John Clay's Sidelines

Wednesday

• 
  Cincinnati at Xavier (7:00, espn2): The Crosstown Shootout could be a mismatch this year. Xavier is one of the top 20 or so teams in the country. Cincinnati is lucky to be 4-4 and lost at Illinois State last time out.

Thursday

• Miami at Mississippi State (8:00, fsn): Miami is off to a 9-0 starting against a fairly easy schedule. Best win was over VCU in Puerto Rico tournament. Mississippi State is 5-3, but all three losses have been respectable.

Saturday

• Oklahoma State at Pittsburgh (12:00, espn): Oklahoma State coach Sean Sutton will be sweating this one out at Pitt, which survived a scare at Washington last week.

• UAB vs. Kentucky at Louisville (2:00, espn): Mike Davis returns to Freedom Hall, this time as coach of the Blazers. Kentucky is trying to shake off last week’s 70-51 loss at Indiana.

• Arkansas at Oklahoma (3:00, espn2): Oklahoma lost to visiting Stephen F. Austin over the weekend, so John Pelphrey and the Razorbacks should have a shot in Norman.

• Louisville vs. Purdue at Indianapolis (3:30, cbs): Louisville will be without Derek Caracter, suspended indefinitely. That gives the Boilermakers an excellent chance in the Wooden Tradition.

• Xavier at Arizona State (4:00, fsn): Herb Sendek has Arizona State off to a 6-2 start, with losses to Illinois in Maui and to Nebraska in Lincoln.

• Ohio at Kansas (5:00, espn2): Kansas has a way of struggling in these types of games. Will be interesting to see if the Jayhawks keep their focus, especially with Georgia Tech on deck for Tuesday.

• Memphis vs Middle Tennessee in Nashville (7:00, espn2): Memphis, possibly the best team in the country, shouldn’t have a problem in Murfreesboro this game at Nashville.

Sunday

• North Carolina at Rutgers (8:00, espn): Roy Williams takes his traveling road show to New Jersey.