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The Breakfast Buffet: John Calipari returns to Rupp Arena, North Carolina/Duke, Michigan State

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

John Calipari returns to Rupp Arena
The Hall-of-Famer spent 15 years as Kentucky’s head coach prior to leaving for Arkansas last spring and he’ll make his first appearance in Lexington as the Razorbacks’ head coach tonight. I really hope that the fans at Rupp Arena give Calipari a standing ovation and not a smattering of boos. As for the game itself, anything other than a double-digit win for the Wildcats would be a surprise. Kentucky is coming off a road win at Tennessee on Tuesday where it had two starters — Lamont Butler (shoulder) and Andrew Carr (back) — out of the lineup due to injuries. Butler is also listed OUT for today’s game according to the SEC Injury Report. Arkansas is currently 1-6 in conference play.

North Carolina/Duke
The sport’s best rivalry will have its first installment tonight at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Both teams are in completely different places. The Blue Devils are 18-2 and thriving in their third season under Jon Scheyer while the Tar Heels are 13-9 and firmly on the bubble. North Carolina needs to start stringing together big wins if it wants to avoid missing the NCAA Tournament for the second time in the past three seasons. Keep a close eye on Duke freshman Cooper Flagg, who’s playing against the Tar Heels for the first time in his college career. The 6-9 Flagg is averaging 27.0 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 5.2 assists in his last five games.

Things are about to pick up for Michigan State
The Spartans haven’t lost since before Thanksgiving and will take a 13-game winning streak into today’s game against USC in Los Angeles, but the caliber of their opponents will increase significantly over the next few weeks. After today’s game against the Trojans, Michigan State will play UCLA on Tuesday and then return home to host Oregon and Indiana back-to-back in East Lansing. A trip to Illinois then follows prior to a home matchup with Purdue and consecutive road tilts at Michigan and Maryland. The only teams that the Spartans beat on their current 13-game winning streak that were forecasted to make the NCAA Tournament in Friday’s BRACKET BREAKDOWN were Ohio State and Illinois.

On The Side

  • Houston will have its toughest home opponent thus far in Big 12 play today when it hosts Texas Tech. The Red Raiders have won five straight games and seven of their last eight. The Cougars’ average margin of victory in four Big 12 games this season at the Fertitta Center is 25.0 points.
  • The imminent return of UConn’s Liam McNeeley (13.6 points, 5.8 rebounds) — who’s a game-time decision for today’s game at Marquette — is going to take immense pressure off Alex Karaban. The 6-7 junior has only scored a combined 17 points in UConn’s last two games while shooting 5-27 from the field and 1-12 from three-point range during that span. McNeeley hasn’t played since Jan. 1st. due to an ankle injury.
  • Saint Mary’s will have a three-game lead over Gonzaga in the WCC standings if it beats the Bulldogs tonight in Moraga.
  • Stanford’s Oziyah Sellers is the best guard in the ACC that not enough people are talking about. A transfer from USC, the 6-5 Sellers is averaging 15.1 points and shooting 53.6 percent from the field, 54.3 percent from three-point range, and 93.8 percent from the foul line in 2025. He’s been a major part of the Cardinal’s 15-6 start in their first season under Kyle Smith. Stanford will visit SMU tonight in Dallas.
  • The sleeper game of the day in college basketball is in Logan as Utah State hosts New Mexico. Both teams are currently tied for first place in the Mountain West.

Daily Specials

  • Florida at Tennessee
  • Auburn at Ole Miss
  • North Carolina at Duke
  • UConn at Marquette
  • Arkansas at Kentucky

Leftovers