Rivalry Weak?

This week is Rivalry Week, or at least marketed as such by ESPN.

And tonight, if things were how they were supposed to be, we would have one of the most highly anticipated nights of the college hoops regular season. UConn heads to Syracuse in their first rematch since their epic six overtime battle last March at 7:00 pm.

The nightcap, of course, is Duke-UNC, the best rivalry in all of college basketball.

The problem? UNC and UConn haven't lived up to their side of the bargain.

The Huskies have a myriad of issues. They don't have a leader. They don't have shooters. They don't have a point guard that can run an offense. They don't have a coach (Calhoun will not be coaching tonight). They don't have Stanley Robinson's hair anymore.

Yes, that is Stanley Robinson.
(photo credit: Hartford Courant)

The result?

Just one season removed from a trip to the Final Four, the Huskies are going to have to fight to get themselves an NCAA Tournament invite.

But at least UConn has been competitive for the most part.

UNC has spent the majority of ACC play getting waxed. The Tar Heels main issue is that they are a team with talented pieces that Roy Williams just cant figure out how to put together. They have talented big guys, but lack the perimeter talent (and experience) to be able to run like Williams would like to. They've also had to deal with injuries, as Marcus Ginyard, Tyler Zeller, Travis Wear, and Ed Davis have all missed games.

Travis Wear is UNC's latest injury problem.
(photo credit: Digital Sports Daily)

With a loss at home to Duke tonight, UNC will drop to 2-7 in the ACC, and may struggle to even make to NIT. UConn is in the same boat, needing a win to turn around what has been a disappointing season. Traditional hoops powerhouses like Arizona, UCLA, and even teams like Indiana, Stanford, Oklahoma, and St. Joe's, schools with great basketball traditions, are having down years.

The result is that we have a weak bubble for this year's tournament. (Ed. Note: Personally, I welcome the weak bubble this season. Drives a point home about tournament expansion. Its a terrible idea.) The A-10 could get as many as six teams into the dance. Three MWC teams look to be all but guaranteed of getting a bid. Hell, UVa, who has lost to South Florida, Auburn, Penn State, and Stanford, still has a chance to play their way in.

The ironic part in all of this?

The three best/most important games of the night won't be shown on national TV, and certainly don't involve any college basketball bluebloods. Richmond-URI and Charlotte-Dayton both are very significant, not only in the A-10 race but as teams compete for those last few at-large berths.

The best game won't tip until 11:00 pm, when New Mexico heads to UNLV in a match-up of two of the three teams tied atop the MWC standings, which will only be seen by those that say up late enough and get CBS College Sports.

So what will you be watching tonight?