UConn and Nebraska Headline the Week Two Saturday Schedule

Yesterday was a day set up for many power teams to notch huge upsets on their resumes; however, many of the teams almost got it done.  The unfortunate part is that “almost” doesn’t count in the real game, and most teams are not into moral victories.  TCU blew a late lead against Michigan, and most importantly, a chance to notch a huge win in the non-conference.

The Battle of Chicago was a game that DePaul led late but ultimately lost to Northwestern.  The Wildcats made more plays down the stretch, and the Blue Demons are getting better but still have a lot of work to do to climb out of the Big East basement. Finally, the nightcap was the best game of the day.

UCLA and Arizona had a quality basketball game that came down to the wire.  It was Jaden Bradley from Arizona who made the most plays down the stretch.  The Wildcats have now won games against Florida and UCLA in the season's first two weeks and look every bit of a top-five team. The Friday schedule delivered quality games all night long and was a college basketball junkies dream.

The second Saturday of the college basketball season is not going to be nearly as good as the first Saturday and won’t hold a candle to what we all just got treated to on Friday.  There is a game between two top 10 teams.  A game between old conference rivals, and another game between two teams trying to figure out in the power conference ranks.  The Saturdays will improve as the season progresses, but this one leaves a little to be desired.

Maryland Terrapins at Marquette Golden Eagles- Two perennial tournament teams trying to figure it out in the non-conference

Maryland hired Buzz Williams to lead them into the future after former coach Kevin Willard left for Villanova in the offseason. The Terrapins may be 2-1, but have not looked overly impressive in their wins. The one loss was a game in which the Terrapins were dominated by the Georgetown Hoyas at home in College Park.  Maryland is still searching for its identity under their new head coach.

Then there is Marquette, which has lost a significant amount of talent over the last three years and has a roster that lacks much star power. The Golden Eagles got dominated by the Indiana Hoosiers and have dominated three lesser opponents. Yet, Marquette doesn’t instill much confidence that they will return to the NCAA Tournament this year.  Every player on the team has a new role to adapt to, and they are hoping to secure a win at home against a team they should easily beat.  Marquette needs to find their identity quickly.

Oklahoma Sooners vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers - Big Red takes over the Sanford Pentagon.

Oklahoma made the NCAA Tournament last season before losing to UConn in the first round.  This year, the roster is retooled, and the guards are going to do the heavy lifting.  There will be very few games when one of the guards does not lead Oklahoma in scoring.  The Sooners remind me a lot of North Carolina from last year, being very guard-heavy, with limited depth and a lack of presence in the frontcourt.  

The lack of a frontcourt plays right into Nebraska's hands, as the Huskers' best player is big man Rienk Mast.  Mast already has a triple-double this season, is an elite passer, and will require the Sooners' and Huskers' full attention.  Nebraska has surrounded its best player with a ton of shooting, shooting that was off in their last game against Maryland Eastern Shore, when they made only 6 out of their 32 attempts.  The Huskers can get hot from deep and stretch this out quickly if you are not careful, and the Pentagon is going to be full of Huskers fans making the 184-mile trek up the interstate to watch the Huskers extend the nation's184-mile 184-mile-longest 184-mile184-mile winning streak.

No. 3 UConn Huskies vs No. 7 BYU Cougars- Hall of Fame series in Boston.

UConn may have had a down year by their standards last season, but so far the start of the 2025-2026 campaign has looked more like the Huskies of old under head coach Dan Hurley.  That’s right, they have absolutely dismantled the opponents so far.  However, the competition level has not been great, and now the Huskies face a formidable opponent who will test them everywhere, including the frontcourt, where UConn is the weakest.

BYU has utilized its substantial NIL funds to assemble a talented roster, led by freshman phenom AJ Dybantsa and Baylor transfer Rob Wright.  Those two are the players who are going to lead the charge for the Cougars most nights.  BYU has struggled to play defense at times so far this year, and they will need to get something from Richie Saunders and the bench to pull this off. BYU has the current roster to get the job done, even though the crowd will be very pro-Huskies.

Here are the rest of the games from the second Saturday of the season: