Big Games of the Weekend 1/7 – 1/8
Marquette at Syracuse
As a lot of teams begin conference play this week, the big game in the Big East has the Golden Eagles traveling to upstate New York to take on the number one team in the land. Syracuse is the most balanced team and one of the deepest teams in the country this year. They returned a lineup full of stars in the conference, led by Scoop Jardine and Kris Joseph. The Orange’s toughest test so far has been against a real good Florida team, but they found a way to win. Spectacular sophomore Fab Melo has really turned into a great player for the Orange on the inside. He’s averaging 7.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.1 blocks per game. He’s making a difference for them in the middle.
From Marquette you can always expect a team that doesn’t quit. It would certainly seem they are a reflection of their coach, Buzz Williams. The Golden Eagles have been playing well early in the season. They did have a few causes for concern after losing handily to LSU in December and then getting throttled by Vanderbilt at home on December 29th. They rebounded against Villanova to secure their first conference win. They must take on a surging Georgetown team in D.C. on Wednesday night before making it to New York. It is a tough two game stretch. Leading scorer Darius Johnson-Odom needs to play like the star he is if they want to pull out either or both of these games.
Miami (FL) at Virginia
One of the surprises of the early season so far has been the Virginia Cavaliers. They find themselves ranked for the first time in nearly a decade. Coach Tony Bennett has recruited well and his players have bought into what he is selling. What makes this an intriguing game is that it will be the first conference game for the Cavs. They have been able to accumulate wins outside of the ACC, will they be able to win in conference now that they are a favorite? It is not always easy to play up to your rank when your opponents know you so well. Virginia is finding ways to win, they beat a ranked Michigan team in late November very handily at home and they’ve beaten Oregon and LSU on the road. They don’t have gaudy team numbers, but they are laden with veterans. Mike Scott, Joe Harris, and Sammy Zeglinski lead the way. Miami isn’t the scariest competition, as they’ve beaten no one of consequence. Let’s see if Virginia can get off on the right foot in conference play. The first few games will be key to solidify a good seed in postseason tournaments.
Wisconsin at Michigan
This may sound crazy, but maybe it’s good that Wisconsin is playing this game on the road. The mystique of playing the Badgers at the Kohl Center seems to have dissipated this season. They’ve already lost three games at home this year (!) when they hadn’t lost more than six conference games at home before this year in the Bo Ryan era. Two of those losses were to good ranked teams. One was to a very mediocre Iowa team that doesn’t stand a chance of doing anything in the Big 10. The Badgers are already below .500 in the conference on their way to two straight road games. Maybe it’ll be a reverse year for Ryan’s team and they will play tough against a good Michigan squad on the road. Led by Tim Hardaway, Jr. (son of the former star player), the Wolverines have only lost to Duke and Virginia so far. They play at Indiana before they see Wisconsin and that game is in Bloomington. The way the Hoosiers play, the Wolverines might be worn out by the time Saturday’s game comes around. Wisconsin would love that. This will be an awfully tough game for the Badgers to win if Michigan comes out firing.
California at Oregon
These are two teams on the rise in a subpar Pac-12 conference. California is considered to be further along in competing for conference titles than Oregon. California under Mike Montgomery is considered one of the favorites to take the conference this year. UCLA is not what it once was and the Arizona rebuild isn’t quite there yet. Golden Bears senior Jorge Gutierrez stabilizes the Cal backcourt, averaging 4.2 assists per game. He can also put the ball in the bucket (13.9 points per game). They are in a great position to take this conference over if they can string together a few more wins in a row.
They need to beat an Oregon team that is getting better and is a bit of a surprise so far this year. As a team that lost star recruit Jabari Brown, the Ducks are 10-4 and in the mix in the Pac-12. They have only played two conference games and split them. They appear to be a finicky team; when they win they play solid basketball and when they lose, they lose by a large margin. Their talent is not quite where it needs to be to contend year in and year out in the Pac-12, but Dana Altman has them on their way. Before playing Cal, they get Stanford, also at home. If Oregon wants to be taken seriously, they have to prove it during this two game stretch. Winning one of them would make people pay attention.
