Record: 9-1 (Overall: 41-14)
Iowa St. over Iowa - Niang was the star, but I was right about the win.
Kentucky over North Carolina - Kentucky looked great.
Gonzaga over UCLA - UCLA is better than I thought, not better than Gonzaga.
Kansas over Utah - Kansas did almost find a way to somehow lose it though.
VCU over Northern Iowa - It took 2 OTs to do it.
Villanova over Temple - Not even close.
Washington over Eastern Washington - Come on, Eagles. Quite making my Hoosiers look bad.
Wichita St. over Alabama - Way to fuck that one up, Alabama. You had it won.
Duke over Connecticut - I'm surprised it was as close as it was.
UCLA v. Kentucky (Saturday)
Ok, UCLA has talent (Kevon Looney, Isaac Hamilton), experience (Tony Parker, Bryce Alford), and sometimes both (Norman Powell). Coming off yet another convincing game last week (against UNC), it's hard to pick against Kentucky, even without Alex Poythress.
Winner: Kentucky
Syracuse at Villanova (Saturday)
Here's a good chance for Syracuse to stave off concerns about them. As good as the Orange's bigs have looked (Rakeem Christmas and Chris McCullough), Villanova is too balanced for me to expect a problem.
Winner: Villanova
Ohio St. at UNC (Saturday)
While disappointing so far, UNC isn't exactly a hot mess. Their three losses are all quite excusable (Iowa isn't great though). All they need is for Marcus Paige to stop this regression of his and they'll be fine. That may be asking too much though. I'm not on board with Ohio St. where they are in the rankings, but I can't argue with it looking like Aaron Craft has been holding back Shannon Scott all these years and the Buckeye freshman are supplying them with some badly needed offense.
Winner: Ohio St.
Utah at UNLV (Saturday)
This is more about seeing if Kansas has Utah spooked than it is UNLV being a great team. They are a talented and inexperienced team and have the home court advantage. After seeing how they scraped their way back into the Kansas game though, I have to think Delon Wright and the Utes have got this one.
Winner: Utah
Oklahoma v. Washington (Saturday)
Is it bad that I still don't trust Washington? Nigel Williams-Goss and Andrew Andrews are great and they proved that they can win against a great defense (SDSU). Can they manage against a great defense though that has a little more offense.
Winner: Oklahoma
Indiana v. Butler (Saturday)
Both teams are 8-2 with one very respectable loss and one questionable loss. They aren't big teams. IU is more dependent and deadly from the three point line and Butler may still be shaken up from that Tennessee loss. I expect Yogi to have a big game.
Winner: Indiana
VCU at Cincinnati (Saturday)
Havoc vs. nap time. Cincy is coming off a big home win again SDSU. VCU is a much different beast though. They are fast and love to score off turnovers. Whoever controls the tempo, controls the game. I liked VCU a lot going into the season. They've had some rough patches. Two of their three losses were to teams currently in the top ten. I think they'll be just fine.
Winner: VCU
Harvard at Virginia (Sunday)
By all means, Virginia is too complete of a team to lose at home to Harvard. The Crimson are a mid-major darling with copious talent and experience. As much as I'd like to see Wesley Saunders and co. surprise everyone, it would be a surprise for a reason.
Winner: Virginia
Maryland at Oklahoma St. (Sunday)
This is quietly setup to be a really good game. Maryland has been a much better team so far than anyone expected, even without Dez Wells. Oklahoma St. has not played as hard a schedule, but except for a bad loss to South Carolina, they've won every other game and by a healthy margin. I really feel that home court will be the difference maker here.
Winner: Oklahoma St.
Arizona at UNLV (Tuesday)
This is UNLV's second home game of the week against a very strong opponent. Arizona should clobber them, but UNLV, more than any other team this week, could change the outlook of their entire season with these two games.
Winner: Arizona
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