College Basketball Watchability Rankings: 5 games to watch in Week 2

LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 13: USC guard Elijah Stewart (30) celebrates after USC guard Jordan McLaughlin (11) scores right before the 1st half buzzer during a college basketball game between the North Dakota State Bison and the USC Trojans on November 10, 2017, at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

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COLLEGE STATION, TX – JANUARY 08: The Aggie bench reacts to Texas A&M Aggies forward Robert Williams’ (44) huge second half slam dunk during the SEC Men’s basketball game between the Missouri Tigers and Texas A&M Aggies on February 8, 2017, at Reed Arena in College Station, Texas. (Photo by Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Texas A&M vs USC

In the only ranked matchup on the slate before teams start advancing in their respective tournaments, a pair of upstart teams will look to make a huge nonconference statement on Sunday evening.

While last year was a rebuilding campaign for the Aggies at 16-15, some terrific young talent emerged for Billy Kennedy, leading to a preseason No. 25 ranking heading into 2017-18. The Aggies opened the season with the most impressive win by any team to date with a 88-65 romp over West Virginia in Germany despite missing lottery pick forward Robert Williams and starting point guard J.J. Caldwell.

Williams is expected to make his debut earlier in the week against Oklahoma State, providing a big boost for a team that is shaping up to be an SEC contender. Forward D.J. Hogg has picked up the slack in the meantime with 21.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per contest. with junior Tyler Davis also in line for a huge season.

USC’s run to Second Round with a narrow loss to Baylor last March turned some heads, and now the Trojans return just about every major contributor should De’Anthony Melton be cleared. The Trojans look like Arizona’s main competition the Pac-12 as the preseason No. 10 team, and improved to 3-0 on Sunday with a hard-fought comeback win over Vanderbilt on the road in overtime.

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Junior Bennie Boatwright has been a force with 20.5 points per game thus far, with plenty of support from Chimeze Metu in the frontcourt. Guard Jordan McLaughin went off for a career-high 35 points in the win over the Commodores, including the game-tying perimeter shot.

A win would give Texas A&M the best resume in the country through two weeks, while an uproven USC program can show it belongs with college basketball’s elites this season.