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AP Top 10
1.Tennessee 10-0 (0-0) SEC Next Up: West Carolina (3-6) (Tuesday, 7 PM ET, ESPN+/SECN+)
2.Auburn 9-1 (0-0) SEC Next Up: Georgia State (4-6) (Tuesday, 8 PM ET, ESPN+/SECN+)
3.Iowa State 9-1 (0-0) Big 12 Next Up: Morgan State (6-8) (Sunday, 1 PM ET, ESPN+)
4.Kentucky 10-1 (0-0) SEC Next Up: Ohio State (6-4) (New York City; CBS Sports Classic) (Saturday, 6:30 PM ET, CBS)
5.Duke 8-2 (1-0) ACC Next Up: Ge0rge Mason (7-3) (Tuesday, 7 PM ET, ACCN)
6.Alabama 8-2 (0-0) SEC Next Up: @ North Dakota (4-8) (Wednesday, 8:30 PM ET, CBSSN)
7.Florida 10-0 (0-0) SEC Next Up: North Carolina (6-4) (Charlotte; Jumpman Invitational) (Tuesday, 7 PM ET, ESPN)
8.Kansas 8-2 (0-0) Big 12 Next Up: Brown (7-3) (Sunday, 3 PM ET, ESPN)
9.Marquette 9-2 (0-0) Big East Next Up: Butler (7-4) (Wednesday, 9 PM ET, FS1)
10.Oregon 10-1 (1-1) Big Ten Next Up: Stanford (8-2) (Saturday, 8 PM ET, BTN)
Tuesday, December 17
7.Florida (10-0) vs. North Carolina (6-4) (Charlotte; Jumpman Invitational)
7 PM ET, ESPN
Todd Golden’s Gators have raced out to a 10-0 record with key wins over Florida State, Wake Forest, Wichita State, Virginia, and Arizona State most recently on Saturday entering the Jumpman Invitational. Veteran guard Walter Clayton Jr. has been terrific this season, scoring over 18 points and pass out almost 4 assists per game. In addition, Florida Atlantic transfer Alijah Martin (15 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists) continues be the playmaker he was in Boca Raton as a Florida Gator. They face a North Carolina team that has underachieved in Hubert Davis’ fourth season in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels defeated Georgia Tech the weekend before last to open ACC play before taking down La Salle. The defense has regressed and the paint presence has been missing since Armando Bacot’s eligibility ended in March. Vanderbilt transfer Ven-Allen Lubin (6 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 block per game) and Jalen Washington (6 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 block per game) are not the bigs that Carolina needs to win games now in nonconference play, during ACC play, or when March comes around. RJ Davis has not been playing at the national player of the year level that he was last season but has still been scoring an average of 18 points a game. Davis’ backcourt mates Seth Trimble (16 points per game) and Elliot Cadeau (12 points a game) have both improved tremendously this season. It will be up to them to supply Davis in scoring against a Florida team that can do a lot of it. Projected Score: Florida 87, North Carolina 75
Wednesday, December 18
24.Michigan (8-2) vs. 14.Oklahoma (10-0) (Charlotte; Jumpman Invitational)
9 PM ET, ESPN
To end things in Charlotte, Michigan faces Oklahoma in a top fourteen match up. Dusty May’s Wolverines have been much better than expected through a month of the season. Michigan seven footers Danny Wolf and Vladislav Goldin’s two-man game is awesome to watch every game. Wolf, a point center, uses Goldin’s screens to set up the Michigan offense and pass the ball in the paint to get easy layups. Michigan fell to Arkansas in the Jimmy V Classic a week ago but are given another shot to take down an SEC team. Porter Moser’s Sooners is the team the Wolverines will face. After being picked to finish far down in the SEC by the media, Oklahoma has won the Battle 4 Atlantis, defeated Georgia Tech in the ACC/SEC Challenge, and took down their instate rival Oklahoma State on Saturday. They rely on forward Jalon Moore and guard Jeremiah Fears for much of their scoring. If Moore and Fears can continue their great play against Michigan, the Sooners will continue the SEC’s dominance in nonconference play. Projected Score: Oklahoma 84, Michigan 80
Friday, December 20
22.Dayton (9-2) @ 19.Cincinnati (8-1)
8:30 PM ET, ESPNU
Cincinnati has been one of the pleasant surprises in a Big 12 that will be full of NCAA Tournament teams in March. The Bearcats have slipped up just once this season, against Villanova in the Big 12-Big East Battle. Guards Simus Lukosius, Jizzle James, and forward Dillon Mitchell lead the way on a balanced team for Wes Miller. They get another shot to get a quality win against an instate opponent in Dayton, who placed seventh place in the Maui Invitational. Former Ohio State forward Zed Key is joined by guard Enoch Cheeks and forward Nate Santos lead Anthony Grant’s team. Their up and down pace makes them tough to beat. But, they will be challenged against a Cincinnati team that has the capability to finish in the top third of the Big 12. It should be a back and forth game between the Flyers and the Bearcats. However, Cincinnati should protect their home floor and win this game. Projected Score: Cincinnati 76, Dayton 70
Saturday, December 21
North Carolina (6-4) vs. 18.UCLA (10-0) (New York City; CBS Sports Classic)
3 PM ET, CBS
After traveling just a few hours to Charlotte to play in the Jumpman Invitational, the Tar Heels will head to New York City for the CBS Sports Classic against UCLA. Mick Cronin’s team is 9-1, coming off of a win over old Pac-12 rival Arizona and their only slip up early in the season against New Mexico. Cronin’s roster is balanced as they play through three main guys. Forward Tyler Bilodeau scores over 13 points and grabs almost 6 rebounds a game while Eric Daily (12 points) and Sebastian Mack (11 points) serve as a strong backcourt for UCLA. The talented Bilodeau will serve as an important match up this season for the aforementioned Jalen Washington and Ven-Allen Lubin as the Tar Heels’ bigs look to improve. For Daily and Mack, defending North Carolina guards RJ Davis, Seth Trimble, Elliot Cadeau, and freshman Ian Jackson will be a chore in itself. If Carolina falls to Florida on Tuesday, another loss versus UCLA would mean six defeats on the season. For the Tar Heels to avoid that, they will need Washington and Lubin to play good minutes for them inside and hope that RJ Davis and one of his mates in the backcourt have a quality game beside him. I don’t know if the Tar Heels put it all together in this one but I think they will get closer as they beat the Bruins. Projected Score: North Carolina 77, UCLA 72
16.Purdue (8-3) vs. 2.Auburn (9-1) (Birmingham)
4:30 PM ET, ESPN
In what is the match up of the day on Saturday, Purdue will head to Birmingham to face Auburn in a neutral site game that will bring a lot of Tiger fans. The Boilermakers will look to sweep their contests against teams from Alabama after defeating the Crimson Tide the first week of the season by beating Auburn on Saturday night. They lost by eighteen points to Marquette following their win over the Crimson Tide but bounced back with wins over NC State in a Final Four semifinal rematch from last March and a win over another SEC team Ole Miss. Last Saturday, they lost to Texas A&M in Indianapolis but they can make up for that loss with a win in essentially a road environment in Birmingham with it being so close to Auburn’s campus. After losing back to back national player of the year Zach Edey to the pros, his replacement in the paint Trey Kaufman-Renn has been impressive, scoring almost 19 points and 7 rebounds per game. It is crazy to think guards Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith are in their third year in Matt Painter’s program, both scoring 13 points a game. Both are terrific players that will be challenged by Bruce Pearl’s athletic guards, Chad Baker-Mazara (13.1 points per game), Tahaad Pettiford (11.3 points), and Miles Kelly (11 points). Those three look to get the ball inside to Johni Broome (19.6 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks), who leads the national player of the year race. The Tigers have been impressive this season with wins over Houston, Iowa State, North Carolina, Memphis, and Ohio State. Their one slip up was against Duke on the road at Cameron Indoor Stadium in the ACC/SEC Challenge. The match up between Broome and Kaufam-Renn will determine this game and Broome should win it. Projected Score: Auburn 87, Purdue 82
4.Kentucky (10-1) vs. Ohio State (6-4) (New York City; CBS Sports Classic)
6:30 PM ET, CBS
The second game in the CBS Sports Classic features an AP top five Kentucky team that has surprised many people in Mark Pope’s first season on the job and a solid Ohio State team, who also has a first year head coach in Jake Diebler. Pope’s team does not have a true number one scoring option but that means that the Wildcats have six guys that average over ten points a game. Guards Otega Oweh (15.6), Lamont Butler (12.9), Jaxson Robinson (12.5), forward Andrew Carr (11), and center Amari Williams (10.6) make the Wildcats hard to beat because you never know who will be playing their best basketball ever night. They have beaten then number six ranked Duke and then number seven ranked Gonzaga so far. For the Buckeyes, guards Bruce Thornton (16 points and 5 assists per game) and John Mobley Jr. (13 points) and forward Devin Royal (14 points and 7 rebounds) power their team. In addition, Diebler brought in two former SEC players including former South Carolina guard Meechie Johnson (10 points), in his second stint with the Buckeyes, and forward Aaron Bradshaw (8 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks a game) who will face his former Wildcats on Saturday night. I think this game may be close for thirty to thirty five minutes until Kentucky will break away at the end and win. Projected Score: Kentucky 85, Ohio State 77
Sunday, December 22
Illinois (7-3) vs. Missouri (9-1) (St. Louis; McBride Homes Braggin’ Rights)
1 PM ET, ESPN
A rivalry that is sometimes forgotten about because it is a game that is rarely played in football. Illinois and Missouri are two teams that had opposite results to end their seasons last April. The Fighting Illini made it all the way to the Elite 8 while Missouri lost all nineteen opportunities against SEC competition last winter and spring. This season has been different so far for Dennis Gates’ team. After losing their opener by just eight points against an improved Memphis team, Missouri has rattled off ten consecutive wins, most notably against border rival and then number one ranked Kansas in Columbia. This game against the Illini will be the Tigers’ last shot to improve their resumé before SEC play before they face the nation’s number two ranked Auburn Tigers on “The Plains”. Missouri must hope their guard trio of Tamar Bates (14 points a game), Caleb Grill (13.6 points), and Mark Mitchell (12.8 points and 5 rebounds) are up for the challenge against Brad Underwoods’ skilled roster. The Illini may just be 1-1 in the Big Ten and have just lost to top ranked Tennessee but they also have wins over then number 19.Arkansas and then number 20.Wisconsin. The perimeter shooting of the entire Illinois team is terrific but they love to play through guard Kasparas Jakucionis, who scores over 15 points, grabs 6 rebounds, and dishes out over six assists per game. The Lithuanian has turned into an NBA draft prospect quickly as has Tomislav Ivisic, the brother of Arkansas center Zvonimir Ivisic. Tomislav has put together a quality freshman season, matching Jakucionis scoring per game with 15 points, bringing down over 9 rebounds, blocking a shot per game, and shooting the ball from deep well. Missouri will have to get out on Illinois’ shooters if they want to win this game. The Tigers may do just that but the Fighting Illini’s percentage will make them hard to beat. Projected Score: Illinois 84, Missouri 77
