College basketball has no shortage of stakes and storylines as we round out the third full week of 2025. Auburn holds the top spot on the AP poll despite having star Johni Broome on the shelf. Duke’s Cooper Flagg is looking extremely first-pick-ish. UConn coach Dan Hurley passionately lobbied for Dan Hurley as the No. 1 coach. To mention a few highlights.
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And then, Wednesday night had some wild developments. Texas A&M built on an 11-2 run to beat Mississippi by one point. Florida engineered a 14-point comeback to survive South Carolina, also by one point. Arkansas had a 15-point comeback. St. John’s was down 16 in the second half and won in overtime. San Diego State hit an OT buzzer-beater. Delirium!
Just in time for another weekend of action. What follows is a collection of upcoming matchups that should be fun to watch. It’s by no means a complete list. Sometimes, the game of the weekend sneaks up on us. Sometimes, it’s a matter of taste — no one will begrudge you for wanting to watch Iowa State do its brilliant Otzel-thing instead of these listings, or if you have sentimental stock in Notre Dame-Virginia, Harvard–Yale and whatever else game this weekend. College basketball’s vastness is unique and very cool. Feel free to drop your most-anticipated weekend game in the comments!
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No. 6 Tennessee at No. 1 Auburn
Venue: Neville Arena — Auburn, Ala.
Time: Saturday, 8:30 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
The Tigers are really, really good. They’ve remained perfect in the SEC without Broome, who’s been sidelined by an ankle sprain. But their last outing looked a bit taxing, shooting below 40 percent against Georgia. That said, the conference gauntlet really starts here: This is Auburn’s first meeting with any of the SEC’s four top-10 teams.
Bruce Pearl’s group can certainly see itself as the best in the nation. They lead Division I in offensive rating despite having the third-hardest strength of schedule, per Basketball Reference. Even sans Broome, five Tigers are averaging double-figure scoring. It’s almost February, and they still have more makes than misses this season.
It’s been rewarding to watch different players step up on a given night. Tahaad Pettiford salvaged the Georgia win with a galvanizing 24 points off the bench. Chad Baker-Mazara was a smooth 8-for-11 against Mississippi State. Miles Kelly paced them in South Carolina.
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Tennessee should be an adroit test for the No. 1 team. The Vols responded to their disquieting one-point loss at Vanderbilt by thoroughly beating formidable Mississippi State. Rick Barnes’ defense looks almost as dominant as Auburn’s offense — third in points allowed per game, opponents absolutely last in 3-point percentage. They block shots and don’t foul. Chaz Lanier can warp momentum when he’s feeling it behind the arc. And Jordan Gainey has at least 10 points off the bench in three of his last four outings.
The orange and white lead this all-time series, 81-45. Both programs were ranked in last year’s meeting, with No. 5 Tennessee beating No. 18 Auburn, 92-84. The Volunteers have won three of the past four head-to-head, while Auburn took six straight from 2018-21.
No. 21 Michigan at No. 11 Purdue
Venue: Mackey Arena — West Lafayette, Ind.
Time: Friday 8 p.m. ET
TV: FOX
Here’s our Friday appetizer. Sometimes, the first course is kind of mild — a basket of bread and a clump of butter. This is way more of a calamari and tuna tartare situation. Michigan is a blast, one of the only other teams in college basketball that still has more makes than misses. Purdue just put together a seven-game winning streak, highlighted by a ranked road win at Oregon, before falling by three to Ohio State on Tuesday. Both teams are near the top of the Big Ten. A win could be the fulcrum for either side’s conference run.
Michigan puts a lot of skill on the floor. Yale transfer Danny Wolf is a tremendous passing big man and a walking double-double. Fifth-year Russian big man Vladislav Goldin has spectacular 64.6/56.3 shooting splits thus far. Tre Donaldson and Nimari Burnett are both sharp 3-point shooters. They’re susceptible to turnover runs, with Wolf averaging 3.7 giveaways per game in conference play. And opponents are getting to the line too much. But this is largely a fun squad, 14-4, with all of their losses by one possession.
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Purdue has endured the second-toughest schedule in college basketball, according to Basketball Reference. The Boilermakers had a particularly audacious opening — wins over then-No. 2 Alabama and a good Ole Miss team, losses to Texas A&M, Marquette and the wagon that is Auburn. They’ve earned their spot at eleventh in the poll.
Matt Painter has these guys playing slowly, down to 326th in shot tries. But they’re efficient in the paint and respectable from distance. In his last eight games, junior playmaker Braden Smith is averaging 18 points, 9.6 dimes and 2.6 steals. And Purdue’s nexus, Trey Kaufman-Renn, has upped his scoring output in each of the last four. He went 11-for-16 against the Buckeyes Tuesday.
Purdue has won three straight meetings. It leads the all-time series, 69-63.
No. 7 Houston at No. 12 Kansas
Venue: Allen Fieldhouse — Lawrence, Kan.
Time: Saturday 6:30 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
No one plays defense quite like the Kelvin Sampson-led Cougars. The swarming chaos has returned to last season’s form, with Houston leading the sport in defensive rating while leading their conference in steals, blocks and rebounds. Kansas fashions itself as a rock fighter, too, with Hunter Dickinson and KJ Adams largely clamping opponents this year, though Adams is out for three to four games due to a shoulder injury. Saturday’s Big 12 headliner should be a physical, tense and narrow affair.
Few collegiate athletes live up to their name like Emanuel Sharp, who’s been precise on his treys at a 46 percent clip. Running mate L.J. Cryer is at 42 percent on almost seven takes a game. Houston can shoot the lights out and hit deep, dispiriting tries at any juncture:
CRY3R
📺 CBSSN | @LjCryer pic.twitter.com/KNHagrUJYH
— Houston Men’s Hoops 🏀 🐾 (@UHCougarMBK) January 18, 2025
What makes this a particularly cool matchup is the way these Jayhawks work to take away the 3-pointer. Opponents are below 29 percent on the season. It gets down to an even uglier 25.8 percent in Big 12 games.
In last season’s game at Houston, Dickinson put up 20 points, eight boards and four assists. And Zeke Mayo is heating up with about 19 points per game in his last nine.
Kansas leads the head-to-head, 6-3. Bill Self’s side had won four straight before last year’s 30-point blowout loss in Houston. Cryer had 11 points in that game, while Dickinson left with a shoulder injury midway through the second half.
No. 8 Michigan State at Rutgers
Saturday, 1:30 p.m. ET, CBS
The Fightin’ Izzos were unranked to start December. Cutaway to … an 11-game winning streak, sole possession of first place in the Big Ten and the ire of Kasparas Jakučionis. The Spartans are 10th in assisted buckets, eighth in 2-pointers made and 351st in treys. Rutgers has two supernova talents in Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper.
No. 9 Kentucky at Vanderbilt
Saturday, 2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
The Wildcats lost a marathon to Alabama, 102-97, despite heartened performances from Otega Oweh and Lamont Butler. Kentucky is second in the nation in points per game, making Mark Pope’s group one of the sport’s most joyful watches. Vandy’s Jason Edwards is a bucket-getter. Tyler Nickel is seventh in the SEC in made 3-pointers.
No. 13 Texas A&M @ Texas
Saturday, 2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Manny Obaseki gave the Aggies their first lead on the game’s final possession in the Ole Miss thriller Wednesday.
WHAT A FINISH 👀@aggiembk x #SECMBB pic.twitter.com/5qj5Mf5nr2
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) January 23, 2025
Next up: basketball’s Lone Star Showdown. The Longhorns played lockdown defense in Tuesday’s win over Missouri.
Georgia at No. 5 Florida
Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network
Todd Golden’s Gators had a bit of a palpitation against the Gamecocks. Florida plays fast, dominates the boards and is disciplined with turnovers. Georgia freshman Asa Newell is averaging more than 15 points and shooting better than 57 percent. He’s looking like the Bulldogs’ best NBA Draft prospect since Anthony Edwards.
No. 2 Duke at Wake Forest
Saturday, 4:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
Cooper Flagg and friends are fourth in offensive rating and third in defensive rating. They haven’t dropped a game in two full months. They’ve taken every conference game by at least eight points, with six wins by 20 or more. Wake Forest is 7-1 in the ACC. Hunter Sallis is a scrapper.
No. 16 Ole Miss at No. 22 Missouri
Saturday, 6 p.m. ET, SEC Network
Back-to-back tough Ls to Mississippi State and Texas A&M have Ole Miss in need of a get-right game. Chris Beard and the Rebels (Bearded Rebels, perhaps?) are absolutely destroying opponents in the turnover margin. But Missouri is also solid in that regard, while bench heat check Caleb Grill is up to 47.5 percent from deep.
No. 19 UConn at Xavier
Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, FOX
Solo Ball, Alex Karaban and Liam McNeeley comprise a punchy big three on offense. The Huskies share the ball and make their foul shots. But things have looked kind of wonky since Jan. 5, a three-point grinder over Providence. Meanwhile, Xavier had won three straight before the overtime loss to the Johnnies. Keep an eye on Ryan Conwell, who often lets the long ball fly.
Northwestern at No. 17 Illinois
Sunday, 3 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network
Maybe you’re allergic to football or somehow feel like you’ve seen enough episodes of that Patrick Mahomes-Josh Allen show. Sunday has the ever-cool Kasparas Jakučionis doing his thing against in-state rival Northwestern, which played Michigan to a four-point finish and eked out wins over Maryland and Indiana.
(Photo of Chad Baker-Mazara: Jeffrey Vest / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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