Louisville, Texas Tech, and Gonzaga Take Center Stage on a Stacked Tuesday Slate

The Monday slate of games was supposed to be an excellent primer for the rest of this week, especially the huge Super Tuesday games, but Monday saw nothing but blowouts.   Iowa State broke the will of Mississippi State.  Iowa State scored 56 points in the paint and forced 26 Mississippi State turnovers.  Iowa State looked like one of the best teams in the country on Monday and the Bulldogs did not.  It was one that Mississippi State will learn and grow from.

Then there was the shocker of the night when Santa Clara went into the Cintas Center in Cincinnati and blew out Xavier.  The Musketeers have an entirely new roster under head coach Richard Pitino and they will be good in time, but this year is going to be a long one for Xavier.  Yesterday, I mentioned that Santa Clara has the roster of a team who could make the tournament and they looked every bit the part of a tournament team tonight.  The Broncos are going to be a formidable opponent in the WCC all season long.

That brings us to Tuesday, or prove it day as I like to call it.  There are numerous games between top 25 teams that many of us have questions about.  This is going to be moving day for a lot of the those teams and the whole country will find out a lot about some top 25 teams heading into the Wednesday games.  Here are the best games of the day followed by picking a winner for every game on the schedule.

No. 9 Kentucky Wildcats at No. 12 Louisville Cardinals - Huge rivalry game for Bluegrass state supremacy

A rivalry game with two fanbases who despise each other is a good way to start the second week of the college basketball season.  It also just so happens to feature two top 15 teams, who are two premier programs, and the two best programs in the state of Kentucky.  The Cardinals get this game at the Yum! Center and are out to prove that they are underrated.  I like many others believe Louisville deserves to be in the top 10.  

Louisville has scored over 100 in both of their games, play extremely fast, and will shoot a ton of threes.  Kentucky has scored over 100 in their last game, plays extremely fast, and will shoot a ton of threes.  This one is going to be fast paced and a lot of fun to watch. These teams are going to win a lot of games and are both locks for the NCAA Tournament.

No. 11 Texas Tech Red Raiders at No. 14 Illinois Fighting Illini - Two top 15 teams battle it out in an early preview of a potential Sweet 16 matchup.

Let’s get this out of the way early the results of this game will matter but not as much as they would if the game was played in February and why?  Neither team is going into this game healthy and both teams are missing key pieces.  The key pieces being gone stinks for the basketball sickos but for the normal casual fans there is a ton of star power still left in this game.

The Red Raiders have point guard Christian Anderson and potential Player of the Year JT Toppin in this game.  Those two will go up against point guard Kylan Boswell and freshman big man David Mirkovic. The team who is able to get their stars free and play better is going to win this game.  Illinois is tough at the State Farm Center but Texas Tech has the two best players in the game. 

No. 23 Creighton Bluejays at No. 19 Gonzaga Bulldogs- Late-night matchup between two top-25 teams.

Creighton is a team who is going to have to prove their ranking at some point especially when you lose players like Steven Ashworth and Ryan Kalkbrenner in the offseason. Creighton improved with their additions in the transfer portal, but the depth remains a question, as it does every year.  The Bluejays, unfortunately, have to travel to Spokane for this game, and everyone knows how dominant Gonzaga is at the Kennel.

This is the best roster that Gonzaga has had in the last five seasons.  It is a perfect roster for Mark Few, as he has a frontcourt that can spread the floor, pass, and get to the rim for easy baskets.  A point guard who can play with pace while being able to pass and score when needed.  They can shoot, play defense, and excel in transition.  They never lose in Spokane, and they are not going to start now against Creighton.  The Bluejays will have plenty of other chances for huge wins, but it won’t be today.

Here are the picks for the rest of the games for a loaded Tuesday: