College basketball does slow down a bit with the break for the Christmas holidays, but there are still some truly elite matchups coming down the pipe for diehard fans to watch.
Christmas is right around the corner, and college basketball is appropriately taking a break to allow coaches and players to celebrate the holidays. There isn’t a ton of action on the schedule until the weekend, but there are still some epic games coming for college hoops fans.
Let’s check out five slightly late Christmas presents for college basketball fans to open this week, beginning with the battle of Kentucky.
Louisville (11-1) at Kentucky (8-3)-Saturday at 3:45 p.m. ET on CBS
The battle of the Bluegrass state should be a good one as Louisville will look to improve to 12-1 against a Kentucky team desperate for a win after dropping two games in Las Vegas last week to Utah and Ohio State.
West Virginia (10-1) at Ohio State (11-1)-Sunday at 12:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1
The Mountaineers are a sneaky good 10-1 team, with their loss coming by a bucket at St. John’s, but they take a big step up in weight class to take on the 11-1 Ohio State Buckeyes. Kaleb Wesson and company have proven themselves to be one of the country’s best teams with several outstanding efforts, including a six point victory over Kentucky last Saturday.
Liberty (14-0) at LSU (7-4)-Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network
Don’t look now, but the Flames have a real chance to go undefeated in the regular season if they can pick up a road win at LSU. The Tigers will be a good test for the Flames’ stingy defense, which is second in the nation in terms of points per game, giving up just 50.5 a night.
Kansas (9-2) at Stanford (11-1)-Sunday at 3:00 p.m. ET on ABC
Kansas became the fifth team to top the polls this season and go down after losing at Villanova on Saturday, and they will look to bounce back with a tricky trip to Stanford. The Cardinal should be right in the thick of things in a much-improved Pac-12, but a win over the Jayhawks could prove to be a major differentiator with the selection committee in March.
Mid-Major Game of the Week: Belmont (8-4) at Western Kentucky (7-4)-Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on Stadium
This week’s mid-major spotlight takes a look at two teams that could be potential conference champions in March Madness. The Bruins score over 80 points per game and are led by sophomore guard Adam Kunkel, who averages 18.8 points per game and knocks down 44% of his three-point attempts. Offense is a strong suit for the Hilltoppers as well, but they will be looking to find their way without leading scorer Charles Bassey, who was lost for the season with a fractured leg two weeks ago.