Creighton and Vanderbilt headline the Wednesday slate of College Basketball

It is Finals week for most schools across the country, and the games have been terrible as a result.  There were some notable games on Tuesday, though.  Tennessee blew out Louisville in Knoxville.  The Volunteers look like they have put the bad loss to Syracuse behind them, and the Cardinals are not as good as many thought after the blowout win against Kentucky. 

The Big East has started conference play.  The St. John’s Red Storm beat DePaul, and UConn beat Butler.  Get used to seeing St. John’s and UConn winning games in the Big East.  Those two teams don’t look like they'll lose much.  

Big East play continues on Wednesday, and the rest of the schedule starts to pick up a bit on Wednesday as well.  There are three essential games tomorrow, and then let's make some picks for the rest of the day’s games.

Creighton Bluejays at Xavier Musketeers - Two teams who need a hot start in the conference face off in the Cintas Center.

Where do you begin with Creighton at this point?  Head coach Greg McDermott is at a loss with this team as well.  The Bluejays don’t give much of an effort, don’t play defense, and the shot selection is horrible.  After Creighton got blown out in Lincoln against their arch rivals, the Nebraska Cornhuskers, coach McDermott made it clear that new guys were going to play.  That is precisely what happened in the next game against Kansas State, and while Creighton still lost, there were signs of life in the second half.  I am still not ready to completely write off the Bluejays yet.

Xavier has been the tale of two seasons.  In the early part of the season, the Musketeers looked like they might be one of the worst teams in the country.  Fortunately for the Xavier faithful, head coach Richard Pitino figured it out. Xavier has turned into one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country, and if they get hot from downtown, they can stay in any game, especially in the Big East.  The Musketeers are favored in this game, but Creighton is the more talented team. Will the Bluejays play defense and show they care?  Xavier will for sure play hard.

No. 13 Vanderbilt Commodores at Memphis Tigers - Undefeated against a desperate team

Vanderbilt is off to their best start in a long time and has one of the best offenses in the country.  Head Coach Mark Byington has built this team around three-point shooting, and they try to play as fast as possible. This is going to be hard to believe, but the Commodores are the favorite to finish at the top of the SEC, next to Alabama.  Tyler Tanner is playing at an All-American level and could win SEC player of the year. 

Memphis has not had nearly the season they hoped for, but the Tigers have been playing much better as of late.  I know they did just get blown out by Louisville, but they do have the win over Baylor that should age well.  Memphis is going to have to play the best game they have played all year to get this done, but this one is at the FedEx Forum, and crazy things have happened there in the past.  

Arizona State Sun Devils at UCLA Bruins- Two surprising teams for different reasons.

The Sun Devils are one of the best stories in the country as they head into the game with a 9-2 record, including wins over Texas and Oklahoma.  Arizona State desperately needs a good season to ensure that head coach Bobby Hurley is still in Tempe next year, and starting point guard Moe Odum has understood the assignment.  He is playing at an all-Big 12 level, and if the high level of play continues, guys like Pig Johnson are going to have career years.

UCLA is surprising for a different reason.  The Bruins have not taken care of business like they did last year, and star offseason acquisition Donovan Dent has yet to live up to his billing.  Odum and Dent are going to be an excellent matchup all game long, and whoever can get out in space more easily is going to lead their team to a victory. The Bruins could really use a huge non-conference win.

Here are the picks from the rest of the games: