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Someone HAS to create some separation in this glut of three loss teams in the middle of the standings, so we'll focus on the three games between teams in that group this week in addition to road games by the top two teams in the standings.
Monday, January 28: Pittsburgh at #12/13 Louisville (6pm Central, ESPN) - The Panthers currently sit atop that group of three loss teams by having the most wins out of the group and tiebreakers with St. John's. Louisville's in the pack with three losses, and all three of their losses have come in their last three games. Can they defend the (snicker) KFC YUM! Center and break that streak?
Wednesday, January 30: Villanova at Notre Dame (5pm Central, ESPN2) - The odds are against Villanova continuing their hot streak in the second of three games between three loss teams: Only Connecticut and Georgetown have won at the Joyce Center in the last 24 Irish home games. But ND has lost two of their last three at home, and the Wildcats have to be feeling pretty good about themselves right now.
Saturday, February 2: #6/6 Syracuse at Pittsburgh (11am Central, ESPN) - A trip to the Pete is probably not the way to try to bounce back from getting victimized by a court storming level loss, but that's what's on the docket for the Orange. The good news is that they'll have all week to focus on the task at hand, while Pitt has to deal with their trip to Kentucky.
Saturday, February 2: St. John's at Georgetown (3pm Central, CBS) - Our third and final game in this week's feature between two teams with three losses right now has the Red Storm trying to maintain an advantage on the rest of the pack, as they're currently tied for third place with Pittsburgh. The Hoyas are looking to continue their own hot streak after winning two games against ranked opponents following their loss at South Florida.
Sunday, February 3: #25/25 Marquette at #12/13 Louisville (1pm, ESPN) - MU is looking for another quality win to add to their tournament resume while maintaining their hold on second place in the conference during a white out in Louisville. Combine that with a matinee game on Super Bowl Sunday, and I'm guessing that we'll see the baby blue uniforms for the Golden Eagles here.