College Basketball: Tough Road Tests for Buckeyes and Panthers

Al Dannity | Updated Oct 04, 2017

Wisconsin’s Basketball team look to match their Football team’s efforts and end Ohio State’s unbeaten record on Saturday. Over in the Big East there are two match-ups pairing ranked opponents. Al Dannity previews these games and checks in on the worst team in the country.

Badgers can stop Buckeyes Remember that night in Camp Randall? Ohio State fans sure do as it was there that the Buckeyes’ Football team lost their unbeaten record and the #1 ranking. #11 Wisconsin will look to repeat the feat on the hardwood tomorrow when they welcome #1 Ohio State to the Kohl Center. There have been on or two competitive home games for Wisconsin this year but by and large the Badgers have blown out most of their opponents at home.

Ohio State won’t go down without a fight but the Buckeyes have shown enough frailties in recent outings to cast doubt on their chances of completing a perfect season. I like the Badgers to stop the quest for perfection by finding a way to slow the Buckeyes’ offense.

Pitt and Orange hit the road #4 Pittsburgh’s road test at #10Villanova is the toughest game left on the Panthers’ schedule. While the Wildcats will look to make home advantage count, Pitt should still be able to establish their methodical game from the start. The Panthers are far from the most exciting team to watch at times but their slower tempo and physical play makes them a threat on any court. I like Pitt to once again make use of their massive strength on the boards to gut out a close road victory.

After two road wins looked to have righted matters for #13 Syracuse, the Orange went and got outplayed on their home court by Georgetown. They face a #15 Louisville team that comes into this match-up on the back of three weeks worth of close games. Even with the Cardinals’ ability to spread the load around, they are bound to be mentally tired entering this game. I like Syracuse to take advantage and significantly improve their resume ahead of the dance.

Four games from perfection Finally we check in on the Centenary Gentlemen, the only winless team in College Basketball. On Thursday the Gentlemen moved to 0-26 on the season losing 70-49 at Southern Utah. The Gentlemen have now dropped 31 straight. Centenary probably won’t catch the eighth placed Thunderbirds for the last spot in the Summit League tournament, so they realistically have only four chances left to avoid a donut. Their best chance will come February 24 at home to Western Illinois.

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