More feasting: Marquee college hoops games continue the week after Thanksgiving holiday tournaments

Thanksgiving is a great time to be a college basketball fan with all the holiday tournaments and marquee matchups.

The feast of high-level hoops doesn’t end there.

This week will feature another trove of must-see games, including 10 between AP Top 25 opponents. No. 4 Duke, No. 6 Louisville and No. 18 Kentucky double up on tough games, each playing two ranked opponents within days of each other.

The Blue Devils (8-0) tip it off Tuesday against reigning national champion and No. 15 Florida, then head to East Lansing to face No. 7 Michigan State on Saturday.

Duke and star freshman Cam Boozer have passed three big tests already, beating Texas, No. 21 Kansas at Madison Square Garden and No. 25 Arkansas in Chicago.

Florida (5-2) has in-state wins over Miami and Florida State, but slipped up against TCU last week.

Michigan State (7-0) has rolled through a difficult schedule, beating Arkansas, Kentucky and No. 16 North Carolina with the usual hard-nosed brand of basketball coach Tom Izzo loves. On Tuesday, the Spartans first have to play Iowa, a team that’s undefeated (7-0) and on the cusp of being ranked.

Louisville (7-0) has backed up its first NCAA Tournament berth in six seasons with a stellar start in its second season under coach Pat Kelsey. Led by Xavier transfer Ryan Conwell and stellar freshman Mikel Brown Jr., the Cardinals score in a hurry, eclipsing 100 points in four games already — most since 1989-90.

Louisville beat rival Kentucky last month and faces two stiff tests at No. 25 Arkansas on Wednesday and against No. 22 Indiana in Indianapolis on Saturday.

John Calipari’s Razorbacks took Michigan State down to the wire in early December and are coming off an 80-71 loss to Duke in Chicago.

The Hoosiers aren’t yet ranked, but are off to a 7-0 start in their first season under former West Virginia coach Darian DeVries and his sharpshooting son, Tucker.

Kentucky (5-2) has yet to find a groove as injuries and turnovers have piled up. The Wildcats have won their games against smaller-conference schools by an average of 41.4 points per game, but were no match for Michigan State and lost to Louisville.

Kentucky opens its tough week Tuesday at home against No. 16 North Carolina and fantastic freshman Caleb Wilson, who’s often been the best player on the floor in every game.

The Wildcats don’t have much time to prepare for another difficult matchup on Friday, facing No. 11 Gonzaga in Nashville. The Zags blew through their first seven games before having the tables turned in a 101-61 loss to No. 3 Michigan in the Players Era Championship, the worst loss in Mark Few’s 902-game career as Gonzaga’s coach.

Huskies and Jayhawks

No. 5 UConn again looks like a national title contender behind preseason All-American Alex Karaban, high-scoring guard Solo Ball and former Georgia point guard Silas Demary Jr.

The Huskies (6-1) have wins over No. 9 BYU and No. 14 Illinois, but lost to No. 2 Arizona by four at home a couple of weeks ago.

UConn’s next test will be Tuesday at No. 21 Kansas.

The Jayhawks (6-2) are coming off an 81-76 win over Tennessee and are hoping to have star freshman Darryn Peterson back after he missed six games with a hamstring injury. The game also will be played at Allen Fieldhouse, so the Huskies will certainly have their hands full.

Saturday’s slate

Anyone wanting a basketball break from the conference football championship games on Saturday will have some good choices.

Purdue was No. 1 in the AP preseason poll for the first time this year and has looked unstoppable so far, picking up wins over Alabama, Memphis and No. 19 Texas Tech.

The Boilermakers (7-0) will need to be their best against No. 10 Iowa State.

The Cyclones (7-0) moved up five places in this week’s AP Top 25 after edging No. 23 St. John’s, then blowing out Creighton and Syracuse at the Players Era Championship.

Arizona rose to No. 2 last week and cruised to two lopsided victories. The Wildcats won’t figure to have it quite as easy when No. 20 Auburn visits McKale Center.

The Tigers still have some things to work out in their first season under Steven Pearl — a 30-point loss to Michigan is evidence of that — but they have a stellar 1-2 punch in UCF transfer Keyshawn Hall and dynamic guard Tahaad Pettiford.

Two teams coming off tough losses will meet in Nashville when No. 13 Tennessee faces No. 14 Illinois.

The Vols came up just short in their loss to Kansas after beating No. 8 Houston, and the Illini are looking to bounce back from a 13-point loss to UConn.

NET rankings

The NCAA’s initial NET rankings looked a little different than the AP poll.

No. 3 Michigan earned the top spot in the NCAA Evaluation Tool, used to rank teams for the NCAA Tournament, followed by Duke and Purdue.

Vanderbilt, ranked No. 17 in the AP poll, was fourth and No. 11 Gonzaga fifth. No. 2 Arizona came in at No. 6 in the NET and fifth-ranked UConn was No. 8 in NET.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball