Saddle Up: Happy New Year, kids

Saddle Up is our semi-daily preview of the night's best basketball action. It hopes you have a thoroughly debauchery-filled�(and safe!) New Year's Eve.

No. 13 Minnesota at No. 19 Michigan State, 4 p.m. ET: Michigan State played the tough nonconference schedule. Minnesota is getting the brunt of it in the Big Ten.

A few days after traveling to the Kohl Center for a game at Wisconsin, Minnesota is back on the road Friday with this game in East Lansing. That's the sort of back-to-back brutality you'd never see a high-major schedule during the nonconference season (unless that high-major is, say, Michigan State), but it's part of what makes conference season, and quality conferences like the Big Ten, so great. There's no place to hide.

How do the Gophers get this one? By doing something they haven't done much this season: forcing turnovers. It's no secret turnovers are Michigan State's biggest bugaboo. The Spartans are still among the worst BCS conference teams when it comes to giving the ball away, and that trend has been one of the biggest factors in Michigan State's four losses to date. The Spartans are capable in other facets of the game. When they don't turn the ball over, they hit shots. But Izzo's team turns it over so frequently that it seriously harms their offense, and therein lies Minnesota's opportunity.

Washington at UCLA, 4 p.m. ET: Washington might be the most underrated team in the nation.

If you're into tempo-free statistics -- and if you're not, why not? -- you're probably already familiar with this notion. Washington is unranked in the polls thanks to its three nonconference losses, but the Huskies are No. 5 in the Pomeroy rankings, just behind Pittsburgh and just ahead of Kentucky. Why the disparity? Coaches' poll voters punished Washington for its losses to Kentucky and Michigan State in Maui, and to Texas A&M in College Station; the Pomeroy rankings are slightly less judgmental. (For good reason, too: Losing 63-62 to a top 25 team on the road is not exactly the worst loss in the world, you know?)

In any case, now's the time for the Huskies to start earning back some of that respect, to prove going forward that it will be able to win road games commensurate to its skill. This is one of those road games. It's not an easy game by any means. UCLA has been inconsistent, but it has beaten BYU in Salt Lake City and took Kansas to the wire in Lawrence. It also handled Washington State -- which made a surprising run in the Diamond Head Classic last week -- at home Wednesday night.

This is a test for the Huskies, but it's a test they should pass. At some point, you have to shed the underrated label. At some point, your wins represent who you are. So who is Washington?

Everywhere else: Being the quasi-holiday that it is, much of New Year's Eve's action is already underway. ... South Florida goes to UConn at 6 p.m. ET. ... Xavier fans will be munching their fried alligator when Florida arrives in Cincinnati at 4 p.m. ET. ... Washington State plays at USC. ... Cincinnati will look to go to 14-0 -- yes, 14-0 -- in its first Big East game, a home date with Seton Hall. ... Oklahoma State travels to Gonzaga for a sneaky-good matchup of as-yet-unproven fringe NCAA tournament teams. ... And Indiana, fresh off a home loss to Penn State, will try to keep Jared Sullinger from popping off 40 and 20 in Bloomington. Avert your eyes, IU fans. And Happy New Year, everyone.

Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/20451/saddle-up-happy-new-year-kids

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