4. Syracuse at 12. Virginia 3:00 pm ESPN - College basketball is a crazy mistress. At the beginning of the year, no one would say the biggest game on Saturday March 1st would be Syracuse against Virginia. The Orange skated by another tough game at Maryland Monday night, but once again, it speaks to the Cuse's ability to find a way to win no matter the situation. While Virginia's record is great, the last time they played a ranked team... February 2nd and it was Pittsburgh whose struggling as of late. Beat North Carolina when the Tar Heels were down. Am I saying this team is overrated? Kinda. They play great defense, but to win this one, they will need Joe Harris to have a big game especially from the outside where he is 42 percent from three. I think C.J. Fair and Tyler Ennis turn in big games with the spotlight on them leading them to victory. CUSE 53-49
7. Louisville at 21. Memphis 1:00 pm CBS - This game lost some of its luster with Memphis falling to Houston on Thursday night. Louisville did their part, and I think people are sort of forgetting about the defending champs. They have rounded into form rather nicely in the past couple weeks with Terry Rozier playing his ass off. This team is lurking around right now. Memphis scored a big win in January by beating Louisville with a big second half led by Shaq Goodwin. They will need Goodwin to be good. Looking at Memphis' last four games, they lost to UConn, beat Rutgers only by five, a 20-loss Temple team to them to overtime and they lost to Houston. Even though it is a road game, Louisville wins bigger than expected. LOU 83-6910. Saint Louis at VCU 5:00 pm ESPN2 - Billikens fell into a classic trap game. They played Duquense at home Thursday night only to fall before heading to Richmond. What to make of it? There is the attitude that teams need a loss as sort of a reset, and then they come back to form. Also we have seen team losing multiple games after a long unbeaten streak. In the first meeting, Saint Louis controlled the tempo and it pushed them to a late victory. I do not see it again at VCU's homecourt. Juvonte Reddic been great in the last couple of weeks and I think he continues this strong stretch in another victory for the Rams. VCU 78-72
5. Kansas at Oklahoma State 8:00 pm ESPN - People expected these two teams battling for the Big 12 crown with the storyline... 'Could Bill Self get his 10th straight at his alma mater?' But that's not happening with the Jayhawks already wrapping up yet another Big 12 crown on Monday. Oklahoma State is building steam and desparately need this win for the tournament resume. I think this is a case of 'Who wants it more?' right now. Kansas already has things wrapped up and despite knowing they could finish the Cowboys, Oklahoma State will get another huge Marcus Smart and Markel Brown combination effort. If Oklahoma State gets embarrassed here, Travis Ford's seat will be white hot. OSU 77-70
SECOND TIER
Missouri State at 2. Wichita State 1:00 pm ESPN - This is the Shockers last game of the season, and it will be a tough test. When these teams met in January, Missouri State had a 18 point lead at half holding Wichita State to only 24 points. This lead to furious comeback to force overtime and Shockers ended up winning it. This was easily their toughest challenge in the conference season. If the Bears want to pull the upset, they will need Jamar Gully and Marcus Marshall to be great with more control shooting as they both struggled in the first matchup. While Cleanthony Early and Ron Baker are the story, Tekele Cotton has been tremendous in the past couple games. He stays the course and the undefeated season happens for the Shockers.
WSU 72-65
9. Creighton at Xavier 4:00 pm FOX Sports 1 - Big one for the bubble as well as how the standings will play out in the Big East. This will be a ton of offense and not much defense. Doug McDermott had 35 points in their first meeting and guess what? There is still no one whom cannot stop Douglas MC Buckets on Xavier. He should have another solid game. If the X were to get a win here, they need a huge effort from Dee Davis and Semaj Christon. If those two can score around 15-25, they can win this game. But I cannot see it with Xavier's inability to stop McDermott. He has a big game and pulls the Jays from the depth late. CREIG 88-83
11. Cincinnati at Connecticut 11:00 am ESPN - Can we please just get a game where Shabazz Napier and Sean Kilpatrick just play Rucker rules and go back and forth for the whole game please? That's all I want in life. Glad no one took me up on the coffee after the Huskies terrible loss on Sunday. UConn is rather shaky of late with scoring only 55 against SMU and 61 against South Florida. Now they face Cincinnati, arguably one of the best defensive team in the nation, meaning it could be a ton of trouble. Honestly, this feels like a road beatdown from Cincy. They had a week to stew watching highlights of Russ Smith hitting a game-winner jumper combined with UConn's inability to shoot recently, it is a perfect storm for the Bearcats win. CIN 66-59
23. Texas at Oklahoma 3:00 pm ESPN3- This is me being a dumb Wisconsinite but it does not feel like this is a real big rivalry for basketball. When both were real good, it got amped up to near football levels with the Hollis Price, T.J. Ford days. Here is a dirty little secret about Texas... They only have two road wins in the Big 12 conference play and they are against TCU and West Virginia. Buddy Hield played well in their first meeting and I expect to remain the same with this one. Maybe a sneaky good Ryan Spangler game.
OKLA 81-76
THIRD TIER
LSU at 1. Florida 3:00 pm CBS - Gators had to survive Vanderbilt on Tuesday, but I felt that was a real important game for them. Florida did not score for five minutes to end the game before Dorian Finney-Smith hit a big three to dagger the Commodores. They will roll in this one as LSU not playing well especially with Anthony Hickey struggling as of late and I think Florida will be shake off the poor shooting night in Nashville. UF 79-62
Marquette at 8. Villanova (Played on Sunday) 1:00 pm CBS - I hate the fact this Marquette team is on national television. I hope Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery get the call to talk about their love for Davante Gardner. Marquette will need to be tough on the perimeter holding back Villanova's big shooters as well as pound it inside. I would love to tell you Marquette wins and puts their name in the hat yet I cannot see it. Villanova does too many things that exploit the Golden Eagles' weaknesses. NOVA 84-78
15. Iowa State at Kansas State 6:00 pm ESPNU - People really have no idea how good the Big 12 is but this is a fun matchup between two solid teams. Iowa State beat this team without DeAndre Kane having a big game going 3/12 only having 10 points. Then again, I do not usually bet against Kanas State at home. Yup, let's go with the latter. KSU 73-65
Stanford at 3. Arizona (Played on Sunday) 7:00 pm ESPNU - GUESS WHOSE BACK? BACK AGAIN. ARIZONA'S BACK! TELL A FRIEND. Honest to God, they look like themselves again and Stanford plays no defense at all. Bad combination, bet the house on the Cats. ZONA 101-79
FOURTH TIER
22. Ohio State at Indiana (Played Sunday) 3:00 pm CBS - Woof this is a national televised game? Ohio State continues their inconsistent circus, and Indiana won their first big game versus Iowa on Thursday. Hoosiers need this one for their distance bubble hopes, but I like Aaron Craft keeping Yogi Ferrell at bay being the difference. OSU 64-56
14. Wisconsin at Penn State (Played Sunday) 11:00 am Big Ten Network - I do think Wisconsin will need to be careful in this one as Bryce Jordan Center knows to play mind games on teams and Tim Frazier done some things against Wisconsin yet Penn State will not be able to keep up with the Badgers. UW 70-59
13. San Diego State at Fresno State 9:05 pm CBS Sports Network - Do not let their record fool you as the Bulldogs have won seven of their last eight games, could they give San Diego State a run for their money? Signs point to yes. Tyler Johnson is a hell of a player for Fresno. Let's get crazy and take the Dawgs in this one. FRESNO 68-62
Minnesota at 16. Michigan 5:00 pm Big Ten Network - Gophers did get a nice win for their bubble hopes this week beating Iowa, but what others forget is Minnesota lost six of their last eight before the game. Michigan big. MICH 74-57
Charlie.
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