College basketball’s biggest game of the weekend is the 1 p.m. ET tip on Saturday on CBS, third-ranked Kansas playing at fourth-ranked Baylor. It has potential to be extremely good. Remember, Baylor gave KU a serious push earlier this month.
The Jayhawks have famously finished atop the Big 12 regular season standings an unthinkable 12 years in a row. A win at Baylor would complete a sweep of the Bears, probably permanently push BU off the 1 line, and lock up No. 13 for Bill Self.
But that game is not the only one with regular-season championship implications. There are a handful of teams who can outright clinch titles, and others who will guarantee themselves at least a share of a regular-season crown if they can win this weekend. Seem too soon? It’s not. This is the penultimate weekend of college hoops in the regular season. Can you believe we’re already almost to March? Why does every season fly by so quickly?
Here’s where we’re at with the teams who’ve done best. Belmont (Ohio Valley) and Monmouth (MAAC) clinched their league titles on Thursday night. What does this mean? Well, being a regular-season champion in your league earns you automatic, mandatory qualification for at-large discussion in the NCAA Tournament selection committee’s room next month (if you don’t win your league tournament). And you will be, at the very least, in the NIT.
Here are teams looking to lock up 1 seeds in their conference tournaments. Below that, a look at the six most intriguing games -- outside of Baylor-KU -- this weekend.
VERMONT: The Catamounts are 24-5, undefeated in the America East (14-0) and will clinch the league title outright with a home win Saturday over Albany. UVM’s underrated. If the Cats don’t lose another game, they should be in discussion for a 12 seed. They’d be flirting with top-50 status at KenPom by that point, and as of now their RPI is a respectable 53. Keep an eye on the Catamounts, and though they’re better than most realize, closing with Albany and Stony Brook -- the two toughest opponents in the league -- is interesting. Both are on Vermont’s home floor, however.
GONZAGA: The Bulldogs are a certainty to win at home over 10-18 Pacific on Saturday night. That will get GU to 28-0 and officially clinch the conference, as Gonzaga owns the tiebreaker over Saint Mary’s due to a sweep of the Gaels. (Saint Mary’s, by the way, has an interesting road game at BYU on Saturday.) If you haven’t read Parrish’s column on why everything you think you know about Gonzaga being an underachiever in March is wrong, you gotta do that.
AKRON: The Zips were predicted to be the best team in the MAC, and they’ve turned out to be just that. Now sitting with a 22-4 record and a 12-1 mark in the conference, a win over Kent State on Friday night would mean at least a share of the MAC East, but the reality is Akron is going to run away with this league. No other team has fewer than five losses in the 12-team league.
BUCKNELL: The Patriot League’s best team just lost at Loyola (MD) this week, but beating Boston U. on the road would be the clincher. Bucknell is 12-3 in the conference, while BU is 11-4 and already lost once to Bucknell. A win locks up at least a share for the Bison.
VILLANOVA: Yes, Villanova is actually capable of closing up the Big East this weekend. The Wildcats are trying to go 16-2 in the conference four years in a row. If VU can pull that off, it will be a remarkable feat, something that will stand only behind last year’s national title in terms of most impressive accomplishments for this program in the new Big East. Nova plays at Seton Hall on Saturday. It’s a trick spot, as Seton Hall’s on the bubble and has the talent to win this. But if Villanova gets the victory it will be three wins clear of Butler, Creighton and Xavier in the loss column with three games to go.
FLORIDA GULF COAST: The Eagles nearly lost their coach, Joe Dooley, to NC State ... last offseason. In case you forgot, Dooley flirted with becoming the lead assistant under Mark Gottfried. He obviously made the right decision, as Dooley will be in position for a job upgrade, if he wants it, this offseason -- if FGCU keeps going. This weekend, Dunk City clinches a share of the Atlantic Sun title with a win over lowly USC Upstate, and can win the conference outright if Lipscomb loses to Jacksonville.
MOUNT ST. MARY’S: With a 12-3 NEC mark, the Mountaineers will have at least a share of the conference title if they can win at Fairleigh Dickinson. Remember, it was FDU that stunned the conference and got the auto bid last year. The NEC is usually pretty dramatic come March.
Six most intriguing games aside from KU-Baylor
1. Virginia-North Carolina (8:15 ET, ESPN): The Tar Heels have a brutal final stretch to the regular season, then have to deal with the ACC tournament. They’ll head to Virginia in less than two weeks for the back end of a home-and-home. UVa is slumping. The Wahoos let Jayson Tatum wipe them away earlier this week, taking a home loss to Duke and losing any chance of winning the ACC in the process. Big spot for Virginia, which has the acumen to steal this one, but North Carolina still feels like a top-five team in the country in terms of talent and experience.
2. Maryland at Wisconsin (1 ET, Sunday, CBS): Both teams are tied atop the league standings in the Big Ten. It’s a huge spot for both, as each team needs the win to accrue resume validity. In terms of the Big Ten, this game, and more, you need to see what I laid out here.
3. Villanova at Seton Hall (12:30 ET, FOX): In the preseason, I predicted that Hall’s Angel Delgado would be the most reliable double-double in the country. Well, I didn’t account for Caleb Swanigan. But Delgado’s insanely underrated, as he’s putting up 15.2 points and 13.2 rebounds, and because of him -- along with Khadeen Carrington -- the Hall has a shot to get back to the NCAAs. Villanova should get pushed hard here. I’m eager for this one, because SHU’s been off the radar all season.
4. Michigan State at Purdue (4 ET, ESPN): Caleb Swanigan is trying to keep pace with Josh Hart and Frank Mason (maybe Lonzo Ball and Nigel Williams-Goss) for national Player of the Year. Huge spot here, and he might be able to take advantage of MSU down low, but don’t think Nick Ward and Miles Bridges aren’t going to show up. This is a big-time spot for Sparty; a win here would be MASSIVE for Tom Izzo’s hopes of getting to the NCAAs for the 20th straight season.
5. USC at UCLA (10 ET, Pac-12 Network): The Bruins need the win to keep their hopes up for eventually landing a 2 seed, while USC’s national profile would get a huge boost if they could pull off this road upset in league play. This game will be in the high 80s/90s, and Lonzo Ball is always worth staying up for. Flip back and forth between the start of this game and the end of the NBA dunk contest. Which do you think will be more entertaining? It’s really a toss-up.
6. Kentucky at Georgia (6 ET, ESPN): Just keep an eye on this one. Even though Georgia’s not been good this season, that building will probably be packed, and Kentucky’s got its chance right here to prove it’s fully in stride. I want to see how Malik Monk and De’Aaron Fox play against UGA, which has talent as well. I think this one will be in doubt with three minutes to go.
