It can be a bit challenging to get too excited about any regular-season college basketball game in particular because we know the best teams will reach the NCAA Tournament and have a shot at the championship as opposed to, say, perhaps the Buffalo Bills in the NFL this year. That said, there might not be a better matchup in hoops until deep into the 2024 Big Dance than what we get Friday when No. 4 UConn (7-0) visits No. 5 Kansas (6-1) in a matchup of the past two national champions in a potential Final Four preview. The Jayhawks are -2.5 on the SportsLine consensus. Click here for model picks.
If you are wondering why the teams are playing at all, much less on a Friday when that's usually the slowest night of the week in college basketball, it's because it's part of the fifth edition of the Big East-Big 12 Battle. The matchups are jointly determined by the two conferences, with the home team choosing the venue of its game.
It's our second look at the Huskies this week, as we told you they could set an NCAA record for consecutive non-conference wins by double digits Monday by taking care of business against visiting New Hampshire. The Huskies were -32, so there was never much doubt and they rolled 84-64, the team's 24th straight non-conference win by at least 10 points. Yes, that includes the 2023 NCAA Tournament run, but otherwise it has been a relatively weak schedule for the Huskies. UConn has not lost outside of the Big East since falling to New Mexico State in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Seven-footer Donovan Clingan dominated against New Hampshire with 29 points and seven rebounds, but on Friday he'll be opposed by Kansas' All-American big man Hunter Dickinson, a transfer from Michigan. That will be fun to watch.
It will be the fourth all-time meeting between the blue-bloods and the first since the 2016 NCAA Tournament, when top-seeded Kansas beat No. 9 UConn 73-61. The Huskies actually hadn't won a Big Dance game – they beat Colorado in Round 1 that year – since then until last year's title run. UConn, 0-3 in the series, has never played at historic Allen Fieldhouse.
Kansas is considered the better program from a national perspective, but the Huskies have now won five national championships in the past 24 years under three different coaches, with Jim Calhoun leading the program in 1999, 2004 and 2011, Kevin Ollie in 2014 and now Dan Hurley. Kansas has four overall titles to its name with the last coming in 2022 when it staged a huge rally to beat No. 8 North Carolina in the final.
Currently, the Jayhawks are +1100 to cut down the nets on April 8 at State Farm Stadium in Phoenix, while UConn is +1400 to be the first repeat champion since Florida in 2007.
"It's one we've had circled on our calendars for a while," UConn guard Cam Spencer said. "Kansas is a great team, Allen Fieldhouse is definitely a tough place to play. But, I think we're well-prepared."
One key injury note: Touted Huskies freshman Stephon Castle, a top-1o national recruit, hasn't played since Nov. 11 due to a knee issue. While he's close to a return, he won't suit up on Friday. That might be the difference, as he averages 14.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.
Kansas nearly got caught looking ahead to this one. It didn't play well at all Tuesday in a 71-63 home win over Eastern Illinois that was still up for grabs with about five minutes left. The lone loss for Bill Self's team, which was preseason No. 1 in both polls, was against then-No. 4 Marquette in the Maui Invitational, but Kansas also has wins over No. 17 Kentucky and No. 7 Tennessee, both at neutral sites. Kansas has also won 10 straight games against non-conference opponents in Allen Fieldhouse and is an incredible 149-6 (96.2%) vs. non-league foes at home under Self.
UConn has faced one ranked team so far, beating No. 15 Texas by 10. This top-five meeting is a first for UConn since the end of the 2008-09 season and the first in a non-conference game since 1999.
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