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For the first time since joining the ACC, the Miami Hurricanes are looking to make the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons. Miami is not the team it was last year, but still has plenty of talent and a solid coach looking to get it back to March Madness. However, the Hurricanes have a tough road ahead with perhaps its toughest game being on Monday night when they take on the No. 14 Virginia Cavaliers. Virginia may have taken a step back this season, but is still one of the most formidable side... 

If the Houston Cougars are going to sway the selection committee’s minds in thinking the AAC is worthy of having three teams get a bid to the Big Dance, it has to go out and beat the conference leading SMU Mustangs on their home floor Saturday night. That will likely be an extremely tough chore after the Mustangs came out hungover and almost fell at home to the Tulane Green Wave on Wednesday night.... 

Though you never want to wish harm on anyone, the Kentucky Wildcats just got a huge gift from the basketball gods on Wednesday when it was announced SEC leading Florida would be without its impact big man the remainder of the season. The door has now been kicked wide open for John Calipari’s kids to steal the conference title away from the Gators. That revenge bout on February 25 will be huge, but before that, the Wildcats will have to dispose of the revenge minded Georgia Bulldogs who nearly beat them outright as decided Rupp underdogs a couple weeks ago.... 

The Florida State Seminoles are looking to win their first ever ACC regular season championship, but have had some major road woes. FSU is just 2-4 on the road this season and although it has scored some major wins against Virginia and Miami, the Noles have also posted bad road losses to Georgia Tech and Syracuse. This Saturday the Seminoles will go on the road again to take on the Pittsburgh Panthers, who have been pretty bad this season, but have looked improved in recent weeks.... 

The Oregon Ducks are sitting one game behind the Arizona Wildcats for first place in the PAC-12 and have their eyes on a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Meanwhile, their opponents on Saturday afternoon, the Colorado Buffaloes, need to practically win out in order to make the Big Dance. Colorado was one of the two teams that defeated Oregon in conference play earlier and the Ducks are looking at this as a chance for revenge.... 

The brutal ACC schedule can take its toll on any team, and right now that team is the Virginia Cavaliers. Coming off a loss to Duke, its second straight and fourth in the past six games, the Cavs have the unenviable task of beating the North Carolina Tar Heels to put an end to their current slide. Making the chore more difficult is the fact that the Tar Heels haven’t lost in the Dean Dome this season and are nearly unbeatable on their home floor.... 

Resting squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble, the Seton Hall Pirates are in the middle of a critical stretch of games that could tip them one way or the other. The three-game home stand includes teams sitting above The Hall in the Big East standings and winning two of the three games is a necessity to improve their tournament chances. The Pirates nabbed the first one, defeating No. 20 Creighton on Wednesday and now get the conference front runner and No. 2 ranked Villanova on Saturday.... 

For the 13^th consecutive year, the Kansas Jayhawks are attempting to win at least a piece of the Big 12 Championship. Kansas has absolutely dominated the conference under Bill Self, who picked up right where Roy Williams left off when the latter left for Chapel Hill. Following an amazing comeback against West Virginia, Kansas finds itself two games ahead of the rest of the conference and can taste another conference title. However, the Baylor Bears are looking to write their own history and will likely be favored when these teams square off in Waco.... 

The VCU Rams are tied atop the Atlantic-10 as the regular season winds down. They can keep it a two-team race by knocking off the Richmond Spiders next time out, but a win by Richmond will also bring them into the fold.... 

The Valparaiso Crusaders only have two conference losses this season and sit alone atop the Horizon League with a record of 11-2. One of those conference losses came at the hands of the Oakland Golden Grizzlies on January 6th and there’s no doubt the Crusaders will be looking to avenge that loss this week.... 

The Wisconsin Badgers lost a home game last time out but still sit in sole possession of first place in the Big Ten. There are plenty of teams on their tails so the Badgers must continue to pile up victories.Their next game is a big one as they face off with the Michigan Wolverines this week. The Wolverines are trying to lock down an NCAA men’s basketball tournament berth and a win in this one would be big.... 

Washington State has struggled in conference play but hopes the home crowd can help it pull off a big-time upset. Even with the favorable venue, the Cougars will still be underdogs against an Arizona team which has proven to be one of the best in the country.At 9 p.m. ET, tune into FS1 for live television coverage of this NCAA basketball game on Thursday, February 16, 2017, at the Wallis Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum in Pullman, Washington.... 

With conference tournaments right around the corner, the Big Dance isn’t far behind.Setting yourself up on the futures odds with some teams that could catch fire come March could set up some excellent hedging opportunities down the road. We’re going to take a look at a handful of “Bubble Teams” that if they qualify, could make some noise and make you a boatload of profit should they go on a Cinderella run.... 

The Virginia Tech Hokies got a big boost to their NCAA men’s tournament hopes last time out with an upset of Virginia. They hope to continue to strengthen their argument next time out in a matchup against the Pittsburgh Panthers.... 

There will be no love lost on the court in this Valentine’s Day matchup as the Kentucky Wildcats seek to avenge one of their two losses in SEC play when they host the Tennessee Volunteers. The Vols pulled off the upset just three weeks ago, knocking off UK as a 10.5-point underdog at Thompson-Boling Arena. It’ll be a different scenario this time around with the Cats looking to avenge that defeat on the Rupp Arena floor where they are unbeaten in league play.... 

The Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners are used to being two of the strongest programs in the Big XII. This season, though, they are both in the conference cellar.... 

With Grayson Allen keeping his extremities to himself and Coach K back on the sideline, the Duke Blue Devils have put together a five-game winning streak, getting hot at the right time of the year. Duke won at No. 20 Notre Dame three weeks ago and has a shot at another road win over a ranked opponent when the Blue Devils take on the Virginia Cavaliers. The Cavs are going the other direction with losses in three of their last five games.... 

The Michigan State Spartans are in an unfamiliar spot, possibly on the NCAA men’s basketball tournament as the regular season hits its stretch run. They would love to pick up a host of victories the rest of the way to avoid that drama, and could get a big one this week against the Ohio State Buckeyes.... 

The Iowa State Cyclones and Kansas State Wildcats are both on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament. A huge road win over Kansas for Iowa State helped their chances immensely and the Cyclones kept it up with a win against Oklahoma on Saturday. As for Kansas State, the Wildcats currently sit at 5-7 in conference but have a very manageable schedule the rest of the way. A win here for the Wildcats would be a big step in the right direction.... 

Earlier this week, the South Carolina Gamecocks blew a big chance. South Carolina had the opportunity to move ahead of Kentucky and Florida in the SEC race, but blew it by losing to Alabama. Now the three schools are tied at the top with identical 9-2 conference records and the Gamecocks have no breathing room if they want to win the SEC regular season title. They will have a very winnable game on Saturday when they face the Mississippi State Bulldogs.... 

The two best teams in the American Conference are ready to do battle. The Cincinnati Bearcats will travel to face off against the SMU Mustangs in a critical showdown for both teams.Cincinnati sits one game ahead in the standings but if the Mustangs take care of business behind the home crowd the teams will be deadlocked with only a few games left. Both are nationally ranked and this is going to be an intriguing matchup.... 

The Big Ten isn’t getting a lot of attention this season, and that’s partly because two of the premier programs in the conference have struggled. Basketball in the state of Indiana isn’t taken lightly and the natives are not happy with the way the Indiana Hoosiers have played. A preseason pick to be among the conference leaders, the Hoosiers are floundering. It hasn’t been much better for the Michigan Wolverines, but at least they weren’t picked to finish at the top of the standings.... 

The DePaul Blue Demons once again bring up the rear of the Big East standings. They’ve won a grand total of one game in conference play, and likely won’t be tallying No. 2 this evening against the No. 2 ranked Villanova Wildcats. It is however possible that the Blue Demons find a way to cover the game with the Cats invading the Windy City off what’s likely to be an incredibly physical game with Xavier.... 

After traveling to Lubbock to battle Texas Tech over the weekend, the No. 3 ranked Kansas Jayhawks will return home to the comforts of the Phog where they’ll partake in a grudge match against the West Virginia Mountaineers. Huggy Bear’s Mounty’s once again got the best of Bill Self’s kids only 20 days ago in Morgantown where WVU turned on the afterburners in the second half to hand the Jayhawks their fourth straight defeat in the Coliseum.... 

Don’t look now, but Jimmy Boeheim’s Syracuse Orange continue to climb up the ACC standings after rattling off five straight wins with a visit to Pitt set for the weekend. They’ll return home for this one to battle a Louisville Cardinals squad that just partook in an extremely physical Miami squad. These former Big East rivals have a ton of history with one another, and it’s the Cards that have held the recent upper hand in taking three of the last four skirmishes....