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The Texas Longhorns are off to a slow start but will get an easy matchup next time out when they host the Long Beach State 49ers. Texas needs to pick it up if the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, and while this one won’t do anything for the strength of schedule, at least it should add a win to the ledger.... 

The Colorado Buffaloes and BYU Cougars hope to be in contention for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament come March. Both would gain a nice win next time out, but only one can get it in what should be a competitive affair.... 

The Kentucky Wildcats lost their first game of the season recently to UCLA to drop from the top perch in the national rankings, and will now make their march back up. They should pick up an easy win against the Hofstra Pride, as the Wildcats have an overwhelming amount of talent which Hofstra will struggle to compete against.... 

The North Carolina Tar Heels have shaken off an early-season loss recently by winning two straight, and will be favored to keep it going in a home matchup against the Tennessee Volunteers. The Tar Heels have one of the most talented rosters in college basketball and are rightfully ranked among the elite squads.... 

Few teams have played a schedule as daunting as the Wisconsin Badgers have to start the season. Rather than fill up on a bunch of soft non-conference creampuffs, the Badgers have taken on a litany of solid teams and this team is now one of the most battle tested in the country. However, they have only played one real road game thus far, and lost that one by double digits. Wisconsin will head on the road once more and hope for a different result when it faces the Marquette Golden Eagles on Saturd... 

Kansas is perennially one of the top teams in the country and this year is no exception. The Jayhawks should be sizable home favorites and may need to cover a significant spread in this one. The Cornhuskers have been average this season and will be hard-pressed to pull this upset.At 3:15 p.m. ET, tune into ESPN for live television coverage of this NCAA basketball game on Saturday, December 10, 2016, at Allen Fieldhouse.... 

The Villanova Wildcats have vanquished all challengers thus far in 2016. The defending national champions have only been tested once, in a road tilt at Purdue in mid-November, and have shown that the belief that a jump shooting team can’t win a title is laughable. Villanova will square off against another undefeated team, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, this Saturday in the inaugural Never Forget Tribute Classic. The event will provide education assistance to financially needy dependents of people killed or disabled in the 9/11 attacks.... 

UCLA is undefeated and is expected to remain that way as it will be the favorite in this one. The Wolverines have a solid record but are not of the same caliber team as the Bruins and will be hard-pressed to even keep this one within striking distance.At 8 p.m. ET, tune into ESPN2 for live television coverage of this NCAA basketball game on Saturday, December 10, 2016, at Pauley Pavilion.... 

UNLV gets to play this game at home but that might not be too much help. The Blue Devils are clearly the superior team and should have no trouble cruising to victory. The Runnin’ Rebels’ best shot will be to cover this spread as the underdog.At 5:15 p.m. ET, tune into ESPN for live television coverage of this NCAA basketball game on Saturday, December 10, 2016, at T-Mobile Arena.... 

Missouri hasn’t had a great season but gets this one at home, which should make the spread manageable enough to potentially pull the upset. The Tigers are aiming for their first win over a high-major opponent but it won’t be easy.... 

The Georgetown Hoyas will need to pick up their level of play to avoid missing the NCAA men’s basketball tournament for the third time in four years. Georgetown has lost four games in the non-conference season and is already reaching a critical juncture as it faces off against the La Salle Explorers.... 

The Wichita State Shockers have stacked their non-conference schedule with a bunch of high-major opponents, and thus far have fared very well. They will prepare for another test soon as they face off against the Oklahoma Sooners.... 

It’s been a nightmare start to the season for Fran McCaffery and the Iowa Hawkeyes. While most power conference teams are currently padding their records with games against overmatched teams, the Hawkeyes decided to schedule some name out-of-conference foes to get their team ready for the rigors of Big Ten play. The results have been disastrous. Iowa has lost to every power conference foe it has faced and now the Hawkeyes are 4-5 heading into their showdown with the Iowa State Cyclones, with the... 

The Gonzaga Bulldogs are a mid-major in name only, as they have quickly established themselves as one of the best teams in the country regardless of conference affiliation. The Bulldogs will aim to further their move up the national rankings with a win over the Washington Huskies.Even though Washington is the Pac-12 team, it could have a tough time winning this game because of what Gonzaga has proven throughout the early portion of the season.... 

The Wolverines are the more talented team and play this one at home, so there is little doubt they will be the favorites. They have lost two of their past four games but have the ability to pull away in this one.This war on the floor will go down Tuesday, December 6, 2016, at 9 p.m. ET at the Crisler Center.... 

The Purdue Boilermakers are still looking for a top-tier win against a non-conference opponent after falling just short against Villanova and Louisville in November. Purdue has made short work of its other opponents though and are rated as the 16^th best team in the country according to Ken Pomeroy. They will get a chance for a solid win against a non-conference opponent when they take on the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Jimmy V Classic.... 

Injuries have wreaked havoc on the roster of the Duke Blue Devils early on this season. Freshmen Jayson Tatum and Marques Bolden just returned from injuries for the first time this season against Maine, but now Grayson Allen and Frank Jackson are banged up and whether they play against the Florida Gators or not is in question. If Allen and Jackson can’t go, the Gators have a shot to pull off a very nice upset that would help them out come March.... 

Davidson is known for producing Stephen Curry and has continued to keep the program rolling since his departure. Davidson is a solid mid-major program, but beating North Carolina is a challenge on a whole other level.The Tar Heels should be heavy favorites and take care of business, although keep an eye on the spread as Davidson may be able to cover it depending on how many points they are getting.... 

The City of Brotherly Love will be rocking on Tuesday night. That’s when the La Salle Explorers will take on the Villanova Wildcats in a battle of Big 5 schools in Philadelphia. Villanova is still riding high after winning the national title last season and haven’t lost yet this year, defeating all challengers but one by double digits. The Wildcats dismantled another Philadelphia foe last week when they defeated St. Joseph’s and this win would set them up for a city title.... 

The UCLA Bruins are off to one of their best starts in recent history. UCLA has moved into the No. 11 spot in the AP poll thanks to an undefeated start to the year, but will face its biggest threat yet on Saturday. That’s when the Bruins head cross-country to face the No. 1 team in the land, the Kentucky Wildcats. Kentucky has looked unstoppable through the early part of the season, rolling up huge margins of victory against everyone it has faced, but UCLA will be its toughest test yet.... 

The Cincinnati Bearcats will be looking for their first quality win of the season when they face the Iowa State Cyclones in Ames on Thursday night. Cincinnati has made the NCAA Tournament in six straight seasons under head coach Mick Cronin he has the Bearcats off to a solid start again. Meanwhile, Iowa State may have lost a ton of talent from last year’s squad, but still remains competitive and showed what it is capable of when it blew out Miami last week.... 

The Duke Blue Devils came into the season as the overwhelming favorite to win it all with a lethal combination of returning starters and incoming freshmen. However, the injury bug has bit the Blue Devils hard and has left this team ripe for the picking in the run-up to conference play. Whether or not the Michigan State Spartans can take advantage of it though is up in the air. Sparty has had its share of woes in the early going and Tom Izzo has already apologized for putting his young team through the ringer with a brutal non-conference schedule that has punished Michigan State.... 

No team has started the season better than the North Carolina Tar Heels. North Carolina returned most of last year’s team that made it to the NCAA Tournament Final this season and the squad looks hungry to avenge last year’s defeat. They will play one of the last games in this year’s ACC/Big Ten Challenge against the team they sent crashing out of the tournament in the Sweet 16, the Indiana Hoosiers.... 

The Louisville Cardinals suffered their first loss of the season in the Battle 4 Atlantis Final against Baylor last week and are looking for revenge. Louisville blew a 22-point lead and that cost them an early season win against a ranked opponent. The Cardinals will get a chance for a win against another ranked opponent when they face the Purdue Boilermakers on Wednesday. Purdue is also searching for its first big win of the season.... 

This year’s ACC/Big Ten Challenge had looked to be a promising one for the ACC. After winning the first 10 challenges, the ACC hasn’t won this challenge since 2008, but looked to have a great chance this season with lots of talented teams. One of those teams, the Syracuse Orange, made the Final Four last season, but were shocked at home by South Carolina last week and are now a big question mark. They will travel to Madison on Tuesday to take on the Wisconsin Badgers, a team that got hammered by...