There are just a couple of weeks to go before we delve into full-tilt conference tournament time.
And there a bunch of games on tap this week that will go a long way towards deciding regular-season titles and setting the seeds for some of those tournaments.
Tuesday provides a particularly busy night of action.
The Big Ten’s two best teams, No. 5 Wisconsin and 15 Maryland hook up in College Park.
And the No.’s 2 and 3 teams in the SEC, No. 13 Arkansas and Texas A&M (in this week’s “On the Cusp”), play in Fayetteville.
No. 6 Villanova plays host to Providence, one of the few teams within relative striking distance of the Wildcats in the Big East.
And there are four terrific conference showdowns set for Saturday: Arkansas at No. 1 Kentucky (SEC), No. 7 Arizona at No. 12 Utah (Pac 12), No. 9 Northern Iowa at 10 Wichita State (Missouri Valley) and West Virginia at Baylor (Big 12).
Rank (Last week’s rank) | Record | Comment |
1. Kentucky (1) | 27-0 | The Wildcats’ past three victories have come by an average margin of 29 points. Yes, that’s dominating. |
2. Gonzaga (2) | 28-1 | Barring a significant upset, the Bulldogs are going to take a 32-1 record into the NCAA tournament with a likely No. 1 seed in the West Region. |
3. Duke (3) | 25-3 | The Blue Devils have the two most significant road victories (vs. Wisconsin and Virginia) recorded by any team this season. |
4. Virginia (4) | 25-1 | The Cavaliers close the regular season with three of their four games on the road. |
5. Wisconsin (5) | 25-2 | The Badgers will close the regular season with its toughest four-game stretch in conference. |
6. Villanova (6) | 25-2 | The Wildcats are in position to with the Big East’s regular-season championship by four or five games. |
7. Arizona (7) | 24-3 | The Wildcats’ starters hit just nine of 36 shots from the floor but they still knocked off visiting UCLA by 10 points Saturday. |
8. Notre Dame (8) | 24-4 | Jerian Grant is the best player in the ACC. But will the coaches vote him the conference’s “Player of the Year”? |
9. Northern Iowa (11) | 26-2 | Cool stat – the Panthers have allowed as many as 60 points only twice since Dec. 28. |
10. Wichita State (12) | 25-3 | The Shockers can’t look ahead to their Northern Iowa showdown – they’ve got the MVC’s third-place squad, Indiana State, on Wednesday. |
11. Kansas (10) | 22-5 | The Jayhawks’ three Big 12 losses (all on the road) are by a collective margin of 11 points. |
12. Utah (9) | 21-6 | It wasn’t exactly an explosive offensive weekend for the Utes in Oregon – they averaged just 55.0 points while splitting with Oregon State and the Ducks. |
13. Arkansas (14) | 22-5 | The Hogs have won six SEC games in a row but the competition gets a tad tougher this week. |
14. Iowa State (15) | 20-6 | Barring upset, the Cyclones will keep the pressure on first-place Kansas by winning their final four regular-season Big 12 games. |
15. Maryland (16) | 22-5 | The Terps won their last three games by an average margin of 3.0 points. |
16. Oklahoma (NR) | 19-8 | A Saturday home game vs. TCU sets the table for closing out the regular season against Iowa State and Kansas. |
ON THE CUSP: Baylor 20-7, Dayton 20-6, Georgetown 18-8, Iona 23-6, Louisville 21-6, Michigan State 19-8, Murray State 24-4, North Carolina 19-8, Purdue 18-9, San Diego State 22-6, SMU 22-5, Stephen F. Austin 22-4, Texas 19-7, Valparaiso 25-4, VCU 21-6, and West Virginia 21-6.
Players of the Week (Feb. 16-22)
*Branden Dawson (Michigan State): The senior forward averaged 18.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 blocked shots as the Spartans picked up Big 10 road victories against Michigan and Illinois.
*Quinn Cook (Duke): The senior guard is honored for the second consecutive week after averaging 24.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists (while hitting nine of 16 shots from behind the arc) as the Blue Devils knocked off North Carolina and Clemson in ACC action.
*Monte Morris (Iowa State): The sophomore point guard averaged 10.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists, while committing just three turnovers in a collective 68 minutes, as the Cyclones picked up road Big 12 victories against Oklahoma State and Texas.
*Kyle Wiltjer (Gonzaga): The Kentucky transfer scored 45 points (hitting 15 of 22 from the field, including seven of 10 on 3s) with six rebounds and four assists in a 12-point victory at Pacific, then chipped in 16 points and 12 rebounds as the Bulldogs rallied from 15 points down to win at Saint Mary’s in another WCC contest.
*Joseph Young (Oregon): The 6-3 senior guard didn’t shoot well (13 of 36 from the field) but averaged 18.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.5 steals as the Ducks picked up a pair of Pac 12 victories in Eugene, including a critical decision (re: possible NCAA tournament at-large chances) over Utah Sunday.
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].
