It’s “One and Done Week”.
And that’s as in “one more week of the regular season before the bulk of the conference tournaments are in full swing.”
Cool matchups in this “final” week include: (Tuesday) No. 7 Creighton at Georgetown; No. 13 Michigan at Illinois; (Wednesday) No. 14 Louisville at SMU; No. 11 San Diego State at UNLV; (Thursday) No. 9 Villanova at Xavier; Memphis at No. 15 Cincinnati; Iowa at Michigan State; (Saturday) No. 12 North Carolina at No. 5 Duke; Kentucky at No. 1 Florida; No. 3 Arizona at Oregon; Connecticut at No. 14 Louisville; New Mexico at No. 11 San Diego State; SMU at Memphis; (Sunday) Michigan State at Ohio State.
Rank (Last Week) | Record | Comment |
1. Florida (1) | 27-2 | The winning streak is now at 21as the Gators continue to chomp SEC opposition en route to a No. 1 tourney seed on March 16. |
2. Wichita State (2) | 31-0 | Thirty-one-and-oh-yes, the Shockers should get a No. 1 seed. |
3. Arizona (3) | 27-2 | It was a nice few days away from Tucson for the Wildcats who eked out a win at Utah and then turned in a terrific second 20 minutes in Boulder to roll past Colorado Saturday while flexing their Pac 12 muscles. |
4. Virginia (6) | 25-5 | How many non-ACC followers can really get their arms around the fact that the Cavaliers are the conference’s best team? |
5. Duke (7) | 23-6 | There will be no ACC title at stake but a lot of other stuff on the line on Saturday when the Blue Devils host that squad from Chapel Hill. |
6. Kansas (5) | 22-7 | The Jayhawks haven’t been nearly as dominant on the road in the Big 12 as in recent seasons. |
7. Creighton (4) | 23-5 | The Blue Jays have allowed an average of 74.0 points over the past four games. |
| 8. Syracuse (8) | 26-3 | Can the Orange regain whatever they’ve lost in the past month in time for the ACC tourney? |
9. Villanova (9) | 26-3 | Non-Creighton record runs to 26-1 with win vs. Marquette Sunday afternoon. |
10. Wisconsin (10) | 24-5 | Seven consecutive wins for the Badgers are taking care of business without having to work overtime at Penn State Sunday. |
11. San Diego State (12) | 25-3 | The Aztecs close the regular season with their toughest MWC foes Wednesday (at UNLV) and Saturday (home to New Mexico). |
12. North Carolina (14) | 22-7 | Marcus Paige is suddenly very strong in the ACC Player of the Year conversation. |
13. Michigan (15) | 21-7 | The Wolverines need a win Tuesday (at Illinois) or Saturday (home to Indiana) to clinch an outright Big Ten title and No. 1 seed in conference tournament. |
14. Louisville (16) | 24-5 | Loss No. 2 to Memphis snapped the Cards’ winning streak at seven. |
15. Cincinnati (11) | 24-5 | It was a rough week for nail-bitters for the Bearcats. |
16. St. Louis (13) | 24-5 | The Billikens’ losses to Duquesne and VCU left them hanging onto the final spot in the Power 16 by the oh-so-slimmest of margins. |
THE NEXT 16: Connecticut 23-6, Gonzaga 25-6, Green Bay 24-5, Harvard 24-4, Iowa 19-9, Iowa State 22-6, Kentucky 21-8, Memphis 22-7, Michigan State 22-7, New Mexico 22-5, Ohio State 22-8, Oklahoma State 19-10, Oklahoma 21-8, Pittsburgh 22-7, SMU 23-6 and UCLA 22-7.
TEAMS OF THE WEEK
*Florida. The Gators knocked off Vanderbilt and LSU to improve to 16-0 in the SEC.
*Illinois. The Illini extended their Big Ten winning streak to three with victories at home over Nebraska and on the road against Michigan State.
*Oklahoma State. The Cowboys improved to 3-0 since the return from suspension of the nation’s best point guard Marcus Smart.
*Virginia. The Cavs clinched their first outright ACC title in 33 years with home victories over Miami and Syracuse.
*Wichita State. The first team to go 31-0 in the regular season – ever!
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
*Mike Moser. The 6-8 senior forward, who also had playing stops at UCLA and UNLV, averaged 16.0 points, 16.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists in Pac 12 wins at UCLA and USC for Oregon.
*Shabazz Napier. The Connecticut senior averaged 17.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.0 steals in American victories over South Florida and Cincinnati.
*London Perrantes. The freshman point guard from Southern California averaged 10.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and just 1.5 turnovers in Virginia’s ACC wins over Miami and Syracuse.
*Marcus Smart. The sophomore helped Oklahoma State continue its resurgence while averaging 19.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 4.5 steals in Big 12 wins against TCU and Kansas.
*Quinton Upshur. The 6-5 junior average 27.0 points for Northern Arizona in Big Sky road wins at Idaho State and Weber State, the latter the first conference loss at home for the Wildcats in 28 games.
Frank Burlison has been covering hoops for 30+ years for a variety of publications.
Follow Frank on twitter @FrankieBur. Also make sure to follow his website at www.burlisononbasketball.com. College coaching staffs interested in Burlison’s scouting service should contact him at [email protected].
