Pair of rivalry games top a stacked week with 7 matchups between AP Top 25 teams
The early part of the basketball season has become dotted with marquee matchups as teams try to test themselves and build resumes for March The second week of the - season will feature two rivalry games among the seven games between AP Top teams No Louisville and No Kentucky have had one of the sport s fiercest rivalries through the years and it will continue on Tuesday in Louisville The Cardinals made it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six years in their first season under coach Pat Kelsey a year ago and are off to fast start with a revamped roster Louisville opened the season with a blowout win by holding South Carolina State to points and followed that up with another rout over Jackson State Kentucky reached the Sweet in its first season under coach Mark Pope last season and has another talented group this year led by high-scoring guard Otega Oweh The Wildcats opened with lopsided wins over Nichols and Valparaiso so this will be the first big test for both teams Out West No Arizona and No UCLA had a few heated matchups while in the Pac- and decided to continue their rivalry now that the Bruins are in the Big Ten and the Wildcats are in the Big The Wildcats had one of the biggest jumps in this week s AP Top climbing eight spots after an impressive win over then-No Florida in Las Vegas behind freshman Koa Peat s -point meeting The Bruins lost a lot from last year s NCAA Tournament association but coach Mick Cronin reloaded through the transfer portal adding former New Mexico guard Donovan Dent and former Oregon State forward Tyler Bilodeau Thursday s championship at the Intuit Dome in the Hall of Fame Series will honor late UCLA Hall of Famer Bill Walton Cougars on top Houston moved to No in the first regular-season poll despite having half as multiple first-place votes as Purdue leapfrogging the Boilermakers by earning three more points overall The Cougars will get a big test this week After hosting Oakland on Wednesday Houston heads to Birmingham Alabama to face No Auburn The Tigers got off to a tough start in their first season under Steven Pearl needing overtime to beat Bethune-Cookman but bounced back with a lopsided win over Merrimack UCF transfer Keyshawn Hall was superb his first two games with Auburn averaging points and rebounds but faces one of the nation s toughest defenses against the Cougars Dybantsa s test BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa has lived up to his billing as the nation s top recruit leading the No Cougars with points and rebounds the first two games The preseason AP All-American will face his toughest challenge of the young season against No UConn The Huskies returned Solo Ball and Alex Karaban this season while adding transfer guards Silas Demary Jr and Malachi Smith to become better defensively on the perimeter UConn - is holding teams to points per competition after beating Columbia - on Monday night More marquee games In occurrence those games weren t enough this week has three more games between ranked teams No Texas Tech at No Illinois on Tuesday will likely be fast paced and high scoring even if we won t get to see the Illini s Tomislav Ivisic injured go toe to toe with Red Raiders preseason All-American JT Toppin No Purdue at No Alabama on Thursday could be the type of match fans might see in late March between two promising Final Four-caliber teams No Creighton at No Gonzaga on Thursday will feature two of the championship s best coaches and the bulk efficient teams Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top throughout the season Sign up here AP college basketball https apnews com hub ap-top- -college-basketball-poll and https apnews com hub college-basketball Source
