Friday Look Ahead: Big weekend in another big season for Big East

The Big East's four highest-ranked teams -- No. 4 Villanova, No. 5 Syracuse, No. 10 West Virginia and No. 11 Georgetown -- are meeting this weekend in a pair of games that will help shape the league race and offer a possible preview of the conference tournament semifinals. In hindsight, it's hilarious that this was projected as a "down" year for the league. Nothing down about it at all.

Let's do the Friday Look Ahead ...

Best game of the weekend: Most experts have concluded either Syracuse or West Virginia will win the Big East. Of course, Villanova will probably have something to say about that. But assuming the experts are correct, Saturday's game between the Orange and Mountaineers could decide the league champion. This is the lone regular-season meeting scheduled between Jim Boeheim and Bob Huggins.

Another interesting matchup: It's worth noting, as this Big East race unfolds, that Syracuse and Pittsburgh have an advantage because the schedules aren't balanced. The Big East requires every member to play 12 teams once and three teams twice for a total of 18 games. The teams Syracuse plays twice are No. 11 Georgetown, unranked Louisville and unranked Providence while Pitt gets No. 10 West Virginia, unranked Seton Hall and unranked St. John's twice. Meantime, Villanova plays West Virginia, Georgetown and unranked Marquette twice while West Virginia meets No. 4 Villanova, No. 16 Pittsburgh and unranked Seton Hall twice. In other words, Syracuse and Pitt have simpler league schedules than Villanova and West Virginia. That's something to keep in mind as you watch Villanova-Georgetown on Sunday.

Yet another interesting matchup: I'm on record stating that all but roughly 15 schools would have five losses if they'd played North Carolina's schedule to date, point being that it's silly for AP voters to suggest the 12th-ranked Tar Heels should fall from the national rankings after their loss at Clemson. But if they lose at home Saturday to Georgia Tech, by all means, feel free to drop them however far you like.

Guaranteed to be a blowout: Tennessee used six scholarship players to dismantle Auburn on Thursday. So if six scholarship players can dismantle Auburn, what do you think No. 2 Kentucky and its three lottery picks (John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Patrick Patterson) will do to the Tigers on Saturday?

Guaranteed to be an upset: The obvious choice is unranked Ohio State over No. 13 Wisconsin, but that hardly seems fair considering the Buckeyes have Evan Turner back and are coming off a win at Purdue while Wisconsin is playing without Jon Leuer. So let's skip that and go with unranked Michigan over No. 15 Connecticut. I mean, the Huskies have dropped two straight already. No reason they can't also lose at Michigan on Sunday, even if Michigan has been mostly disappointing this season.

Player trying to keep rolling: Mark Few has built Gonzaga into a consistently relevant program by enrolling talented prospects and turning them into professionals over the course of three or four years. But Elias Harris is different, and he's looking more and more like the Zags' first one-and-done star. The freshman from Germany finished with 31 points and 13 rebounds Thursday in the Zags' win at St. Mary's. He's now averaging 15.2 points and 7.9 rebounds. Similar numbers should ensure a win Saturday at San Diego.

Player trying to get rolling: Cole Aldrich is great, and it would be wise for his Kansas teammates to realize it, feed him the ball and get back to looking like a Final Four team Saturday against Texas Tech. Aldrich has finished with a total of nine field goal attempts in his past two games. He scored seven points in a loss to Tennessee, then six in a win at Nebraska. That's not the formula for a title.

Three things you need to know

1. Saturday's game between No. 7 Michigan State and Illinois is technically for first place in the Big Ten, but it's not a game between the Big Ten's best two teams. Yes, the Spartans and Illini are both 4-0 in the league. But it's important to realize that Illinois' four wins have come against Northwestern, Iowa, Indiana and Penn State -- four teams that are a combined 2-14 in the Big Ten.

2. On the other end of the spectrum, there is nothing misleading about Pittsburgh's 4-0 start in the Big East. Three of the wins are at Syracuse, at Cincinnati and at Connecticut. Next up is Saturday's game with Louisville. A win over the Cards combined with a Villanova loss to Georgetown would leave Pitt alone atop the Big East standings.

3. Two ACC Player of the Year candidates -- perhaps the best two -- will meet Sunday when Wake Forest visits No. 8 Duke. On one side is Al-Farouq Aminu, who is averaging 17.3 points and 11.7 rebounds for the Demon Deacons. On the other is Jon Scheyer, averaging 19.6 points and 6.0 assists for the Blue Devils.

Final thought: Nobody should die when they're young.

Nobody should die when they've just become a father.

And nobody should die on a basketball court.

So, on multiple levels, Thursday night's death of Southern Indiana's Jeron Lewis is heartbreaking, just a terribly sad story for which there is no rational explanation. He was 21 years old. He was on track to graduate. He had left the team briefly in December, not because of an arrest or suspension, but because he wanted to be present for the birth of his first son.

The baby's name is Jamel.

He'll now never get a chance to know his father.

Like I said, just a terribly sad and heartbreaking story.