Down goes No. 1 Tennessee, the last of Division I’s unbeaten teams, after a 30-point throttling in the Florida swamplands Tuesday night. The Southeastern Conference looks nothing short of dominant, with six members in the AP Top 10 and nine ranked teams total.
Alabama-Texas A&M and Kentucky–Mississippi State headline this weekend’s action. The Tide touts the top-scoring offense in the country, and the Aggies play inspired defense. The Wildcats also know how to light up a scoreboard, while the ascendant Bulldogs have tied for their highest ranking since the 2004-05 season. Both games demand attention, but there is a bevy of other worthwhile watches hiding in this weekend’s slate.
Much of the viewing public will be fixated on the opening round of the NFL Playoffs. But if you’re looking for something else to occupy your Saturday, college basketball will certainly have you covered.
You can stream college basketball on Fubo (try for free).
No. 5 Alabama at No. 10 Texas A&M
Venue: Reed Arena — College Station, Texas
Time: 8 p.m. ET Saturday
TV: ESPN
Alabama gets buckets. It is first in points per game and third in adjusted offensive rating while scoring at least 80 in its last 11 outings. The Crimson Tide make a fantastic 62.7 percent of their 2s and frequently get to the foul line. Mark Sears is having a bit of a wonky start, seventh among regulars in true shooting while leading the team in usage rate. But he’s supplemented by the efficient Grant Nelson (12.6 points per game, 54.8 percent from the floor) and Labaron Philon (12.3 on 52.9 percent).
Alabama can look a bit clunky from behind the arc — 11th in the nation in attempts but 271st in success rate. Nate Oats’ squad went just 9-for-29 on treys in last weekend’s game against Oklahoma, but it hardly mattered in the thorough 107-79 takedown of a previously undefeated opponent. Six of its players hit double-digit points in that conference opener, while Sears had 10 dimes to zero turnovers.
The Tide followed that up with a 20-point road win at South Carolina, sporting a clean 61 percent effective field goal percentage while forcing 15 turnovers.
This game marks the Tide’s fifth-ranked matchup of the season, and it should be a thoroughly challenging one. Buzz Williams’ Aggies will look to fashion a Saturday night rock fight at College Station. Their top dogs, Wade Taylor IV and Zhuric Phelps, shoot below 40 percent from the floor on high volume. But A&M forces opponents into a misshapen perimeter offense while consistently winning on the glass. Five players average at least 4.5 rebounds, and Phelps leads the team in steals and defensive rating.
The Aggies have allowed just 59 points in their last seven games and enter Saturday 4-0 in ranked games. This is the program’s highest AP ranking in seven seasons. In Wednesday’s 2-point win at Oklahoma, Phelps was absolutely balling — 34 points, six 3s, five rebounds and three steals.
A&M is 3-0 against the spread as an underdog and 7-1 as the host team. The under has come in on six of their eight home games.
From CJ Moore’s CBB power rankings: “Last year’s Alabama group shot 37.3 percent from 3, and while this team has topped 40 percent from deep in only three games, you’d eventually expect some kind of regression towards the mean … Good luck to defenses whenever Sears heats up. If that happens, the Crimson Tide are a candidate to join the plus-30 club.”
No. 6 Kentucky at No. 14 Mississippi State
Venue: Humphrey Coliseum — Starkville, Miss.
Time: 8:30 p.m. ET Saturday
TV: SEC Network
The last time Kentucky played at Mississippi State, it needed a Reed Sheppard buzzer-beating runner to eke out the dub. This year’s game could be just as close, with two competitive and balanced SEC forces going to work on Saturday night. Mississippi State is off to one of its best starts of the 21st century and looks capable of making it past the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1996. Kentucky has wholly remade itself in year one of Mark Pope’s tenure but needs to avenge a 13-point loss to Georgia on Tuesday.
The Wildcats have three scorers with microwave potential. Koby Brea makes almost half of his 3-point tries, leading the SEC at 49.5 percent. Lamont Butler is a bucket at 57 percent from the floor. And Otega Oweh has three 21-point games. Kentucky is third in the nation in total scoring but 32nd in possessions per game. It already has three top-1o wins under its belt, with neutral-site victories against Duke and Gonzaga and a home spot over Florida.
Mississippi State hasn’t been challenged in the same capacity, but it is 2-0 against ranked teams (Pittsburgh, Memphis) and dominated its first two conference tilts. Second-year shooter Josh Hubbard attempts more than eight treys per night and has increased his efficiency while maintaining last season’s 17.1 points per game average.
Both Bulldogs SEC matchups have gone under on the point total. They have a stout defensive team that takes the ball away with icy confidence — Cameron Matthews leads the conference with 2.5 swipes per game, and the team forces 14.7 turnovers to just 9.6 giveaways.
From CJ Moore’s CBB power rankings: “The Wildcats share the ball and take great shots, and Brea’s gravity is such a weapon. Even when the defense tries to stick to him, he patiently waits for an opening and masterfully uses shot fakes, raised-eyebrow fakes or side dribbles tightroping the 3-point line to finally find space. It’s beautiful to watch.”
No. 22 UCLA at Maryland
Friday, 8 p.m. ET, FOX
It will be interesting to see how the Bruins respond after Mick Cronin ripped his team for looking “soft” in a blowout loss to Michigan. Terrapin big Derik Queen is one of the best freshmen in the country, averaging 16 points, eight rebounds and 2.4 stocks (steals+blocks) per game.
Notre Dame at No. 4 Duke
Saturday, noon ET, ESPN
The Blue Devils look like an elite defensive team. Across his last five games, Cooper Flagg has averaged 20.8 points, 7.4 rebounds, four dimes and three stocks on superb efficiency.
No. 3 Iowa State at Texas Tech
Saturday, 2 p.m. ET, ESPN
The Cyclones are top-10 in KenPom and points per game. Every win has been convincing, and the only loss was to formidable Auburn on Johni Broome’s game-winner. The Red Riders have the second-best offensive rating in college basketball, and Chance McMillian leads Division I in 3-point shooting. He has at least three 3s in seven games.
No. 9 UConn at Georgetown
Saturday, 2 p.m. ET, FOX
UConn suffered a deflating loss to Villanova Wednesday night. It trailed by 12 in the second half and mounted a comeback, only for Alex Karaban to biff two decisive free throws. The Huskies are still fourth in offensive rating. Georgetown looks markedly better under Ed Cooley this year and holds opponents below 38 percent shooting thus far.
No. 11 Kansas at Cincinnati
Saturday, 2 p.m. ET, ESPN+
Bill Self’s squad leads the Big 12 in 2-pointers, assists and offensive and defensive rebounds. Hunter Dickinson has increased his steal and block outputs while cutting down on fouls. Cincinnati is 11th in adjusted defensive rating, but its 0-3 start to conference play has truncated momentum and left the Bearcats unranked for the first time this season.
North Carolina at NC State
Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, ACC Network
The Carolina-State rivalry clash gets its annual installment on Saturday afternoon. The Heels lead the all-time head-to-head series, 166-81. UNC has college basketball’s second-toughest strength of schedule per Basketball Reference. RJ Davis is shooting an unsightly 28 percent on the deep ball at seven tries per game.
No. 1 Tennessee at Texas
Saturday, 6 p.m. ET, ESPN
Top-ranked Tennessee was humiliated at Florida. It went 4-for-29 (!) from 3-point range and had 11 turnovers to six assists. Zakai Zeigler still leads the SEC in assists — for the third consecutive year. Rodney Terry’s Longhorns are better than 40 percent on 3s, and four players have at least one full offensive win share.
Villanova at St. John’s
Saturday, 7 p.m. ET, CBSSN
With shooting splits hovering around 49/41/80, these Wildcats get into their offense with aplomb. Wednesday’s UConn win was massive, with only five giveaways. Eric Dixon tops college basketball in scoring at 25.7 points per game and hits almost half of his 3s on very high volume. The Johnnies’ three losses this season were by a combined 5 points. They are 10th in rebounds and third in blocks per game. Basketball is better at Madison Square Garden.
No. 16 Michigan State at Northwestern
Sunday, noon ET, FOX
The Spartans have seven consecutive wins. They were unranked to start December and now sit 16th with a 3-0 start to Big Ten play.
Washington at No. 24 Michigan
Sunday, 2 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network
Michigan’s Danny Wolf leads the conference in total rebounding, while Vladislav Goldin leads in field goal percentage and effective shooting.
(Photo of Zhuric Phelps: Alex Slitz / Getty Images)
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