It’s been a wild and unpredictable week of college basketball and the weekend slate has a chance to offer even more drama. After No. 1 Purdue, No. 2 Houston, No. 3 Kansas and No. 5 Tennessee all fell to unranked opponents earlier this week, all four programs will have a chance at redemption on Saturday.
Eighteen of the Top 25 teams are in action this weekend and the marquee game on the schedule features a top 10 matchup between Kansas and No. 9 Oklahoma in Lawrence. Kansas has won seven of the last eight meetings and this will mark one of the final conference matchups between the programs before the Sooners depart for the SEC next season.
No. 19 San Diego State will put its unbeaten record in Mountain West play on the line when they travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to face the Lobos on CBS. The Aztecs are one of four teams in the Mountain West that have yet to lose a game in conference play and the program has won 13 of their last 14 games after a loss in the second game of the season to BYU.
Here are the other ranked matchups to keep an eye on this weekend
Odds via SportsLine consensus | All times Eastern
12 p.m. | ESPN, fuboTV (Try for free) — North Carolina has won its last five games after dropping a heartbreaker to Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic and Armando Bacot and RJ Davis have been one of the best one-two punches in the conference. Syracuse has won six of its last seven games and UNC will arguably mark the biggest test of Adrian Autry’s head coaching career with the Orange. UNC wins, but Syracuse covers. Prediction: Syracuse +13
1 p.m. | Fox, fuboTV (Try for free) — St. John’s is on a hot streak. The Red Storm have won six of their last seven games and the lone loss was to reigning national champion UConn. As for Creighton, they have been a mystery through the first two months of the season. The Bluejays have shown (at times) why they’re capable of making a deep run in the NCAA Tournament while simultaneously being a borderline Top 25 team the last few weeks. Creighton gets back on track and makes a statement at home against Rick Pitino and St. John’s. Prediction: Creighton -8
2 p.m. | CBS, CBSSports.com, CBS Sports App (Free) — This is a big moment for both teams. San Diego State has been one of the hottest teams in the country dating back to that early season loss to BYU and the Aztecs look like the team that made a run to the Final Four less than nine months ago. As for New Mexico, this is an opportunity to get a signature win on its resume as the Lobos hope to be a potential at-large team come March. SDSU’s Jaedon LeDee will make the difference in this one. Prediction: San Diego State +2
2 p.m. | ESPN+ — The lone top-10 matchup of the day features two teams coming off their most disappointing outing of the season. Kansas lost on the road to UCF and the Sooners fell to a TCU team the Jayhawks knocked off last weekend. Something will have to give! Kansas has struggled at times against inferior opponents, while rising its game against ranked teams. It’s hard to see Kansas laying another egg while playing in front of a rowdy crowd at Allen Fieldhouse. Prediction: Kansas -5.5
2 p.m. | ESPN, fuboTV (Try for free) — Just strictly based on what we have seen this week, this seems like another upset waiting to happen. Kentucky is one of the lone top 10 teams that hasn’t lost this week and now it has to go on the road to face a hungry Texas A&M team in need of a signature win after consecutive losses to LSU and Auburn to open up SEC play. What could possibly go wrong? Well, a lot actually. Kentucky’s freshmen core has been too good this season, hence why the Wildcats get it done on the road. Prediction: Kentucky -1
6 p.m. | ESPN, fuboTV (Try for free) — Houston had its “welcome to the Big 12 moment” earlier this week in a loss to Iowa State and now faces a TCU team coming off an upset over No. 9 Oklahoma. The Horned Frogs have a perfect 8-0 record inside Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena this season. Saturday will mark the first basketball game between the Texas programs since 2012 and the Cougars hold a 48-25 all-time advantage. Even with all the upsets in college basketball this week, the Cougars will find a way to get back on track. Prediction: Houston -5.5
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