While it might still be early, there are a number of teams that have looked good through the first couple of weeks of the college basketball season.
Meanwhile, we’ve quickly discovered that others might not have what it takes to hang around in the top 25. Four teams from the national rankings will be in action on Saturday led by No. 9 Wichita State. Here is a quick look at their four matchups.
Tulsa Golden Hurricane @ #9 Wichita State Shockers
Saturday, 3:00 PM ET
The Shockers are only three wins in to a new season but their regular season win streak has reached 34 and they have made it look easy early on with three double-digit victories.
There were some obvious concern about Wichita State’s outside shooting after it missed its first 18 three-point shot attempts of the year but they have started to hit those shots and shot 43.5% from beyond the arc in their latest win over Newman.
Leading scorer Ron Baker went 4-for-6 on three-point shots and has paced the Shockers early on with a team-high 18.3 points per game. Look for Wichita State to continue to build its chemistry against Tulsa as they continue to develop as a team.
Pick: Wichita State[divider]#14 VCU @ Old Dominion
Saturday, 2:00 PM ET
Unlike the Shockers, VCU wasn’t able to figure out what ailed them early on in time to stay undefeated as things fell apart for Melvin Johnson and company in their loss to Villanova. The Rams were held to just 23 second-half points in that loss and really struggled to move the ball around out of their half-court offense.
Even though they bounced back with a big win over Oregon they can’t afford to take Old Dominion lightly, especially on the road. The Monarchs are coming off a big win over Gardner-Webb and if they can come out strong, the potential is there for them to hand VCU its second upset loss of the year.
Pick: Old Dominion[divider] Nicholls State @ #19 Michigan Wolverines
Saturday, 4:00 PM ET
There were warning signs about Michigan’s vulnerability in a close win over Oregon and those issues reared their head again in a close loss to Villanova. Now the Wolverines will try to get back on track against winless Nicholls State.
Michigan outscored its first four opponents by an average of 16 points and they could easily top that number if Caris LeVert, Zak Irvin, and Derrick Walton Jr. can bounce back with a better performance at home. Look for them to win and cover a big number in this spot.
Pick: Michigan[divider]College of Charleston @ #21 West Virginia Mountaineers
Saturday, 7:30 PM ET
Odds: West Virginia -13
Anybody that wanted to know what head coach Bob Huggins had on his hands this year got their answer when West Virginia upset the defending national champions UCONN with a 78-68 win.
The Mountaineers are clearly better than many of the experts gave them credit for before the season got underway and with a home date against a small school, they should have no problem extending their win streak to six to open the season.
Pick: West Virginia
