Three Bold Predictions For Sunday's Massive Virginia-Arkansas Matchup

The college basketball season is not a week old yet, but arguably the biggest game the country has seen so far this young season is going down tomorrow in Washington D.C.

No. 9 Virginia is going to face No. 12 Arkansas in what is going to be the first major test for both teams. The Cavaliers have faced Drexel and Northeastern to start their season, while the Razorbacks have beaten Arkansas-Pine Bluff. No November game is a must win, especially with NCAA Tournament expansion, but a win here would be huge for seeding when March comes along.

UVA head coach Ryan Odom knows how big this game is and how talented of a team the Razorbacks are:

"They have a tremendous coach, too, a Hall of Fame coach. So it'll be a tough game. We need all the Virginia fans. If you haven't bought a ticket yet, get it. It's right up the road here. It's going to be a great matchup, and we're looking forward to it. There's no question about it.

But they get out and run. They're really aggressive in transition. They have a tremendous amount of talent. They share the ball really well. They can shoot it. They've got big guys by the rim.

If you're attacking them, they'll throw it over your head and they'll dunk it. We're going to have to be on our game to have a chance to win. There's no question about it."

When looking at this game, here are three bold predictions.

1. Chance Mallory sets a new career high

After a tough opener against Drexel, a game that saw Mallory turn the ball over six times, he responded by setting a new career high with 20 points, including five assists, and four steals.

While not a disaster, Arkansas's real strength is not the defensive end of the floor. I think that is going to set up Mallory to score and he will have a big day in D.C.

2. Virginia gets double-digit steals

It is very, very early, but UVA is one of the top teams in the country when it comes to taking the ball away. They are currently averaging 15 steals per game, including a 21 steal performance vs Drexel and I think that Odom is going to try and put a lot of pressure on the ball handlers for Arkansas.

After the game against Drexel, Odom talked about how much he loved his team's aggressiveness:

"I like the aggressiveness. I was hoping for more at the beginning of the second half, and we didn't really see it. You have to give Drexel credit — they came out and were more physical, and we settled for poor shots and weren't great in the half court. And we certainly have got to get we got to get better there. We can't play that way out of halftime when we played a pretty good half overall. Got to be able to to do it again. And thankfully, the guys did a nice job to to finish it out."

3. UVA gets two bench players in double-digits

The bench for Virginia has been disappointing to start the season, with only Elijah Gertrude really contributing on a major basis. He is averaging 9.5 points per game so far and I think that he is going to be in double-digits tomorrow.

But I think to beat a team like Arkansas, they are going to have to find more contributors to make a difference. Could it be Jurian Dixon? Could Kalu Anya have a big game? I don't know, but I think that Odom is going to find a hot hand and that will be a big reason the Cavaliers get the win.

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