If you’re the type of fan that is interested in conference races, bubble resumes and/or spectacular school logos, than this week of college basketball is tailor made for you. These games of the week cover the Pac-12, Big 12, American Athletic and Big Sky conferences.
1.) Oklahoma State at No. 25 Texas: The Cowboys are dreadful on the road, just 1-5 on the road, while Texas is effective at home, 9-3 overall. So, this should be pretty straight forward for the Longhorns, right? What makes me nervous about UT is that teams with high preseason expectations who hit black ice can struggle to gain traction again. Texas has lost three games in a row, including a 23 point loss at Baylor. OSU hasn’t exactly been a model of consistency either, but their duo of Phil Forte and Le’Bryan Nash cause teams trouble, like they did in their win in Stillwater.
Sure, Travis Ford’s club could use this game as a full turn around for their road woes, but we simply don’t have enough evidence to support that right now. Texas will be hungry to find their way again, and I think they will here. Give me Texas.
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2.) TCU vs. No. 19 Baylor: The Horned Frogs were 13-0 coming into Big 12 play, but have gone 1-7 since, and are now running up against a Baylor Bears team that is 12-1 at home, with their sole loss coming by one point against conference powerhouse Kansas. The Bears beating down the visiting Longhorns got them back into shape but they’ll be trying to fight off an absolutely desperate TCU squad.
Why is a game that Baylor should win handily among the Games of the Week? Because if Baylor wins, they’re back within one game of second place in the conference standings. This is a huge game for the Bears if they truly stand a chance at a late season push. Give me Baylor.
3.) UCLA at Stanford: With the Bruins sitting at 5-4 and Stanford at 6-3, but UCLA holding an edge in head-to-head, this meeting will tell us quite a bit about what the final conference standings, and any conference tournament byes that come with, will look like. A season sweep by UCLA could easily give the Bruins young core the lift it needs to live up to its potential. On the other hand, a bounce back win for the Cardinal (who inexplicably lost at Wazzu) would help separate themselves from the mush that is the Pac-12’s middle.
Working for Stanford is the fact that UCLA is dreadful away from home. Working for UCLA is the idea that eventually, something has to give. The Bruins have some mojo after a weekend sweep of the mountain schools, and something tells me they might be ready to turn this whole season around. Give me UCLA in an upset.
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4.) Cincinnati at No. 23 SMU: Remember when we were all ready to throw in the towel on SMU once they started the season 2-3? Well, all they’ve done since then is go 16-1, including stringing together their current eight game winning streak. They now trail Tulsa by just .5-games in the AAC standings, and lead (you guessed it) Cincinnati by 2.5-games, though a win over the Bearcats could put them out of reach. On the other side, UC just lost to East Carolina, just one of ECU’s two conference wins.
Playing on the Hilltop ain’t too easy, as SMU is 13-1 at home. They score, defend and ride a rowdy home crowd when needed. This one looks like a bit much for a very, very physical UC team that still struggles to score due to their lack of offensive explosiveness. Give me SMU.
5.) Eastern Washington at Montana: Losing to Sacramento State wasn’t part of the plan, as that loss is the current difference between the Eagles and first-place Hornets, but EWU has been one of the more impressive “mid-major” squads in the country this year, thanks in large part to their non-conference win at Indiana. Tyler Harvey is one of the nation’s premier scorers, having the ability to be prolific and ridiculously efficient. On the other side, Montana found its groove once conference play got going, and is right behind EWU in the Big Sky race.
It is no secret that I’m a huge fan of this conference, and it always puts someone in the NCAA tournament that puts up a fight, or makes a run. This year looks no different, and if this game were at EWU, I’d be going with the Eagles. But this one is in magical Missoula, go give me the Grizzlies.
