If you were able to separate from the turmoil that is surrounding the Dallas Mavericks, you saw a very engaging opening week of college basketball. Many of the top prospects had fantastic weeks, including AJ Dybantsa for BYU, Darryn Peterson at Kansas and Koa Peat for the Arizona Wildcats. However, this week two brings even more high-quality matchups, featuring several of the top prospects in all of the sport. Here’s the week at a glance!
November 11
9 Kentucky at 12 Louisville – 7:00p CT (ESPN)
11 Texas Tech at 14 Illinois – 7:30p CT (FS1)
23 Creighton at 21 Gonzaga – 9:00p CT (ESPN)
These three marquee games on Tuesday night will combine to
make Veteran’s Day the best night of games to date in the season. Kentucky at Louisville is going to be fantastic. These two teams are bitter rivals, and the talent level in this matchup is about as good as it gets. Jayden Quaintance is Kentucky’s premier freshman, who alongside veteran guard Otega Oweh makes a nice one-two punch. For Louisville, all eyes will be on star guard Mikel Brown Jr., who has been nothing short of great in his first two games.
Texas Tech at Illinois is also going to be a fantastic matchup. Illinois likes to get up and down, while Tech would prefer to grind games down, so stylistically it seems to be a great clash. Guard Christian Anderson and Forward JT Toppin are Tech’s two best players, and Anderson in particular has been absolutely on fire to start the year. Together, they make for an elite combo. The Illini have a strong international flavor on their team, with five players who played ball overseas before going into the college ranks. That doesn’t even include Andrej Stojakovic, the son of 2011 NBA Champion, Peja Stojakovic.
Finally, Creighton and Gonzaga will meet in the Kennel late on Tuesday, with this being a fun guard matchup. Creighton will run Nik Graves and Josh Dix out, both elite scorers. Gonzaga will counter with Tyon Grant-Foster, who has a tremendous story after overcoming heart surgery earlier in his career. The Zags will look to establish themselves in the interior with Graham Ike. Most importantly, a hat tip to all six teams for taking on the home and home challenge.
November 13
2 Purdue at 8 Alabama – 6:00p CT (ESPN2)
Maybe the matchup of the week, and once again it’s on campus! The guard play in this matchup is going to be the headline. Purdue’s Braden Smith is your favorite to win the Wooden Award (the basketball equivalent of the Heisman), while Alabama has Labaron Philon, a site favorite here at Mavs Moneyball. Sign us up for this matchup!
November 14
5 Arizona vs 15 UCLA (at Intuit Dome in LA) – 9:00p CT (Peacock)
An old PAC-12 rivalry renews once again, and this matchup is sure to be a good one. Arizona looks to keep the momentum going against a theoretically very good UCLA team, although they have just been decent to start the year. Koa Peat and Brayden Burries are star freshmen for the ‘Cats, who along with senior guard Jaden Bradley, have come out firing from the gates. UCLA will look to senior Donovan Dent and Skyy Clark to help them score efficiently. Also on the UCLA team: Christian Horry, the son of many-time NBA Champion Robert Horry.
Honorable mention to 6 Michigan at TCU as well. If you’re in the area, it’s worth the price of admission to go see Yaxel Lendeborg play ball. He transferred over from UAB this summer after testing the NBA waters. It will be great to see if he’s progressed from last season to now.
November 15
3 UConn vs 7 BYU (at TD Garden in Boston) – 6:00p CT (FOX)
Boston’s very own AJ Dybantsa returns home to the northeast, where his Cougars will play the Huskies of UConn. These teams are both known for their offense, so expect a game that resembles that. BYU revolves around Dybantsa, but they must get contributions from guards Rob Wright and Richie Saunders. Wright was not very good against Villanova last week, and BYU will need him at his best to get by UConn. The Huskies are just a well-oiled machine, and that will be on display Saturday night. Keep an eye on Solo Ball in this game, as he’s been the engine for the offense thus far. Alex Karaban has also started the year very well, which is a welcome sight after an inefficient 2024-25 campaign.
November 16
1 Houston vs 22 Auburn (in Birmingham) – 2:00p CT (ESPN)
Houston and Auburn has lost some of the luster from last season’s clash in Houston, which Auburn won. It’s clear that Auburn isn’t quite there yet with this team, which could be a problem against the pressure that Houston presents. Watch Chris Cenac on Houston, who projects as a first-round pick. Tahaad Pettiford is Auburn’s best player, and as the lead ballhandler he’ll have his hands full here.
