It’s a busy sports week. Between Super Bowl LX, the start of the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics and an active NBA trade deadline, there’s not time for much else.
Except of course, one of the most anticipated weekends of the 2025–26 men’s college basketball season.
Just as we did during the college football season, Sports Illustrated will take you through the most vital games of the weekend to turn your attention to from now until Selection Sunday. Of course, there are far more options when it comes to hoops, but we’ll endeavor to highlight a wide variety of games, from ones between the best teams in the country to those that have major impacts on the NCAA tournament bracket, as projected by Kevin Sweeney.
No. 3 UConn Huskies (22–1) at No. 22 St. John’s Red Storm (17–5)
Friday, 8 p.m. ET, Fox
Dan Hurley quickly righted the ship after an underwhelming 2024–25 season and has the Huskies back among the nation’s elite. UConn remains undefeated in the Big East and has won those 12 conference games by an average of 14.4 points per contest. But the toughest test since the Huskies’ lone loss this season against Arizona comes in prime time at Madison Square Garden. St. John’s, the defending Big East champion, started off on rocky footing this season, but seem to be hitting a midseason stride. Big man Zuby Ejiofor (15.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.0 blocks per game) has been a force during an eight-game winning streak which has vaulted the Red Storm back into second place in the conference.
No. 23 Miami (Ohio) RedHawks (23–0) at Marshall Thundering Herd (15–8)
Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, ESPN+
In the mid-major story of the season thus far, Miami (Ohio) just can’t seem to lose. The RedHawks scoff in the face of win probability and for the second time in their last three games survived at the buzzer on Wednesday. Miami is the highest-scoring team in the country (93.7 ppg) due largely to its pinpoint three-point shooting (sixth in Division I at 40.13%). Surely the run must come to an end at some point, but with Akron and Kent State already in the rearview, there’s not much else to challenge the RedHawks in the MAC. But what about this weekend’s opponent from the Sun Belt? The Thundering Herd may appear middling, but are 11–2 at home this season and are solid defensively, especially along the perimeter. Could this be the weekend one of college basketball’s two remaining undefeated teams finally goes down?
No. 4 Duke Blue Devils (21–1) at No. 14 North Carolina Tar Heels (18–4)
Saturday, 6:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
College basketball will never grow tired of this rivalry and nor should it—especially in a season like this with both teams playing this well. In a somewhat resurgent ACC, Duke leads the way by a seemingly wide margin, having not won a conference game by fewer than 10 points since Jan. 3. Freshman forward Cameron Boozer (23.3 points, 9.9 rebounds per game) is the favorite to win player of the year by a wide margin and is surrounded by a supporting cast that goes nine deep in Durham, N.C. But awaiting the Blue Devils in Chapel Hill, N.C., is another first-team All-American candidate in Caleb Wilson. The Tar Heels freshman has scored 20 or more in his last four games, righting the ship for a North Carolina team that stumbled with three conference losses in the first half of January.
No. 5 Illinois Fighting Illini (20–3) at No. 10 Michigan State Spartans (19–4)
Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, Fox
A matchup between two teams coming off completely opposite results: The streaking Illini housed rival Northwestern by 40 points at home in Champaign, Ill., on Wednesday. Michigan State, on the other hand, went into the Barn in Minnesota and dropped a stunner. How the Spartans respond back at the Breslin Center is worth a watch, as is the role of star point guard Jeremy Fears Jr., who again was the perpetrator of a rather unsavory intentional foul—one that prompted coach Tom Izzo to threaten discipline. Illinois, meanwhile, is like the conference grim reaper, collecting road wins over the rest of the conference elite, with Purdue and Nebraska as the most recent victims. The Illini haven’t lost since mid-December and their 12-game win streak is the sixth longest in the country behind Miami (Ohio) (23), Arizona (22), UConn (18), St. Louis (16) and Liberty (13).
No. 8 Houston Cougars (20–2) at No. 16 BYU Cougars (17–5)
Saturday, 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
The blue-and-white Cougars are sliding, and even another 36 points from NBA prospect AJ Dybantsa couldn’t stop the bleeding at Oklahoma State on Wednesday. After starting 16–1, BYU has lost four of its last five, albeit with three of those losses coming against top 15 teams. There’s no rest in sight though as the program limps home to take on another tough, physical Big 12 foe: Houston. Kelvin Sampson’s squad is playing the same sort of as usual, methodically taking its time on offense while playing tenacious defense and forcing plenty of turnovers (the Cougars boast the second-best turnover margin in the country). The difference is that this Houston team has true freshman Kingston Flemings (17.0 points, 5.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game) to run the show and has gone relatively untested in 2026 outside of its two matchups against Texas Tech.
Bubble Watch
No. 2 Michigan Wolverines (21–1) at Ohio State Buckeyes (15–7)
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS
In the first of a three-piece order of bubble games, a pair of fierce gridiron rivals squares: one, in desperate need of a win on the bubble and the other fighting for the No. 1 overall seed. Perhaps not the most entertaining matchup on paper, right? Except for the fact that Ohio State (First Four Out on Sweeney’s latest Bracket Watch) was tied with Michigan with fewer than nine minutes to go when the two teams met in Ann Arbor, Mich., just two weeks ago. The Wolverines pulled away, but the Buckeyes gave them quite a scare and now get to get this matchup on their home floor. Senior guard Bruce Thornton (19.5 points per game, 40.8% from three), will need to have a better outing after shooting just 3 of 11 in the first meeting if Ohio State wants to pull off the upset.
No. 20 Clemson Tigers (19–4) at California Golden Bears (17–6)
Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, ACC Network
Cal (Last Four In) notched quite the win last weekend at Miami and then held serve in a tricky game at home against Georgia Tech, but this weekend is critical. The road ahead might be favorable, but after Saturday’s game against Clemson, there’s a distinct lack of résumé boosters on the schedule. And the Tigers are tough, boasting one of the best defenses in the country and a deep rotation. Between the backcourt duo of Dai Dai Ames and Justin Pippen (son of NBA legend Scottie) and a strong home court advantage (14–2, among the best in the ACC), Cal may have an advantage on Saturday in a game that would go a long way in helping its tournament case.
Oklahoma State Cowboys (16–6) at No. 1 Arizona Wildcats (22–0)
Sunday, 4 p.m. ET, ESPN
This may be a reach for an Oklahoma State team (Next Four Out) that’s barely holding onto a spot on the bubble, but what better statement would there be than going into the No. 1 team in the country’s home arena and getting a win? That’s a remarkably tall task, but the Cowboys did just play one of their best offensive games of the season in a win vs. BYU on Wednesday. Green Bay transfer Anthony Roy exploded for 30 points after posting 26 last Saturday against Utah, which could bode well if Oklahoma State needs to keep pace with Arizona’s Brayden Burries. The issue of course is the Wildcats’ depth and the fact that any of Koa Peat, Jaden Bradley, Motiejus Krivas or Tobe Awaka could be the go-to guy any given night. Still, Arizona’s next four opponents are all ranked … so beware the look-ahead game.
More College Basketball from Sports Illustrated
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Eight Best Men’s College Basketball Games to Watch This Weekend.
