With Week 6 of men's college basketball underway, here are Andy Katz's top 10 games to watch.
1. Arizona vs. Alabama, Birmingham, 9:30 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN: The Wildcats and Tide continue to play the toughest schedules in the country. These are two teams that could easily meet in an Elite Eight or Final Four.
2. Florida vs. UConn, New York City, 9 p.m. ET Tuesday on ESPN: The Gators have played a rugged slate but haven’t been able to close games against Arizona, TCU or Duke. This is another opportunity in a rematch of a classic second round game from a year ago.
3. Indiana at Kentucky, 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN: This is the renewing of one of men’s college basketball’s great rivalries. But both teams desperately need a good showing after Kentucky’s debacle against Gonzaga in Nashville and Indiana’s two-loss week. The Hoosiers do play host to Penn State first, while Kentucky has a game against NC Central.
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4. UCLA vs. Gonzaga, Seattle, 11:30 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN: These two programs have produced some classic games. The good news for the Bruins is they are healthy again and playing well after beating Washington on the road and Oregon at home. The bad news is Gonzaga shed its bad vibes from the dismantling by Michigan by crushing Kentucky.
5. Arkansas vs. Texas Tech, Dallas, 12 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN2: This game will have star value on both sides, but it is a critical game for the Red Raiders. Texas Tech needs another high-profile win after winning by 24 against LSU.
6. Illinois at Ohio State, 7:30 p.m. ET Tuesday on Peacock: The Illini are riding high after the win over Illinois in Nashville. But they travel to Columbus for a Big Ten road game against a Buckeyes team that played some of its best basketball of the season in a road win at Northwestern.
7. Kansas at NC State, 5:30 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN: The Jayhawks are coming off a 20-point win against Missouri for yet another difficult test away from Lawrence. Meanwhile, the Wolfpack desperately need a quad one win home, road or neutral.
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8. Villanova at Michigan, 6:30 p.m. ET Tuesday on FS1: Kevin Willard’s Wildcats have played well since the season-opening loss to BYU in Las Vegas. They haven’t lost. But this is a tall task to take on the dominating Wolverines.
9. Oklahoma State vs. Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, 1 p.m. ET Saturday on FOX: Love rivalry games. And so glad these two programs agreed to keep playing and keeping it in OKC makes the most sense if they are going to play once a season. The Cowboys are the surprise team in the Big 12 thus far.
10. Texas at UConn, 8 p.m. ET Friday on FOX: The Huskies continue their high-profile nonconference slate. Sean Miller is familiar with trips to UConn. And the question will be, is this Longhorns team ready for this type of challenge after a disappointing home loss to Virginia?
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