Ninth-ranked Wichita State will put its 25-game home winning streak on the line when it hosts Houston on Thursday in the first meeting of the new American Athletic Conference rivals since 2005. The Shockers have won 65 of their last 66 home games.

Ohio State looks to stay unbeaten in the Big Ten when it resumes conference play on the road against Iowa on Thursday. The Buckeyes notched impressive victories against Wisconsin 83-58 and Michigan 71-62 in early December before winning four of their next five games, including a 72-59 triumph against Miami (Ohio) on Saturday, to finish the non-conference portion of their schedule and hope to stay hot by beating the Hawkeyes on the road for the first time since Feb. 4, 2014.

Michigan State returns to action for the first time since moving up to No. 1 in the polls on Thursday, when it hosts Maryland in a Big Ten Conference matchup. The Spartans have won 13 consecutive games and four in a row by at least 40 points while the Terrapins enter the contest having captured seven straight, including a home triumph over Penn State on Tuesday.

Arizona State suffered its first loss of the season Saturday in falling 84-78 on the road to rival Arizona. Now, the sixth-ranked Sun Devils face a different road challenge with a two-game, high-altitude trip, beginning with Thursday night’s contest at Colorado in Boulder.

Temple has faced one of the nation’s toughest schedules to date, and it takes on another challenge when it visits No. 20 Cincinnati on Thursday. The Owls are trying to avoid an 0-3 start in American Athletic Conference play, while the Bearcats look to improve to 2-0 in league action.

Tulane possesses the second-highest scoring duo in the American Athletic Conference, but it will look to another guard to help defeat visiting SMU on Thursday. Sophomore point guard Ray Ona Embo will have the task of slowing Shake Milton, who leads SMU in scoring.

Arizona has found its footing, winning eight straight games since a 0-3 trip to the Bahamas over Thanksgiving weekend. The 16^th-ranked Wildcats now look to continue that roll Thursday night at Utah in their first Pac-12 road test. 

UCLA has had to deal with its share of hardships this season, including the suspension of three top freshmen recruits who were caught shoplifting in China, the cancellation of a home game against Montana because of nearby wildfires and then back-to-back losses to Michigan and Cincinnati. But things seems to finally be looking up for Steve Alford's squad which enters Thursday night's game at Stanford in a tie for first place in the Pac-12 Conference with Utah.

After allowing Washington to shoot 67.3 percent in a home loss in their Pac-12 opener, USC showed it could play some aggressive, tough defense when it bounced back Sunday to defeat Washington State 89-71. But the Trojans, who begin their Bay Area road trip at California on Thursday, will be without suspended star forward Chimezie Metu for the first half after he got a little too physical and was ejected for a flagrant 2 foul against the Cougars.

No. 19 Gonzaga will look to defeat Pepperdine for the 34th consecutive time when it visits the cozy on-campus gymnasium in Malibu on Thursday for a West Coast Conference matchup. The Bulldogs have won their last 15 road meetings with Pepperdine and are 37-2 in the overall series during coach Mark Few's tenure.