Houston-Kansas, Duke-UNC and more excellent factors to see this weekend

• Myron Medcalf, ESPN Staff WriterFeb 2, 2024, 10:00 AM ET Close Covers college basketball

• Joined ESPN.com in 2011
• Graduate of Minnesota State University, Mankato

For a portion of the country, college basketball will begin this weekend. With simply another game on the NFL slate and the college football playoffs complete, college hoops will take center stage in the weeks ahead.And what a weekend slate to start watching.This weekend’s

games are all about the NCAA tournament stakes, the competitions, championship game races and star power.Duke-North Carolina is

the anchor. It’s the beacon of the whole sport. No matter what is happening in college basketball in a given year, this one has actually always been a program that transcends the sport. And it won’t be any various this season, with the winner making bragging rights and more believers in their respective Last 4 dreams.Speaking of dreams, Dalton Knecht dipped into Northern Colorado a year earlier and now he’s the player Kentucky will have to stop to beat Tennessee. Also, Wisconsin is fun again. (No, seriously.) And Houston at Kansas would have been the most significant game in the sport on any other weekend.This will be fun. Enjoy.All odds from ESPN Bet.

No. 4 Houston (19-2, 6-2 Big 12) at No. 8 Kansas (17-4, 5-3)

Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, ESPN

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Maybe this one, and the repeat in the season finale in Houston on March 9, will choose the final result of the Big 12 race. When the league revealed the additions of Houston, UCF, Cincinnati and BYU, this was the date males’s college basketball fans circled around on their calendars. But we never ever anticipated that the Cougars and Jayhawks would face this kind of competition leading up to it. The Jayhawks enter this matchup behind the Cougars, Texas Tech and Iowa State in the standings. And Kevin McCullar Jr. (19.8 PPG) missed Tuesday’s win over Oklahoma State with a bruised knee.Kansas, which lost to Iowa State last weekend in Ames, faces its toughest start in league play since going 4-4 in the first eight Huge 12 games throughout the 2020-21 season. Baylor won the conference title that year. Since their two-game losing streak last month, on the other hand, the Cougars have actually been first in adjusted defensive performance and held their challengers to a 42.4 %clip inside the arc, per barttorvik.com. However they likewise have made just 44%of their 2-pointers throughout their present five-game winning streak.This is one of the most highly anticipated clashes in college basketball this season.

And the stakes are high for a pair of programs looking for a high seed in the NCAA tournament.Medcalf’s pick: Kansas 71-68; Against the spread: Not available at time of publication No. 7 Duke(16-4, 7-2 ACC)at No. 3 North Carolina(17-4, 9-1)Saturday

, 6:30 p.m. ET, ESPN Hubert Davis began each of his first two seasons as a head coach in Chapel Hill with

a 15-6 record overall and a 7-3 record in league play at the end of January. Both those seasons had various outcomes, nevertheless: the 2021-22 project ended with a run to the national title game, while season saw the Tar Heels finish without an invitation to the NCAA competition. This year’s group– led by RJ Davis, perhaps the top guard in the country– is going after a front runner after winning its very first nine games in ACC play. However the Tar Heels couldn’t prevent late-January concerns before Saturday’s game. Tuesday’s loss at Georgia Tech( 128th in the web rankings)has dented the teams’chances of protecting a 1-seed on Choice Sunday.But the Blue Devils have their own concerns. Jeremy Roach has played through knee and ankle injuries in current weeks.

Kyle Filipowski, a national player of the year competitor and a forecasted lotto pick in this summertime’s NBA draft, is just 1-for-10 from the 3-point line in his past three games. And Duke was 57th in adjusted protective effectiveness in the month of January, per barttorvik.com. Jon Scheyer’s squad, nevertheless, has more depth and scoring options. Let’s face it: Duke has more talent, while North Carolina has been the better group. Get your popcorn ready.Medcalf’s pick: Duke, 77-74; Against the spread: Unavailable at time of publication No. 5 Tennessee(15-5, 5-2 SEC)at No. 10 Kentucky(15-4, 5-2)Saturday, 8:30 p.m. ET

, ESPN With his group down 59-53 with 41 seconds to play, Tennessee

star Dalton Knecht struck a pair of 3s to keep his team alive just a bit longer in Tuesday’s eventual loss to South Carolina. That has been the theme for the Vols– and the issue. Knecht is one of America’s greatest scoring hazards(20.1 PPG, 40 %from the 3-point line)and the anchor for one of the best defensive teams in the country.Top stories of the week from Get special access to countless premium posts a year from top writers. – Lowe’s All-Star choices: LeBron a reserve”- Barnwell: Will Bears trade the top choice?”- Senior Bowl: Standouts, risers and buzz “More ESPN+material”However he’s now facing Kentucky, a group that is stacked with NBA talent. Antonio Reeves( 19.5 PPG, 43%from the 3-point line) has also quietly been putting together a
case to be a first-team All-American. The Wildcats are an overwhelming crew offensively, however 75th in adjusted protective effectiveness. The latter metric matters since it’s typically an indication of a team’s ceiling. It’s likewise the factor the Wildcats have a loss to UNC Wilmington on their résumé.Medcalf’s choice: Kentucky, 78-74; Against the spread: Unavailable sometimes of publication

No. 2 Purdue (19-2, 8-2 Big 10) at No. 6 Wisconsin (16-4, 8-1)

Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS

You ‘d think Sam Dekker and Frank Kaminsky were back on the lineup with the method the Badgers have actually carried out on offense. Wisconsin hasn’t ended up top five in adjusted offensive efficiency on KenPom since the 2014-15 project, the year it went to the national game. Greg Gard, a disciple of Bo Ryan, has actually earned his honors by training a Badgers team that has six top-30 finishes in defensive efficiency during his period. This year’s group is his finest offending group, registering 5 games of 80 or more points– a remarkable mark for a group that is among the slowest in the nation (sub-300 in pace).

The Badgers will need that offending juice in the very first of their 2 matches against the Boilermakers– games that will likely figure out the Huge Ten champ– who have actually struck the 90-point mark in policy twice in league play. We know what Purdue is. It’s Zach Edey and a skilled group of contributors (see: Braden Smith with 12.1 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 7.0 APG, 44% from 3) that are top-10 in 3-point portion (40%). They’ll still have to contend with AJ Storr (15.9 PPG) and a fleet of 6 Wisconsin players who are averaging a minimum of 7.5 PPG.Medcalf’s choice: Wisconsin, 83-80; Versus the spread: Not available at time of publication SEASON TOTALS Medcalf’s choices straight up: 27-16 Against

the spread: 20-23