NCAA Men’s Basketball Conference Review- February 16
NCAA men’s basketball action is at a fever pace with the best teams in the country using the month of February to try and put themselves in the best position possible come tournament-time in March. The following is a brief review of the top few teams in each of the major conferences along with a few teams to watch from the Mid-Majors. All rankings quoted are from the latest Coaches Poll.
ACC
No.5 Duke maintained its position in the polls with an impressive 79-73 win over No.19 North Carolina last Wednesday and an 81-71 win over Miami on Sunday to run its record to 23-2 overall and 10-1 in the ACC. The Tar Heels (19-6, 9-2) bounced back from last week’s loss with a 64-62 win over Clemson and a 78-64 rout of Wake Forest to remain one game in back of the Blue Devils in the conference standings.
Big East
There are a total of seven teams in the Big East ranked in the top 25 led by No.4 Pittsburg. The Panthers are coming off a huge 57-54 road win over No.14 Villanova (20-6, 8-5) last Saturday that took their record to 23-2 overall and 11-1 in the conference. No.7 Notre Dame continues to roll with seven straight wins to go to 21-4 and 10-3 in the Big East. No.9 Georgetown is third in the standings at 9-4 and is 20-5 overall.
Big Ten
No.3 Ohio State fell from the ranks of the unbeaten with a 71-67 loss to Wisconsin this past Saturday, but still lead the Big Ten by 2 ½ games. The Buckeyes are now 25-1 overall and 12-1 in conference play. The Badgers jumped to No.10 with the win and are now tied with No. 11 Purdue for second-place in the standings at 9-3. Wisconsin’s overall record is 19-5 while the Boilermakers are currently 20-5.
Big 12
The Big 12 currently lays claim to the top two teams in the country with No.1 Kansas and No.2 Texas. The Jayhawks (24-2, 9-2) brief stay at the top will most likely be over after losing to Kansas State 84-68 on Tuesday night. Texas is now on top in the conference at 10-0, but is also in position to ascend to the top spot in the nation next Monday if it can get by Oklahoma State and Nebraska this week.
PAC-10
No.13 Arizona remains the pride of the PAC-10 as the only team in the conference that is ranked in the top 25. The Wildcats raised their record to 21-4 overall and 10-2 in PAC-10 play with a 67-52 victory over in-state rival Arizona State this past Sunday. UCLA (18-7, 9-3) remains one game back in the conference standings after knocking-off Oregon State 69-61 last Saturday.
SEC
No.15 Florida has a 2 ½-game lead over No.18 Vanderbilt (18-6, 6-4) in the SEC-East, while unranked Alabama (16-8, 8-2) has a 3 ½-game lead in the West. The Gators moved to 20-5 on the season and 9-2 in the conference with a 61-60 squeaker over Tennessee last Saturday. No.22 Kentucky is now 18-7 overall and 6-5 in the SEC-East after beating Mississippi State 85-79 on Wednesday night.
Mid-Majors
The Mountain West continues to dominate the Mid-Major conferences with two teams in the top 10. No.6 San Diego State has won its last five games and is currently 25-1 on the year, while No.8 BYU has won four straight to go to 24-2. Both are tied atop the MWC at 10-1. No. 23 St. Mary’s (22-4, 10-1) from the West Coast Conference and No.23 Utah State (23-3, 12-1) from the WAC are the only other Mid-Major schools in the rankings.
Check out the latest College Basketball Odds here.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.