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Match facts July 26-30, 2016 Start time 10.00 local (04.30 GMT)Big Picture Once upon a time, Sri Lanka beat Australia in a Test series. Like most fairy tales, it was a little bit gruesome - Steve Waugh and Jason Gillespie met grisly fates during Sri Lankas win in the first Test - and somewhat miraculous - persistent rain in the second and third Tests ensured draws that gave Sri Lanka a 1-0 victory. In the coming years, their achievement took on even more mythic proportions. Immediately following that series in 1999, Australia won a world-record 16 consecutive Tests. For a good couple of years, Sri Lanka were the last of the giant-killers.Yet the happy ending of that tour was just that - an ending. Never again have Sri Lanka beaten Australia in a Test, let alone a series. They lost 0-3 at home in 2004 despite the presence of champions such as Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Chaminda Vaas and Sanath Jayasuriya. In 2011, Sangakkara and Jayawardene were still there and Australia were ripe for plucking; having suffered an Ashes debacle at home, Australia had slipped to fifth on the Test rankings, below the fourth-placed Sri Lanka. But still Australia emerged with a series win.Now, the last of those legends have faded into retirement, and everything seems stacked against Sri Lanka. Australia are back on top of the Test rankings, Sri Lanka have slipped to seventh. Australia have more or less a full-strength squad; Sri Lanka have several bowlers injured. Even Muralitharan, he of 800 Test wickets, has changed camps and is coaching the Australians on this tour. But there is one solitary link back to that 1999 triumph - that was the series in which Rangana Herath made his Test debut, and Sri Lankas hopes rest largely on his stocky shoulders this time.Australia are yet to lose a Test under Steven Smiths captaincy, and he will be desperate to ensure that continues on his first tour of Asia as skipper. He will have his strike weapon Mitchell Starc back after a long injury lay-off, and a twin spin attack likely at his disposal. Smith himself is the No.1-ranked Test batsman in the world and his fit-again vice-captain David Warner is eighth. And thats without even mentioning the bloke averaging 95.50. If Sri Lanka want another fairy tale, theyll need a touch of the miraculous once again.Form guide Sri Lanka: DLLLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)? Australia: WWDWWIn the spotlight To overcome Australia, the Sri Lankans may just need something special from a one-man band. Fortunately, they have the Mike Oldfield of cricket. In the past five years, no Test player has accumulated more five-wicket hauls or ten-wicket matches than Rangana Herath. And only one man - Stuart Broad - has equalled him for Man-of-the-Match awards in that time. At home, Herath is an ever-present threat, and no player is more important to Sri Lankas chances in this series. There is no Dhammika Prasad, no Dushmantha Chameera, no Shaminda Eranga. But while Herath remains, Sri Lanka can dream.Last time Australia played a Test series in Sri Lanka, Nathan Lyon was as green as the Adelaide Oval outfield, on which he had not long finished working as a groundsman. He began the tour with five first-class matches to his name and was thrust in at Galle as the latest in a long line of spinners tried since Shane Warnes retirement four years earlier. It would be Lyon who would finally end the spin cycle, signalled by his taking Sangakkaras wicket with the first ball of his career. He returns as Australias most successful Test offspinner of all time, with 195 wickets to his name. Almost certainly on this trip he will become the 16th Australian to the milestone of 200 Test wickets.Team news By naming a squad of 15, Sri Lanka have given themselves plenty of options. A debut for either Dhananjaya de Silva or Roshen Silva seems likely, while the make-up of the attack needs to be determined with so many bowlers unavailable due to injury. Suranga Lakmal is doubtful due to hamstring tightness, which could mean a debut for Vishwa Fernando.Sri Lanka (possible) 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Kaushal Silva, 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Dhananjaya de Silva, 7 Kusal Perera, 8 Dilruwan Perera, 9 Rangana Herath, 10 Vishwa Fernando, 11 Nuwan Pradeep.Australias XI has been confirmed, with the only question-mark in the lead-up having been whether they would opt for two spinners. Steve OKeefes work in the warm-up match - he took 10 wickets and scored an unbeaten 78 - extinguished any doubts, and on match eve Smith announced that OKeefe would be part of the XI.Australia 1 David Warner, 2 Joe Burns, 3 Usman Khawaja, 4 Steven Smith (capt), 5 Adam Voges, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Peter Nevill (wk), 8 Steve OKeefe, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Josh Hazlewood.Pitch and conditions A couple of days out, the Pallekele pitch had a slight covering of grass but that was expected to be shaved off before the Test. It is expected to spin as the match wears on, though perhaps not so much as as it does in Galle.Stats and triviaThe all-time head-to-head record between these two teams is 26 Tests played, 17 wins to Australia, eight draws, and just a single victory for Sri LankaAcross all formats this year, Sri Lanka have won just a single game against Test-playing opposition: a T20 against India back in FebruaryAustralia would need to win at least 2-0 to ensure they do not drop any points on the Test rankings tableQuotes I have trust in all 11 players, but unfortunately our top bowlers are unavailable. But we cant refuse to play the game because of that. We hope the players who do play can do the job. Well have to play very well to beat the No.1 team.Angelo Mathews, the Sri Lanka captainThe challenge for us is batting long periods of time. We know thats what wins games in these conditions.David Warner on Australias challenge in Sri Lanka Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys . 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November is out, December is in, and -- if we may paraphrase some of historys greatest philosophers -- its time to find out what happens when college basketball stops being polite and starts getting real.This may be overstating the case somewhat. November was pretty great, after all, from the Armed Forces Classic openers on Nov. 11 to the wave of fascinating ACC/Big Ten Challenge games in the months final two days. Still, the first Saturday of December feels like the first real college hoops Saturday of the season, an eight-hour afternoon comprising four consecutive, overlapping top-25 tests.No. 11 UCLA at No. 1 Kentucky, Saturday, 12:30 p.m. ET, CBSNowhere does this theme feel more fitting than Lexington, Kentucky, where UCLA, led by point guard Lonzo Ball, will face a downright terrifying No. 1-ranked Kentucky team.Balls pre-Westwood hype felt almost impossibly high entering the season (at least until some ugly shooting in the Bruins August exhibition trip tempered expectations somewhat); the 6-foot-6 guard, ranked fourth in the well-appointed 2016 class, was charged with with nothing less than rescuing UCLA basketball from a chronic case of bad vibes. (Seventeen losses, the Fire Alford-banner flying above Pauley Pavilion, a coach inclined to return a chunk of his contract as a gesture of apology -- these are not exactly signs of a thriving programmatic culture). And you know what? Thus far, he basically has.The Bruins are 8-0 -- five of which, admittedly, came against cupcake opponents at Pauley Pavilion, and all eight of which were played within the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. Still, by this time last season, the Bruins had already fallen to Monmouth (at home) and Wake Forest (on a neutral floor), and werent, even in their best moments (wins against Kentucky and Gonzaga) playing anywhere near the kind of free-wheeling, uptempo offense Ball has made possible. His offensive rating through eight games is 140.2; hes shooting 69.7 percent from 2 and 47.4 percent from 3; hes recording an assist on 38 percent of his available possessions; hes turning it over on less than 17 percent of the same. (After UCLAs hard-fought win against Texas A&M on Sunday, ESPNs Jay Bilas said Ball was Jason Kidd at the same age, which sounded unreasonable ... right up until the point that we looked at these numbers.In the meantime, Ball has relieved many UCLA fans greatest source of stress, by relieving the constant ballhandling and scoring burdens Bryce Alford faced a season ago. Alford is now free to work off the ball, play off screens, locate space and know -- because he is playing alongside a 6-foot-6 future lottery pick who might already be the best passer in college basketball -- that good, open looks will come. Alfords usage is down; his efficiency is way up. Throw in Isaac Hamiltons improvement and the not-inconsiderable skills of freshman forward TJ Leaf, and UCLA is the nations best all-around shooting team to date -- in the top five in both 2-point and 3-point field goal percentage.Still: With all due respect to (possibly slightly underrated) Texas A&M and even (less possibly slightly underrated) Nebraska, its safe to say Ball and his Bruins havent seen anything like Kentucky yet.True story: On Monday night, Kentucky beat Arizona State 115-69. On a neutral floor. With 83 possessions. In 40 minutes.?DeAaron Fox, whose game looks like a left-handed John Walls, posted the second triple-double in UK basketball history in the win. Malik Monk did this. No, seriously: Kentucky looks terrifying.And still: Depending on where you come down on Michigan State -- talented, young, banged uup, well see seems like the appropriate landing place here -- it may be just as safe to say that Kentucky has yet to see a team as good as UCLA.dddddddddddd It certainly hasnt seen one playing this well, or one led by a guard like Ball.Whether the Bruins have a sincere chance of winning at Rupp Arena is almost beside the point; in Lexington on Saturday the sheer fact of a win or a loss will matter far less than the kind of performance that preceded it. Just how good are these guys anyway?No. 7 Xavier at No. 9 Baylor, Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2 and ESPN AppAll things considered, few teams in the country offer as much quantitative certainty as Baylor. Thats pretty crazy, considering the lukewarm, fringe top-25-at-best expectations for Scott Drews team heading into the season. Yet here we are, nearly a month into the season, and while most of the nations best teams have grabbed an impressive win or two, Baylor is 7-0 with victories against Oregon, VCU, Michigan State and Louisville. It would take a jarring nosedive to feel suddenly uncomfortable with the notion of Baylor as a top-10 team, in other words. Xavier is the wild card here: Wins against Clemson and Northern Iowa (twice in the same week, no less) dont quite have the same kind of perception-boosting impact that a road win against the surprise of the season to date would bring. Well see.No. 8 Gonzaga vs. No. 16?Arizona, Saturday, 5:30 p.m. ET, ESPN and ESPN AppNo matter how deep into the season we get, until mysteriously absent sophomore guard Allonzo Trier either returns to the lineup or is officially ruled ineligible, an aura of untapped promise will hover just above the Arizona Wildcats. Not that there isnt plenty to like already -- specifically Finnish freshman Lauri Markkanen, a 7-foot forward shooting 59.5 percent from 2, 89.2 percent from the free throw line and 47 percent from 3 thus far (and leading his team in 3-point attempts). Classmate Kobi Simmons has been nearly as impressive filling in for Trier on the wing. With the possible exception of perimeter defense, the Wildcats dont do anything at an even remotely below-average level. And yet, heading into a neutral-floor game (at Staples Center) against a new-look, transfer-led Gonzaga team -- where Nigel Williams-Goss, Johnathan Williams?and Jordan Mathews have all taken immediate lead roles -- it is hard not to wonder just how good Arizona might be with their star sophomore along for the ride.No. 25 West Virginia at No. 6 Virginia, Saturday, 2 p.m. ET, ESPNU and ESPN AppVirginia coach Tony Bennett is not the screaming type, but after point guard London Perrantes put up four points and three turnovers in the first half Wednesday against Ohio State -- a game the Cavaliers trailed 36-24 at halftime in their own typically impenetrable building -- Bennett got after his senior guard in earnest. After his 15-point second half keyed the Cavs comeback, Perrantes said the discussion was the most I got ripped by him since Ive been here and it sparked us all. Bennett will (more calmly) be walking his team through its collective offensive struggles against the Buckeyes in advance of Saturdays game against West Virginia, which, surprise surprise, is pressing its opponents into the nations highest turnover and steals rates through its first six games. Virginia turns the ball over rarely on its best nights, but even a brief lapse into carelessness -- and the necessity of Perrantes performance -- can be followed rather quickly by vulnerability. ' ' '