By Paul Casey Gotham
A glance at some of the interesting tilts on this week’s college basketball slate.
Missouri at Kansas — tonight, 9 p.m.
A loss tonight and the Tigers (4-4 Big 12) could fall off into the abyss. Missouri should recover against Oklahoma later in the week, but Phog Fieldhouse has a way of ripping the heart out of any team not in burnt orange. The Tigers may not rebound if this loss is too demoralizing.
Tennessee at Kentucky — Tuesday, 9 p.m.
Bruce Pearl returns to the sidelines. The Wildcats have lost two in a row – albeit on the road. Pearl might be coaching for his future. Whereever that takes him.
Louisville at Notre Dame — Wednesday, 7 p.m.
A pair of ranked teams meet at the Purcell Pavilion. Will Rick Pitino dress his Cards in flame-retardant suits to ward off ND’s burn?
Georgetown at Syracuse — Wednesday, 7 p.m.
It’s back to the future when the Hoyas pay a visit to “The Hill.” It looks like the chairs Boeheim threw off the deck made a difference because Syracuse might have righted the ship.
North Carolina at Duke — Wednesday, 9 p.m.
Tobacco Road. Krzyzewskiville. 12 miles along US 15. You get the picture. We haven’t seen this much hype since…since…since…well, since yesterday. The Heels are doing the finest Tiger Woods in attempting to restore their image.
Wright State at Butler — Thursday, 7 p.m.
The Raiders are two games ahead of last year’s national runner-up in the Horizon League standings. One has to wonder when Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack will demand consistency out of themselves and their teammates.
Canisius at Rider — Friday, 7 p.m.
The Broncs trimmed the Griffs at the buzzer the last time these MAAC rivals met. Canisius has won 4 of 5 and is looking to make a move in the standings.
Ohio State at Wisconsin — Saturday, 2 p.m.
This game will test the magic of the Kohl Center. Jared Sullinger and Jon Leuer on the same floor. The possibilities are endless.
Wichita State at Northern Iowa — Saturday, 10 p.m.
It’s a battle of two of the top three teams in the Missouri Valley Conference. The MVC might be on track for at least one at-large bid to this year’s NCAA tournament. The Panthers are out to prove they weren’t “Farooking” around last year.
Xavier at Duquesne — Sunday, 2 p.m.
First place in the Atlantic 10 will be on the line at the CONSOL Energy Center. The last time Xavier visited Pittsburgh to play Duquesne, the Muskies were ranked in the top ten. The Dukes sent them home with 72-68 loss. Damian Saunders vs. Jamel McLean. Bill Clark and Kenny Frease. T.J. McConnell and Tu Holloway. This is going to be a good one. Two teams with the NCAA tournaments in their sites.
“Farooking around”? Nice. Helmet sticker! 🙂
Hey, is Farukh (sp?) still with Northern Iowa???
IF Ohio State is gonna lose in the regular season, Saturday’s game at Wisconsin is it. But, I did say “IF”.
Nice cross-sectional road win for Xavier tonight over Georgia. Will come in handy selection Sunday in case they don’t win their conference.
Ali Farokhmanesh (I looked up the spelling) graduated.
Xavier at Duquesne will be a good one.
Why did it take the UNC coaching staff so long to put Kendall Marshall into the starting lineup? That kid is a game changer.
Marshall played 15 minutes in the game against Texas. My guess is if Marshall played 35 minutes, instead of the time given to Larry what’s his name, the Heels take that game played back in December.
Lou’vul at Syracuse – Saturday – with a two-game losing streak for the consequences.
Big East standings before any games today:
W L W L
Pittsburgh 10 1, 22 2
Notre Dame 9 3 , 20 4
Georgetown 8 4, 19 5
Villanova 7 4, 19 5
Louisville 7 4 , 18 6
Syracuse 7 5 , 20 5
Connecticut 6 4 , 18 4
Cincinnati 6 5, 19 5
West Virginia 6 5 , 15 8
Marquette 6 5, 15 9
Somehow hit the post button before I was ready (I blame Smitty’s phone).
Anyway, just wanted to point out that landing a coveted Top 4 slot in the BE and getting a 1st round tournament bye is well worth having. Villanova, L’ville and the Cuse appear to be battling it out for that #4 slot, but of course that doesn’t mean UConn can’t get back in or G-Town fall out, but unlikely. Pitt and ND are fairly secure (ND’s toughest games are pretty much behind them now). So, Casey, your point out of Cardinals vs Orange on Saturday is quite valid … that’s a huge one.
Badgers win! Ohio State no longer undefeated! This March Madness field is gonna be wide open. I agree with Jay Bilas … there are no GREAT teams … but 10-12 pretty good ones. Wisconsin may be putting themselves into the discussion for a 3 seed.