In Friday's Weekend Watch, we discussed the importance of full conference play. In particular, it is now impossible for even the most road-averse teams to avoid games at the other team's gym. To wit:
KENTUCKY (2): The Wildcats played just their third true road game of the season and lost their SEC opener at Georgia 77-70. UK lost previously at North Carolina before winning at Louisville. In this case, the result was more significant for Georgia. Much was expected of the Bulldogs coming into the season, but they were only on the outskirts of NCAA consideration before Saturday's big win.
MISSOURI (1): The Tigers were on cruise control heading into Colorado on Saturday, but the Buffaloes had other ideas in an easy 89-76 victory. Mizzou won its only other true road game at Oregon, but one has to wonder if last week's Big 12 tune-up against North Alabama (?!?) was enough to ready the Tigers for the hazards of their conference opener.
To see why teams appear where they do and why Kentucky and Missouri may want to reconsider their scheduling, you need to be an Insider.
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College Basketball Experts
Fran Fraschilla is an analyst for ESPN and was previously the head coach at New Mexico, St. John's and Manhattan.
Joe Lunardi is the resident bracketologist for ESPN.
Seth Greenberg is an analyst for ESPN and was previously the head coach at Virginia Tech, South Florida and Long Beach State.
