It's not a particularly busy weekend for college basketball in the Chicago area, but there are still a few notable games worth touching on here. The DePaul Blue Demons aren't playing over the weekend after ending a five-game losing streak by beating Rutgers on Wednesday, but Illinois, Northwestern and Notre Dame are all suiting up.
The marquee game of the weekend among those three teams is definitely the Fighting Irish's, as they go on the road to visit No. 19 Connecticut in battle of Big East foes. Notre Dame is coming off a pair of impressive victories- against then-No. 1 Syracuse and on the road against Seton Hall- but the Huskies should pose a major challenge.
The two teams already played earlier this month, with Connecticut taking a 67-53 victory in South Bend. The Huskies may be vulnerable now, though, coming off consecutive losses. Since beating Notre Dame on Jan. 14, UConn has lost to both Cincinnati and Tennessee.
Also, Illinois visits Minnesota and Northwestern travels to Purdue in a pair of Big Ten match-ups, both of those games occurring on Saturday.
The Fighting Illini are coming off consecutive losses to Penn State and Wisconsin and play No. 11 Michigan State following the Minnesota game, so they could be looking at a four-game losing streak potentially. Northwestern has also struggled lately, with a win against then-No. 7 Michigan State being the team's lone win in its past five games.
For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Chicago. For more in-depth coverage, visit Illinois blog Hail to the Orange, Northwestern blog Sippin' On Purple and Notre Dame blog One Foot Down. For more from around college hoops, head over to SB Nation's NCAA basketball news hub.