As we approach the end of January, we still have two undefeated teams out there: Syracuse and Murray State.
The Orange and Racers will take their undefeated records on the road this weekend as Syracuse visits Notre Dame and Murray State faces SIU-Edwardsville. In both games, the undefeated squads should win. But that word “should” is a funny thing.
In conference play, you just never know when a rival will step up and pull off a major upset. Look at Florida State, which got amped for the team’s home game against North Carolina last weekend. Given the Seminoles’ defensive prowess, it wouldn’t have been a shock if they kept the game close or even eked out a slim victory. But a 30-point trouncing of a top five team? That’s ridiculous.
So as Syracuse and Murray State continue to plow through their schedules, plenty of onlookers will speculate about whether these teams can finish the regular season with a perfect record. Murray State will get a bunch of speculation because the Racers are head and shoulders above the rest of their Ohio Valley Conference competition. In the Big East, the general consensus is at least one team will knock off the Orange. But in a rebuilding year for many teams in the conference, it’s not unreasonable to think that Syracuse will be a favorite in every game the team plays.
But there we go again with the speculation. I can almost guarantee you that coaches Jim Boeheim and Steve Prohm aren’t looking further than Saturday’s game. And nor should they lest the Fighting Irish or Cougars come up with a big game to protect their home court like the Seminoles did against North Carolina last weekend.
Here are some of the big games on tap for this weekend.
Saturday:
- Missouri at Baylor
- Purdue at Michigan State
- Florida State at Duke
- Syracuse at Notre Dame
- Cincinnati at West Virginia
- Alabama at Kentucky
- Mississippi State at Vanderbilt
- Xavier at Dayton
- Marshall at Southern Miss
- Kansas at Texas
- New Mexico at UNLV
- Murray State at SIU-Edwardsville
- Rutgers at Georgetown
- Maryland at Temple
- Kansas State at Oklahoma State
- Stanford at Washington
- Arizona at Colorado
- Old Dominion at VCU
- Long Beach State at UC Santa Barbara
Sunday:
- Virginia Tech at Virginia
- NC State at Miami
- Wisconsin at Illinois
- Milwaukee at Cleveland State
- Boston U. at Hartford
