Games of the Weekend: Join 35,000 in watching Georgetown-Syracuse

Game of the Weekend: No. 11 Georgetown at No. 8 Syracuse (Sat., 4 p.m. ET, CBS)

The best rivalry in the prestigious history of the Big East will come to a close this season, as Syracuse is headed to the ACC while Georgetown will, eventually, become a member of the new Catholic 7 conference, whatever form it ends up being. The two teams will play again in a couple of weeks and John Thompson III has said that the two sides will try to keep the rivalry going when they are in different leagues, but this could end up being the last time the Hoyas visit the Carrier Dome. That’s why there will be a Syracuse record 35,000 people in attendance.

As far as the game itself is concerned, first place in the Big East will be on the line. Georgetown is the hottest team in the country right now. They can defend, they have enough length to match up with Syracuse, and their back court of Markel Starks and D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera (who went for 33 points against DePaul this week) has been playing great basketball. Otto Porter has a chance to be the Big East Player of the Year after the way he has played down the stretch of the season, but Syracuse looked like they finally found a rhythm on Wednesday with James Southerland back in the lineup.

Five more games you need to watch:

• No. 16 New Mexico at No. 22 Colorado State (Sat., 4 p.m. NBC Sports Network): This is the biggest game in the Mountain West this season, as New Mexico has a chance to go into Fort Collins and all-but lock up the MWC regular season title. The Lobos currently hold a one-game lead over CSU, but winning on the road in the MWC is borderline impossible.

• No. 4 Michigan State at No. 18 Ohio State (Sun. 4:00 p.m. ET, CBS): An ailing Michigan State teams heads into Columbus to take on Ohio State, who finally turned things around as they picked up a 26 point win over Minnesota on Wednesday night. The Spartans are a game behind Indiana in the Big Ten standings, and a loss would all but end any chance they have of getting the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament.

• St. Louis at No. 15 Butler (Fri. 7:00 p.m. ET, ESPNU): I love when great basketball gets played on a Friday night. It’s been a bit uncommon this season. The Billikens have taken control of the Atlantic 10 with dominating wins over Butler and VCU this month, but the Bulldogs have a chance to get their revenge on Friday night. Butler is tied with VCU a game behind St. Louis in the league standings, and a loss would pretty end any chance they had of winning the league outright.

• Illinois at No. 7 Michigan (Sun. 1:00 p.m. ET, ESPN): Illinois is the most confusing team in the country. They were dominant for stretches in the non-conference. They struggled to beat some mid-majors clubs as well. They blew out Ohio State to kick off conference play, then lost eight of their next 11. They beat Indiana and Minnesota, then struggled to hold off Penn State at home. Michigan has been reeling themselves, losing three of four in one stretched and getting manhandled by Michigan State. Expect a lot of threes in this one.

• Creighton at St. Mary’s (6:00 p.m. ET, ESPN): Both Creighton and St. Mary’s have high-powered, efficient offenses paired with defenses that have their issues getting stops. The Bluejays don’t have anyone in the back court to match up with Matthew Dellavedova, while SMC will likely have to put Beau Levesque, who would be playing out of position, on Doug McDermott. This should be an entertaining watch.

Because I have to mention them:

• South Dakota State at Murray State (8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN2): Nate Wolters vs. Isaiah Canaan. Need I say more?

• Ohio at Belmont (10:00 p.m. ET, ESPN2): Two of my favorite teams in the country. DJ Cooper vs. Kerron Johnson will be worth the price of admission, while Ian Clark will actually be the best guard on the floor. Both teams can get up and down the floor and both teams play an entertaining style of basketball.

You can find Rob on twitter @RobDauster.