Saturday's Pregame Beat

It may be time for finals at colleges around the country, but Saturday still has a great line-up of games.

12:00 pm: Kentucky @ Indiana: Both of these programs are on the rebound after ugly break-ups with a former coach - Kentucky with Billy Gillispie and Indiana with Kelvin Sampson and Dan Dakich. It just so happens that Kentucky is rebounding at a much faster pace. Both the Wildcats and Hoosiers are coming off of big wins in the Garden, and will look to carry that momentum into one of the more overlooked rivalries on the national scene. These two schools don't like each other, so expect Assembly Hall to be rocking. That said, Indiana, despite their win over Pitt, is not quite read to compete at this level yet. Expect Christian Watford, Verdell Jones, Maurice Creek, and company to compete, but the Wildcats just have too much John Wall talent.

12:00 pm: Ohio State @ Butler: This situation is less than ideal for the Buckeyes. In their first game playing without Evan Turner, they go up against a Bulldogs squad that desperately needs a win against a major conference opponent. On top of that, Butler matches up well against Ohio State - both teams are fairly small and essentially play four guards. Hinkle Fieldhouse is a tough place to win, and Butler should be able to prove that today.

2:00 pm: Georgetown vs. Washington: The first game of the Wooden Classic pits two teams that play contrasting styles. The Hoyas move at a methodical pace, running 25-30 seconds off the shot clock every possession as they work their sets to try and get a good shot. Washington, on the other hand, likes to play at a much faster tempo. Whoever can control the tempo of this game will win. Washington has not been playing great basketball this season, especially on the defensive end of the floor, and they will have their hands full with a suddenly-dominant Greg Monroe.

• 4:30 pm: UCLA vs. Mississippi State: Game two of the Wooden Classic was much more intriguing in the preseason. Now, UCLA has collapsed while Mississippi State, who is still without Renardo Sidney and John Riek (although Riek returns the 16th), seems to finally be rounding into form. This will essentially be a home game for UCLA (assuming their fans still want to go to games) and after a solid performance against Kansas, could losing Drew Gordon and his locker room demeanor been what this team needed for a turnaround?
  

2:00 pm: La Salle @ Kansas: La Salle is pretty good this year, as they are big, they attack the glass, and they have a star in Rodney Green. But asking them to go into Lawrence and beat a Jayhawks team that right now is the best in the country is a tough task.

5:00 pm: Marquette @ Wisconsin: Both Marquette and Wisconsin were thought to be down this season, but after some nice wins (Marquette over Michigan and Xavier and Wisconsin over Duke), it looked like both of these teams would be on the rise this year. Well, that talk was halted by the Eagles loss to NC State and Wisconsin dropping a game to Green Bay. While this game provides another stylistic contrast and creates an interesting match-up up front - Marquette's perimeter oriented forwards Jimmy Butler and Lazar Hayward matching up with the more lumbering Badger forwards - I think it is going to be tough for Marquette to go into Kohl and beat Wisconsin.

6:00 pm: New Mexico vs. Texas A&M: Mark Turgeon has done a nice job with the Aggies this season. They have some size, they are tough, they play defense, and they have a an excellet back court led by Donald Sloan. The Lobos, however, are 9-0 on the season with a win over Cal and sport two excellet forwards in Darington Hobson and Roman Martinez. In UNM can land this win, we are looking at a top 25 team.

7:00 pm: Kansas State @ UNLV: In another match-up of a one loss Big XII team and an undefeated MWC team, K-State and UNLV gives us a great back court battle as Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente tangle with Tre'Von Willis and Oscar Bellfield. The Wildcats have a bigger and better front line, but remember, UNLV has already beaten a team with a good back court and a bigger and better front line - Louisville.

9:00 pm: Purdue @ Alabama: Anthony Grant has his Crimson Tide playing very well right now, rebounding from a season opening loss to Cornell by winning six of their last seven games. But Purdue is far and away their toughest test of the season thus far, so we will see how well Mikhail Torrence and JaMychal Green can handle the defensive toughness of the Boilermakers.

Other notable games:

• 12:00 pm: VMI @ Seton Hall
• 1:05 pm: Creighton @ George Mason
• 2:00 pm: McNeese State @ Ole Miss
• 2:00 pm: Kent State @ Pitt
• 3:30 pm: Gardner-Webb @ Charlotte
• 4:00 pm: Western Carolina @ Louisville
• 4:00 pm: St. Joe's @ Minnesota
• 4:00 pm: Oklahoma @ Utah
• 4:00 pm: Texas State @ Texas
• 4:00 pm: Air Force @ Washington State
• 4:00 pm: Delaware State @ Washington State
• 4:30 pm: Eastern Kentucky @ Maryland
• 7:00 pm: Loyola Marymount @ Notre Dame
• 7:00 pm: Virginia Tech @ Penn State
• 7:00 pm: Davidson @ Gonzaga
• 7:00 pm: Coppin State @ West Virginia
• 7:30 pm: Presbyterian @ North Carolina
• 7:30 pm: South Carolina State @ Miami FL
• 7:30 pm: Richmond @ VCU
• 8:00 pm: Farleigh Dickinson @ Missouri
• 8:00 pm: Nebraska @ Oregon State
• 8:05 pm: Siena @ Northern Iowa
• 10:00 pm: Arizona @ San Diego State