Nebraska and Kansas Lead the Charge on Rivalry Sunday

It is now officially time to have a conversation about Iowa State.  The Cyclones came into the day ranked No. 10 in the country and went into Mackey Arena, running No. 1 Purdue out of its own gym.  The Cyclones won by 23 points, and that loss for Purdue was the most significant defeat that a number 1 team has ever experienced at home.  Iowa State has the best win in the country, given the venue and the score.

Cameron Boozer and the Duke Blue Devils went into the Breslin Center and came away with a huge win.  Duke now has the best resume in the country.  Arizona State looked mighty impressive again in its blowout win over Oklahoma.  Arizona State started the game on a 27-6 run.  Arizona, which is also vying to be the number 1 team in the country next week, blew out Auburn.  Auburn was ranked No. 20 heading into the gam, but has now been beaten by 30 points twice in the last two weeks.  Hard to justify the Tigers still being ranked.  

Illinois is a good team and will have its say in the Big Ten conference title race.  The Illini are stacking up quality wins and look every bit like a top-10 team.  Tennessee has not won since it beat Houston in the Players Era.

The Sunday slate is not nearly as good as the Saturday schedule was. There are a lot of great mid-major games, as well as a huge rivalry game in Lincoln and a border battle in Kansas. The power conference games might all be blowouts.  Here are the best games from Sunday, December 7th, 2025.  

Creighton Bluejays at Nebraska Cornhuskers - The Annual I-80 showdown between two fan bases who don’t like each other.

Creighton has been trending up and has been one of the best teams in the Big East for the last decade, but this current iteration of the Bluejays has taken a while to come together. Creighton started to show some signs of life this week with two wins, albeit over bad teams.  The Bluejays have yet to shoot the ball well and are not defending against a team that can score as Nebraska can; that is a recipe for disaster.

Nebraska comes into the Creighton game undefeated at 8-0 for the first time since the late 70s.  The Huskers are also favored to win the game for the first time since 2018.  Rienk Mast is an elite big man who Creighton doesn’t have an answer for on defense.  If the Huskers can get the guys around Mast, mainly Pryce Sandfort and Jamarques Lawrence, to hit their shots, they might win this game going away.  Something to watch for is that the Huskers give up over 30 three-point attempts a game on defense, and Creighton has shooters who can get hot everywhere.  Whoever hits the most threes is likely going to win this game.

Missouri Tigers at Kansas Jayhawks- The Border War

Missouri is 8-1 following a loss in its most recent game at Notre Dame.  I agree there is no shame in a loss, especially on the road, but I question how good Missouri is, given their overall lack of competition to this point.  Kansas is going to be the best team the Tigers have played, and the veterans like Mark Mitchell are going to have to be huge for the Tigers to pull off the upset.

Kansas is coming off a loss to North Carolina in its last game, but it had to play without freshman phenom Darryn Peterson.  Peterson is expected to play against Missouri, and that is huge news for a Kansas team that desperately needs a go-to presence on the offensive end of the floor.  The Jayhawks are a much better team with Peterson on the floor and should win this game.

Here are the picks for the rest of the games on Sunday: