Weekend Preview: December 19th

So I took a week off. I checked every day and there weren't really any exciting matchups to write about, and with finals and coming back home, I was busy anyway. But it's Saturday, which means college basketball is back in full swing and I'm ready for a bunch of great games. Because it's Christmas, and because of my week off, I'll give you guys a present: I'll pick every game I talk about today. That's right, you can see how wrong I am more than once today. That has to be exciting enough to make you read the rest of this post.

Saturday, Dec. 19th

Game of the Day:

UNC v. Texas (Dallas): Man, the Heels have played some good non conf games. And most of them haven't been in Chapel Hill. By now, we have a good feel for UNC; good size, lots of depth, no real primary scorer, which occasionally leads to prolonged scoring droughts, and lack of offensive ability on the perimeter. Enter Texas, who has one of the deepest backcourts/perimeters in the game, and has given up over 62 points in a game once this year (and that was against Long Beach St and was likely due to pace of the game more than anything). Oh, and this is pretty much a home game for Texas. Not a good sign.

Pick: Texas 80, UNC 64

Michigan v. Kansas: The "Green Game", whatever that means. Maybe it means Beilein should tell his team that shoots under 29% from three to throw up 40 threes a game. I understand it's Beilein's coaching style, but still. Probably should play some defense too. Either way, they don't really match up properly vs. Kansas.

Pick: Kansas 87, Michigan 72

Gonzaga v. Duke (NYC): Could be one of the best contests we see today. Duke is big, obviously, but they haven't seen a guy as skilled as Robert Sacre in the post all year. The Blue Devils have a tendency to rout out the cupcakes and then play slow and shoot poorly against good teams, especially quality defenses. I'll take the Zags in the upset.

Pick: Gonzaga 67, Duke 64

Xavier v. Butler: Fun with the mid-majors. Butler's struggled this year, but so has Xavier. Bulldogs it is.

Pick: Butler 71, Xavier 61

Old Dominion v. Georgetown: The Hoyas are for real, but don't be surprised if ODU gives them a scare.

Pick: Georgetown 75, ODU 69

Texas Tech v. Wichita St: Can you say "trap game"? For no reason whatsoever, I'll make a "shocking" pick and take WSU. Get it? ... no? ... okay.

Pick: Shockers 75, Red Raiders 71

Portland v. Washington: Both teams need this win for one reason or another. I'll take the Huskies to get back on track.

Pick: Washington 85, Portland 73

Kansas St v. Alabama: The most underrated team in the country? Illinois. The 2nd most underrated? The away team right here. Sure, Bama almost pulled off the upset over Purdue, but K-State's still better than Bama, and this time there's no Heisman Trophy announcement to fire up the crowd.

Pick: Kansas St 78, Alabama 65

UCLA v. ND: Oh, how the mighty have fallen. That comment was directed at both teams (sorry, can't lose on your home floor to Loyola Marymount and escape the jaws of public humiliation).

Pick: ND 72, UCLA 54

Western Kentucky v. Louisville: It's okay, Pitino just has problems against teams with "Western" in their name.

Pick: WKU 76, Louisville 73

Temple v. Seton Hall: I enjoy how this is more likely to be a matchup of tournament teams than the UCLA-ND game.

Pick: Temple 70, Seton Hall 68

Sunday, December 20th

Game of the Day:

Florida St. v. Georgia Tech: Important early season ACC matchup. I haven't watched a ton of GT, but they've been excellent this year compared to last year's squad. Shumpert's injury hurts them, but frosh Mfon Udofia was playing just as well at the point, and when you have guys like Lawal and Favors inside to deal with, you're going to create problems inside against anyone. However, this is a conference that has a lot of size, and it's going to be the guard play that will differentiate teams. That means guys like Derwin Kitchen need to step it up for FSU in conference play. It's been a mixed bag for Florida State against teams of GT's caliber... I'm going to say FSU's offensive problems are their downfall again. GT wins.

Pick: Georgia Tech 71, Florida State 63

Others:

NC State v. Wake Forest: Another good ACC matchup. Man, the ACC is crowded in the middle. It'll be interesting to see Wake's ceiling though. They're athletic enough to be in the top 3 of the ACC. Can they execute offensively, shoot well from the perimeter consistently, and avoid turnover problems? If yes, they'll be a dangerous team.

Pick: Wake Forest 70, NC State 55