College basketball viewing guide: Big 12 battles highlight Saturday’s schedule

No. 16 Baylor at No. 8 Kansas (1 p.m./CBS)

There’s an issue with the Big 12, and I think we should come right out and talk about it. Night after night (or day after day), the league seems to give us all these top 25 showdowns that look good on paper, and he games never wind up being anywhere near as interesting as the storylines. By my count, the Big 12 has already has an absurd 23 games this season that have featured multiple ranked teams. Of those games, 15 have been decided by double digits. That’s insane.

The good news is that the first meeting of the season falls into the minority group, a 56-55 Jayhawk triumph in Waco way back on Jan. 7.

South Carolina at No. 1 Kentucky (2 p.m./ESPN)

The Gamecocks are not good (I would go so far to say that they are bad), but there’s going to be Frank Martin and there’s going to be Kentucky and the streak and the sport’s predominant storyline, so you’re probably going to want to watch.

No. 21 West Virginia at No. 14 Iowa State (4 p.m./ESPN2)

The Mountaineers have lost their previous two road games against ranked Big 12 foes by a combined 46 points. Iowa State never loses at home. This combination would seem destined for another check in the “Big 12 showdown decided by 10 or more points” box.

No. 6 Villanova at No. 18 Butler (6 p.m./CBS Sports Network)

Maybe the best game of the day, as first place in the Big East is on the line in what the Indianapolis Star said earlier this week might be “the biggest game in the history of Hinkle Fieldhouse.” I’m not sure Bobby Plump (or Jimmy Chitwood, for that matter) would agree, but it should be a lovely evening of basketball.

No. 23 Ohio State at Michigan State (Noon/ESPN)

I’ve discussed this in past years and will surely discuss it more over the course of the next month, but my biggest annual rule when it comes to filling out a bracket in March is to pick against the underachieving power conference 8/9 seed that everyone says has the potential to upset a No. 1 seed in the round of 32. It never fails, and the team that achieves the feat receives an award I’ve decided to call “The Arizona” for the tremendous work in the field that the Wildcats have provided in seasons past. Perhaps my greatest accomplishment to date was calling Oklahoma State AND their eventual opponent (Gonzaga) as the 2014 recipient of the award.

With almost exactly one month to go until Selection Sunday, Michigan State seems to be the most likely candidate to make a run at The Arizona in 2015. They don’t have to win today’s game in order to keep that dream alive (Arizona winners typically don’t start making a big “splash” until later on this month), but it would probably help.

Also, D’Angelo Russell is playing in this game.

No. 12 North Carolina at Pittsburgh (Noon/ESPN3/ESPN FullCourt)

The Panthers have just two games against ranked teams left on their schedule, and the other is a date with No. 2 Virginia inside John Paul Jones Arena on Monday night. Their backs are most definitely against the wall this afternoon, which means North Carolina should expect some haymakers to be thrown early and often inside the Petersen Events Center.

No. 4 Duke at Syracuse (6 p.m./ESPN)

College basketball’s most intense “non-rivalry rivalry” continues Saturday night in a game that doesn’t quite have the hype the two regular season meetings a year ago did. Even with the postseason ban and even with Syracuse not being all that good, the environment inside the Carrier Dome should be a good one. You’d expect the Orange fans to treat games like this and the ones against Louisville and Virginia as sort of like bowl games for their players, especially senior Rakeem Christmas.

No. 24 Arkansas at Ole Miss (9 p.m./SEC Network)

It’s a battle of the SEC’s second-hottest team (Ole Miss has won six straight) against the team most believe is the league’s second best overall. On the line? Sole possession of second place in the conference, naturally.

No. 20 VCU at George Washington (2 p.m./ESPN2)

Full-time life without Briante Weber and temporary life without Treveon Graham has been as unkind to VCU as you might have expected. The Rams have lost three of four following Wednesday night’s double overtime setback against La Salle, and suddenly find themselves in a 4-way tie atop the Atlantic 10 standings. Shaka Smart has, shockingly, never won a regular season conference championship. It’s a trend that’s going to extend into another offseason if the Rams don’t figure something out soon. Getting Graham back (he’s listed as a game-time decision) would be a big help.

Wake Forest at No. 2 Virginia (2:30 p.m./ESPN3/ESPN FullCourt)

Danny Manning is quietly doing one of the better coaching jobs in power conference basketball this season, as the Deacs have won three of their last four and are flirting with getting their overall record back to .500. Achieving that feat with a road win over Virginia is probably asking too much, but this one has the potential to be far more entertaining than you might expect.

NC State at No. 9 Louisville (4 p.m./ESPN)

The Wolfpack are a 1-point overtime win over Georgia Tech away from riding a six-game losing streak into the KFC Yum! Center this afternoon. That’s not a scenario many could have envisioned after watching them hammer previously unbeaten Duke by 12 on Jan. 11. NC State has just two games remaining against the ACC’s “power 5,” and any chance of Mark Gottfried’s team has of making the NCAA Tournament probably requires wins in both.

No. 17 Oklahoma at Kansas State (8 p.m./ESPN2)

Are the Sooners the non-Kansas Big 12 team best-suited for a run in March? It’s kinda looking like it.

Pepperdine at No. 3 Gonzaga (8 p.m./ESPN3/ESPN FullCourt)

The Waves are a season away from being a legitimate threat to Gonzaga in the WCC, but the young talent is there, and they’ve already given the Zags all they can handle once this season.

St. Bonaventure at Dayton (12:30 p.m./NBC Sports Network)

The Bonnies don’t know anything but close games, and the Flyers are suddenly in the mix to capture what would be one of the more improbable regular season conference titles in recent memory.

Oregon at UCLA (3 p.m./Fox)

Both these teams have an affinity for winning and losing by large margins, which means you should casually flip over just to see if Pauley Pavilion spontaneously combusts or something.

Seton Hall at Providence (4 p.m./Fox Sports)

This is a huge game for Providence, and Seton Hall is easily the team most likely to provide you with an in-game fight between teammates. So, yeah, there are at least two reasons to watch.

LSU at Tennessee (4 p.m./SEC Network)

The Tigers are one of the last teams in or out of the field of 68 in virtually every mock bracket on the Internet right now, a trend which will change if they don’t handle business in Knoxville today.

No. 21 Oklahoma State at TCU (6 p.m./ESPNU)

At this point it’s kind of looking like TCU has given up, and it’s sort of hard to blame them. The 13 straight Ws followed by 1 W sandwiched in between 11 Ls makes for a fascinating schedule view, though.

No. 15 Wichita State at Illinois State (6 p.m./ESPN2)

It’s going to be extremely interesting to see that the Selection Committee does with Wichita State and Northern Iowa if they finish 17-1 and 16-2, respectively, in the league and then wind up meeting again in the tournament championship game. Let’s hope that scenario plays out.

Florida at Texas A&M (6:30 p.m./SEC Network)

The heartbreaking back-to-back losses to Kentucky and Ole Miss may have broken Florida. If that’s true and the Gators don’t put up much of a fight this evening, they’ll fall below .500 for the first time since Billy Donovan’s second season at UF, which was 15 years ago.

No. 19 Maryland at Penn State (8:30 p.m./Big Ten Network)

This is a sneaky important game for the Terps, who don’t have much meat on the rest of their regular season schedule outside of hosting Wisconsin on Feb. 24.

Connecticut at No. 25 SMU (9 p.m./ESPN)

I don’t understand the point of “College GameDay” not picking a site until the week before a game, but giving itself only two options to choose from. If the football version doesn’t have to limit itself, then I’m not sure why the basketball show does. I’m sure there’s a reason, but regardless, this isn’t a game that’s going to captivate the American sporting public. Although it certainly isn’t completely lacking in stroylines, as the Huskies are playing their best basketball of the season, while the Mustangs have yet to lose to any team in the AAC outside of Cincinnati.