The Longhorns who have won three of their last five will travel to Manhattan on Wednesday to take on a Kansas State Wildcats’ team that has now lost three of its last four, dropping seven spots out of this week’s AP Top 25 poll.
The Cincinnati Bearcats will look to gain ground on Big East leaders Syracuse with a rare win at No. 11 Connecticut on Wednesday night.
The Fresno Bulldogs will look to end their five-game losing streak when they visit a streaky Arizona Sun Devils team that would like to find some consistency before heading into conference play their next time out.
Weber State will look to make it two in a row after putting their recent loss to BYU behind them with a win on Saturday over Southern Utah, when they travel to warmer climates to take on a Cal team that is surging after a 30-point blow up over Jackson State.
The Washington Huskies will look to rebound off a difficult loss to No. 5 Duke when the host the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos who received a confidence boost with a close win over the San Diego Toreros, earlier in the week.
After rolling over five consecutive opponents, the No. 23 Gonzaga Bulldogs finally met their match against a perfect Illinois squad that came into Assembly Hall and handed the Bulldogs their first loss of the season.
After dropping their worst non-conference defeat in 16 years, a 85-63 loss at No. 2 Ohio State last week, the No. 7 Duke Blue Devils rebounded with a win and will now face a Washington Huskies team that has won just one out if its last four contests.
No. 17 Pittsburgh Panthers improved to 6-1 on the season with their win over Duquesne, while the Tennessee Volunteers continue to struggle, and followed up their Chaminade win with a loss on Monday to the Golden Grizzlies, 89-81.
The No. 18 Gonzaga Bulldogs remain undefeated with their blowout win over Notre Dame on Wednesday, and will now set their sights on Illinois who is rolling after beating Maryland on the road their last time out.
The Arkansas Razorbacks will try and work their way into the top 25 with a victory on road this Saturday against the Connecticut Huskies at the XL Center in Hartford.
This Saturday afternoon at Rupp Arena in Lexington, two of the best teams in college basketball square-off in a huge season showdown with the top spot in the nation on the line when the North Carolina Tar Heels tangle with the Kentucky Wildcats.
Date/Time: Friday, Dec 2 9 p.m. (ET)
Venue: KFC Yum Center, Louisville, KT.
Broadcast: ESPN
Commodores at Cardinals lines by BetOnline.com
Point spread: Cardinals
Over/Under: OFF
The Vanderbilt Commodores will look to knock the Louisville Cardinals from the ranks of the unbeaten this Friday night when the two teams clash at the KFC Yum Center in this SEC/Big East tilt. This game is set to tip-off at 9 p.m. and it will be broadcast on ESPN.
Vanderbilt is coming off a tough 82-70 overtime loss to No.11 Xavier this past Monday as a four-point home favorite that dropped its record to 5-2 straight-up and 2-3 ATS. The total has stayed ‘under’ in three of the five games with lines.
John Jenkins has been a force for the Commodores with 20.2 point scoring average while logging 34 minutes a game. Lance Goulbourne and Jeffery Taylor have done a good job under the boards with a combined 13.7 rebounds a game. As a whole, Vandy is averaging 75.9 points a game and shooting 45.7 percent from the field. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Louisville has worked its way up the rankings with a solid 6-0 start SU including a 69-53 win over Butler as a four-point road favorite on Nov.19. The Cardinals have covered the spread in four of their first five games with a posted line and the total has stayed ‘under’ in four of the five games.
Kyle Kuric is averaging 12 points a game and Chris Smith is adding another 10.5, but the real strength of this season’s Cardinals is a smothering defense that is holding its opponents to an average of just 48.3 points a game and 33.2 percent from the field.
Louisville should have its hands full with Jenkins in this one, but stick with the Cardinals’ defense to keep the clamps on him just enough to grind out the win at home.
The Pick: Louisville 66 vs. Vanderbilt 63
In a huge early season showdown between two of the top teams in men’s college basketball this season, the Florida Gators square-off against the Syracuse Orange this Friday night at the Carrier Dome in this SEC/Big East tilt.
The Michigan Wolverines take-on the Virginia Cavaliers at John Paul Jones Arena in a Big Ten/ACC clash between a couple of one-loss teams this Tuesday night.
The Big Ten’s Illinois Fighting Illini will look to remain undefeated on the year when they clash with the Maryland Terrapins, out of the ACC this Tuesday night in College Park.
The Falcons have lost 5 straight games to the Bears, but are the away favorites in this game mainly because of an offense that has a chance to by more than dynamic this season. NFL lines have the Falcons as 2.5-point favorites with a total of 40.5.
