These five games headline the college basketball Week 17 schedule as a memorable regular season comes to a close.
Week 16’s loaded slate of games across college basketball did not disappoint with a number of thrilling contests and upsets around the nation.
The big news of the week came out of Spokane late Saturday night when the BYU Cougars handed the Gonzaga Bulldogs their first loss of the season in a 79-71 comeback win. While one loss shouldn’t change the perception that Gonzaga is a championship caliber team, it will likely cost the Bulldogs a seed or two come Selection Sunday.
That’s going to work to the advantage of the UCLA Bruins, who now have a shot at a one or two seed after picking up a huge road win at Arizona on Saturday evening. Elsewhere, the Butler Bulldogs earned an impressive season sweep over the Butler Bulldogs, while the North Carolina Tar Heels clinched at least a share of the ACC title with a victory against the Louisville Cardinals on Wednesday.
As a result, the final week of the regular season for major conferences features a number of contests that will impact March Madness seeding, in addition to a few key clashes for bubble teams. Here are the top five games to watch in Week 17 alongside the early stages of mid-major conference tournaments.
5. Purdue at Northwestern, Sunday 1:30 p.m. ET
Sunday’s contest will be crucial for both teams, as the Boilermakers will try to lock up the Big Ten regular season title, while Northwestern will try to ease any fears about missing out on its first NCAA Tournament in school history with a signature win.
The Boilermakers a game up om Wisconsin at 12-4 in Big Ten play and 23-6 overall entering the final week of the season, and owns a head-to-head win over the Badgers. While the Purdue has a Final Four ceiling, they are not in their best form entering March after losing by 12 to Michigan on Saturday.
Northwestern should be safe at 20-9 overall and 9-7 in conference play, but losing out could make things dicey on Selection Sunday. The Wildcats have lost five out of seven games including a heartbreaker at Indiana over the weekend, so a victory over the best team in the Big Ten would be huge ahead of the conference tournament.
Purdue had no trouble in the first meeting between the two teams on Feb. 1 in an 80-59 blowout at Mackey Arena. As usual, Caleb Swanigan could not be stopped with 24 points and 16 rebounds, while the Boilermakers shot 12-of-23 from beyond the arc as a team.
Northwestern will get a big boost this time around with leading scorer Scottie Lindsey back in the lineup after missing four games with mono, and can at least keep up with Purdue on the interior behind Vic Law and Derek Pardon. The inside-out game of Purdue is still a lot to handle and the Boilermakers will win if they shoot that well from the perimeter again, but don’t be surprised if Northwestern keeps this one a lot closer in front of a hyped-up crowd.