Now that we have reached the month of January, college basketball is starting to take center stage. Conference games are currently taking place throughout the country, and those are typically the best matchups of the season. So many great matchups provide ample sports betting opportunities.
The AP Top 25 poll will continue to change over the next few weeks as teams start to build their resumes for the NCAA Tournament. There are already some teams that have emerged as locks, but other teams can still play their way into the field as well.
With so many college basketball games taking place each day, it’s important to look for the biggest games featuring ranked teams. Here are some of the top NCAA basketball games to watch for this upcoming week.
Loaded Big 12 Slate on Tuesday
Each conference seems to have a day in which they dominate the action, and that is Tuesday night for the Big 12 Conference. There are two matchups of top 25 teams on the schedule and another game that features a terrific rivalry.
The Baylor Bears host the Texas Tech Red Raiders in one of these games, and both teams should be in the NCAA Tournament this year. Baylor is still undefeated entering play on Tuesday night, and Texas Tech is looking to pull off this upset with defense.
The Kansas Jayhawks host the Iowa State Cyclones in another huge matchup, and both teams have just two losses on the year. Kansas was supposed to be this good, but Iowa State has been a major surprise all season long.
The other game to focus on for Tuesday night is a matchup of the Oklahoma Sooners taking on the Texas Longhorns. It always seems to be a battle when these teams take the floor.
Plenty of Big Ten Drama
The Big Ten Conference is once again one of the best in the country, and this is a league loaded with terrific teams. Winning this conference will take a huge run by some team, but don’t expect the champion to have fewer than three losses at least.
Michigan State hosts Minnesota on Wednesday night, and both teams have played better than expected this season. The Spartans have climbed all the way up into the Top 10, but Minnesota will provide a big challenge in this matchup.
The Wisconsin Badgers host the Ohio State Buckeyes on Thursday night in a huge showdown. Both teams are ranked in the Top 25 but could have a ceiling as high as the Top 10 this season.
Big East Up For Grabs
The Big East Conference has been complicated to figure out this season, which has been the case in recent years. There are several ranked teams in this league, but it’s also a conference that sees upsets happen on any given night.
Creighton hosts Providence on Tuesday night, and both of these teams are good enough to win the league title this season. The Bluejays and Friars have also suffered some upset losses already, and they can’t afford many more losses to stay in the title race.
Wednesday night is a huge matchup in the Big East as the Xavier Musketeers host the Villanova Wildcats. This is a matchup of Top 25 teams, and each team is talented enough to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.
The loaded Big East slate of games wraps up on Sunday with a matchup between the Georgetown Hoyas and the St. John’s Red Storm. This isn’t a game between ranked opponents, but it’s one of the best rivalries in the conference.