With last week's 2-3 record in Big Five games, the Big East is 9-11 in games that we've featured in this spot every week. This is starting to become unnerving. Is it possible that the losses are actually being caused by discussing them here? Or is this just an odd byproduct of picking the highest profile games of the Big East non-conference schedule?
In any case, we continue with a new slate of games to keep an eye on this week. The downside is that it appears that a heavy majority of the Big East schools are taking final exams this week, as there are only 5 games occurring before Saturday. It makes things a little thin to pick from, but we're still able to pull together a decent slate of games.
Wednesday, December 14: Cincinnati at Wright State (6pm Central, ESPN2) - The Bearcats head to Wright State with 4 players suspended following the brawl at the end of their game against Xavier. KenPom only had them at a 74% chance to win at full strength, so go ahead and fire up the UPSET ALERT siren.
Saturday, December 17: #4/#4 Louisville vs Memphis (3pm, CBS) - The Cardinals have managed to start the season 9-0 with just 5 players getting PT in all 9 games. No idea how Pitino is pulling this off, but it's pretty impressive.
Saturday, December 17: Notre Dame vs #18/#20 Indiana (3:30pm at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, ESPN2) - Neutral site game in a big building? Maybe the Irish have a chance to catch the Hoosiers in a trap game following their win over Kentucky?
Saturday, December 17: #1/#1 Syracuse at North Carolina State (5:30pm, ESPN2) - It's Syracuse's only trip outside of New York State this season until the second game of their Big East schedule! These teams have an opponent in common already, as they both played Stanford close, but Syracuse got the win while NC State ended up with a loss.
Saturday, December 17: Villanova at St. Joseph's (7pm, CBS College Sports) - The Wildcats are in desperate need for a quality win of any kind as they sit at 5-4 right now. A game that's part of a series known as The Holy War might not be the best remedy for their situation.