The Week Ahead

As we enter the first full week of 2011, conference play is already beginning to separate some of the pretenders from the contenders. Last week featured several marquee match-ups with teams attempting to send a message to the rest of the country that they are going to be in their respective conference race for good. This week continues that trend, with plenty of quality intra-conference battles as well as a couple of non-conference games. If nothing else, last week showed that no one was invincible – who will step up this week?

Monday

No. 13 Georgetown at St. John’s: St. John’s is coming off a nice win at West Virginia, while Georgetown is struggling lately.

No. 18 Michigan State at Northwestern: Both teams could use a win. Could this be the game Michigan State wakes up?

Tuesday

No. 8 Connecticut at No. 14 Notre Dame: Connecticut didn’t have a great week, while Notre Dame was blown out at Syracuse.

No. 5 Pittsburgh at Providence: If Marshon Brooks is scoring, Providence can hang. Pitt will put the clamps on him though.

Missouri State at Creighton: Two of the Missouri Valley contenders will look to separate themselves from the pack.

Arkansas at No. 12 Texas: This game usually produces at least a few storylines – which Arkansas team will show up?

Wednesday

UAB at No. 1 Duke: Kyrie Irving is still not playing for Duke, but the Blue Devils continue to roll past opponents.

Drexel at VCU: Is Drexel a legitimate CAA contender? VCU has had positive moments, but also some disappointing games.

Michigan at Wisconsin: Wisconsin faltered at Illinois on Sunday, while Michigan hasn’t been on the road since November.

No. 21 Memphis at Tennessee: Always an entertaining game. Tennessee badly needs a win, while Memphis has a lot to prove.

No. 15 BYU at No. 25 UNLV: Two of the Mountain West favorites battle in a must-see conference opener.

Thursday

Xavier at No. 24 Cincinnati: Cincinnati is the country’s most unlikely undefeated team; Crosstown Shootout is always fun.

Saint Mary’s at Loyola Marymount: Seems like a good time to mention I had Loyola as an at-large team. Whoops.

Northwestern at No. 20 Illinois: Northwestern has a quick turnaround after Monday’s game against Michigan State.