Starting Five: Michigan’s Big Ten return, Big East clash lead men’s college basketball weekend

We open this week’s edition of the Starting Five with a disclaimer. This feature ranking the top five men’s college basketball games of the weekend is first and foremost a service to you, the reader, and is intended as a viewer’s guide to help you choose the best televised options. We mention this up front because there is a significant top-15 matchup in the Big 12, No. 12 Oklahoma at No. 14 West Virginia, that will not appear on this list since it can only be streamed.

But fret not if you don’t have a premium subscription. There are plenty of games on your basic package channels that should be well worth your time. There’s even a much-anticipated Missouri Valley doubleheader on the docket, in effect making this the Starting Six. That would be a technical foul, though, so we’ll present it as a single item previewing both contests in Des Moines.

Before we get to that twin bill, however, there’s a Big Ten and national title contender returning to action after a significant break, a key showdown in the Big East and middling squads from the SEC and ACC hoping to improve their résumés.

Without further ado then, here’s this weekend’s Starting Five.

No. 3 Michigan at No. 21 Wisconsin

Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS

Michigan was on a roll before the looming specter of COVID-19 forced a department-wide athletics shutdown on Jan. 23. As just about every team has had to pause at some point this season, how the Wolverines look coming off their down time is the biggest question of the weekend. One of Michigan’s hallmarks has been its interior defense, with Hunter Dickinson and Franz Wagner averaging 2.6 blocks per game between them. The Badgers have struggled against the Big Ten’s crowded upper tier, including a 23-point thrashing in their earlier encounter with Michigan on Jan. 12. They’ll almost certainly need to exceed their 35.9% accuracy for the season from three-point range to get a better result this time.

Michigan guard Mike Smith drives to the basket against the defense of Wisconsin guard D'Mitrik Trice during their game in January at Crisler Arena. (Photo: Rick Osentoski, USA TODAY Sports)

No. 4 Villanova at No. 17 Creighton

Saturday, 5 p.m. ET, Fox

Opportunities for high-end victories have proven to be unexpectedly rare in the top-heavy Big East. Both teams would therefore love to get this one as the Wildcats look to solidify their place on the one-seed line and the Bluejays try to offset some recent setbacks. It figures to be a high-scoring affair – at least Creighton fans hope it is as the often undersized Bluejays will have to make their treys in order to keep up. Villanova is coming off its most efficient outing of the season, a 96-64 thumping of Marquette Wednesday night in which the Wildcats shot a blistering 63% from the field and drained 13-of-22 three-pointers.

BRACKETOLOGY: Expect the Big Ten to have the most bids and best seeding

BRACKETOLOGY: Gonzaga, Baylor, Michigan and Villanova are No. 1 seeds

LOOKING AHEAD: Five surprise teams poised to make runs in March

No. 15 Tennessee at LSU

Saturday, 2 p.m. ET, ESPN

With seemingly everybody in the SEC not named Alabama struggling for consistency, this is a key battle for position as the winner will retain at least a share of second place in the league. Tennessee is on a mini two-game winning streak but has needed to play smaller and faster of late with Yves Pons out with a sore knee. He is expected to be available Saturday, which could help the Vols on the defensive end against LSU’s dynamic duo of Cameron Thomas and Trendon Watford. The Tigers are in decent postseason shape but a home win here would move them into safer territory.

North Carolina at No. 9 Virginia

Saturday, 6 p.m. ET, ESPN

The Tar Heels are not in such good shape, precariously near the bubble in our latest NCAA bracket projection. A road victory against the ACC leader would greatly enhance their prospects. It won’t be easy, however, as UNC is heavily dependent on its frontcourt for points and the Cavaliers’ pack line defense is hard to beat without reliable perimeter shooting. Trey Murphy has emerged as a solid third scoring option for UVa, connecting at a 48.1% clip from beyond the arc.

No. 23 Loyola-Chicago at Drake

Saturday, noon ET, ESPN2 and Sunday, 3 p.m. ET, ESPN2

The Missouri Valley regular-season crown will be determined this weekend in a doubleheader between the two leaders. For league-wide hopes of sending multiple teams to the Big Dance, the best case scenario is a split that would give both squads a quality victory, but Saturday’s winner isn’t likely to be especially charitable for Sunday’s rematch given this unique opportunity to impress in the national spotlight. Senior big man Cameron Krutwig (15.5 ppg, 6.1 rpg) is Loyola’s go-to guy. The deep Ramblers have no other double-figure scorers but have seven other players averaging between 6.4 and 8.7 points. The Bulldogs counter with ShanQuan Hemphill (14.1 ppg, 6.3 rpg) and marksmen Roman Penn and D.J. Wilkins.

Follow colleges reporter Eddie Timanus on Twitter @EddieTimanus

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