with
Saturday’s contest at Southern while Bryant has a shot of
getting into the win column with a home game Saturday against
Farleigh Dickinson.
