Get set for college basketball’s Saturday slate, headlined by Auburn-Florida, Gonzaga-Kentucky and Baylor-KU

The players in prime positions and the Xs and Os who will mold and determine the outcome of college basketball’s big weekend.
In early February, you can’t win the conference title, but you can definitely lose it. The highly anticipated college basketball schedule on Saturday might be crucial in a number of important contests. If Arizona can go on the road and defeat Colorado, it can take over the Pac-12. Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, and South Carolina are all tied for first place in the SEC standings with one defeat each. On Saturday, all four players will be in dire need of holding serve.

Following Wisconsin’s three-game losing streak, the Big Ten race may now just consist of Purdue and Illinois. Illinois needs to defeat a desperate Michigan State team on the road if they hope to remain in the hunt. Losses to Clemson and Georgia Tech have elevated the stakes for UNC, which was looking like a runaway train in the ACC. With just one game remaining in their schedule, Virginia and Duke are rapidly approaching, and UNC must travel to play a very hazardous Miami club.

As good as it gets is this.
You are familiar with the procedure. A few brief observations on some of the most important matches.

Xavier vs. No. 19 Creighton (12:30 p.m. ET, FOX): Against Xavier, opponents are only shooting 52% from the field. Are Ryan Kalkbrenner and Trey Alexander going to have a rough day?
No. 14 Iowa State at TCU (2 p.m. ET, ESPN2): Out of all the teams in the nation, Iowa State permits the fewest shots at the rim. Out of all high-major teams, TCU’s offense boasts the fourth-highest rim rate. Why is that?
No. 6 Tennessee at Texas A&M (8 p.m. ET, ESPN): Does Texas A&M expect to get 100 offensive rebounds if LSU was able to grab 18 against Tennessee? Tennessee’s glass-breaking endeavor will be significant.
Houston, ranked fifth, takes on Cincinnati at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Cincinnati has given up on more than 19% of its possessions in Big 12 play. That presents a challenge to this Houston defense. Is Viktor Lahkin capable of making quick and wise decisions?

Now let’s examine the eight most important games of the day and their best matchups to watch.

ARIZONA AT COLORADO, NO. 8, 10 PM ET on ESPN

Remember that Colorado has a rim-funnel defense.

The rim is where more than 40% of Colorado’s shot attempts are made. Against the Buffs, over 45% of the shots that top-100 teams get are attempts at the rim. It was accomplished on the first meeting.

Early in January, Arizona crushed a thinly manned CU defense, winning 97–50. Arizona made 22 of 34 shots from the rim.

Colorado has improved in health. It’s in the house. Arizona and Utah just finished a triple-overtime slugfest. Is Tad Boyle’s team able to prevent Arizona from scoring?

Tristan da Silva against Keshad Johnson is the best head-to-head battle.

Johnson, a defender with integrity issues, will be challenged by the silky-smooth da Silva. When da Silva plays against top-100 opponents, Colorado’s offense is significantly superior. With da Silva, Colorado’s offensive rating soars by over 22 points per 100 possessions, according to hoop-explorer.

He was not present for the opening game versus Arizona. Johnson is a pure beast who will forcefully defend da Silva while also forcing him to work on the other end with turbo drives and unrelenting offensive rebounding. He’ll be ready to go this time.