Tonight's game is worth watching for those wondering if Villanova (16-1, 5-0) is deserving of their number four ranking (they are) and to see their top flight defense face the nation's second leading scorer, Doug McDermott (24.9 ppg). McDermott's team, Creighton (15-3, 4-1) is having a good year, too, though not good enough to keep them in the rankings after a 13 point loss to Providence (13-5, 3-2), or the same team that lost to the Wildcats by 30 points earlier in the conference season. The Blue Jays haven't beaten a ranked opponent all year.

Jay Wright's humble, mostly selfless group of players will at least be mentally ready to stop McDermott, according to a quote Wright gave to ESPN.

"Last Sunday, when (the Bluejays) played Xavier, I was out recruiting and I asked the guys, 'Did you see the game?'" Wright said. "They said yes. I asked 'How do you think Creighton beat Xavier?' and they just said 'Dougie McBuckets.' They all really respect him and it made me feel good that our players respect him because I think he is a consummate all-around basketball player and I like that our guys like him because it tells me about their intelligence and their basketball IQ."

Look for McDermot to compete against a variety of Wildcat defenders as Wright prefers to keep his rotations frequent and thus his matchups varied. Because of his team's mobile help defense, however, likely every man will get close to the potential player of the year.

FYI: By virtue of their 16-1 season, the Wildcats probably boosted two programs they narrowly defeated to a higher position in the latest rankings: #8 Kansas (13-4) and #10 Iowa (15-3). Both were living in the teens before the newest polls.

I haven't yet seen Creighton play this year so I'm interested to specifically see how they use McDermott. Unlike the Blue Jays, Villanova doesn't really have one superstar, but two guys who can beat their man and create their own shots (JayVaughn Pinkston and Darrun Hilliard) a slew of shooters (Ryan Acridiacono, James Bell, Hilliard, Kris Jenkins), one of the most underrated and mature freshman in college basketball (Josh Hart) and a few decent auxiliary guards. I think 'Nova's depth will be too great though I don't believe they'll completely shut down McDermott. It'll still be enough for a 6.5 cover.

For live radio broadcast, try here.

Regular season: 1-3

Picking Schedule:

Butler @ Creighton: L (picked Butler, +10.5)

UConn @ Memphis: L (picked Memphis, -7.5)

Depaul @ Villanova: W (picked Villanova, -17.5)

Pittsburg @ Syracuse: L (picked Syracuse, -5.5)