Weekend Preview: 9 Games to Watch

There are 9 games on the docket for the Big 12 this weekend, including marquee road games for Iowa State at Michigan and Texas at UCLA.

FRIDAY

Northwestern St at Mizzou, 7:00 CST, Fox Sports Midwest, Metro Sports (Kansas City market).

Northwestern St heads to Columbia to take on the 13th-ranked Tigers. Mizzou has wasted no time in adjusting to Frank Haith's style of play — in fact, they're off to their best start in five years. Marcus Denmon, Kim English, and Ricardo Ratliffe are all playing great basketball. If everything stays on track for the Tigers, Northwestern St shouldn't prove to be a roadblock. The Demons (Demons vs Tigers — some mascots just sound cool together) will be relying on leading scorer Shamir Davis and junior forward James Hulbin, who scored 5 three-pointers in their win against Arkansas-Little Rock.

Sacramento St at Oklahoma, 7:00 CST, Sooner Sports Network.

The Sooners will host the Sacramento St Hornets this Friday. Oklahoma is coming off a second-place finish in the 76 Classic, where they posted decisive wins over Washington St and Santa Clara before falling to St. Louis in the final round. Sooner sophomore guard Calvin Newell announced this week that he would be transferring due to family issues. Oklahoma will miss his points off the bench. The Hornets will look to their jack-of-all-trades, Joe Eberhard, who is a guard/forward transfer and leads the team in points, minutes, and rebounds. This game should be a nice pre-Bedlam appetizer.

SATURDAY

Iowa St at Michigan, 11:00 CST, Big Ten Network.

Frank Hoiberg's Cyclones will try to topple 15th-ranked Michigan in Ann Arbor in one of the most anticipated Big 12 non-conference games of the season. For the full preview, click here.

Texas at UCLA, 3:30 CST, Fox Sports Net.

The young and inexperienced Longhorns face a UCLA team that is struggling to overcome a early free fall. For the full preview, click here.

South Florida at Kansas, 4:15 CST, ESPN2.

The 15th-ranked Jayhawks finally get a bit of rest after facing opponents like Kentucky, Duke, and Georgetown as they host the South Florida Bulls this Saturday. The Bulls aren't exactly resting on their laurels either — they're playing 15 teams that went to the NCAAs last year, including VCU and Connecticut. Self's squad should have this wrapped up, but they need to be careful of senior forward Ron Anderson Jr., a transfer from K-State who has played Kansas before and averages 11 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.

Stephen F. Austin at Texas A&M, 7:00 CST, aggieathletics.com

The Aggies, still missing the injured Khris Middleton, are looking for a little redemption after their worst shooting performance of the season against Alcorn State on Wednesday, when they shot 40.3% and missed all 17 three-point attempts. Although they still defeated Alcorn State, I'm sure A&M is hoping the shots will fall easier on Saturday night. Ray Turner and David Loubeau continue to lead the 25th-ranked Aggies in Middleton's absence. Stephen F. Austin is coming off a victory over Wiley College that included 41 points from their bench. If the Lumberjacks are able to overcome the Aggies, it will break A&M's 13-game winning streak against Stephen F. Austin.

SUNDAY

Baylor at Northwestern, 3:00 CST, Big Ten Network.

The 8th-ranked Bears look to continue their streak of dominance this Sunday in Evanston. It will be Baylor's first true road game of the season and the first-ever meeting between the two schools. In his season debut against Prairie-View A&M, Perry Jones III lived up to the hype with 27 points. The Quincii Acy and Miller continue to look strong. Northwestern has looked pretty good, too. Like Baylor, they're currently undefeated (although they face MIssissippi Valley State on Friday night). The Bears should outmatch Northwestern — as long as they don't let the road atmosphere get to them. Either way, only one of these teams is leaving the game still undefeated.

Kansas St at Virginia Tech, 4:30 CST, ESPNU.

Frank Martin's squad is looking to continue their winning steak against Virginia Tech. This is the first true road game for the WIldcats this season. Martin wasn't pleased with his team's offense in their win over George Washington this week. Rodney McGruder has looked a little lackluster so far, but Will Spradling and Thomas Gipson have made an impact in the last few games. Virginia Tech will be outmatched in the paint, but they also have three more games under their belt.

Langston at Oklahoma St., 5:00 CST, Cowboy Radio Network.

The Cowboys' win over Tulsa on Wednesday came with an asterisk — OK State shot 37% from the floor and turned over the ball 17 times. Le'Bryan Nash, Keiton Page and co. are looking to improve those numbers against the Langston Lions this Sunday. It's unknown whether sophomore guard Fred Gulley will be able to play for the Cowboys on Sunday. He sat out last game with a injured shoulder. This is the last time the Cowboys will play at Gallagher-Iba Arena until New Year's Eve. Next up for OSU is a series of road and neutral-site games.