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The Texas A&M Aggies’ great non-conference start has not translated to SEC play. Texas A&M has lost the first three games in conference and it doesn’t get any easier this week as it must hit the road for a showdown against perennial SEC favorite the Kentucky Wildcats.... 

The Villanova Wildcats are one of the best teams in the country but have some work to do to get back atop the Big East. Villanova lost an early conference game to fellow power Xavier, and needs to pick up some wins to climb up the standings.The Wildcats will aim to take care of business this week when they host the Marquette Golden Eagles. While Villanova is the superior team, Marquette has been playing well of late and would love to pull the upset.... 

The TCU Horned Frogs have been one of the most pleasant surprises in college basketball this season. They can turn even more heads this week as they prepare for a huge clash against the Kansas Jayhawks.Kansas has regularly dominated the Big 12 but the Horned Frogs are looking like a legitimate foe. TCU gets the home court advantage in this matchup and would love to pick up a critical conference win.... 

The Michigan State Spartans have zoomed up to the top of the national rankings and are looking like a championship contender. Michigan State has gotten off to a strong start in Big Ten play and will aim to add another conference victory in a road game against the Ohio State Buckeyes.Ohio State has done well this season and should have a frenzied home court behind it, so this is one of the most likely losses Michigan State could face in conference play. However, the Spartans come in playing so well that they should be sizable favorites to take care of business.... 

The ACC is the premier conference in college basketball, the to many perennial powers. Two of those are the Syracuse Orange and Notre Dame Fighting Irish. They will go head-to-head in a pivotal matchup this week.... 

The Indiana Hoosiers have not gotten off to a great start under first-year head coach Archie Miller. It takes time to build a program the way you want it, but the early results from Miller have not been good. The Hoosiers did get a nice win over Notre Dame, however, they also lost to in-state minnows like Indiana State and Fort Wayne. Indiana is currently at 8-7 and looking to stay above .500. That will be a tall task when it travels to face the Minnesota Golden Gophers this week.... 

Don’t look now, but the Oklahoma Sooners might be set to upset the apple cart in the Big 12. Kansas has won at least a share of the regular season title in every year since 2005, but the Sooners are looking like the team to beat in the conference this season. Superstar freshman Trae Young has led a resurgence in Norman, and Oklahoma has already won more games than it did all of last season. The Sooners will be taking on another one of the conference contenders on Saturday when they square off against the West Virginia Mountaineers.... 

The Florida Gators had a bumpy non-conference schedule but gave won their first two in SEC play. That pits them atop the conference standings and they will aim to stay there as a matchup against the Missouri Tigers awaits next time out.... 

The Xavier Musketeers are one of the hottest teams in college basketball, and are ranked among the best teams in the country. They hope to stay on that perch when they face off against the Providence Friars in a Big East battle.... 

The Duke Blue Devils lost their first conference game of the season against Boston College, but has plenty of time to make up for it in the coming weeks. The second-ranked Blue Devils will aim to pick up a win this week when they take the road to face off against the North Carolina State Wolfpack.... 

It’s not often the North Carolina Tar Heels are underdogs, but that should be the case when they travel to face the Virginia Cavaliers in a pivotal ACC clash. North Carolina is once again a strong team which should be considered a contender for March Madness, but the Cavaliers have been even more impressive this season and have the benefit of the home court advantage.... 

It hasn’t been the best start to the season for the Wisconsin Badgers, but this team has shown a lot of resiliency. Despite being riddled with injuries in the backcourt, Wisconsin was able to gut out a big win against Indiana on Tuesday night and move to 2-1 in Big Ten play. Ethan Happ has put the team on his back during this most recent stretch, and that will be who the Rutgers Scarlet Knights need to shut down in order to beat the Badgers on Friday night.... 

The Michigan State Spartans are the team to beat in the Big Ten. After an early season loss to Duke, this team has crushed the competition and beaten every other team it has faced by at least 10 points. Michigan State recently moved up to No. 1 in the AP poll following Villanova’s loss to Butler over the weekend and looks set to grab one of the four No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament. The Spartans will be facing an injury-depleted Maryland Terrapins squad on Thursday night.... 

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....