Friday: HUGE weekend in college basketball

Happy Valentines Day! As usual, we have a big weekend in college basketball. Tons of ranked matchups along with other intriguing matchups.

So let’s start this week’s predictions.

Marquee Matchup

No. 3 Florida @ No. 14 Kentucky, Saturday, 8 p.m. (CST), ESPN: 

There aren’t a whole lot of big games in the SEC, but this one is huge. Both Florida and Kentucky are national title contenders, and this game will likely be the SEC Championship in March. They are completely different squads. Florida plays incredible defense and starts four seniors, including studs Patric Young and Scottie Wilbekin. Kentucky is led almost exclusively by freshmen and sophomores, especially big man Julius Randle. This will be the toughest test yet for the Gators, who have won 16 straight games since falling at UConn. It’s been kind of a up and down season for the Wildcats, but you have to think John Calipari will have his team ready to play at home. This one is tough to predict. The keys here are the Harrison twins. Can they deal with Florida’s constant defensive pressure? I think they do at home. Kentucky 70 Florida 67.

Second Tier

No. 6 Villanova @ No. 18 Creighton, Sunday, 4 p.m., Fox Sports 1: 

This one isn’t much of a second tier. I’m sensing a rivalry brewing between these two squads. I can’t imagine how Villanova feels after it got utterly destroyed by the Jays at home. Im sure they had nightmares of Ethan Wragge for weeks. This is the Wildcats chance at revenge, but it won’t come easy. Creighton is tough to beat at home, but the Jays have struggled recently, needing some late game heroics by Doug McDermott to beat teams. This game will be much closer than the first one, and I think Jay Wright’s Wildcats will put themselves in a position to win late. But McDermott knocks down another key shot in the final minute to give the Jays the season sweep. Creighton 80 Villanova 78.

Might Get Interesting           

No. 21 Wisconsin @ No. 15 Michigan, Sunday, 12 p.m., CBS: 

If it wasn’t for the importance of the first two games this would have probably been one of the first I predicted. But, too many good games this weekend. Wisconsin has won three straight after a tough stretch of losses that included losing to Northwestern at home. The Wolverines also seem back on track after being dismantled by Iowa a week ago. This is an important game for both squads. Wisconsin loses and falls to 7-6 in the Big Ten, making it nearly impossible for it to make a run at a conference crown. If the Wolverines lose, they will be a game back of Michigan State for first place in the standings. The key to this game is Nik Stauskas. He’s struggled lately, but Michigan needs him to come up big against a stingy Wisconsin defense. I think he does. Michigan 65 Wisconsin 60.

What I Missed

-Check out this story about an American playing soccer in Afghanistan.

-Awesome story about Tony Gonzalez.

-Incredible comeback story of a U.S. Olympic athlete. 

-Cool piece on Steve Nash building up to retirement. 

-Also, get psyched for NBA All-Star weekend. 

Thanks for reading! I hope you all have a great Valentine's Day and weekend. 

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