College Basketball Watchability Rankings: 5 games to watch in Week 6

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NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 09: Kevin Knox #5 of the Kentucky Wildcats looks on against the Monmouth Hawks during the Citi Hoops Classic at Madison Square Garden on December 9, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

Virginia Tech at Kentucky, Saturday 2:00 p.m. Eastern

The high-flying Hokies will travel to Rupp Arena over the weekend to take on a Kentucky team with plenty to prove in what should be one of the more entertaining nonconference matchups of the weekend.

Buzz Williams is continuing to build Virginia Tech into an ACC contender with a record of 9-1 so far, and the Hokies appear likely to make back-to-back NCAA Tournament trips for the first time since the mid-1980s. A Nov. 16 loss to Saint Louis is looking more and more like a fluke, as Virginia Tech has won six straight, mostly with ease.

The Hokies lead college basketball in scoring at 96.2 points per game and are shooting an eye-popping 55.3 percent from the field overall. Senior Justin Bibbs leads the way with 17.5 points per contest, while underclassmen Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Kerry Blackshear Jr. are also quickly developing into nice pieces.

Kentucky is once again expected to compete for the SEC crown and has won six straight since a Champions Classic loss to Kansas to move to 8-1 overall. Still, the Wildcats aren’t playing their best basketball at the moment, and have looked shaky against a few opponents they should have easily beaten.

We expect John Calipari’s teams to always get better as the season goes on, and Kentucky has more than enough talent to make a run in March. Kevin Knox is looking like the real deal with an average of 15.2 points per game, while fellow freshman Hamidou Diallo has shown some improvement in recent weeks.

If Virginia Tech’s offense is executing at its best level, this could be a fun, competitive contest, and we should learn a lot about both teams.