Three matchups featuring top 11 teams. Are you kidding me?!
Let’s preview some of tonight’s great games.
#11 Georgetown at #2 Syracuse
Both teams are off to great starts. Georgetown lost some key players from last year, but has gotten out to an 8-3 start in the Big East. Syracuse, despite all the Bernie Fine allegations, has only lost one game all year and is college basketball’s deepest team. Syracuse destroyed St. John’s in Fab Melo’s first game back from a suspension due to academics. Before you pick Syracuse to win this game, just know that the away team won both matchups last year. Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim needs one more victory to pass Dean Smith and take over third place on the Division I all-time wins list. Boeheim enters Wednesday’s game with 879 career victories. In addition to passing Smith on the career victories list, Boeheim would have the most wins by a coach at one school. Expect a 33,000 plus crowd tonight at the Carrier Dome.
Prediction: Syracuse 69 Georgetown 59
#10 Kansas at #6 Baylor
Baylor received a major wake-up call when Kansas destroyed them at Allen Fieldhouse to give them their first loss. Since then Baylor has only lost once and that was against the talented Mizzou Tigers. Missouri is currently a half game up on both teams in the Big 12 standings and tonight’s winner will join the Tigers with a 9-2 conference record. Tonight’s matchup features many standout players including Kansas’s Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor who combined for 55 points in the first Kansas-Baylor game. Kansas is coming off a three point loss at Missouri and will be looking to extend its streak of not losing consecutive games for over six years, a span of 227 games. Baylor will need a big game from Perry Jones III to win this one.
Prediction: Kansas 78 Baylor 76
#9 Duke at #5 North Carolina
It’s the biggest rivalry in college basketball, maybe in all of college sports, and sports in general. Here’s a stat that sums up this incredible rivalry. The combined score of the last 75 Duke-UNC basketball games is 5,858-5,857, with Duke having a one point advantage. That’s simply incredible. UNC is tied with Florida State atop the ACC standings, while Duke is one game back. People have overlooked UNC, after their blowout loss to FSU, but they are still a national championship caliber team. Duke is talented, but hasn’t been as dominating usual, with home losses to FSU and Miami. Backcourt advantage goes to Duke with Seth Curry and Rivers, while the frontcourt advantage goes to UNC with Tyler Zeller, John Henson, and Harrison Barnes. North Carolina has yet to lose at home this year and I don’t see that first loss coming tonight.
Prediction: North Carolina 81 Duke 72
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