NCAA Weekly Dish - 01/06/06

With conference season ready to begin its first full Saturday, Matt Fargo takes a look at three big games on tap that you cannot miss. Cincinnati Bearcats at Marquette Golden Eagles 12:00 PM ET Cincinnati heads to Marquette for the second C-USA game of the season for both teams. Sorry, make that the second Big East game for both teams. In what was always billed as the one of the top C-USA games of the year, the series shifts to a bigger conference but no luster is lost in this battle. It's early and both teams are only 1-0 in conference action but this is a huge game for both sides to get an early jump in the super conference. Marquette comes in off a huge win on Tuesday over then second ranked Connecticut so trying to match that effort for a second straight game will be difficult. The good news for the Golden Eagles is that they remain home for this one as a trip on the road would have been extremely tough. They are 7-1 at home this year with the only loss coming at home in their opener to a strong Winthrop team. This is the sixth straight home game for Marquette with the previous five all won by double digits. Cincinnati easily handled DePaul on Wednesday in its first ever Big East game and will now be playing its first true road game since December 10th. It will only be the second road game all season for the Bearcats but they took care of Vanderbilt in the first one, handing the Commodores their only home loss of the season. The Cincinnati offense has been on a tear, scoring 75 or more points in all but one game this season as it is averaging 83.1 ppg on the season. This has been an interesting series over the past four seasons. Marquette had three straight wins starting in 2001, followed by two straight wins by Cincinnati, two straight wins by Marquette and then two straight wins by Cincinnati. The Golden Eagles have covered seven of the last nine meetings and have won three straight on their home floor. The defenses of both teams are solid but the offenses have been scoring enough to send 16 of the 20 combined lined games over the total. Colorado Buffaloes at Texas Longhorns 4:00 PM ET This is a good way to kick off the Big XII season as two teams a combined 21-3 square off in Austin. This matchup usually doesn't bring a lot of excitement to the table and could be a dud again this time around. Colorado started last year a solid 8-3 in non-conference action and then traveled to Oklahoma for its Big XII opener and was smashed by 30 points. Texas does have one loss at home this season and has yet to defeat a quality opponent on its home floor. The Buffaloes may be the country's most surprising team thus far as they are off to a 10-1 start with the only loss coming against state rival Colorado St. Colorado was picked to finish middle of the pack in the Big XII and that very well could happen as the hot start could be a fa