Arizona on Upset Alert heading into Pauley Pavilion

Mar 1, 2013, 9:35 AM EDT

Who’s Getting Upset?: No. 11 Arizona at UCLA (Sat. 9:00 p.m. ET, ESPN)

The Wildcats gave up 89 points in a loss to USC on Wednesday night, their first loss since plugging Kevin Parrom into the starting lineup in what was one of the ugliest defensive performances of the season by the Wildcats. Things don’t get any easier on Saturday night, as Sean Miller’s club will be heading into Pauley Pavilion to take on a UCLA Bruins team that has climbed into a first place tie in the Pac-12 with Oregon.

This is where the matchup gets interesting. The Bruins had one of their most impressive performances of the season when they went into Tucson and knocked off Arizona 84-73 back in January, but that came when the Wildcats were still using two big men the majority of the time. With Parrom at the three and Solomon Hill sliding over to the four-spot, all of a sudden the Wildcats match up much better with the Bruins small lineup. Will that be enough to allow them to go into Westwood and get a win on Gameday?

Four more teams on Upset Watch:

No. 19 Memphis at UCF (Sat. 1:00 p.m. ET, FSN): Central Florida doesn’t have much to play for right now, as their hopes of winning a league title are gone and they are banned from the postseason. What the Golden Knights do have to play for is the right to be the spoiler. Memphis is one loss in the regular season away from having a real concern about receiving an at-large bid if they don’t win CUSA’s automatic bid. Can UCF be the team that pulls off that upset?

Texas at No. 15 Oklahoma State (Sat. 4:00 p.m. ET, ESPN): Texas is a different team with Myck Kabongo back. Does that mean they’re good enough to be a tournament team? Who knows, five games is a really small sample. But they have beaten Iowa State and erased a 22 point deficit in a comeback win over Oklahoma while Kabongo has put up impressive numbers. It was their press that worked magic against the Sooners. Will they use it on the Pokes on Saturday?

No. 13 Kansas State at Baylor (Sat. 7:00 p.m. ET, ESPN2): This might as well be a tournament game for Baylor. If they lose to Kansas State, they are probably going to have to win the Big 12′s automatic bid if they want to be in the NCAA tournament. It’s that simple. And while we can all make jokes about Scott Drew and Baylor’s disappointing finishes, the fact of the matter is that the Bears have a ton of talent on their roster. In theory, they’re good enough that they should win this game. Doesn’t always work that way, though.

Villanova at No. 23 Pitt (Sun. 12:00 p.m. ET, ESPN3): Villanova is such a weird team this season. They have wins over three of the top four teams in the Big East. They’ve also done things like get swept by Providence and lose to Seton Hall at home in a must-win game. It was the Pirate’s first-win in 33 days. Which is why it would only make sense that the Wildcats will go into the Pete and knock off the Panthers.

You can find Rob on twitter @RobDauster.