Jared Sullinger and the Buckeyes travel to meet Indiana on Saturday.
Oh, what might have been!
The 2011 calendar is set to end with a lot of great college basketball, though some of the luster is gone from two of the marquee games that find both Louisville and Indiana coming off their first losses about 28 minutes apart on Wednesday night. Considering the opponents they have to each bounce back against, the Cardinals and Hoosiers are in trouble of adding a second loss very quickly.
First up on Saturday is a battle royale between Bluegrass State rivals Louisville and Kentucky. CBS begins its broadcast at noon (ET) from Rupp Arena in Lexington.
Rick Pitino and the Cardinals started the week unbeaten and ranked fourth in both polls. That was before Wednesday night's visit from No. 12 Georgetown. The Hoyas came away with a 71-68 victory over Louisville (12-1 straight up, 4-5-1 against the spread) who closed as a 6½-point favorite. The Cardinals jumped out to an early 9-point lead before Georgetown went to work behind Markel Starks and Otto Porter.
While 'Ville was facing a tough Hoyas squad in each team's Big East opener, Kentucky (12-1 SU, 4-8 ATS) was warming up for this tussle with an 86-64 triumph against an overmatched Lamar Cardinals crew from the Southland Conference. All five Wildcats starters scored at least 10 points, led by Michael Kidd-Gilchrist's 18. Kentucky won its fourth straight since a Dec. 10 setback at Indiana on a buzzer-beater, but just failed to cover the 23-point line, the Wildcats' eighth spread loss in their last nine lined games after beginning the season 3-0 against the NCAA odds.
Kentucky owns a 28-14 advantage in the all-time series that dates to 1913, and has won each of the last two meetings.
A little more than three hours northwest of Lexington, the Indiana Hoosiers (12-1 SU, 7-1 ATS) will be on their home floor in Bloomington to battle the second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. ESPN2 will have its cameras inside Assembly Hall for the 6:00 p.m. (ET) tip between Big Ten foes.
Like Louisville, Indiana is looking to bounce back from its first defeat this past Wednesday, an 80-65 belting on the road at Michigan State to open the conference schedule. The Hoosiers' first outright loss was also the first failure at the college basketball betting window as the Spartans rallied from a 51-43 deficit midway through the second half to easily cover the 6-point spread.
Ohio State (13-1 SU, 5-4 ATS) had no trouble to begin Big Ten play, easing to an 87-54 home win Wednesday vs. Northwestern. William Buford scored 28, sinking five of his seven shots from beyond the arc, and Jared Sullinger added a double-double (17 pts., 14 reb.) for the Buckeyes who were 16½-point favorites.
The Buckeyes have won eight of 11 meetings against Indiana since Thad Matta took the reins in Columbus, including the last six.
'Nova In Need Of Win At Marquette On Sunday
It may be early, but this is a very crucial contest for both clubs. Villanova (7-6 SU, 1-9 ATS) has struggled since the get-go and will be facing a Marquette (11-2 SU, 3-6-1 ATS) team that has dropped two of its last three contests following a 10-0 burst from the gate. This is also the first Big East tilt for the Golden Eagles who began the week ranked 13th and 14th by the coaches and writers respectively.
Putting points on the board has been an issue for Jay Wright and the Wildcats all season, and the same problem has recently reared its head for Buzz Williams and Marquette. Bettors have also had to deal with neither club being able to cover spreads. Villanova's lone spread victory came Thanksgiving weekend against UC-Riverside while the Eagles haven't beaten the number since a Dec. 3 upset over Wisconsin, going 0-5-1 ATS after that triumph.
The matchup gets underway inside Bradley Center at 1:00 p.m. (ET).
Hangover Monday Finds Aggies At Baylor
The two regular season games between Texas A&M and Baylor (13-0 SU, 4-2 ATS) should be very interesting...and also could be very one-sided.
Bad blood has existed between the two rivals forever, but it's become even more bitter since the Aggies decided to leave the Big 12 for the SEC. The Big 12 opener for both schools tips at 7:00 p.m. (ET) in Waco with ESPNU providing the telecast.
It's an extremely important game for A&M (9-3 SU, 1-5 ATS) who started the campaign ranked in the top 20 of both polls. But like their gridiron gang, it appears those ratings were greatly inflated. Baylor, on the other hand, has been steadily climbing up the rankings in building a 13-0 record, and looks every bit like a team that can win the Big 12 and possibly secure a top seed for one of the regionals in March.
The Bears also own a three-game winning streak against the Aggies, and were unranked in each of last year's meetings only to take down Texas A&M who was ranked.