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The Virginia Cavaliers have proven that a suffocating defense can cover for a lack of offense, at least in the regular season that is. Virginia will be at a Louisville Cardinals team that is fading after a promising start. The Tennessee Volunteers were recently knocked off their number one ranked perch. But the LSU Tigers may lack the defense to stop Big Orange. The Texas Longhorns are again on the NCAA bubble. They will be facing a disappointing Oklahoma Sooners team that is struggling to score. Meanwhile the Ohio State Buckeyes have taken a step back this season. While the resurgent Maryland Terrapins have used defense to become a March Madness contender. Saturday looks like a good day to “hit the road” with quality teams that may bring extra value as visitors. ... 

The Kansas State Wildcats can drive a dagger into the heart of in-state rival Kansas on Monday. The Jayhawks have won at least a share of 14 straight regular-season Big 12 titles, but that streak is in big trouble. Kansas is sitting at 9-4 in the Big 12, and the program must travel to face 9-4 Texas Tech on Saturday before taking on 10-3 Kansas State on Monday. A loss in either game puts their fate in the hands of another team, while a win would put them back in the driver’s seat.... 

The Duke Blue Devils are not only the top ranked team in the country but they are also the epitome of a name brand blue blood college basketball program. Certainly, Duke is one of the most talented and complete teams in the country and well on their way to a Final Four run. The Syracuse Orange have also been profitable and are in prime contention for an invite to the Big Dance next month. Problematic for the Orange is that they remain half a team. Their famed zone defense continues to suffocate ... 

Certainly, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl deserves considerable credit for doing the impossible. Indeed, he actually got Auburn to care about its basketball program perhaps is the first time in modern memory. And for a while this season War Eagle was in the top 20 rankings before stumbling badly at the end of January. Aubie has been up and down ever since trying to maintain their viability for March Madness. The Kentucky Wildcats made a major statement in their dominant win over top ranked Tennes... 

A lot of the big boys won’t be in action on Thursday night in college basketball, but there are certainly some very interesting games with NCAA Tournament ramifications. There are a few smaller conference teams that have a chance at an at-large bid in action, and everyone’s favorite Cinderella from last year will take the court too. With the NBA back in action as well, we have a veritable basketball smorgasbord.... 

It wouldn’t be the ACC without a battle to the end at the top of the standings. The North Carolina Tar Heels made sure there would be more intrigue over the final weeks of the season by creating a three-way tie for first with their thrashing of Duke on Wednesday night. UNC, Duke and Virginia are all 11-2 in conference with the Florida State Seminoles looking to make a run to the top. The Noles have won eight straight ACC games for the first time and can make things more interesting if they can s... 

It’s a two team race at the top of the Big East and the Providence Friars aren’t one of the teams. At least they got back in the win column with a win over St. John’s on Wednesday to remain tied with two others at the bottom of the league standings. The Friars stopped a two-game slide and a stretch where they had lost five of six. Marquette shook off a loss to the Johnnies by winning three straight, including a huge takedown of Villanova that has the Golden Eagles perched alone in first by the s... 

The Kansas Jayhawks haven’t given up on claiming another Big 12 title. But they find themselves, along with the Texas Tech Red Raiders, looking up at K-State in the league standings. This is a pivotal game with neither team wanting to fall further behind the leader, and Tech would like to exact some revenge for an earlier loss to the Jayhawks. The Red Raiders haven’t lost a game since that setback winning four straight by an average margin of 24 points per game.... 

The Tennessee Volunteers are atop the SEC, but only one game ahead of both Kentucky and the LSU Tigers. LSU can tie them up next time out because these two teams will go head-to-head in a critical conference clash.... 

Are there any holes in Duke’s game? If there are the Blue Devils have a way of patching them up quickly. Sitting at the top of the odds board to win the 2019 National Championship since Coach K landed the top recruiting class in the country, the Dookies haven’t disappointed. Sure they lost a pair of games, but otherwise the kiddie corps has delivered. And they had a defining moment last week in a win over Louisville. Falling behind by 23 points in the second half, the Devs turned on the jets, sh... 

There are some fantastic college basketball tilts on Wednesday night. Bubble teams are looking to strengthen their resumes against teams that have already punched their tickets to the Big Dance. Georgetown, Florida, and Syracuse all need some big wins to help their cases, while Villanova, LSU, and Louisville are looking to keep their resumes strong. Those are some pretty tasty appetizers before the main course. North Carolina and Duke will meet for the first time this season tonight, and this co... 

There are just three weeks left in college basketball’s regular season, and it’s time for teams to make their moves. You don’t want to tie your NCAA Tournament hopes to winning your conference tournament, or making a deep run there, so it’s imperative to get at least a few more wins before Selection Sunday. Some of the teams playing this Tuesday already have a strong case to make to the committee, but others could really use a win tonight to make it.... 

How about the greatest rivalry in college basketball being played with first place in the ACC at stake? That’s what we have on Wednesday when the North Carolina Tar Heels make the short trip to visit the Duke Blue Devils. The Dookies sit atop the conference standings just one game ahead of the Heels, and we’ll see a great collection of talent in what should be a special night. The teams have split the last eight meetings with no margin over 10 points and it’s sure to be a tight one for the first... 

As we head into the final weeks of the college basketball regular season, there is plenty still to be decided in several conferences. There is a logjam at the top of the Big 12 with Kansas State narrowly holding down first place, though the Wildcats are being chased by several teams all within a game of the leaders. K-State looks to remain on top by knocking off West Virginia. We also have a rivalry matchup in the ACC when the Virginia Cavaliers visit Virginia Tech in an ACC tilt. ... 

The high-major conference teams are taking Friday night off, as many programs are traveling or resting in order to be ready for their matchups over the weekend. That doesn’t mean it’s a completely blank slate, as there will be plenty of lower-conference games to keep gamblers busy. ... 

A three-game losing streak didn’t affect the Michigan State Spartans status as the top team in the Big Ten. Had the slide gone on any longer things would have been different. Snapping the skid with a win over Minnesota last week, the Spartans made it two in a row and appear to have righted the ship after knocking off No. 20 Wisconsin to end a two-game road skid. Sparty looks to keep the good times humming against the rival Ohio State Buckeyes, who are coming off a disappointing home loss to Illi... 

The Wichita State Shockers are finding their second season in the American Athletic Conference to be a little more trying than their first. And unless they have a miraculous run in the conference tournament, their string of seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances will be snapped. The Shockers haven’t lost more than six conference games in a season since 2010 when they were in the MVC. They’ll have to knock off the second-place Cincinnati Bearcats on Sunday to avoid losing their seventh AAC ga... 

The TCU Horned Frogs know they need to keep winning if they have any hope of making it to the NCAA Tournament. TCU only has one Quad 1 victory on the season, on the road against Iowa State, and the team needs to make up for that with as many wins as possible. Fortunately, the Horned Frogs have been able to take care of business against teams outside of Quad 1, with a sterling 16-0 record against lesser teams. They will get a chance to make it 17-0 when they go on the road to face the Oklahoma St... 

Ohio State Buckeyes second year head coach Chris Holtmann has found the going much more difficult in his second year on the job. Holtmann will get no relief Sunday as his Bucks have a tough assignment at the Michigan State Spartans. The Villanova Wildcats may not be Final Four material, YET. But they are still Top 20 strong and figure to be too much for the St. John’s Red Storm. The Creighton Blue Jays have dropped off from their usual March Madness level of success. The Seton Hall Pirates have ... 

After a hot start that got them ranked number one in the country the Michigan Wolverines have come crashing back to earth. On Saturday the Maize and Blue face a dangerous up and coming Maryland Terrapins team that is now nationally ranked. The “Farmageddon” rivalry between the Iowa State Cyclones and Big 12 leading Kansas State Wildcats looms as one of the biggest games of the season. The Kansas Jayhawks may have been overrated at the start of the season but they remain a good value at Allen Fieldhouse where they will seek revenge for an earlier loss to the West Virginia Mountaineers. After being pronounced dead the Nebraska Cornhuskers pulled a Lazarus to beat Minnesota and can now jumpstart the March Madness quest against a struggling Northwestern Wildcats team. Let’s take a look at college basketball’s best bets for Saturday. ... 

It is a matchup of Top 25 teams on Monday night, as the Virginia Cavaliers visit the Virginia Tech Hokies in a game that can be seen on ESPN. The Cavaliers are battling with Duke and North Carolina for the top spot in the ACC, while the Hokies are fighting for fourth place in the conference. Virginia has won seven of the last ten meetings, but they are just 4-6 ATS. Let’s look at the matchup and college basketball picks.... 

It is no surprise that the Kentucky Wildcats are a top five team and with a shot at the Southeastern Conference championship. Few teams recruit better raw talent than head coach John Calipari’s U of K program. But a new power has quickly emerged to challenge the Cats for SEC Supremacy. The top ranked Tennessee Volunteers have been transformed by head coach Rick Barnes. Both Tennessee and Kentucky have been profitable despite their recent notoriety with the gambling public. And while the Wildcats... 

The NC State Wolfpack features one of the most explosive offenses in college basketball and that has helped keep them in the black for the 2018-19 season. But a defense that ranks in the middle of the national pack is preventing NC State from emerging as a bona fide national contender. The Duke Blue Devils are one of the most popular and public teams on the board for college hoops yet have been able to maintain good value despite those potential overlays. Duke plays a strong full court game that... 

For the Providence Friars it has been a season of disappointment and despair. An erratic and undependable offense paired with a defense that is mediocre has not made for success either on the hardwood or at the cashier’s cage. However, things have been even worse for the Xavier Musketeers as they rank far below most teams in college basketball on both ends of the court. Xavier has gone from a regular March Madness contender into the worst team in the Big East Conference. Most important of all th... 

Feeling alone on Valentine’s Day? Don’t worry, you’re not the only one. Thursday is a day for the little guys in college basketball. Most of the major conferences eschew the day in order to focus on their weekend games, and that gives the smaller schools the spotlight. So if you’re feeling a little lonely and looking for something to love, check out some of these schools. Darlings like Wofford and Belmont could make some serious noise in the NCAA Tournament, and you can say that you were in on those schools from the beginning. ...