Miami-UNC leads packed Saturday

The college basketball season is heating up. With the first Duke Blue Devils vs. North Carolina Tar Heels game in the books, it is time to start paying attention to all of the happenings on the college hardwood.

Of course, the Saturday schedule is always the best. You have so many of the top teams playing in front of packed houses, with the student section being raucous despite most of them trying to fight off the previous night. it is that kind of atmosphere that can make athletes rise up and perform admirably even with the knowledge that the most important games are still a few weeks away.

This Saturday is giving us plenty to sit down and enjoy, with the best game of the afternoon being the aforementioned Tar Heels taking on the No. 11 Miami Hurricanes at the Dean Dome. North Carolina had a brutal one-point loss to the underdog Blue Devils at home on Wednesday, with many putting the blame squarely on the shoulders of head coach Roy Williams.

It will be interesting to see how the fifth-ranked Tar Heels battle back after such a tough, emotional defeat. North Carolina is still the favorite to win the ACC, but a loss here to the Hurricanes might shift the dynamic. There is a good chance that both the Virginia Cavaliers and Miami would be ranked ahead of North Carolina, while Duke is certainly going to shoot up the rankings if it can beat the No. 18 Louisville Cardinals.

Elsewhere, there are some really intriguing matchups in the Big Eat and Big 12. The Villanova Wildcats are the No. 1 team in America for the first time in school history, and they face a sneaky game against the Butler Bulldogs. Butler is trying to get back into the NCAA Tournament and could use this marquee win, sitting at 18-8 overall but only 7-7 in the Big East. A win here and Butler is much closer to having its ticket punched for March Madness.

Over in the Big 12, the No. 24 Texas Longhorns are hosting the No. 25 Baylor Bears. While both teams seem like strong bets to make the tourney, a win here helps move them up a line or two when the dust settles. Texas needs to make a statement at home, showing that it is a team to be reckoned with down the stretch.

Then there is the No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners in Morgantown to take on the No. 10 West Virginia Mountaineers. It will be fascinating to see if Buddy Heild can lead the Sooners over one of the best teams in the land. For all of Oklahoma’s success this season, the main knock has been its performance against terrific teams, losing both matchups (albeit in very close fashion) to the Kansas Jayhawks.

Sit back and enjoy the action on Saturday, it is going to be phenomenal.