What to watch in college basketball this weekend: UNC-Duke, SEC dominance, Calipari's return
It's a (relative) off week for the NFL and the NBA is in that weird void before the trade deadline. This weekend is a great time to lock in with college basketball. Here's our latest round-up of upcoming games that should be fun to watch. It's by no means a complete list. Cal State Bakersfield vs. Cal State Northridge is someone's Super Bowl … maybe.
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Indiscriminate college basketball quote of the week: 'We are a big-time basketball program. We shouldn't be dealing with bats.' — Nevada coach Steve Alford
You can stream college basketball on Fubo (try for free).
Venue: Food City Center — Knoxville, Tenn.
Time: Saturday, noon ET
TV: ESPN
Al Golden's Florida Gators (Golden Gators) have been a superb watch this season. They're plus-86 in seven SEC games, tied for third in the most competitive conference in America, put a lot of shots up and crash the offensive glass and they play with a lot of confidence.
GATORS WIN!!!!
📺SECN pic.twitter.com/do17QzQJ74
— Florida Gators Men's Basketball (@GatorsMBK) January 23, 2025
Tennessee is an interesting matchup for the Gators. They turned Saturday's game against Auburn into a brick-throwing contest and take pride in their defensive commitment. Opponents have been terrible from beyond the arc.
The Vols have lost three of four, including that 53-51 loss to Auburn and a 78-73 loss to Kentucky on Tuesday.
These two played recently, and the result was … memorable. Tennessee came in with the top ranking and an undefeated record. It left with a 30-point drubbing that instantly took wind out of the grooving Volunteers. Round 2 is in Knoxville. It would be stunning to see Tennessee flounder like that again. It's the only top-10 matchup of the weekend and a rad way to start off the Saturday.
The Athletic's Joe Rexode on that Jan. 7 game: 'That's the first time the No. 1 team has lost by 30 or more since UCLA crushed Houston 101-69 in 1968.
The Vols were the last perfect team in men's college basketball, and they got multiple games' worth of bad basketball into their first defeat. Rick Barnes' team had a rotten night at Florida's O'Connell Center. They missed 25 of 29 attempts from 3-point range, for example, and their four first-half field goals were the program's lowest in a half since 2015.'
Venue: Cameron Indoor Stadium — Durham, N.C.
Time: Saturday 6:30 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
Duke's phenom gets his UNC game. Cooper Flagg is building the legend right on cue. Flagg had an absurd January — the 18-year-old averaged 25.7 points on 58/43/86 shooting splits … plus 7.6 boards, 4.9 dimes, a full steal and block per game. Those are College Hoops 2K8 stats.
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Fellow freshman Kon Knueppel is a fantastic second option for the offense. Three-year starter Tyrese Proctor is the stabilizer. The Blue Devils are playing especially well right now, with 14 wins in a row and top-10 offensive and defensive ratings.
Coach Jon Scheyer put up 24 points in a full 40 minutes at Chapel Hill back in 2010. That Duke team was 20-4 to North Carolina's 13-11. The vibes are similar in 2025: Duke is 18-2 and North Carolina is 13-9.
Hubert Davis' Tar Heels hit the weekend seventh in the ACC. They've lost three of four, two by one point.
Freshman Ian Jackson has scrapped his way to starter's minutes and is averaging 14.7 points per game. Junior Seth Trimble's January splits may cause ocular damage: 39 percent on 2-pointers, 11 percent on 3-pointers. At least lead dog R.J. Davis has put together a solid four-game stretch, averaging 19.5 points per game on 48 percent from the field.
They're not on equal footing right now, but this matchup is one of the sport's premier traditions. College GameDay will be outside Cameron Indoor. Jay Bilas and Jay Williams went to Duke, of course.
All-time alumni starting fives with top-five NBA Draft picks
UNC:
Duke:
Venue: Fiserv Forum — Milwaukee
Time: Saturday 8 p.m. ET
TV: FOX
Dan Hurley's Huskies have seesawed between wins and losses since Jan. 5. Shaka Smart and Marquette are tied atop the Big East with St. John's. One of the biggest Big East moments of the year goes down in an NBA arena. The Golden Eagles are 10-1 at Fiserv this season.
UConn is really going through it at this point. It tripped and fell from No. 2 directly to No. 25 in the Dec. 2 AP poll. They left Maui winless in three tries. They won eight straight after that and started 2025 back up to No. 9. January was tainted with close losses at Villanova and Xavier and a bummer against Creighton that broke a 28-game home winning streak.
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The talent is there to compete. Sophomore Solomon Ball is a certified bucket-getter, but he takes some tough jumpers and had a high-volume clunker in the Xavier loss. Two-time champion Alex Karaban totally deserves the benefit of the doubt come March, but he's 5-for-27 in his last two outings and two missed clutch free throws against Villanova were decisive.
UConn is sixth nationally in offensive rating while second in the nation in blocks per game. Big man and fellow two-time champ Samson Johnson has been on a rejection spree, with 10 blocks in his last three games.
For Marquette, which is 9-1 in its last 10, the basketball evolution of Kam Jones has been very cool. As a junior: 2.4 assists to 1.4 turnovers. As a senior: 6.3 assists to 1.8 turnovers. This Eagles squad is absolutely destroying opponents in the turnover margins — 8.9 giveaways to 16 takeaways per game.
UConn leads the all-time series 11-8.
Thursday, 10:30 p.m. ET, FS1
Here's our opening act. The Bruins lost five of six, then flipped into a four-game winning streak. They'll try to make it five at Pauley Pavilion, where they're 10-1. The Ducks were 12-1 before the New Year but have gone 4-3 since.
Friday, 8 p.m. ET, FOX
The weekend's proper tip-off will be a loud one in the aluminum chamber of Mackie Arena. Two historic public institutions fighting for the Hoosier mantle, sign us up. This matchup yields classics — the Matt Haarms game, the Chad Austin game, the double-overtime thriller in 2005, the extravagant fury of Bob Knight.
Saturday, 1 p.m. ET, SEC Network
Mizzou has some really cool wins thus far — over then-No. 1 Kansas and at the Florida swamp. Sixth-year guard Caleb Grill leads Division I in 3-point shooting percentage (48.3) on almost six tries per game. Senior Tamar Bates is a bucket when locked in. He dropped 26 points in the Tigers' win against Ole Miss last weekend. The Bulldogs are tied for their highest AP ranking in the Chris Jans era.
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Saturday, 2 p.m. ET, ESPN
The Tigers just win. They can comfortably hit high-80s scoring but also outlast a grinder. Before winning at LSU on Wednesday, Auburn's two previous victories were tense, two-point rock fights over Georgia and Tennessee. Star big Johni Broome came off the bench in the latter, shooting 7-of-20 with 14 boards and four blocks.
Chris Beard's Rebels are paced by their defense, which induces turnovers and irritates jump shooters. Recent close losses to Mississippi State and Texas A&M really sting, but an upset of the top team in the country would make all that fade away.
Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, ESPN
Kansas leads the Big 12 in rebounding and assists. Four Jayhawks scored at least 16 points in last weekend's blockbuster double-overtime L. Freshman Flory Bidunga is shooting 74 percent since becoming a starter. Even amid Baylor's disappointing season, draft-bound V.J. Edgecombe can make for awesome television.
What a night for @vj_edgecombe 🚀💫#SicEm | #CultureofJOY pic.twitter.com/zUtcDqBNWY
— Baylor Men's Basketball (@BaylorMBB) January 23, 2025
Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, ESPN2
The Bulldogs play pugnacious defense. Anything is possible after seeing this team take Auburn to the edge of the cliff a couple weeks ago, but the Crimson Tide are supremely hard to stem. Alabama, which has the nation's top offense, averages more than 90 points a game. Sophomore Aden Holloway is one of the more fun and punchy bench players in the sport.
Saturday, 6 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Texas Tech guard Chance McMillian is up past 47 percent on treys in his fifth collegiate season. He leads a stacked Big 12 in effective field goal percentage. He could be leaned on further after junior Darrion Williams (ankle) missed Wednesday's win against TCU.
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The Cougars have won 13 in a row, headlined by last Saturday's instant classic with Kansas. Kelvin Sampson's defense dominates in transition and suffocates the post. Houston has the No. 1 defensive rating and allows the fewest points per game. Marksmen L.J. Cryer and Emanuel Sharp are both above 40 percent from long distance.
Saturday, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN
John Calipari's 15 years in Lexington included six SEC Tournament titles, five 30-win campaigns, four Final Fours and the 2012 national title. He returns Saturday night with a Razorbacks group that's 1-6 in the SEC and 139th in scoring offense. Boos? Cheers? Both?
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS
Basketball's wooden turtle battle! This year's 'Illibuck' matchup stars Kasparas Jakučionis, who is looking like a top-10 pick in next summer's NBA Draft. Ohio State has endured a rough January, losing one-possession games to Oregon, Wisconsin and Indiana. Illinois has the fastest offense in the Big Ten — first in scoring, 14th in efficiency. Croatian seven-footer Tomislav Ivišić is a good rebounder, but he's been unavailable for the Illini's last two with an illness.
Jakucionis dishes it to Johnson Jr. for the jam 🤯 @IlliniMBB #B1GMBBall on @BigTenNetwork 📺 pic.twitter.com/E0H4Dq5ENU
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) January 26, 2025
(Photo of Cooper Flagg and Tyrese Proctor: Grant Halverson / Getty Images)
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