Is it the Final Four already? No, but it seems that way with Michigan State traveling to Chapel Hill to meet North Carolina this week as part of the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. Believe it or not, Tuesday's game should be a better overall contest than when the Tar Heels took the Spartans down by 17 in last April's title game in Detroit. Tip time from the Dean Smith Center is 9:00 p.m. Eastern on ESPN.
It really wasn't much of a game the last time the Tar Heels and Spartans got together. And it really wasn't supposed to be.
North Carolina claimed its fifth national championship on April 6 of this year, taking down Michigan State by an 89-72 count. The Heels led by 24 at one point in getting the cover as seven-point favorites. The 'over' 153 cashed almost as easy as UNC.
Roy Williams' Tar Heels were the preseason favorites last season and were supposed to win. Tom Izzo's Spartans were not supposed to be 17-point fodder at the very end, but last year's title was definitely UNC's to lose.
With both teams having a loss already this year, Tuesday night's rematch as part of the Big Ten-ACC Challenge should prove to be a far more exciting contest. Ranked No. 2 this past week, the Spartans will drop a few slots after being upset by Florida on Friday at the Legends Classic in Atlantic City.
No. 11 North Carolina fell earlier this season when it went down to Syracuse on Nov 20 when the Tar Heels were the No. 6 team.
The only other top-10 school to fall this past week was No. 9 Tennessee, with the Vols losing by a point to Purdue in the Paradise Jam title game. That loss could serve to make Tuesday's UNC-MSU contest a top-10 battle if Tennessee drops just enough to let the Tar Heels back into the upper crust of college basketball.
1. Kansas (5-0 SU, 2-1 ATS)
Coming off an easy holiday week with wins over Oakland and Tennessee Tech, the Jayhawks will host a very bad Alcorn State on Wednesday (Dec 2) team as a warm-up for their date at UCLA next Sunday (Dec 6). The win over Tenn Tech was Kansas' second 'cover' of the season, the 112-75 final score just eclipsing the 36-point line.
2. Michigan State (5-1, 2-3)
After the loss to Florida on Thursday, the Spartans bounced back with a 106-68 win against UMass as 16 ½-point chalk on Friday to give Izzo a school record 341 wins. It was just the second cover of the young season for Michigan State with UNC in Chapel Hill on deck for this Tuesday. The Spartans then return home to East Lansing to meet Wofford on Thursday (Dec 4).
3. Texas (5-0, 5-0)
The Longhorns remain the only top-10 school perfect both straight up and against the spread. Texas closed its week with a 77-59 win on the road at Rice as 16 ½-point favorites. Rick Barnes' bunch has just a single game on the schedule this week, at home in Austin against USC on Wednesday (Dec 3) in the Big 12/Pac 10 Hardwood Series.
4. Villanova (6-0, 4-1)
The Wildcats will be home on Tuesday to meet Drexel before taking off to the BB&T Classic in Washington DC next Sunday. Villanova should get a decent test in that one with the Maryland Terps its foe.
5. Kentucky (6-0, 2-3)
John Calipari's crew needed overtime to get past Stanford and claim the Cancun Challenge crown last Wednesday (Nov 25). Kentucky was favored by 10 over Stanford, and dominated the extra period to get the win. The Wildcats will be home this week for a pair of games against schools from North Carolina. First up is UNC-Asheville on Monday (Nov 30), before their big date with the Tar Heels on Saturday (Dec 5). When it faced North Carolina on the road last season, Kentucky fell 77-58 to give the Tar Heels a 21-10 lead in the all-time series.
6. Purdue (5-0, 3-2)
After topping No. 9 Tennessee 73-72 to win the Paradise Jam this past week, with that game closing as a 'pick,' the Boilermakers draw Wake Forest at home in West Lafayette on Tuesday as part of the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. Purdue closes its week on Saturday with a home date against Buffalo.
7. Duke (6-0, 4-1)
Off their impressive win over UConn to take the NIT Season Tip-Off, the Blue Devils travel to Madison to meet Wisconsin on Tuesday and then back home to Durham for a Saturday contest with St. John's.
8. West Virginia (4-0, 1-3)
With their win over Portland on Sunday evening to take the 76 Classic championship, the Mountaineers will take the next 10 days off before hosting Duquesne on Dec 9.
9. Tennessee (5-1, 2-3)
The one-point loss to Purdue shouldn't hurt the Vols too much, though it very well could drop them outside the top-10. Tennessee has just a single contest this week, and it will be at home in the Thompson-Boling Arena against the Charleston Cougars.
10. Syracuse (6-0, 5-1)
The Orange should have an easy skate through this week with Colgate in town on Monday followed by Maine on Saturday. Syracuse's next true test will come on Dec 10 when it travels to Tampa to take on Florida in the SEC-Big East Invitational.