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The Breakfast Buffet: Auburn will face its toughest test yet at Alabama, Villanova/St. John’s, Nevada

Here’s today’s installment of “The Breakfast Buffet”, a daily column that can be found here every single morning getting you caught up to date on everything that’s happened from the day/night before and everything that’s going to happen in the next 24 hours.

Mangia!

Things To Sample

Auburn will face its toughest test yet at Alabama
The Tigers are in sole possession of first place in the SEC and have won all 16 of their games this season by double figures, but they’ve yet to face a team on the road that’s as good as the Crimson Tide. Bruce Pearl said last week on the College Hoops Today Podcast that “he didn’t know yet” if Auburn was a Final Four caliber team because it hadn’t played the best teams on its schedule. We’ll have a much better idea after tonight’s tilt in Tuscaloosa. It’s still TBD whether or not the Tigers are on the same level as both Kentucky and Tennessee at the top of the SEC. Auburn is 2-1 in true road games this season, with wins coming at Arkansas and Vanderbilt along with a defeat at Sun Belt favorite Appalachian State.

Villanova/St. John’s
There’s no such thing as a “must win” in January, but this game feels pretty close for all parties involved. The Wildcats fell to 11-7 after Saturday’s loss to UConn and will have to play Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse after tonight’s game at MSG. Villanova will then return home to play Marquette in Philadelphia. And the Red Storm? They’re now 12-7 after a three-game losing streak and after tonight will play Xavier next week at the Cintas Center before returning to the World’s Most Famous Arena on Feb. 3rd for a highly anticipated showdown with top-ranked UConn. Whoever loses this game will undoubtedly start to immediately feel a bit of pressure in terms of inching towards the bubble.

Nevada has a big week
The Mountain West’s quest to be a six-bid league took a bit of a hit over the weekend when the Wolf Pack suffered a Quad 3 loss to Wyoming to Laramie. There’s an opportunity for Steve Alford’s team to redeem itself this week. Despite a three-game losing streak, Nevada was still ranked 54th in the NET as of Tuesday and can earn back-to-back Quad 1 wins in the next few days starting with tonight’s game against Colorado State in Reno. The Wolf Pack will also travel to New Mexico on Sunday. This is a massive five-day stretch for Nevada.

On The Side

  • Kansas’ bench didn’t have a single made field goal in Monday night’s win over Cincinnati.
  • Injuries to both Sean Jones (knee) and Chase Ross (shoulder) have allowed Zaide Lowery to gain an opportunity in Marquette’s rotation. He’s making the most of it. The 6-5 freshman has a combined 18 points and seven rebounds in his last three games. The Golden Eagles face DePaul tonight in Chicago. Tip off is at 9 PM ET on CBS Sports Network.
  • North Carolina freshman Elliot Cadeau is eventually going to have to be a bigger threat from three-point range. Cadeau hasn’t made a shot from long distance since Dec. 29th and is just 4-19 from three-point range on the entire season.
  • Kansas State is 10-4 under Jerome Tang in games decided by five points or fewer entering tonight’s clash with Iowa State at Hilton Coliseum.
  • As of Tuesday, both Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga were ranked in the Top 30 of the NET. That means that whoever wins when these two teams play during the regular season will add a Quad 1 victory to its resume. The first meeting between the Gaels and Bulldogs is on Feb. 3rd in Spokane.

Daily Specials

  • Auburn at Alabama
  • Villanova at St. John’s
  • Illinois at Northwestern
  • Kansas State at Iowa State
  • Colorado State at Nevada

Leftovers