Steve Alford left Albuquerque on his terms when he left New Mexico for UCLA, but he seems to have taken these games against his former employer personally. Since Alford took the reins at Nevada, the Wolf Pack have owned this series, going 8-0 against the Lobos under Alford’s leadership.
Rutgers and Steve Pikiell have simply tortured Matt Painter and Purdue when the Boilermakers come to New Jersey. In four meetings between Painter and Pikiell in Piscataway, the Scarlet Knights have come out ahead three times.
There is a lot of parity in men’s college basketball this season. Each team has at least two losses, which means no undefeated teams remain. Auburn experienced the furthest jump from last week’s rankings, moving from 13 to eight.
The Jayhawks remain dynamite at Allen Fieldhouse, but in four true road games, Kansas is just 2-2. And now they’ve got to deal with a little Hilton Magic, and the Cyclones have barely been scratched at home.
If you’ve never seen a North Texas game, prepare yourself for a true rock fight. The Mean Green love to walk the ball up and force teams into a quagmire. SMU’s not as slow-paced, but the Mustangs play excellent defense.
San Francisco’s good enough to provide a tough out, but not good enough where a loss wouldn’t damage the profile. These are the games Gonzaga didn’t have to worry about for decades, but not this year.
St. John’s handled Villanova with ease in the first meeting, in large part because of their 3-point defense. If the Red Storm can throw the Wildcats off again, they’ve got a good chance to come out with a win.
Alabama’s going to have to win one of these games eventually. While the Tide have played one of the toughest schedules in the nation, they also haven’t been collecting wins. Auburn’s got to prove itself as well, despite its gaudy record.
Even though Wake’s tied for second in the ACC, not many people are taking them seriously to this point. A strong showing at North Carolina would change a lot of opinions.