College Basketball: March Madness Preview – Saturday Breakdown and More!
College Basketball has/had a lot to offer to us this weekend! Big wins at home from Iowa State and a couple of Missouri Valley Conference wins on the road may not seem like much, but they could have more NCAA Tournament implications then we think.
Let’s break down the last Saturday of College Basketball in February as we validate the wins and break down the way that teams are coming together heading into March. Also, follow our twitter to stay up to date when we break down even more conferences tomorrow after the weekend wraps up.
Missouri Valley
I understand if you don’t care about the Missouri Valley, but show some respect for the second oldest athletic conference in the United States (Big Ten is the oldest).
Wichita State has made it to the NCAA Tournament five years in a row, likely six as they sit in the top-25 (currently). Coming off another win on Saturday against Missouri State, they’ve earned a share of the Missouri Valley Conference Title, once again, with Illinois State. Yes, Illinois State!
Illinois State struggled heavily early in the season, but ended up quickly regaining composure in conference play. The fact that they split games with Wichita State (ISU’s only conference loss) makes this Missouri Valley Tournament worth watching. (Not the whole tournament, just the final if they meet.)
They’re both 17-1 in conference, but what would happen if they meet in Missouri during the MVC tournament?
College Basketball – SEC Review
The SEC is finally starting to take its shape after Saturday’s ‘Florida vs Kentucky’ match-up. The Wildcats ended up taking the W at home taking the top spot in the conference.
Rupp Arena is one of the toughest stadiums to play in, and it also doesn’t help when future lottery pick and Freshman standout, Malik Monk, drops 30 points in the second half alone! Monk has four 30-point games this season, which is the most ever by a Kentucky freshman according to ESPN.
This is a crazy stat given UK’s history with outstanding freshman. Also, they pulled out this victory without starting point guard De’Aaron Fox who missed the contest with a knee injury.
Kentucky’s defense looked incredible in the second half, and if they can continue to play like that, they could be a dangerous team in the big dance. It’s nearly impossible to overlook a team led by Coach Calipari in March.
Rankings
SEC Top 4:
- Kentucky – 14-2
- Florida – 13-3
- Arkansas – 11-5
- South Carolina – 11-5
After Kentucky, Florida is the only other team I could see making a legitimate Tournament run out of the SEC. This conference has been competitive all season, and the fan bases are no joke in their respected home arenas, but I’ haven’t seen that it factor from the other squads.
I could see some SEC teams causing ‘#7 vs #10’, or ‘#5 vs #12’ upsets that always seem to pop up in the round of 64, but don’t see it going much further than that. We’ll just have to see how they perform in neutral gyms.
College Basketball – Big 12 Preview
The Big 12 is providing us with some of the best basketball teams in the Country this season, but Kansas has been the standout. With the Jayhawks win on Saturday they clinched a share of their thirteenth straight, Big 12 championships.
Kansas is one of the most complete teams in college basketball. Led by senior guard Frank Mason III, the Jayhawks look to be catching stride at the right time, winning their sixth straight game on Saturday.
In that six game stretch they’ve beaten the West Virginia Mountaineers at home and the Baylor Bears on the road in back to back games. Two teams that play each other on Monday night!
Rankings
Big 12 Top 4:
- West Virginia – 11-5
- Iowa State – 11-5
- Baylor – 10-6
This sets the stage for an interesting last week of conference play. No one can pass Kansas, but the other three will most definitely be battling it out. Starting on Monday, the Mountaineers will be traveling to Texas to take on the Bears who need a win after Saturday’s loss to Iowa State.
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West Virginia has the opportunity to build serious confidence heading into the Big 12 tournament and big dance. As I mentioned, they are facing off against Baylor on Monday, but they are also playing Iowa State at home on Friday. They can separate themselves as the two seed in the conference, but we’ll have to see what team shows up this week.
Can the Mountaineers finish off with a five-game win streak after Friday?
We’d like to hear what you think! Out of the teams mentioned above, who makes the biggest run in March, and who gets bounced early? Comment below or tweet us @FantasyCPR.
Stay tuned to Fantasy CPR each day for all the late breaking fantasy sports news advice and analysis as we head into March Madness!