With the exception of the Army-Navy game, college football is taking the weekend off. That means college basketball will be front and center on Saturday, highlighted by a terrific tilt on between Villanova and Notre Dame. You can watch the game on CBSSports.com including live pre-game and halftime analysis (I'll be in studio, so be sure to tune in), and it's going to offer our first good look at Notre Dame.
With that in mind, here's your map to the weekend. Seven storylines to track.
1. Battle of the unbeatens on CBS
Villanova is the top-ranked team. Notre Dame reached the Elite Eight last season and is off to a 9-0 start with wins over Colorado, Northwestern and Iowa. None of those teams are Villanova's zip code, let alone neighborhood. So this will be ND's first team, and it comes in the Never Forget Tribute Classic, an event held to raise money for charity. Proceeds go to the families of victims of the 9/11 attacks. The game will be held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Expect offense. Notre Dame's per-possession scoring ranks seventh in the country at KenPom, while Villanova is No. 2. These teams don't really run, though. Just efficient half-court offense. Mark me down for an 83-73 Villanova win. However, if Mike Brey's team pulls off the upset, then things really get interesting because the top of the polls will shift again and ND's standing in a stacked ACC will be recalibrated.
Players to watch: Villanova's Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson; Notre Dame's Bonzie Colson (so underrated) and V.J. Beachem. (Noon ET, Saturday, CBS, CBSSports.com and CBS Sports app)
2. All other undefeateds on alert
Six of the eight undefeated teams (Saint Mary's took its first loss Thursday night) are playing Saturday or Sunday. We know one of them has to lose in that Nova-ND game. If I set the over/under a .5 for other undefeated teams to lose this weekend, do you take the over? I don't.
UCLA will give us its latest dose of entertaining Ball. Lonzo Ball, that is. But the Bruins are so much more than him. In fact, T.J. Leaf has been almost as good as Ball. Michigan heads to Pauley Pavilion. (8 p.m. ET Saturday, ESPN2)
Gonzaga should be able to fend off Akron, though the Zips look to be the best team in the MAC. (8 p.m. ET, Saturday)
USC is home vs. Pepperdine on Sunday night. The Trojans have plenty to prove, but should win this one, even without Bennie Boatwright. (10 p.m. ET, Sunday, Pac-12 Network)
Unbeaten teams not playing this weekend: Baylor, South Carolina
3. Cincinnati-Butler is the best game outside of Nova-Notre Dame
Butler is coming off a road loss to Indiana State. Cincinnati has already proven itself with a road win at Iowa State. The Bulldogs are ranked 16th, the Bearcats 22nd. It's going to be a physical game with a lot of terrific play around the rim. Each team only has one loss. The winner gets a nice scalp and most likely a top-40 win on the docket by the time we get to Selection Sunday. If Cincy wins, it will have an argument for a top-10 résumé in college hoops. (4:30 p.m. ET, Saturday, FS1)
4. Kentucky, Kansas, Duke and Indiana should roll to easy wins
- The Jayhawks will be at home vs. Nebraska. Yeah, it feels like this should be a Big 12 game, but Nebraska's paying rent in the Big Ten. KU will try to keep gains good on freshman Josh Jackson. (3:15 p.m. ET, Saturday, ESPN)
- The Hoosiers are at home vs. Houston Baptist. Tom Crean's team is ranked ninth. They're probably a top-three talented team in terms of offensive ability. Hoosiers by ... 30? (4 p.m. ET, Saturday, Big Ten Network)
- Duke is playing in Vegas against UNLV. The real thing to watch for here is Jayson Tatum, who could go for 30 points and not shock me one bit. Or maybe Luke Kennard continues his push for POY. Or maybe Grayson Allen steps up and has his first humongous game of the season. Or maybe Amile Jefferson ... yeah, you get the point. (5:15 p.m. ET, Saturday, ESPN)
- The Wildcats get Hofstra in Brooklyn. Yeah, it's random. But John Calipari is taking the Mike Krzyzewski model and making sure -- for recruiting purposes and general brand-building for the program -- that Kentucky plays at least one game in New York City every season. So Hofstra it is. Actual interesting matchup in this game: Bam Adebayo vs. Rokas Gustys, Hofstra's hoss in the middle. Gustys is grabbing 38 percent of his team's defensive rebounds -- No. 1 in America. Adebayo is about to meet a man. (3 p.m. ET, Sunday, ESPN)
5. Marquette, kind of quietly, has the biggest game of its season
The Golden Eagles haven't played a game of relevance yet this season, but their home tilt against hated in-state rival Wisconsin provides the team its best opportunity for a signature win. If Steve Wojciechowski's team does hold serve on its home floor, MU will have a case to be ranked and will enter the at-large discussion. Pivotal game. Marquette's only other win against a team with a halfway decent chance to be in the Big Dance is Georgia. (2 p.m. ET, Saturday, FS1)
6. Ranked teams facing tricky games and potentially damaging losses
Wisconsin's résumé will start to look pretty weak if it doesn't win on the road against Marquette. The 17th-ranked Badgers own wins over Syracuse, Oklahoma and Georgetown. They have losses to Creighton and North Carolina. I like Bucky big picture, but we will have to do some brake-pumping on the team's Big Ten chances if it falls on Wednesday. (2 p.m. ET, Saturday, FS1)
If Xavier can't beat Utah, it's going to fall out of the polls and be staring at a three-game losing streak. And it will have blown its best chances for non-conference victories (until the Cincy rivalry game later in the year). Important game. X should win. (5:30 p.m. ET, Saturday, Fox)
Florida goes on the road to play Florida State. The Gators will be an underdog, but a loss here would mean two in a row and a 7-3 record. A really hard schedule overall, but it would mark three straight Ls to FSU, too. As for Florida State, it is 7-1 and starting to look like -- for the first time in many seasons -- it can have a record worthy of its talent. To me, a top-three game of intrigue this weekend. (4 p.m. ET, Sunday, ESPNU)
7. West Virginia might turn a team over for 40 turnovers again.
The 15th-ranked Mountaineers turned Manhattan over 40 times last week. It's an insane number. Then on Wednesday night, Western Carolina was induced to 34 turnovers in a 90-37 throttling. So in comes VMI, a 1-6 team, and that one win came against Southern Virginia, which is not a Division I team. What's more, VMI likes to move up and down the floor, which should play right into WVU's hands. I'm setting the over/under on VMI turnovers at 33.5 and am taking the over. (2 p.m. ET, Saturday)
