The first weekend of February is upon us and with it comes a host of high-quality, and high-stakes, men’s college basketball games. The depth of the SEC will be on display as there are six ranked-vs.-ranked league matchups on the docket. Iowa State and Kansas will try to get off the mat after gutting overtime losses last week. And of course, Cooper Flagg gets to lace up his sneakers for the first time in the always must-watch Duke vs. North Carolina rivalry.
Here’s a look at the above and other men’s college basketball games to pay close attention to this upcoming week:
No. 5 Florida Gators (18–2) at No. 8 Tennessee Volunteers (17–4)
Saturday, noon ET, ESPN
The Volunteers avoided a full-scale season derailment when Zakai Zeigler returned from an injury scare against Kentucky on Tuesday. But that didn’t help Tennessee’s on-court woes, as the Vols allowed 48 second-half points to the Wildcats and dropped their third game in their last four outings. The road ahead offers little respite for Rick Barnes & Co., especially with the Gators coming to town. Florida housed Tennessee by 30 points in Gainesville on Jan. 7 to end the Vols’ unbeaten season. Revenge is on the table for Tennessee—but the more important task is ending the program’s current slide.
No. 22 Texas Tech Red Raiders (16–4) vs. No. 6 Houston Cougars (17–3)
Saturday, 6 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Houston settled down after last weekend’s double-overtime thriller against Kansas and got back to what Kelvin Sampson teams usually do best vs. West Virginia—keep teams off the scoreboard. The Cougars have won 13 games in a row and 18 straight in Big 12 play, maintaining a streak back to last season. However, Texas Tech stands as one of the biggest threats in the conference to end that run. The Red Raiders are third in the conference in scoring and second in the league in three-point shooting, and provide a deep (and balanced) attack. JT Toppin will test the Cougars with his length, and Chance McMillian can stretch Houston’s defense from beyond the arc. Neither team has lost a game this season by more than five points, so expect this to be close.
North Carolina Tar Heels (13–9) at No. 2 Duke Blue Devils (18–2)
Saturday, 6:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
Flagg will introduce himself to college basketball’s most heated rivalry over the weekend and do so amid a historic run of play for a freshman. The 18-year-old’s performance in January stacks up against the likes of Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony, and now he’ll get an opportunity to continue his meteoric rise into February against the Blue Devils’ archrival. While Duke is hot, North Carolina is reeling, with a loss to Pittsburgh marking the Tar Heels’ third in their last four outings. Hubert Davis only has two more opportunities to get his team a real résumé-boosting win and both will come against Duke over the next month and change, with the first shot Saturday.
No. 3 Iowa State Cyclones (17–3) at No. 11 Kansas Jayhawks (15–5)
Monday, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN
Both of these top-tier Big 12 teams were on the wrong end of overtime losses over the last week. The Cyclones got rolled in overtime after Arizona’s Caleb Love sank a shot from beyond half court to tie the game at the buzzer at the end of regulation. Last Saturday, Kansas couldn’t hold on against Houston in double OT, eventually landing its fifth loss of the year. That should mean both teams are playing angry, likely setting up a physical game. Keep an eye on Iowa State’s Curtis Jones, who scored 25 against Kansas in Ames in mid-January, but just went 1-of-11 from the field at Arizona. History says the senior guard won’t have a second poor outing in a row.
No. 9 Marquette Golden Eagles (18–3) at No. 15 St. John’s Red Storm (18–3)
Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. ET, FS1
Rounding out the five best games of the week is a clash between the two top teams in the Big East at Madison Square Garden. Rick Pitino has the Red Storm humming, but without many marquee wins in their back pocket. St. John’s is just 1–3 in Quad 1, and though those three losses are by a combined five points, it’s not conducive to getting a four-seed (or better) in the NCAA tournament. The Red Storm have a chance to pick up two Q1 victories this week vs. Marquette and at UConn, but the matchup against the former will be tricky. The Golden Eagles boast the second-best turnover margin in the country and have gotten key scoring contributions from senior guard Stevie Mitchell in their last two wins, making the group even deeper than anticipated.
Other Games to Keep an Eye On
No. 1 Auburn Tigers (19–1) at No. 23 Ole Miss Rebels (16–5)
Saturday, 2 p.m. ET, ESPN
The Rebels dropped three straight before stifling Texas late and pulling out a three-point victory Wednesday. The issue for Ole Miss is that Johni Broome is fresh off a 26-point, 16-rebound thrashing of LSU and is looking to keep Auburn as one of the hottest teams in the country as the Tigers go for a 13th straight win.
No. 20 Missouri Tigers (16–4) at No. 14 Mississippi State Bulldogs (16–5)
Saturday, 1 p.m. ET, SEC Network
Mississippi State sophomore Josh Hubbard scored a career-high 38 points in the loss to Alabama; the problem is the Bulldogs can’t keep good teams from scoring. The group has lost four of its last six and given up nearly 85 points per game in those losses. Expect a high-scoring affair.
No. 25 UConn Huskies (15–6) at No. 9 Marquette Golden Eagles (18–3)
Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, Fox
After recovering from the early-season debacle at the Maui Invitational, the Huskies stumbled time and time again in the month of January with losses against Villanova, Creighton and Xavier. It’s hard to buy this version of UConn as a contender, but taking down Marquette in Milwaukee may start to change that perception.
No. 7 Michigan State Spartans (18–2) at UCLA Bruins (16–6)
Tuesday, 10 p.m. ET, Peacock
Tom Izzo has the Spartans, winners of 13 straight, humming, but let’s not pretend that they’ve had the toughest road (other than a close win over Illinois at home). The pace picks up, beginning with a trip out West and a matchup against a Bruins’ team that’s won five in a row.
No. 16 Oregon Ducks (16–5) at Michigan Wolverines (15–5)
Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network
Michigan was somewhat confounding to figure out in the latter half of January, with losses to Minnesota (at the buzzer) and Purdue (a blowout) and a pair of four-point, home wins over middling Northwestern and Penn State. A strong statement against Oregon would go a long way toward settling any shakiness in Ann Arbor.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Men’s College Basketball Watchability: St. John’s, Rick Pitino Face Top-10 Test.