College basketball Saturday viewing guide: Bubble season has arrived
The second-to-last Saturday in February may not feature a hoard of top 25 showdowns, but it does have tons of teams on the NCAA Tournament bubble that are looking to notch résumé wins.
Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
No. 23 West Virginia at No. 22 Oklahoma State (2 p.m. - ESPNNews)
This is the only game of the day featuring multiple Top 25 teams, a fact which feels like it should be illegal for a Saturday this late in the season. I should also point out that after calling the league out on Monday afternoon for not having good games when its best teams played one another, the Big 12 promptly responded with easily its most exciting work week of the year. I fully expect this game to be one with halfcourt scorpion kick shot at the buzzer.
Auburn at No. 1 Kentucky (7 p.m. - ESPN)
To showcase just how far the “Kentucky chasing history” storyline is above every other one in college basketball, ESPN ran promos for a game featuring the 12-14 second-to-last place team in the SEC on all its networks all week. Bruce Pearl is entertaining and all, but we’ll be lucky to get 10 minutes of competitive basketball out of this one. Still, chasing history and all that.
UCLA at No. 7 Arizona (9 p.m. - ESPN)
The "GameDay" game is once again a tad underwhelming, but it's still one of the better matchups on today's card. UCLA is looking for a monster win to unquestionably push it onto the right side of the bubble, while Arizona is both trying to track down a No. 1 seed and running in a two-horse race with Utah for the Pac-12 championship.
No. 3 Gonzaga at Saint Mary’s (10 p.m. - ESPN2)
Despite the Zags’ recent dominance, this is still one of college basketball’s most underrated rivalries, and probably the tallest hurdle Mark Few’s team has left to clear on its path to a one-loss regular season. If one of the things that draws you to college basketball is the fun, passionate, intense environments, then this is the game you have circled today.
SHOULD WATCH
Miami at No. 12 Louisville (2 p.m. - ESPN)
The Cardinals have suddenly lost back-to-back games to unranked ACC foes, and are dealing with the off-the-court issue of starting point guard Chris Jones returning from what amounted to be a 1-game suspension. Equally in need of a win are the Hurricanes, who will walk into the KFC Yum Center with both feet firmly planted on the bubble. Louisville beat The U at home by 8 three weeks ago, but Jim Larranaga's club has won three of their last four since then.
No. 19 Butler at Xavier (2 p.m. - Fox Sports)
Butler has both won and lost a game in the closing seconds over the course of the last eight days, and each of the Bulldogs’ last five road games have been decided by 4 points or fewer, including two which went to overtime. The closing two minutes of this one figures to be worth your time.
TCU at No. 8 Kansas (4 p.m. - ESPN2)
TCU has been the toughest luck team in the Big 12 all season, but the Frogs finally have a little momentum after ripping off back-to-back home wins over Oklahoma State and Kansas State. They gave Kansas all it wanted in the first meeting between these two, but Wilkerson-Greines Arena (TCU’s temporary home) ain’t Phog Allen. It does, however, have the most beautifully basic midcourt logo in college basketball.
It’s like they modeled their court after the one on Double Dribble.
Clemson at No. 4 Duke (4 p.m. - ESPN)
The Devils are coming off Wednesday night’s highly emotional win over North Carolina, and there’s a chance they may be playing without Jahlil Okafor. Clemson, meanwhile, had been the surprise of the ACC before dropping three of its last four. Still, Brad Brownell’s team never appears to be overwhelmed by the moment, and they’re likely to put something of a scare into the Cameron Crazies even if Okafor is able to go.
WORTH WATCHING UNLESS YOU HAVE A VALID EXCUSE
Georgia Tech at No. 12 North Carolina (Noon - ESPN FullCourt/ESPN3)
The Ramblin’ Wreck has quietly been showing signs of life for the past month. They’ve knocked off Miami, Wake Forest, and Clemson, and their largest loss has been a 72-66 defeat at Duke. Carolina can’t afford to play with any leftover disappointment from Wednesday night, because if they do they’ll take a defeat that would be much more crippling to their postseason résumé than the one at Cameron was.
Minnesota at No. 5 Wisconsin (Noon - ESPN)
The Gophers have been one of, if not the, biggest disappointment in the Big 10 this season, but they get two shots at Wisconsin in their next three games to try and drum up a little bit of momentum heading into the conference tournament.
Kansas State at No. 20 Baylor (1 p.m. - ESPNU)
The Wildcats have lost six of seven, but are hoping to turn things around against a Baylor team they knocked off in Manhattan last month. The Bears are one of just six teams to hold all of their opponents under 75 points this season (Utah, New Mexico, Saint Peter’s, New Hampshire, Louisiana-Monroe).
No. 14 Iowa State at Texas (2 p.m. - ESPN2)
Iowa State, which is coming off a very un-Iowa State win (because it came on the road) over Oklahoma State, is looking for its first three-game winning streak over Texas since 1987.
No. 6 Villanova at Marquette (2:30 p.m. - Fox)
The Wildcats have quietly put together an even better résumé for a No. 1 seed than they had at this time a year ago, and people are going to start noticing once a couple of the teams ranked ahead of them drop a game or two over the course of the next couple of week. Of course that's assuming Jay Wright and company take care of business in games like this one. VU Hoops has 3 more things you need to be on the lookout for.
IF YOU WANT TO JUST CHECK THE BOX SCORE, THAT’S OK ... BUT CHECK THE BOX SCORE
No. 17 Oklahoma at Texas Tech (Noon - ESPNNews)
The Sooners should be 20-8 when they wrap up their regular season with a pair of monster games at Iowa State and at home against Kansas.
Texas A&M at South Carolina (Noon - SEC Network/WatchESPN)
I loved this alert from South Carolina:
Freshman guard Marcus Stroman is doubtful while recovering from a throat infection. The issue caused Stroman to be in the hospital on a liquid diet for most of a week, and he lost almost 20 pounds. While he has attended class this week and lightly participated in one practice, his energy and strength are not where they need to be.
The “doubtful” description feels a bit dishonest. Freshman guard Marcus Stroman is not playing in this game. It’s cool if you just come out and say it. No one’s going to judge you.
UMass at No. 25 VCU (Noon - ESPN2)
UMass clawed its way back into the bubble conversation for a cool minute before getting blown out at Rhode Island on Wednesday. They would seem to be an at-large longshot at this point anyway, but there is absolutely zero chance of that scenario coming to fruition without a win inside the Siegel Center this afternoon.
Dayton at Duquesne (2 p.m. - NBC Sports Network)
If you haven’t been paying attention, the race for the Atlantic 10 crown is pretty damn entertaining.
No. 18 Arkansas at Mississippi State (4 p.m. - Fox Sports Net/ESPN3)
Michael Qualls is going to dunk on somebody, and that's always better to see live than on replay.
Bradley at No. 11 Northern Iowa (4 p.m. - ESPN FullCourt)
We are one week away from (hopefully) a de facto Missouri Valley Regular season championship game featuring 16-1 Wichita State hosting 16-1 Northern Iowa. Let’s hope both teams take care of business in their next two games, because that would be very fun.
No. 10 Notre Dame at Boston College (4 p.m. - ESPN FullCourt/ESPN3)
David Gordon’s going to kick a last second field goal that somehow results in Florida State winning the national title. It’s a bold prediction, but I’m standing by it.
Virginia Tech at NC State (6 p.m. - ESPN2)
Last Saturday’s win at Louisville put the Pack on the inside track to an at-large bid, but they can’t afford a slip-up against a Hokie team that has lost its last two by a combined 45 points.
California at Stanford (6:30 p.m. - Pac-12 Network)
The Cardinal seemed to be cruising towards the big dance before an unforeseeable stretch that has seen them drop four of five and look remarkably unimpressive in the process. If they can’t get it together in Berkeley today than the dreams of a First Four appearance in Dayton are only going to slide further out of view.
USC Upstate at Florida Gulf Coast (7 p.m. - ESPN3)
Don’t look now, but Dunk City has won nine straight, has a 20-7 overall record, and is 10-1 in the Atlantic Sun. They’ll face an Upstate team that also has 20 wins, and figures to be one of the Eagles’ biggest threats in the league tournament.
Georgia at Alabama (8 p.m. - ESPN2)
It’s easily the biggest game of the season for a Georgia team that has suddenly taken back-to-back awful losses to South Carolina and Auburn. The Dogs have dropped six of their last eight games against Alabama.
See More:
