We are in the dog days for a lot of these teams and it is showing. The final 10 days of conference play are upon us to get positioned for Conference Tournaments.
Key Match Ups
SEC
#4 Kentucky at #7 Tennessee, Saturday, 3/2 at 2 PM Eastern/1 PM Central on CBS – A big rematch of the whooping the Cats put on the Vols. Tennessee has been reeling since that game losing at LSU and almost losing at Ole Miss. The Cats are now on the 1 line in most Bracketology. I expect the Vols to bounce back and play a lot better, but can they hold up against rugged Kentucky?
Mountain West
#12 Nevada at Utah State, Saturday, 3/2 at 8:30 PM Eastern/7:30 PM Central on CBSSN – The Wolfpack have owned the conference the past 2 years with only 2 conference losses this year. However, the Aggies are on a run winning 5 straight and are a different team than the January 2nd match up. Aggies haven’t lost at home since January 9th. So, Nevada better bring their best to Logan, UT.
WCC
#1 Zags at St. Mary’s, Saturday, 3/2 at 10 PM Eastern/9 PM Central on ESPN – The Zags are now the top team in the nation and have dominated the WCC to date at 14-0. The Gaels have been their best competition over the past 5 years, and they really need this win to get in the Dance. Unfortunately, the Gaels got beat 94-46 just a few weeks ago. Not sure they can stop the Zags here.
Big Ten
#9 Michigan at #17 Maryland, Sunday, 3/3 at 3:45 PM Eastern/2:45 PM Central on CBS – Michigan got knocked off last Sunday at home and need this road win to get back on track. The Terps were playing great, but the beat down at Penn State leaves me scratching my head. Should be a slugfest.
Mid-Major Focus
Big South
Radford at Campbell, Saturday, 3/2 at 2 PM Eastern/1 PM Central on ESPN3 – Radford is the top dog in the Big South at 12-3, but Campbell is in 2nd and has the nation’s leading scorer (30.1 PPG a full 4.5 PPG more than the #2 scorer) in Chris Clemons who is now in the Top 10 all time of Division 1 scoring all time. If anything, watch Clemons to see if he can play at the next level. He’s impressive.
Bracketology
Joe Lunardi (JL) – ESPN
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology
Jerry Palm (JP) – CBS
https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/bracketology/
Who’s In/Out? Clemson – In (JL)/Out (JP) and Minnesota – Out (JL)/In (JP)
Big Seed Differences: Louisville – 6 (JL)/8 (JP), TCU – 10 (JL)/8 (JP), Kansas State 6 (JL)/4 (JP), Texas 9 (JL)/11 (JP), Auburn 8 (JL)/10 (JP) and Iowa 7 (JL)/5 (JP)
KenPom Review
Top 5 Teams:
- UVA – Back on Top with Zion injury and Duke skid
- Zags – #1 in the AP and on a rampage
- Duke – Definitely mortal without Zion
- Michigan State – Sparty is ballin’ despite major injuries
- UNC – The Heels are streaking to the top of the ratings. Watch out for them.
Over-Rated Teams: Kansas State 16 in AP (28 in KP – 110 on Offense), Washington 25 in AP (36 in KP – 99 on Offense), Iowa 22 in AP (32 in KP – 124 on Defense) and Cincinnati is 23 in AP (30 in KP – 50th on Offense)
Under-Rated Teams: Iowa State is 28th in AP (13th in KP), Auburn is 30th in AP (16th in KP), Mississippi State is 29th in AP (20th in KP) and Louisville is 26th in AP and 23rd in KP, although I can’t endorse them in this slide.
So, it’s is March 1st tomorrow. Time to get ready for The Dance!!
Wegs