Ohio State's Dismantling of Duke is Just the Start of What Should Be a Revealing Week

A lot of people, including myself, questioned how good the Ohio State players not named Jared Sullinger were. Last night, they made a statement when they routed Duke by 22. In Columbus, the Buckeyes fans booed when LeBron James and his Miami Heat teammate Dwyane Wade walked to their courtside seats. After the game tipped off, there was little for them to complain about as their team took an early 11-0 lead and never looked back. Ohio State's offense was led by Sullinger's 21 and senior William Buford's 20. Sophomores Deshaun Thomas and Aaron Craft added 18 and 17, respectively. The Buckeyes defense kept Duke from responding. The Blue Devils made only twenty percent of their three point attempts as they scored a season-low 63 points.

This is just the start of what should be a revealing week. Below is my preview of the best game for each night the rest of this week, starting tonight.

#7 Wisconsin @ #5 UNC - 9:30 PM EST (Wednesday), ESPN

Wisconsin's closest game this season so far is a 17 point win over BYU. The problem is that the Cougars are by far the best team they've played. The Badgers are led by Preseason All-American guard Jordan Taylor. Sophmore Ben Brust is off to a great start to the season as well. UNC is hoping to bounce back from their first loss of the season at UNLV. The Tar Heels are also hoping their Preseason All-American forward Harrison Barnes is able to play well on the ankle he rolled in that loss.

St. John's @ #1 Kentucky - 7:30 PM EST (Thursday), ESPN2

Thanks to UNLV's aforementioned upset of UNC, this year's version of the young Kentucky Wildcats is already ranked #1. Kentucky's starting lineup features three freshmen and two sophomores. The Wildcats have scored 84.4 ppg and won their games by an average of 30.0 points. The big showdown might be Saturday (I'll preview that in a bit.), but this young team can't get caught looking ahead. St. John's brings their own young team to Rupp Arena. The Red Storm might be 4-3, but I watched them played at Madison Square Garden. They are much better than that. This team is figuring out how to play together. Sophmore guard Nurideen Linsey has the looks of an electrifying, budding leader. In addition to Lindsey, D'Angelo Harrison, Moe Harkless, and God'sgift Achiuwa all average at least 11.3 ppg.

#9 Florida @ #3 Syracuse - 7:00 PM EST (Friday), ESPN

The Florida Gators travel to the Carrier Dome to take on the Syracuse Orange. The Gators only loss is by seven points to Ohio State. The Gators offense is being led by guards Kenny Boynton and Bradley Beal. Beal is off to a great start to his freshman season. The Syracuse Orange are 7-0, despite all the chaos surrounding their program. The Barry Fine investigation is ongoing, and head coach Jim Boeheim is getting increasingly frustrated with the media. Boeheim better be careful though because if these accusations turn out to be true, he could experience a similar exit to former Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno. On the court, senior point guard Scoop Jardine runs the Orange offense. Senior forward Kris Joseph is the team's leading scorer.

#5 UNC @ #1 Kentucky - 12:00 PM EST (Saturday), CBS

I have already previewed both these teams (if you forgot, look above). This matchup features two of the most storied programs in all of college basketball. The Wildcats offense has been fairly balanced this season. UNC point guard Kendall Marshall is averaging a ridiculous 10.8 apg in leading the Tar Heels attack. The teams seem to matchup fairly equally. This game should be a dandy.