The Weekend Ahead: Nov 19-21

Cleveland heads down to New Orleans (9-1) and San Antonio (9-1), two of the hottest teams in the NBA. This might get ugly. The Cavs 5-5 record hasn’t exactly come against some of the NBA’s better teams. Removing the Celtics and Hawks games from consideration, the Cavs are just 4-4 against teams with a combined 20-45 record. This weekend will tell us a lot about this team.

Ohio State faces a no-win situation in Iowa City on Saturday. Iowa is a good team, but No. 20 in the BCS and 4-2 in the Big Ten. A win doesn’t necessarily boost the Buckeyes in the BCS standings and the Hawkeyes are very capable of beating the Buckeyes - especially at home. Plus, Ohio State doesn’t control their own destiny in the Big Ten. Buckeyes, tread carefully here.

The Browns, fresh from their stinging 26-20 OT loss to the Jets head to Florida to square off with the 5-4 Jaguars. The most notable matchup in this game pits Jacksonville’s porous defense (21.4% DVOA ranks 29 out of 32 teams) against the Browns offense is slightly above average (6.1% OVOA ranks 17 out of 32). If the Browns can make some plays in the passing game, they should return home with their third win in four games.

Cincinnati hosts the Bills in what can only be described as a desperation game for the Bengals. Losing to Buffalo at home might just be the game that ensures Marvin Lewis’s departure. Statistically, Cincinnati is much better than their record and should realistically be 5-4 or 4-5 if they could eliminate painful turnovers.

Columbus winds up a Western swing with at tough back-to-back at Anaheim(10-8-3, 23 pts) and San Jose (9-5-4, 22 pts). Columbus at 10-6-0 and 20 points has been a pleasant surprise so far this season, in order to keep pace in the Western Conference, the Jackets must take no less than two points this weekend.

The No. 4 Buckeye hoops hosts North Carolina Wilmington Saturday night. This team looks good so far this season. Let’s hope they can keep their edge after the big win at Florida earlier in the week.