Teams With The Most At Stake This Weekend Before The Start Of Conference Play

We are entering one of the best times of the year to be a College Basketball fan, with teams across the country trying to boost their non-conference resume. That is because in a span of only a few weeks, we will be knee deep into conference play. In order to make the NCAA Tournament, you’re going to need something on your resume that separates you from the rest of the pack and more times than not that is a quality non-conference win. This Saturday will be one of the better slates we’ve seen in recent memory, with a handful of marquee games between high profile teams. Here will be the team’s competing with the most on the line, that will need a win in the absolute worst way.

Michigan State

There is zero doubt that Michigan State is at the top of the list in terms of the most disappointing teams in College Basketball so far this season. The Spartans entered the season as a top five team fresh off a Sweet 16 appearance in 2022-2023, and returned four of their five starters. A stunning opening night loss to James Madison however, got things going in the wrong direction and it’s been downhill since. Michigan State is currently sitting at 4-5 overall and 0-2 in Big Ten Conference play. While none of their losses have been seriously damaging to this point, Sparty just hasn’t played anywhere close to their full potential.

While there are a bevy of issues right now, the main problem with Michigan State is that star Guard Tyson Walker just hasn’t gotten enough help. The Senior has been one of the best players in the Big Ten so far this season, averaging 20.3 points per game. There is no one else close to that production on the team, with both AJ Hoggard and Malik Hall averaging 10.3 points per game, but playing rather inconsistent. In addition, since the start of the season the Spartans have had a clear hole at the five spot. Mady Sissoko is just not someone you can rely on and while having some moments, Carson Cooper is what he is, as a quality big man off the bench. The one guy that Michigan State needs to get going in the worst way is Jaden Akins, who was pegged for a breakout season, but just hasn’t been able to get going. The Junior is currently really struggling shooting the three ball at a 29% mark, which would be a career low by 8% margin.

While I certainly still think Tom Izzo can still succeed in today’s era of College Basketball, not adding a single transfer from the portal this offseason, is a decision that he will come to regret. Especially considering both of Sparty’s best two players last season were transfers in Walker from Northeastern and Joey Hasuer from Marquette. They miss Hauser’s shooting in a big way. Saturday against undefeated #6 Baylor will be needed for MSU to build their non-conference resume, and is one of the bigger regular season games for the program in recent memory.

Indiana

Next up is another Big Ten team, and that isn’t a coincidence. The Conference as a whole behind Purdue hasn’t done a tremendous job building their non-conference resumes. While teams like Illinois, Ohio State and Wisconsin seem to be in a pretty good position to make the big dance right now behind Purdue, there just hasn’t been very inspiring. Indiana is in a very interesting position, entering their game on Saturday against Kansas at Assembly Hall. This season has certainly been a struggle so far for the Hoosiers, considering it wasn’t easy at all for them to pick up victories against the likes of Florida Gulf Coast, Army and Louisville.

With that being said, barley winning those games is significantly better then not and they are still in solid position to hear their names called on Selection Sunday. The Hoosiers are currently 2-0 in Big Ten Conference play, including a massive road victory at Michigan last week. They also struggled mightily in their game on Saturday against Auburn. Indiana actually started the game off well, leading 16-6 five minutes into the game. Unfortunately for Indiana, Auburn was just a brutal matchup, outscoring the Hoosiers 98-60 in the final 35 minutes of action. This ended in a 104-76 blowout victory for Auburn.

I do think Indiana will come to play on Saturday at a rocking Assembly Hall against one of the best teams in the country coming to town. The Hoosiers are built in a unique way considering the size of their frontline, headlined by Kel’el Ware, Mackenzie Mgbako and Malik Reneau. Each of these players is at least 6’8”, and that NBA-like size in the frontcourt can definitely give the Jayhawks some trouble. While Indiana hasn’t necessarily done a ton to help or hurt their tournament resume either way, this game will say a lot about the direction and feelings of the team heading into the heart of conference play.

UCLA

Mick Cronin’s Bruins were one of the more intriguing teams in all of College Basketball heading into the season. This was due to the fact that over the course of the last three seasons prior to this one, UCLA had won a combined 80 games, while also making a Final 4 and two Sweet 16’s during that span. That success however came with a distinct core of Bruins that had been at UCLA since Cronin arrived featuring Tyger Campbell, Jaime Jaquez Jr, Johnny Juzang and others.

This would be the first time since Mick arrived with a team built around predominantly players that he brought into the program. A lot of them coming from the international basketball landscape with a ton of potential, but also who have never played Division I Basketball before. The trio of Berke Buyuktuncel, Aday Mara, and Jan Vide are currently averaging a combined 11.6 points per game. These are players that some were expecting to be the driving force of this Bruins team, with NBA potential. That experiment hasn’t gone anywhere near according to plan at this point. While UCLA has gotten more than expected from true Freshman Sebastian Mack, and Sophomore Adem Bona looks as good as ever, this isn’t an NCAA Tournament team right now.

The Bruins are 0-3 in their three biggest games of the season to this point, featuring losses to Marquette, Gonzaga and Villanova. If this is a team that wants to hear their names called on Selection Sunday, they will need to come through on Saturday against a very good Ohio State team in the CBS Sports Classic. The Bruins will have one more non-conference game against a Power Conference Opponent on December 22nd against Maryland. However, with the Terps being one of the more disappointing teams in College Basketball so far, that isn’t even a win that will move the needle in any way. The Bruins NCAA Tournament hopes may as well rely on their game this Saturday in Atlanta.

Memphis

Penny Hardaway’s Tigers have become one of the more intriguing teams in all of College Basketball so far this season. Memphis has built a nice resume of quality wins headlined by Sunday’s road victory in College Station, against Texas A&M. The Tigers also picked up two nice wins at the Battle 4 Atlantis against Michigan and Arkansas. It still doesn’t feel like however, that these Tigers are getting the respect they deserve.

They will have the opportunity to earn that respect on Saturday, when the undefeated #13 ranked Clemson Tigers head to the FedEx Forum. Clemson has been one of the bigger surprises in College Basketball this season, headlined by PJ Hall. The Senior Forward is averaging 20.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, while shooting over 40% from three. This can be a matchup problem for Memphis, however it will be interesting to see the status of Kansas State Transfer Nae’Qwan Tomlin. While nothing is official yet, Tomlin could make his Memphis debut on Saturday, which would give this Tigers team a massive boost. This is a player who averaged 10.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game last season, starting all 36 games for a Kansas State team that made the Elite 8.

In addition, St. John’s Transfer David Jones has been one of the better Transfers in all of College Basketball so far this season, leading Memphis in scoring with 20.1 points per game. The winner of this game on Saturday will be feeling great about themselves, with legitimate aspirations of earning a top four or five seed on Selection Sunday. Memphis however, can make a massive statement and really start to earn more respect, after still not being ranked in the Top 25.

Cincinnati

In their first season in the Big 12, Cincinnati is shaping up to be a team that will be squarely on the bubble come Selection Sunday. This is the third season for Head Coach Wes Miller, and making the tournament should be the ultimate goal. That is considering Cincinnati hasn’t made the big dance since Mike Cronin’s final season in 2018-2019. The Bearcats non-conference schedule has been relatively easy up to this point. This makes sense considering they will have plenty of opportunities for quality wins during the Big 12’s Conference slate. With that being said, Cincinnati suffered their first major hiccup so far this season against Xavier on Saturday.

While the Crosstown shootout is always one of the best rivalry games in all of College Basketball, Xavier has really struggled this season. With some brutal injuries dating back to the start of the season, Cincinnati’s rivals have already dropped games to Oakland and Delaware. This is what makes rivalry games so difficult however, as Xavier defeated Cincinnati on Saturday. This is a loss that might not age well for the Bearcats, and they need to respond on Saturday against Dayton. This will be a neutral court game, which is needed for both team’s NCAA Tournament Aspirations.

I would argue that it is more needed for Cincinnati, considering their best win right now is over a Georgia Tech team that is currently ranked 126th in KenPom. There is an argument to be made that considering the rivalry and stakes, this is the biggest game so far for Wes Miller since he arrived in town.