Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Weekend Preview: Sunday’s big, and not just on gridiron

Xavier Thames

San Diego State guard Xavier Thames (2) shoots over Marquette center Chris Otule (42) in the first half of an NCAA men’s college basketball game at the Wooden Legacy tournament in Anaheim, Calif., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013. San Diego State won the game and the championship, 67-59, and Thames was named MVP. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

Reed Saxon

GAME OF THE WEEKEND: No. 21 San Diego State at No. 16 Kansas, Sun. 4:30 p.m.

This is a huge game not only for San Diego State, but for the Mountain West as well. The Aztecs have been one of the more surprising teams in the country this season, but they don’t exactly have a ton of great wins. They beat Creighton and Marquette, who both could end up in the tournament, and knocked off Washington as well, but that’s it. But here’s the thing: even that mediocre non-conference schedule places SDSU near the top of the MWC in terms of performance outside the league. The Mountain West as a whole needs this win.

Can they get it? Well, it’s not going to be easy. Andrew Wiggins was the talk of Lawrence entering the season, but over the course of the last month, the Jayhawks have become a team that pounds the ball into the paint. Joel Embiid, Perry Ellis, Tarik Black. Those are the guys that have shined for Kansas in recent games, and I’m not sure the Aztecs have the front court to deal with them. It will be interesting to see what happens when Wiggins guards Winston Shepard as well. Shepard has been sensational the last three games.

THE OTHER GAME OF THE WEEKEND: No. 10 Oregon at No. 20 Colorado, Sun. 5:00 p.m.

Oregon barely hung on to beat Utah on the road on Thursday night, meaning that the Ducks will head into Sunday’s visit to Colorado without a loss on their record and with a chance to sweep what is the most difficult road trip in the Pac-12 this season. These two teams are Arizona’s two biggest challengers in the conference.

FIVE MORE TO KEEP AN EYE ON:


  • No. 22 Iowa at No. 4 Wisconsin, Sun. 8:00 p.m.: The Jarrod Uthoff bowl! Wisconsin has been one of the most impressive teams nationally this season, but Iowa is a couple of ugly possessions away from being undefeated with wins over Villanova and Iowa State.
  • No. 5 Michigan State at Indiana, Sat. 2:00 p.m.: Indiana really needs to start piling up quality wins, and what better place to start than knocking off Michigan State. The Spartans are starting to hit their stride, however. Once they get healthy, this team will be scary-good.
  • No. 7 Duke at Notre Dame, Sat. 4:00 p.m.: Two interesting story lines here: Notre Dame will be getting their first real test post-Jerian Grant, and they’ll be doing so as Mike Brey takes on his former boss, Mike Krzyzewski, in the first ACC game for the Irish.
  • Virginia at Florida State, Sat. 4:00 p.m.: Does anyone have any idea how the ACC is going to play out once you get past Syracuse, Duke and North Carolina? Both FSU and UVA have to pieces for finish fourth in the league.
  • Oklahoma at Texas, Sat. 8:00 p.m.: The Red River Shootout! The Sooners are one of the more underrated teams in the Big 12, but Texas has been arguably the most surprising team in the country.
  • Cincinnati at No. 18 Memphis, Sat. 12:00 p.m.: It seems like everyone is talking about UConn and Louisville in the American, but Memphis and Cincinnati are both good enough to make some noise in league play. This will be a good gauge for a Bearcat team that has had some trouble scoring.

WHO’S ON UPSET ALERT?


  • No. 13 Iowa State at Texas Tech, Sat. 1:30 p.m.: There are few teams in the country that have a bigger difference between home and road performance than the Cyclones.
  • No. 17 UConn at SMU, Sat. 2:00 p.m.: UConn is overrated. It’s that simple. On nights where Shabazz Napier doesn’t go crazy, they are very, very beatable. Ask Houston, who picked the Huskies off on New Year’s Eve.
  • No. 6 Oklahoma State at Kansas State, Sat. 4:00 p.m.: Oklahoma State will be adjusting to life without Michael Cobbins -- or Stevie Clark? -- and will be doing so against a Kansas State team that has come on strong in the last month.
  • Northern Iowa at No. 8 Wichita State, Sun. 2:00 p.m.: The Shockers are going to be a tough team to beat at home, but if anyone is going to do it, it’s going to be Northern Iowa or Indiana State.

FIVE MORE THINGS TO WATCH FOR:

1) Yale heads to St. Louis to square off with the Billikens at 5:30 p.m. on the NBC Sports Network. You can stream the game online on the NBC Sports Live Extra App.

2) Pacific will pay a visit to No. 24 Gonzaga at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday. The Tigers have been the biggest surprise in the WCC this year.

3) Both of the top two teams in the country will be playing at home at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Washington will visits No. 1 Arizona after whipping Arizona State and Miami will head up to No. 2 Syracuse.

4) A couple of good games in the Big East this weekend. Butler visits Xavier at 2:00 p.m. Saturday while St. John’s pays a visit to Georgetown at 1:00 p.m.

5) In the ‘Are either of these teams for real?’ bowl, Pitt will head down to Raleigh in their ACC opener to take on N.C. State at noon Saturday.