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College basketball games of the week: Big showdowns on tap in Big 12

By Mike Phillips

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - JANUARY 22: Jordan Nwora #33 of the Louisville Cardinals watches the action against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at KFC YUM! Center on January 22, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - JANUARY 22: Jordan Nwora #33 of the Louisville Cardinals watches the action against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at KFC YUM! Center on January 22, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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A pair of Big 12 showdowns for the Texas Tech Red Raiders and an SEC test for Kentucky highlight the must-watch college basketball action of the week.

The Super Bowl may be grabbing all of the headlines this week, but there is still plenty of action for college basketball fans to check out. One particular team is going to take center stage this week, and that is Texas Tech.

The national runner-up a year ago, the Red Raiders are 12-7 and should still make the NCAA Tournament, but their stock is slipping after a two-loss week that included an overtime defeat to Kentucky and a road loss to TCU. Texas Tech has lost four of six, but the Big 12 is the land of opportunity for resume building, so the Red Raiders will get two of our five slots in the must-watch games of the week.

Let’s get started with their first game, a rematch against West Virginia.

West Virginia (16-3) at Texas Tech (12-7) – Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+

These two teams have already met once this season, with the Mountaineers winning 66-54 in Morgantown. The Red Raiders will have to find a way to counter the West Virginia press, a significant key to the Mountaineers’ 12th ranked defense.

Mid-Major Game of the Week: Dayton (18-2) at Duquesne (15-4) – Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network

It almost feels disingenuous to call a team that is inside the top 10 of the polls a true mid-major, but Dayton plays in the A-10 and they are a true threat to win a national championship. The Flyers hit the road here to take on a sneaky good Duquesne team that needs a marquee victory to bolster its at-large chances, and there is no better opportunity in the A-10 than taking down Dayton.

Louisville (17-3) at NC State (14-6) – Saturday at 2:00 p.m. ET on ESPN

The ACC is having a down year, but don’t tell that to Louisville, which is 8-1 in league play and cruising towards a top seed in the NCAA Tournament. This game is much more important to NC State, which finds itself on the bubble and needs a big win here since the ACC isn’t providing many true Quad I opportunities these days.

Texas Tech (12-7) at Kansas (16-3) – Saturday at 4:00 p.m. ET on ESPN

We have discussed the Red Raiders a few times already, so let’s focus on Kansas, which survived against a scrappy Tennessee team in the Big 12/SEC Challenge over the weekend. The Jayhawks bounced back nicely from the ugliness of the brawl at the end of the Kansas State game, and they will look to put it further behind them by defending their home court against Texas Tech.

Kentucky (15-4) at Auburn (17-2) – Saturday at 6:00 p.m. ET on ESPN

Wrap up your college hoops Saturday tripleheader with a visit to the SEC, where a battle among two of the league’s top three teams is set to take center stage. Kentucky has arguably the most talented roster of the week and scored an impressive win at Texas Tech last week while Auburn started the year 17-0 and bounced back nicely from a two-loss week with wins over South Carolina and Iowa State at home.

Next. 15 best home-court advantages. dark

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