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joe sullivan | college basketball

The Super Bowl makes this weekend in college basketball look dull

Kyron Cartwright and Providence take on Marquette Saturday.nati harnik/AP file

You can hear it all from the best seat in the house: “Season Ticket”

It’s not a scintillating weekend in college basketball. There are only a handful of good matchups. No great ones.

But that won’t stop me from watching a lot of them before it’s time to focus on the Super Bowl.

Here is the most important prediction of the weekend: Patriots 35, Eagles 14. And I’m not talking about George Mason and Boston College.

Games I’d like to see this weekend:

FRIDAY

Rhode Island at VCU: Rhody has been asking for it, coming off close calls against Duquesne and UMass. In what should be a wild Siegel Center, an upset could happen.

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SATURDAY

Cincinnati at UConn: The Bearcats have to pay attention; this could be dangerous.

Texas Tech at TCU: These teams mirror each other somewhat — both had great starts, then dipped a little bit and are now playing well again. Too close to call.

Providence at Marquette: A victory in Milwaukee would go a long way toward helping the Friars’ NCAA hopes.

Virginia at Syracuse: Syracuse is a much better team at home, so an upset is not impossible. Improbable? Yes.

Kansas State at West Virginia: What a key game for both teams. West Virginia needs to shake its slump (the Mountaineers have lost five of their last six) and K State could use this for résumé-building.

Alabama at Florida: Both teams are coming off losses, so desperation will be in the air.

Vermont at Maryland-Baltimore County: The Catamounts are undefeated in America East, but a possible upset looms here.

Yale at Penn: The Quakers might finally be emerging from the swamp of irrelevance, and a win here would back that up.

Michigan State at Indiana: The Spartans continue to struggle but survive, which will probably be the case in this game too.

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Saint Mary’s at San Diego: Outside of Gonzaga and BYU, this is the only other dangerous road game for the Gaels in the WCC.

SUNDAY

Seton Hall at Villanova: Can anyone in the Big East upset Villanova again? No.

Georgia Tech at BC: The Eagles can’t let this one get away.


Joe Sullivan can be reached at joseph.sullivan@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeSullivan