5 NCAA basketball teams on upset alert this week: Villanova, MIssouri on notice

Villanova and Minnesota are among the NCAA basketball teams on upset alert this week.

The final week of January means that the college basketball season is about to kick into hyperdrive. The last big non-conference event of the season and intense action in league play makes the push to get into the NCAA Tournament very important.

With increasing stakes the importance of avoiding upsets increases by the week. Let’s look at five programs that need to be on alert this week, beginning with Missouri.

Missouri needs to be on alert at Auburn

The Tigers have been one of the SEC’s biggest surprises this season, surging into the polls after a strong start to the season. A key victory at Tennessee over the weekend pushed Missouri into second place in the SEC but they have a dangerous road game ahead against Auburn.

Bruce Pearl’s team isn’t going to the NCAA Tournament as the result of a postseason ban but Auburn has plenty of talent on its roster. The Tigers have already picked up three SEC wins and could knock off Missouri with a strong performance.

Creighton is on upset alert at Seton Hall

The Big East has been interesting this season since presumed favorite Villanova hasn’t played much due to COVID pauses, leaving an opening for teams like Creighton to step up. The Bluejays don’t have as much firepower as they did a year ago but Denzel Mahoney and Marcus Zegarowski have done more than enough to get Creighton ranked inside the top 25.

Wednesday sees the Bluejays hit the road to take on Seton Hall, the Big East’s third-best team and one who has a specific matchup problem in the form of forward Sandro Mamukelashvili. Creighton isn’t as deep down low so a big game from Mamu could help the Pirates spring an upset on their Big East rivals.

Villanova is on upset alert against UConn

Let’s stay inside the Big East and look at Villanova, which is now 2-0 after returning from a lengthy COVID pause. The Wildcats are clearly the class of the Big East when healthy but are in some danger this week as they head to Storrs on Thursday to take on UConn.

Even without James Bouknight, who is out indefinitely following elbow surgery, the Huskies have enough talent to trip up the Wildcats at home. Villanova has to be careful not to take UConn lightly without its best player.

Minnesota needs to be careful with Purdue

No game in the Big Ten is easy this season so any road trip is fraught with peril. This is certainly the case for Minnesota, which has lost three of its past four games, including a 14-point defeat at home to Maryland last week.

The Golden Gophers hit the road again on Saturday to take on Purdue, which is a sneaky 6-4 in conference play with road wins over Michigan State, Indiana and Ohio State under their belts. The Boilermakers are very capable of beating a good team like Minnesota if the Golden Gophers don’t bring their A-game here.

Texas Tech is on upset alert at LSU

The SEC/Big 12 Challenge could claim an upset victim in Texas Tech, who has flown under the radar in the Big 12. The Red Raiders aren’t in the same stratosphere as the league’s elites but they have a deep roster capable of making noise in the NCAA Tournament.

The challenge provides a tough road trip to LSU, a team that needs a marquee win desperately and has one of the nation’s most dynamic freshman in guard Cameron Thomas. The Tigers’ elite guard play could provide quite a challenge for the Red Raiders and set the tone for a big upset.

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