No College Football? No Problem. Here's What You Need To Know For College Hoops Saturday
Yeah, I know there’s NFL playoffs, but there are only two games. You need to do something to fill in the time leading up to it and during commercials. And, sure, there’s the FCS Championship today but I’m boycotting it after Maine got knocked out in the semifinals. Therefore let’s get into what you need to know in one of the first Saturday’s with college hoops dominating the schedule.
There is a top-10 game
Virginia hosts Florida State to for a top-10 matchup today. If you’re not a college hoops fan you may be surprised to see Florida State in the top-10. Don’t be. This team is damn good and should be a Final Four contender. They are also getting closer to 100% with the return of Phil Cofer from injury. Now, the biggest thing to watch here is the difference in style of play. Florida State is a team that wants to press, force tempo, force turnovers and run off of them. Virginia runs three guards and the play of freshman Kihei Clark has been outstanding. I don’t know how many turnovers Florida State will be able to force with Clark/Jerome/Guy out there and Hunter at the four. You have four guys that can beat the press.
Key game for the Big 10
Michigan State is going to Ohio State which is important for both teams. Michigan State is one of the two favorites with Michigan for the Big 10. Ohio State is in that group fighting for what’s likely the 3rd best team in the conference. I think Indiana is the 3rd best team, but Chris Holtmann is just too damn good of a coach to rule out anything when it comes to Ohio State. The matchup to keep an eye on is Nick Ward (returning home) vs Kaleb Wesson. Wesson is big enough to stay with Ward in the post 1v1 while Holtmann’s defensive scheme should keep the guards at bay. Ohio State has a pretty impressive resume so far and a win over Michigan State today would keep them in the top-16 for the NCAA Tournament reveal in a month.
Statement game in the Big 12
Iowa State is one of my favorite teams in the country this year. Even more now that they are getting help after playing shorthanded in the nonconference thanks to injuries and suspensions. They get a home game vs Kansas today. Both projections (KenPom and Haslemetrics) are predicting Iowa State to win in a one possession game – mostly thanks to Hilton magic and the fact that Iowa State has the depth to run with Kansas. The key is going to be the play of Cam Lard, who has the ability to defend Azubuike or Lawson in the post. I really like Iowa State in this game as Kansas has lost its only road game this year and we’re going to see this game get up and down. Neither team really wants to slow down and that fits Iowa State better.
Duke opens ACC play
Clemson heads to Cameron Indoor to kick off ACC play for the No. 1 Blue Devils. I’m not completely sold on this Clemson team and after a little bit of a break, we’ll see how Duke looks getting some rest. Conference play is always a bit different, but with the talent on this roster, I’m not too concerned with that. We’ve seen them play and beat top-10 teams already this year.
Kentucky tries to keep it going on the road
Kentucky has turned the corner since that loss to Seton Hall. We saw them with a neutral court win over UNC and a road win over Louisville in two games where Kentucky looked like the better team for all 40 minutes. That’s the key. It’s not like they snuck out a victory or anything like that. Today they head to Alabama to take on the Crimson Tide, who want to play ugly. It will be a good challenge for guys like Ashton Hagans and Keldon Johnson to slow their game down a bit and pick to attack. Again, I’m going to keep watching Tyler Herro. When he’s shooting the ball well like he did against Louisville this team just looks different. He’s going to be the key offensively going forward.
An old school Big East game
St. John’s is finally relevant again. That feels like a win all in itself. Georgetown is still getting back there, but I’m pretty high on what Patrick Ewing is building there. He has the backcourt for the future and I trust him developing bigs. I’ll be curious to see how Georgetown fans fill the arena today, if at all. I do expect Shamorie Ponds to really find a way to attack the young backcourt for Georgetown, but will St. John’s have the depth to stay all season? Remember they just lost Mikey Dixon to transfer. This is going to be key for St. John’s in the Big East race. You have to win road games against inferior opponents while holding serve at home.
Speaking of the Big East…
Villanova heads to Providence in another important game for the two teams. Nova hasn’t looked like Nova all year. We see them look decent at Kansas in a close loss, blow out UConn on a neutral court and then struggle at home vs DePaul. Providence has been up and down as well and are still without AJ Reeves. Now, you know the Dunk will be packed and extremely loud. Can Villanvoa slow the game down enough and hit open threes to keep the crowd silent. That’s what Nova’s key is this year. I know people talked about them always as a shooting team, but this year is even more than normal. Providence is going to run the flex, which means Nova is going to have to talk defensively and stay at home on the screens. A win by Nova here and we’re talking about them as the Big East favorites again. A win by Providence and they continue to make up for the nonconference, which had one quality win at Texas.