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Old School Meets New School
Surprisingly enough the one name brand league holding its tournament this week is the Big Ten Conference. Commissioner Jim Delany admits this is a gamble but likes that his league will garner the bulk of national attention for itself. The intrigue for the Big Ten Tournament is potentially large with many potential story lines. The Michigan State Spartans are a traditional power and name brand but they operate under scandal both at home and with the FBI. Few teams surprised better than the Ohio State Buckeyes did this year but can they maintain success? The Purdue Boilermakers faded badly after a hot start but are loaded and complete. Closing strong were the Michigan Wolverines yet they lack a dominant star scorer. And Beyond the top four of the Big Ten are plenty of upset candidates. ...
A recent lull has put a No. 1 seed in a bit of doubt for the Villanova Wildcats. They still seem in line for one with a strong finish and will aim to pick up a victory in the second-to-last contest of the season against the Seton Hall Pirates. ...
As good as Trae Young has been, all his points have failed to get the Oklahoma Sooners a road win in 2018. OU was a threat for the Big 12 title when league play began, now the Sooners are hoping they’ve done enough to reach the NCAA Tournament. Young tallied one of his four 40-point games earlier this season when OU knocked off the Baylor Bears in a nail-biter in Norman, now it’s time for the Bears to get some payback....
The North Carolina Tar Heels had some trouble earlier this season but are playing well as the schedule winds down. They have won six consecutive games and will be favored once again next time out when they host the Miami Hurricanes....
The Texas Longhorns are right on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament, but might be on the outside looking in if they can’t spring an upset down the stretch. Their best chance at impressing the selection committee will be by finding a way to knock off top-10 foe the Kansas Jayhawks....
The Virginia Tech Hokies already have wins over ACC powers Virginia and North Carolina this season. They would love to pull off the trifecta early next week when they host the surging Duke Blue Devils....
A recent three-game losing streak dropped the Purdue Boilermakers from atop the Big Ten standings, but the larger goal is a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. Purdue has bounced back with a pair of victories and will aim to finish the regular season on a high note with a win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers....
Late-season matchups between the Michigan State Spartans have traditionally had a on on the line, including conference championships. Michigan State has lived up to its end of the bargain again this season but Wisconsin is near the Big Ten cellar as the teams prepare to face off....
How do you go about picking winners in March Madness? Do you just pick the higher seeded teams or do you look at some statistics? The 2018 NCAA Tournament begins on Tuesday, March 13 with the First Four, and then the main action begins on Thursday, March 15 with 16 games. There are a number of things to consider when picking March Madness winners, but I want to look at just one, scoring margin....
The Syracuse Orange is right on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament, and every win down the stretch will be a huge boost. Syracuse can take a huge step toward clinching a berth with a win next time out, but it will be quite the challenge on the road against the Duke Blue Devils....
The close of the regular season is upon us. With that, teams are starting to get their ducks in a row and put their best foot forward in hopes of impressing in their conference tournaments as well as the NCAA tournament should they get the chance. It’s a chaotic time, so this week’s installment is designed to help you weed out some of the pretenders whose NCAA Tournament futures odds have recently gotten shorter at BookMaker.eu over the last week....
The Pac-12 Conference has a bunch of teams on the NCAA Tournament, and a pair of them will face off in a critical showdown this week. The UCLA Bruins will hit the road to face off with the Utah Utes as each pushes hard for a berth in March Madness....
The Rhode Island Rams are looking to put the finishing touches on a dominant conference showing as the regular season comes to a close. There are only three games left in A-10 play as Rhode Island takes aim at knocking off the Dayton Flyers next time out....
The Villanova Wildcats are tuning up for a run that they hope ends with a national title. The first step is securing a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and they can begin to zero in on that with a key road win this week against the Creighton Bluejays....
The Pac-12 has a bunch of different teams jockeying for positioning from second place all the way through ninth, but it’s the Arizona Wildcats who sit atop the standings. They are poised to wrap up the regular season title soon if they can navigate the last four games successfully....
The American Athletic Conference regular season title was right there for the Cincinnati Bearcats to scoop up. But a pair of losses threw the league standings in a mess and had Cincy plummeting in the national rankings. The Bearcats were cruising along with just two losses all season until hiccups against the teams chasing them. Saturday’s loss at home to Wichita State also ended a lengthy home-court winning streak. Cincinnati will look to start a new one when it hosts the Connecticut Huskies on Thursday....
The Louisville Cardinals self-imposed a ban from the NCAA Tournament last season because of infractions. They need to break a current skid to make sure they get back into March Madness this year. Louisville has dropped several games recently in the tough ACC and will not have an easy time turning that around next time out when it hits the road to face off with the Duke Blue Devils....
Once again the Syracuse Orangemen are sitting on the NCAA Tournament bubble, but they have a glorious chance to improve their situation with three games against top-15 teams in their last four regular season contests. If the Orange are going to make the tournament, they’ll definitely earn it. The first of those three games comes against the scorching-hot North Carolina Tar Heels, who have won five straight....
The Butler Bulldogs and Creighton Bluejays have each hit a skid near the end of the season and are aiming to turn that around heading into the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Only one of them will have the capability to do so next time out as these Big East foes face off....
Welcome back Kentucky Wildcats. The Cats looked lost during their first four-game losing streak under John Calipari, but Coach Cal never panicked and his team finally ended their slide with an aggressive approach and playing with a sense of urgency. It’s hard to imagine Kentucky not being nationally ranked and even harder to imagine a NCAA Tournament without the Wildcats. They did drop out of the rankings, but UK improved its odds of reaching the dance and could all but secure an invitation with a road win over the Arkansas Razorbacks on Tuesday....
The Oklahoma Sooners have fallen into a huge rut, which has knocked them out of the national rankings and is hurting their prospective NCAA Tournament seeding by the day. Oklahoma needs to turn it around but is going to have a tough time with that early next week when it hits the road to face off against the Kansas Jayhawks....
The Hurricanes have fallen from the national rankings amidst a two-game losing streak, but are still in good shape to grab an NCAA Tournament berth....
The Cincinnati Bearcats may be the best team in the country no one is talking about, but a loss last time out has them in need of a bounceback. A long win streak pushed Cincy into the top-5 nationally before Houston got the best of them recently. Even so, the Bearcats are quietly stacking up as a national championship contender....
The Ohio State Buckeyes have navigated the Big Ten Conference extremely well, vaulting to the top of the standings while jumping to a top-10 ranking nationally. But a loss last time out has hurt them, and now the Buckeyes are looking to keep the other contenders at bay but will face a tough test when they hit the road this week to face off against rival the Michigan Wolverines....
On the outside John Calipari isn’t panicking. But inside the fiery coach must be seething. His Kentucky Wildcats lost four straight games for the first time during his tenure in Lexington and the mistakes that have plagued the youthful squad have persisted. We keep waiting for the Wildkittens to turn it on for a run to the NCAA Tournament, but they’re going the other way and a trip to the dance isn’t such a sure thing. And Alabama Crimson Tide isn’t going to be a pushover....
