After the most recent Tennessee visit, the Vols are in the “top two” for in-state DL targets.
Last weekend, a Nashville, Tennessee, Class of 2025 defensive lineman who has previously made multiple trips to Tennessee returned to Knoxville.
Amir Leonard-Jean Charles has become plenty familiar with Tennessee throughout his recruitment, visiting the Vols several times since his freshman year of high school. Most of his trips to Knoxville have come within the past several months.
You can’t win the conference title in early February, but you can certainly lose it. Saturday’s jam-packed college basketball slate could serve as the pivot point in multiple high-level races. Arizona can seize control of the Pac-12 if it can go on the road and knock off Colorado. Auburn, South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee are all tied atop the SEC standings in the loss column. All four play on Saturday desperately needing to hold serve.
The Big Ten race might be down to just Purdue and Illinois after Wisconsin’s three-game slide. If Illinois wants to stick in the chase, a road win over a desperate Michigan State club feels like a must. The ACC was shaping up to be a runaway train for UNC, but losses to Clemson and Georgia Tech have raised the stakes. Virginia and Duke are looming, just one game back in the loss column, while UNC has to hit the road to play an always-dangerous Miami club.
This is as good as it gets.
You know the drill. Some quick-hitting thoughts on some of the top matchups.
No. 19 Creighton at Xavier (12:30 pm ET, FOX): Opponents are shooting just 52% at the rim against Xavier. Are Trey Alexander and Ryan Kalkbrenner in for tough days?
TCU at No. 14 Iowa State (2 pm ET, ESPN2): Iowa State allows the fewest shots at the rim of any team in the country. TCU’s offense has the fourth-highest rim rate of any high-major team. What gives?
No. 6 Tennessee at Texas A&M (8 pm ET, ESPN): If LSU was able to rip down 18 offensive rebounds against Tennessee, does that mean Texas A&M is going to get 100 offensive rebounds? Tennessee’s effort on the glass will loom large.
No. 5 Houston at Cincinnati (4 pm ET, ESPN2): Cincinnati has coughed it up on over 19% of its possessions during Big 12 play. That’s a problem against this Houston defense. Can Viktor Lahkin make the right decisions on the fly?
