By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Both the UTSA men’s and women’s basketball teams will face nationally-ranked teams from power conferences Sunday. The men will play the 12th-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide at 1 p.m. in Tuscaloosa, while the women will take on the No. 14 Baylor Lady Bears at 2 p.m. in Waco.

UTSA men at No. 12 Alabama

Records

UTSA 4-4
Alabama 6-2

The skinny: Coming off a 24-point home loss to South Alabama, the Roadrunners travel to take on one of the nation’s top programs, featuring one of the best guards in the nation. Alabama’s Labaron Philon Jr. averages 21.6 points and 5.4 assists. The 6-4 sophomore from Mobile tied a season high with 29 points Wednesday night at home in a 90-84 victory over Clemson.

UTSA women at No. 14 Baylor

Records

UTSA 3-4
Baylor 8-1

The skinny: After losing at home by 27 against the UNLV Lady Rebels, the Roadrunners will go on the road to meet the once-beaten Bears. Guard Taliah Scott, a transfer from Auburn, ranks as the seventh leading scorer in the nation with a 23.7 average. Darianna Littlepage-Buggs is a force inside with 10.9 rebounds per game. Baylor beat UNLV 62-54 at home on Nov. 15.

Notable

Both the UTSA men’s and women’s teams are riding long losing streaks against teams from power conferences. In other words, teams from conferences that produce the most revenue.

The men have dropped 28 in a row against power foes. Their last win over such a program came in 2009 when they beat the Big Ten’s Iowa Hawkeyes 62-50 on Nov. 15, 2009 in Iowa City.

The women have also lost 28 straight, including setbacks this season to Texas Tech, Houston and Auburn. Their last win over a power program came on Dec. 20, 2010 when they defeated the Big 12’s Kansas State Wildcats 72-55 in San Antonio.

When the streaks started in 2009, there were five power conferences — the Big 12, the SEC, the ACC, the Big Ten and the Pac-12. In the past two years, the Pac 12 fractured, leaving the others to comprise what is known now as the Power Four.