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Although superstar freshman Michael Porter Jr. never got the chance to suit up for the Missouri Tigers, this season has not been a wash for Mizzou. Cuonzo Martin already has led this team to more wins than it picked up all of last year in his first season with the team. The Tigers actually look competitive and nearly knocked off a good West Virginia team in the Advocare Invitational title game around Thanksgiving. Now, they will look to show the rest of the SEC they are no longer the conference’s laughing stock. The Tigers first test will come on the road against the South Carolina Gamecocks.... 

The Florida State Seminoles must not be happy with the conference schedule-makers. Florida State started ACC play on the road against Duke on Saturday afternoon and now must face the other powerhouse that resides on Tobacco Road on Wednesday. If FSU cannot defeat the North Carolina Tar Heels, it will start conference play behind the eight ball with an 0-2 record.... 

The Pac-12 has looked down in the non-conference, so it seems like there could be plenty of teams jockeying for position as the slate moves along. While the Arizona schools look the toughest it is hard to tell how it will all shake out.... 

The Kentucky Wildcats have a brand new cast of characters, but in what is becoming a tradition, they hope to get the group jelling as the men’s basketball calendar barrels toward March. Kentucky is once again one of the best teams in college hoops and will aim for a quick start to SEC conference play when it faces off against the Georgia Bulldogs in a matchup this week.... 

It’s been a great start to the season for the Arizona State Sun Devils. Arizona State is 12-0 and one of three unbeaten teams left in the country at the end of December. It’s not like this team has played a bunch of nobodies either. The Sun Devils have knocked off highly-ranked opponents like Xavier and Kansas during its start and look poised to keep up their winning ways. This Saturday they will play the team they want to beat more than any other, the Arizona Wildcats.... 

The Texas A&M Aggies have gotten off to a great start this season. Texas A&M is 11-1 with some very nice victories and is looking like it might be the second-best team in the SEC. Coming into the year, some were thinking that that title may have gone to the Alabama Crimson Tide. However, this team has not been able to get over the hump. Alabama’s best win this season came against Rhode Island, and it already has four losses. These teams will meet each other to tip off SEC play on Saturday.... 

It’s been an awful year for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. There was a lot of optimism coming into the season after Georgia Tech made it to the NIT Finals last year, but the Yellow Jackets don’t have a winning record entering ACC play. They already have some terrible losses on their resume this season and this team might just be the worst in the conference. Georgia Tech will have its work cut out for it when it travels north to face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.... 

The Villanova Wildcats are going to start Big East play with a Midwest swing this week. On Wednesday night, the No. 1 ranked Wildcats will square off against DePaul in the Windy City. Villanova is a large favorite in that one and should take care of business with ease. However, its game against the Butler Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon will be a much different story. Butler is 8-0 at home this year and beat Villanova the last time these two teams squared off.... 

This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Florida State Seminoles. FSU lost its top three players this offseason and was expected to have a middling year after being one of the better teams in the conference the last few seasons. However, Leonard Hamilton has shown why he is considered one of the best defensive coaches in the game. The defense is one of the best in the country and that has led this team to an 11-1 record. Now, we will see just how good the Seminoles are when they take on the Duke Blue Devils.... 

The Bryce Drew era got off to a promising start, but things have been disastrous this season. The Vanderbilt Commodores are just 5-7 this year and have yet to beat an opponent from a power conference. This team will need to post a great record in SEC play in order to have a shot at making the NCAA Tournament and need some upsets along the way too. Beating the Florida Gators on the road in their first SEC game would be a great start.... 

The Wichita State Shockers will get their welcome to the AAC this Saturday. Wichita State joined the conference in order to try to give the program a boost and take it to the next level. The Shockers are the overwhelming favorites to win the conference, but this is definitely a step up from the Missouri Valley. They are hungry to get off on the right foot and will look to establish themselves when they take on the Connecticut Huskies this week.... 

The UCLA Bruins finally got the win they were looking for right before Christmas. UCLA went to New Orleans to take on Kentucky and for the second straight season, knocked off the Wildcats in the regular season. It was a great way for the Bruins to wrap up their non-conference schedule and now they are looking to build on that in conference play. They will be welcoming the Washington State Cougars to town on Friday night.... 

The Kansas Jayhawks seem to have righted the ship after a disastrous run of play a couple weeks ago. Kansas lost virtual home games as a double-digit favorite to both Washington and Arizona State and nearly lost to Nebraska two weeks ago. However, they recovered with nice wins over Omaha and Stanford to close out their non-conference schedule. Kansas will start Big 12 play when it travels to take on the Texas Longhorns.... 

One of the best rivalries in college basketball will see its 51^st meeting when the Kentucky Wildcats take on the Louisville Cardinals this Friday. This rivalry has been historically dominated by Kentucky, but Louisville’s resurgence over the last decade has made this competitive again. A little something might be missing without Rick Pitino on the sidelines coaching Louisville, but this is sure to be an excellent game.... 

The Gonzaga Bulldogs are looking forward to the start of West Coast Conference play. Gonzaga has dominated this conference since Mark Few became the head coach, winning the regular season title 16 times and the conference tournament 14 times in the past two decades. The Bulldogs are the overwhelming favorites to win the title yet again this season. Their first test will come in the form of the Pacific Tigers.... 

The Auburn Tigers have not let an internal investigation slow them down this season. Following the Department of Justice’s arrest of assistant coach Chuck Person, there were a lot of people believing that Bruce Pearl should be fired or step down. Pearl further fanned the flames by refusing to cooperate with the school’s internal investigation, but a lot of those bad feeling seemed to have past after a 10-1 start. Auburn is looking to chalk up another win here when it welcomes the Connecticut Huskies to town.... 

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons have rebounded nicely after a very poor start. Wake Forest lost its first three games, and four of its first five, but has now won six straight. Now, the Demon Deacons will try to pick up a nice non-conference win when the Tennessee Volunteers come into town. Tennessee is getting a lot of love from the national media after its performance against North Carolina last weekend, with some even calling them a dark horse to win the SEC.... 

This week, the North Carolina Tar Heels will play their last non-conference game before the rigors of ACC play start. North Carolina has faired pretty well despite playing some decent opponents in its non-conference slate and will play Wofford on Wednesday night before this one tips off. The Tar Heels will be facing the Ohio State Buckeyes in the first game of the CBS Sports Classic in the Big Easy. Ohio State hired Chris Holtmann away from Butler in the offseason and is looking to return to the Big Dance after a two-year absence.... 

To bring publicity to the city of Birmingham, the Steel City of the South will host a bowl game and a basketball game this weekend. The Vulcan Classic will pit the Texas Longhorns against the Alabama Crimson Tide on Friday night. Alabama is the nominal home team and will have a lot of the support since Tuscaloosa is just 45 minutes away. Texas has not fared well in neutral court games this season, with a record of 1-2.... 

The Northwestern Wildcats made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history last season and entered this season ranked. Big things were expected after it nearly knocked off Gonzaga in the second round last year, but this year has not gone as planned. Northwestern is off to an 8-4 start and has lost to every decent team it has played. The Wildcats will get one more chance to make some noise before conference play starts when they take on the Oklahoma Sooners on Friday night.... 

Two of the most storied programs in college basketball will square off when the Kentucky Wildcats play the UCLA Bruins this Saturday. UCLA has not looked good in recent weeks, struggling to have the same success it did with Lonzo Ball last season. Meanwhile, the Wildcats picked up a nice win against Virginia Tech this Saturday and would like to pick up one more non-conference win before the holidays.... 

The Stanford Cardinal have only made the NCAA Tournament once in the last decade. Based on their performance thus far this season, it seems more likely that this team will finish below .500 than make it back to the Big Dance. Stanford is sitting at 6-6 and has some awful losses on its resume. The Cardinal have already lost to Eastern Washington, Portland State, and Long Beach State, and they have yet to beat anyone of note. They will try to score a big win over the Kansas Jayhawks on Thursday night, but that will be a very tough task.... 

Both of Carolina’s blue bloods will be in action on Tuesday night and in the second part of a doubleheader we will see the North Carolina Tar Heels host the Wofford Terriers. North Carolina is looking to defend its national title and has looked solid to this point in the season. The Tar Heels got crushed by Michigan State, but have looked good against every other team on their schedule. Wofford is usually one of the better mid-majors in the country, but the Terriers have struggled this year. They are sitting at 7-4 yet did get a big win over Georgia Tech recently.... 

The Kansas State Wildcats are looking to get a nice non-conference win before they start Big 12 play. Kansas State did knock off Vanderbilt earlier in the year, but fell by two to Arizona State and lost to Tulsa as well. It’s been four years since the Wildcats had a winning record in conference so they know that every win outside of the Big 12 is important. In the last part of a tripleheader on Wednesday night, they will be taking on the Washington State Cougars and trying to get that 10^th win.... 

The Duke Blue Devils have been anxious to get back on the hardwood. We have not seen Duke play in a week and a half as the players have been dealing with finals. That has given this team plenty of time to stew and wonder what went wrong in its loss to Boston College. The Blue Devils are well-rested and looking to show that a letdown like that will not happen again. This puts the Evansville Aces right in the crosshairs on Tuesday night....