Oklahoma's opener Thursday didn't go as planned for Hollis Price.

Road wins are the difference between Final Four teams and simply good, NCAA Tournament teams. Duke does it. Maryland, Kansas and Oklahoma have done it this season. During its 20-game winning streak, No. 5 Cincinnati did at Xavier and South Florida.
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Monday Iowa at Indiana, (ESPN, 7 p.m. ET): This could be an elimination game for the Hawkeyes. Iowa needs to get a split in this series after the Hoosiers dismissed the Hawkeyes in Iowa City. Indiana has to keep pace with Ohio State in the Big Ten. Tuesday Virginia at N.C. State, (ESPN2, 7:30 ET): Could the Cavs' lose four straight games? Possibly. N.C. State still needs to position itself for an NCAA bid. Beating the Cavs would certainly build a better case. Cincinnati at Charlotte, (ESPN2, 9:30 ET): This has become one of the better rivalries in Conference USA. If Charlotte can pull the upset then they suddenly become the favorite with Marquette to win the league. USC at UCLA: The Bruins have circled this game for nearly a month after losing to the Trojans at the Forum. A USC sweep would crush any hopes the Bruins have of winning the Pac-10. UCLA has a tough week, traveling east to Villanova Saturday. Wednesday Hawaii at SMU: Hawaii is control of the WAC title with Tulsa still needing to come to the Islands but the Rainbow Warriors can give Tulsa more hope if they fall flat on this trip to SMU and Louisiana Tech. Gonzaga at Santa Clara/San Diego, Thursday and Saturday: The Bulldogs go on the road to two of the tougher spots in the WCC. Gonzaga needs to get the sweep to stay on Pepperdine's heels. Penn at Yale, Friday: The Quakers have slipped and are now in a must-win situation on the road at Yale and then Saturday at Brown. The Bulldogs are trying to keep pace with Princeton, Brown and Harvard. Saturday Cincinnati at Wake Forest, (ABC, noon ET): The Bearcats could be reeling or on a high depending on what happens at Charlotte earlier in the week. Wake Forest will want to run with the Bearcats and Skip Prosser knows this team well after coaching at Xavier prior to Wake Forest. Texas Tech at Kansas: This will be Bob Knight's first experience at Texas Tech at the loudest arena in the league. The Jayhawk fans will likely be relentless on Knight and the Red Raiders. More games to watch

Player of the Week Rick Rickert, F, Minnesota OK, we're sure we'll get some flak from Casey Jacobsen fans on why Rickert got the nod over him, but the reality is the Gophers won twice this week at home and put themselves in position for an NCAA Tournament bid. Stanford got a split at home. And the reason for the Gophers rise in the Big Ten can be attributed to the 6-10 freshman. Rickert scored 27 in the upset over Indiana (can we call a home conference win an upset anymore?) and 26 in a win over Penn State earlier in the week. Rickert made nine shots in each game, going 5 of 9 on 3s in the two games. He was 12 of 18 from the free-throw line in the two games and grabbed 11 boards. Rickert is averaging 14 points in 26 minutes a game, maximizing his time on the court. The Gophers (13-7, 6-3) have won three in a row, including wins over top two Big Ten teams, Ohio State and Indiana. But the question is how will the Gophers do with four of their next five on the road. If they can come out of that 3-2 or 4-1, then they've got a chance to still win the Big Ten and ensure themselves an NCAA berth. Going 1-4 or 2-3 could crush their chances for a bid, let alone the Big Ten title. Past players of the week Team of Week Oregon The Ducks have never won the Pac-10. They've never even been in first place at the halfway point of the Pac-10 season. But Oregon is doing everything it can to get into the NCAA Tournament, let alone win the Pac-10 by taking care of business at home. Oregon squashed UCLA on McArthur Court and then got by USC in what was a first-place showdown in Eugene (the Duck fans were a bit out of line with a few comments about USC coach Henry Bibby, though). Oregon (17-5, 9-2) still has four brutal road games and might have to come out of it with a split for a chance to win the Pac-10. The Ducks go to the Bay Area to play Stanford and Cal this week, and after three home games against Oregon State and the Washington schools, the Ducks end the Pac-10 regular season at the L.A. schools. Past teams of the week

Supporting Cast CASEY JACOBSEN, Sryracuse: Jacobsen scored 49 points, that's right 49 points in the win over Arizona State on Thursday night. He scored 24 in the loss to Arizona two nights later. Jacobsen, who criticized himself for not being as tough earlier in the season, has become an even better player with Curtis Borchardt becoming a factor in the middle. Defenses have to respect Borchardt and that opens up shots for Jacobsen. Jacobsen's passes, a few to Borchardt, have also improved over the last few weeks. CASEY JACOBSEN, Sryracuse: The senior forward has been on a tear and is the favorite right now for WAC player of the year. He hung 20 on Boise State and 32 on UTEP over the weekend for Hawaii's home sweep. Savovic's line against UTEP was near perfect with 10 of 15 overall, 3 of 4 on 3s, 9 of 11 at the line. The Rainbow Warriors (19-3, 10-1) are still a game ahead of Tulsa in the WAC. They've got a critical road swing this week to SMU and Louisiana Tech. CASEY JACOBSEN, Sryracuse: The 6-2 junior guard scored 27 points in the upset over Syracuse on Saturday, after going for 27 in the Scarlet Knight's win over Connecticut. Coleman is leading the resurgence at the RAC under Gary Waters. Rutgers suddenly made itself a factor in the Big East with the home sweep of two Big East heavyweights. Rutgers has already beaten Georgetown at home. The question is whether or not the Scarlet Knights can take this act on the road and win. Rutgers still has Notre Dame twice, games at Georgetown, and Pittsburgh and a home game against Miami over the next three weeks. CASEY JACOBSEN, Sryracuse: The senior forward has been sensational in getting the Volunteers back in the win column in the SEC. Tennessee swept a pair of road games at LSU and Vanderbilt behind Yarbrough's 24 and 21 points, respectively. The scoring load has shifted to Yarbrough since the departure of Ron Slay because of a torn ACL. Tennessee isn't going to the NCAA Tournament, unless it wins the SEC tourney, but the Vols can have a say in who wins the SEC regular-season titles with Yarbrough (18.4 ppg) scoring as well as he is lately. CASEY JACOBSEN, Sryracuse: It has taken a few seasons, but Johnsen is finally playing the way he was expected to perform when he came back from a Mormon Church Mission. Johnsen is a scorer and he's finally exhibiting those skills for the Utes. He put up 20 points last Monday in the win over BYU and then scored 28 on Colorado State on Sunday. Johnsen's production has been a big plus for the Utes, especially since Chris Burgess went down. Johnsen is getting to the line, too, making 17 of 28 free throws in the two games.

Freshmen Watch

CARMELO ANTHONY Syracuse Began his career with 27 point in the Garden; follwed up with 50 in Dome.	CARMELO ANTHONY Syracuse Began his career with 27 point in the Garden; follwed up with 50 in Dome.	CARMELO ANTHONY Syracuse Began his career with 27 point in the Garden; follwed up with 50 in Dome.	CARMELO ANTHONY Syracuse Began his career with 27 point in the Garden; follwed up with 50 in Dome.

CARMELO ANTHONY: hurch Mission. Johnsen is a scorer and he's finally exhibiting those skills for the Utes. He put up 20 points last Monday in the win over BYU and then scored 28 on Colorado State on Sunday. Johnsen's production has been a big plus for the Utes, especially since Chris Burgess went down. Johnsen is getting to the line, too, making 17 of 28 free throws in the two games.

CARMELO ANTHONY: hurch Mission. Johnsen is a scorer and he's finally exhibiting those skills for the Utes. He put up 20 points last Monday in the win over BYU and then scored 28 on Colorado State on Sunday. Johnsen's production has been a big plus for the Utes, especially since Chris Burgess went down. Johnsen is getting to the line, too, making 17 of 28 free throws in the two games.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com. His Weekly Watch, a look back at the week and a preview of the week ahead, runs every Monday.