Heading into this week of men’s college basketball, there is a handful of top-25 matchups. This is coming after several top-25 teams were knocked off last week. No. 21 Mississippi State lost to Georgia Tech, No. 8 Miami lost to No. 12 Kentucky, No. 23 Alabama lost to Clemson, No. 10 Tennessee lost to No. 17 UNC, No. 14 Texas A&M lost to Virginia, No. 7 Duke lost to Arkansas, No. 1 Purdue lost to Northwester, No. 4 UConn lost to No. 5 Kansas, No. 3 Marquette lost to Wisconsin, No. 18 Villanova lost to Drexel, No. 12 Kentucky lost to UNC Wilmington, and Mississippi State lost again to Southern. Will we be in for another week of onslaughts like we had last week? Here are the top five games this week.
Alabama at No. 4 Purdue
Both of these teams are looking for a bounce-back win. The former No. 23 Alabama has lost to Ohio State and Clemson, two unranked schools in the last two weeks. After rising to No. 1 overall, Purdue was taken down by unranked Northwestern in overtime on Friday. The Boilermakers’ short run as the No. 1 team has come to an end. However, Zach Edey is still a force. He is averaging 23.5 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. The team needs more going forward from Fletcher Loyer and Lance Jones if it hopes to not drop another tough loss this season.
No. 11 Florida Atlantic vs. No. 20 Illinois
Florida Atlantic started as the No. 10 team in the nation before losing to Bryant and dropping to No. 19. They took down former No. 12 Texas A&M and rose back up to No. 11. They have won five straight games including three in back-to-back days against Butler, Texas A&M, and Virginia Tech to win the ESPN Events Invitational. This will be Illinois’ first time on this list, we will find them again later. They dropped from No. 23 to No. 24 with a loss against the No. 3 team in the nation, Marquette in the Gavitt Tipoff earlier this year. That is the 6-1 team’s only loss.
Texas at No. 8 Marquette
One of the biggest games of the Big East-Big 12 battle will happen on Wednesday. The No. 16 team in the nation will head on the road to take on the former No. 8 team in the country, Marquette. Texas opens December as a one-loss team losing against UConn 81-71 in the Saatva Empire Classic championship after beating Louisville the day before. Marquette dropped in the ranking after losing last weekend to unranked Wisconsin despite beating Kansas just a week prior. Tyler Kolek had just 11 points in the loss, which is under his average.
No. 20 Illinois at No. 17 Tennessee
This is the second time Illinois is on this list and the second time that they play a top-25 ranked opponent in the same week. They will get a three-day break between No. 11 Florida Atlantic and No. 17 Tennessee with both being on the road. Tennessee is looking to bounce back after a rough last week losing again to a top-25 opponent. They have now lost three straight games against Purdue, Kansas, and North Carolina — all top-25 teams. What’s even worse is the team might have lost Dalton Knecht for an extended period after going down hard in the loss to North Carolina.
No. 9 North Carolina vs. No. 5 UConn
The Jimmy V Classic’s second game of the night also gets a feature as a top-five game of the week. The No. 9 ranked North Carolina will take on the No. 5 team in the nation, UConn, at Madison Square Garden in New York. UNC is in the middle of the toughest part of their schedule this season with four top 25 teams in five games. This is their second after they beat the former No. 10 Tennessee in the ACC/SEC Challenge. On the other side, UConn is coming off of a huge loss against No. 2 Kansas in one of the biggest games of their season. This will surely be a battle and force both teams and coaches into a strategy game.
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