Saturday Roundup

Saturday is quickly becoming my favorite day of the week. Not only do I get the day off, but there are a ton of good games on TV. Lets break today's games down by conference.

Big East:

• 12:00 PM: West Virginia (11-3, 1-1) @ Marquette (14-2, 3-0): The Mountaineers are coming off of a tough home loss to UConn on Tuesday, and it gets no easier for them as they head to the Bradley Center to take on Marquette. The key to this game is going to be how Marquette handles WVU on the offensive glass. West Virginia does not have a great offense, especially now that Joe Mazzulla is injured. The way that they get points is by crashing the glass and trying to clean up misses. UConn beat them because their size was able to control the interior. Marquette is much smaller than UConn, so it will be interesting to see how they handle WVU on the glass. That said, I think Marquette pulls this one out at home.
• 12:00 PM: Louisville (10-3, 1-0) @ Villanova (13-2, 1-1): The question for Louisville from this point on is always going to be which Edgar Sosa shows up for the game - the one that had 18 and a game winner against Kentucky, or the one that almost got forced off the team by Rick Pitino? I like Louisville here simply because I don't know how the Wildcats are going to match-up with Samardo Samuels, Earl Clark, and Terrence Williams. As good as the Villanova back court is and as much as I like the new and improved Dante Cunningham, I don't see a guy like Shane Clark or Reggie Redding being able to handle any of those three Cardinals.
• 2:00 PM: Providence (11-4, 3-0) @ Georgetown (10-3, 1-2): These teams have been polar opposites thus far. Providence under achieved during non-conference play, but has run up a 3-0 record in Big East play after winning on the road at Cincinnati. Georgetown over achieved during their non-conference slate, but has struggled thus far in league play due to their ridiculous early schedule (UConn, Pitt, Notre Dame). If Providence wants to show people they are for real, they have a great opportunity today.
• 2:00 PM: Seton Hall (9-6, 0-3) @ Notre Dame (11-3, 2-1): The Pirates have really struggled this season, especially in conference play. The Irish have won 44 straight at home. I wonder who the favorite is?
• 2:00 PM: South Florida (5-9, 0-2) @ DePaul (8-8, 0-3): There will be one less winless team in the Big East after this one.
• 4:30 PM: UConn (13-1, 2-1) @ Cincinnati (10-5, 0-2): Cinci has struggled all season long without freshman point guard Cashmere Wright to run their offense. The Bearcats, like West Virginia, rely heavily on getting easy buckets off of o-boards. UConn's size should make that difficult. I think the Huskies get another close win on the road.
• 7:30 PM: Syracuse (15-1, 3-0) @ Rutgers (9-7, 0-3): The Scarlett Knights have almost knocked off Marquette (lost by 5, but cut a 23 point lead to 2) and Pitt (up at halftime, lost by 6) at home, so the Orange better not look past Rutgers (after this game, the Orange have a stretch whee they play nine of ten games against ranked teams).
  

ACC:

• 12:00 PM: Georgia Tech (9-5, 0-1) @ Maryland (11-3, 0-0): The Terps look to bounce back from a humiliating home loss to Morgan State. The Yellow Jackets have a bunch of athletic big guys (Gani Lawal, Alade Aminu, Zach Peacock), and I don't think Maryland can handle them inside.
• 12:00 PM: NC State (9-3, 0-0) @ Clemson (15-0, 1-0): Clemson shouldn't be allowed to use their press in this game just to make it fair. NC State does not have great guard play.
• 2:00 PM: Duke (13-1, 1-0) @ Florida State (13-2, 0-0): Duke always struggles in Tallahassee, so I'm calling this upset.
• 4:00 PM: Virginia (7-5, 1-0) @ Virginia Tech (9-5, 0-1): Besides Duke, the Hokies other four losses have come by a combined eight points. This team could easily be 13-1 right now.
• 7:00 PM: Miami FL (11-3, 0-1) @ Boston College (13-3, 1-0): How is BC going to bounce back from their loss to Harvard?
  

Pac-10:

• 2:00 PM: Oregon (9-6, 0-3) @ Arizona State (13-2, 2-1): Arizona State is coming off perhaps their best game of the season, as they shot 65.1% against Oregon State and held to Beavers to just 38 points.
• 4:00 PM: Oregon State (6-7, 1-2) @ Arizona (10-5, 1-2): Arizona is looking to even up their Pac-10 record after being swept by Stanford and Cal. When Arizona gets a good game out of Chase Budinger, Jordan Hill, and Nic Wise, they are very tough to beat. When one of those three doesn't play well, Arizona could easily lose to a team like Oregon State.
• 6:00 PM: Cal (14-2, 3-0) @ Washington (11-3, 2-0): An early season battle for first place in the conference between the two most surprising teams in the conference. Anyone that gets to see this game should be in for a show as both schools shoot well and score a lot. It should be fun to see Cal's Jerome Randle and Washington's Isaiah Thomas go head to head in a battle of the little guys.
• 10:00 PM: Stanford (11-2, 1-2) @ Washington State (8-6, 0-2): This game is going to be an ugly, slowed down, slug fest. I think Wazzu gets this win, simply because they desperately need one.

SEC:

• 12:00 PM: Tennessee (9-4) @ Georgia (9-6): The Vols have been sliding of late. After their loss to Gonzaga, the SEC better hope that Arkansas sneaks into the rankings, because otherwise this conference will be without a ranked team. This is the SEC by the way.
• 2:00 PM: Vanderbilt (11-3) @ Kentucky (11-4): It should be fun to see AJ Ogilvy go up against Patrick Patterson.
  
• 6:00 PM: Mississippi (9-5) @ Florida (13-2): I feel so bad for those Mississippi kids. They looked so promising coming into the season, but have had three players (including star PG Chris Warren) go down with season ending knee injuries.
• 7:00 PM: Auburn (10-4) @ South Carolina (11-2): The Gamecocks are 11-2 with a win over Baylor, and if they can make some noise during SEC play, they might be able to make a run to the NCAA's.
• 8:05 PM: Mississippi State (10-5) @ Arkansas (12-1): BC beat UNC, got all of the hype, then lost to Harvard at home. Let's see how Arkansas handles it after beating Oklahoma and Texas in their last three games.
  

Big Ten:

• 1:00 PM: Kansas (11-3) @ Michigan State (12-2): It looks like the Spartans have finally righted themselves after struggling at the start of the year. Kansas is a young team, and I just don't see how they are going to be able to handle the strength, the toughness, and the athleticism of Michigan State. Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins should be ok, but what is going to happen to the Morris twins when they go up against Raymar Morgan and Goran Suton?
• 3:00 PM: Indiana (5-9, 0-2) @ Illinois (13-2, 1-1): Indiana is really going to wish they pulled out the win in Ann Arbor, because that might be the only chance they get at winning one in conference.
  

Big XII:

• 1:30 PM: Oklahoma (14-1) @ Kansas State (11-3): The Sooners shouldn't have much of a problem with the Wildcats, as K-State doesn't have much interior presence.
• 1:45 PM: Texas Tech (10-5) @ Baylor (12-2): This one should really high scoring as both schools love to push the ball.
• 2:00 PM: Missouri (13-2) @ Nebraska (10-3): The Tigers press should be too much for the Huskers to handle.
• 4:00 PM: Iowa State (11-4) @ Texas (11-3): Craig Brackins is one of the most talented players in the country, and I'm guessing you've never seen him play. He gets a real test to prove how good he is against the loaded Longhorn front line.
• 9:00 PM: Texas A&M (14-1) @ Oklahoma State (11-3): The Aggies are 14-1, but have beaten exactly nobody. But 14-1 is still 14-1. They get a test at a depleted Oklahoma State team.
  

The rest of the country:

• 1:00 PM: Dayton (14-1) @ UMass (5-8)
• 2:00 PM: Detroit (4-10, 0-5) @ Butler (13-1, 4-0)
• 2:00 PM: Old Dominion (9-5, 2-2) @ George Mason (11-3, 4-0)
• 3:00 PM: BYU (12-2, 0-0) @ Colorado State (5-10, 0-1)
• 4:00 PM: Utah (10-5, 0-0) @ San Diego State (11-3, 1-0)
• 5:00 PM: Memphis (11-3, 1-0) @ Central Florida (10-4)
• 5:30 PM: UNLV (13-2, 1-0) @ TCU (10-5, 1-0)
• 7:00 PM: Illinois State (14-1, 3-1) @ Indiana State (3-10, 1-3)
• 7:05 PM: Davidson (10-3, 3-0) @ Citadel (7-7, 2-1)
• 8:00 PM: Portland (9-6) @ Gonzaga (9-4)
• 8:05 PM: Creighton (12-4, 2-2) @ Bradley (10-5, 4-0)
• 9:00 PM: Utah State (14-1, 2-0) @ New Mexico State (8-8, 2-1)