The Publish’s Zach Braziller gives a university basketball inventory watch and sit up for this week’s largest video games.
Recreation of the Week
No. 5 Florida at No. 1 Auburn, Saturday, 4 p.m.:
Saturday’s showdown in opposition to the Gators will mark Auburn’s sixth recreation this season in opposition to a present High 10 workforce.
The highest-ranked Tigers are 4-1 in such contests, nicely on their strategy to the general No. 1 seed within the NCAA Event.
They personal a ridiculous 12-1 file in Quad 1 video games, and sit on their lonesome atop the dominant SEC, a recreation within the loss column up on No. 4 Alabama. Count on offensive fireworks on this one, as two of the highest 5 offenses by way of effectivity within the nation meet.
Seeding
1. Auburn, Duke, Alabama, Tennessee
2. Purdue, Iowa State, Florida, Houston
3. Marquette, Texas A&M, Kentucky, Michigan State
4. Kansas, Arizona, Ole Miss, Missouri
Inventory Watch
Up
John Calipari
Saturday’s victory at No. 12 Kentucky needed to be some of the satisfying wins of the Corridor of Fame coach’s profession.
On an evening when he was booed in his previous area, regardless of main the Wildcats to a nationwide championship and 4 Closing 4 berths in 15 principally profitable seasons, Calipari led his new program, Arkansas, to a win that would finally get them into the NCAA Event.
Calipari was gracious afterward, when no person would’ve faulted him for taking just a few parting pictures on the Kentucky fan base.
Saint Mary’s
The WCC is Saint Mary’s to lose. After knocking off Gonzaga on Saturday evening, the Gaels have gained 10 straight video games, and maintain a commanding three-game lead over San Francisco and the Zags. Their three losses, to Utah State, Arizona State and Boise State, have every come by seven factors or fewer.
Regardless of shedding star guard Aidan Mahaney to the switch portal, Saint Mary’s is having one other massive 12 months, buoyed by scoring depth — six gamers common no less than 9 factors per recreation — and a protection that enables 60.8 factors, the seventh-lowest whole within the nation.
Down
Kansas
The preseason No. 1 workforce is exhibiting main cracks. After blowing a 21-point lead at beforehand skidding Baylor, Kansas has misplaced three of its previous six video games getting into one other tough week: House for No. 3 Iowa State and at in-state rival Kansas State.
Two of the Jayhawks’ main switch portal additions, AJ Storr (Wisconsin) and Rylan Griffen (Alabama), haven’t panned out as anticipated, placing an onus on the massive three of Hunter Dickinson, Zeke Mayo and Dajuan Harris Jr. Kansas finds itself in a three-way tie for fifth place within the Massive 12, three full video games behind Sixth-ranked Houston and Arizona atop the league.
ACC
The ACC might be this 12 months’s Massive East, the convention most angered by the choice committee’s choices. The league is trending the flawed means the primary week of February. Saturday was notably ugly: North Carolina wasn’t aggressive in opposition to archrival and 2nd-ranked Duke, Pittsburgh’s shaky play continued in a loss at Wake Forest and No. 21 Louisville suffered a surprising setback to Georgia Tech.
Proper now, the ACC has three groups that I imagine will make it in: Duke, Louisville and Clemson. Pittsburgh appeared to be in good condition earlier than this present skid of 5 losses in seven video games.
North Carolina, flirting with lacking the event for the second time in three years, is a disastrous 1-9 in Quad 1 video games. Wake Forest and SMU, two potential bubble groups, are a mixed 1-9 in Quad 1 as nicely. Solely three bids isn’t out of the query.