Which Undefeated is in the Most Trouble Today?

With Duke losing at Florida St. there is now less than a handful of unbeatens in college basketball, three of which are in a power six conference. All are in action today, so who is in the most danger of a loss? Number two Ohio St. is at home to face Penn St., Kansas welcomes Nebraska into the Phog, Syracuse is at home in the dome to host Cincinnati, and San Diego State is the only one of the four to travel, heading to New Mexico.

Let's discuss them in order of most likely to lose:

1. San Diego State is the most likely of the four to lose today, and that is not a bias opinion against a mid-major, but rather looking at a team who is for the most part a surprise, and a team that is going on the road. First things first, New Mexico is a tough place to play, the Lobos have only lost once at The Pit in the last two seasons, including 8-0 this year.

Going on the road is a tough thing to do, especially in conference (just ask Duke), so this should be a tough game against the two-time defending Mountain West champions. Also, in the last three games the margin of victory for the Aztecs has been a steady decrease from 12 to nine and finally only a six point win against a talented UNLV team. So while the Aztecs will probably win this game, the location and level of competition does put them as the most vulnerable team to lose today.

2. As much as I hate to say it, without being a complete homer, the Syracuse Orange would have to be the second most likely undefeated to fall today. Though they are at the dome, they are playing probably the best team of the day amongst the undefeated opponents. Cincinnati has only one loss to their credit, no matter how you slice it, and they are a long and athletic team that could slow the Orange attack. Not to mention that over the years, Syracuse does tend to struggle with weekend games that start at noon.

Also, Syracuse has a huge, and I mean HUGE, game coming up on Monday where they travel to play at Pittsburgh. It would not be a shock if there was a little bit of anticipation for this game, a slight chance that they may be caught looking ahead to that potentially Big East changing game on Martin Luther King Day.

Syracuse should hold steady and win this game, the 2-3 zone should take control and shut down the Bearcats who will struggle trying to shoot over the top. ESPN and the fans certainly hope so, setting up that big game in front of the Oakland Zoo.

3. Ohio St. has to be next, simply because at home or not, Penn St. has two wins over teams that are in the top 25 and were picked to finish in the upper half of the Big 10 this year. Penn St. has the ability to play defense and slow the game down, really control the tempo, and Ohio St. has to be able to adapt and play through Jared Sullinger, which they certainly have no problem doing.

If this game were at Penn St. it would probably be at the top of the list, simply because the success that the Nittany Lions have seen thus far at home. It does come ahead of Kansas however, because they have had close games lately in conference against Iowa and then Michigan, But that being said, Ohio St. may not win this game by a lot, or even double digits, but they should have no problems entering Sunday morning still with an unblemished record.

4. Finally, Kansas rounds out the list, with a very winnable game against Nebraska at The Phog. Nebraska has not won at Kansas in this millennium, and it would seem highly unlikely that it would start now. Nebraska is however 13-3 and coming off of a good showing at top 15 team Missouri. Kansas is another story though, with the Morris twins both playing at an extremely high level right now, and both coming off of double-doubles in a win at Iowa State.

Kansas should go into Allen Fieldhouse undefeated, and leave there the same way.

With all this being said, it should make for an interesting Monday to see where all of these teams will end up in the rankings. Who will be number 1? Ohio St? Kansas? It will all sort itself out today.