The college basketball regular season is winding down as we are just days away from the start of March. With the NCAA Tournament rapidly approaching, time is running thin for programs to improve their resume enough to make the field of 68 by impressing the selection committee with a huge upset.
There were a few notable upsets in college basketball last week, including Kansas' blowout loss at BYU (which knocked the Jayhawks out of the AP Top 25 for the first time in four years), Marquette getting crushed at Villanova and Mississippi State falling at Oklahoma in a massive result for the Sooners.
All three of those upsets were featured in this space last week and could serve as a guideline for what to watch for as ranked teams begin the stretch run this week. Which college basketball programs are most in danger of getting picked off in Week 17?
Which Ranked College Basketball Teams Should Be On Upset Alert In Week 17?
No. 3 Florida
The theme of Upset Alert this week is SEC basketball, as the country's best conference is looking to send as many as 14 of its 16 teams to the dance. With the bottom half of the league sitting squarely on the bubble, snagging upsets could be the difference between getting a slot in the First Four or staring at an NIT invitation on Selection Sunday.
One of two teams in the most bubble jeopardy is Georgia, which has dropped nine of its past 11 games since sweeping a homestand against Kentucky and Oklahoma in mid-January to enter the polls. The only two wins the Bulldogs have secured in that stretch have come against LSU and South Carolina, the only SEC programs without a chance of getting an at-large invitation, meaning that Georiga needs a big-time result to remind the committee that they can beat top competition.
That chance could come on Tuesday night when No. 3 Florida visits Athens, trying to rack up their seventh consecutive win. Two games against ranked foes loom for the Gators after this game (hosting No. 12 Texas A&M on Saturday and traveling to No. 6 Alabama the following Wednesday), so if they look past the Bulldogs (who they did beat by 30 in Gainesville earlier this season) things could get very interesting.
No. 17 Kentucky
Few teams in the SEC have been more frustrating to try and figure out than No. 17 Kentucky, who can look like world-beaters in one game while struggling mightily in another. Injuries have certainly played a part in the Wildcats' woes as they have dealt with significant backcourt absences, but with so little time left in the regular season, it is fair to assume that this inconsistent nature will define Kentucky for the remainder of the campaign.
Mark Pope's team will surely be smarting over their missed opportunity in Tuscaloosa on Saturday when the Wildcats blew a 12-point first-half lead and got blown out by Alabama. Carrying the bad juju from that game into Wednesday's trip to Norman could leave the Wildcats vulnerable to an upset as Oklahoma is trying hard to get themselves off the bubble.
The Sooners scored a critical win over a ranked Mississippi State side on Saturday, giving them their most impactful SEC win in weeks. Adding another triumph over a vulnerable Kentucky side would give Porter Moser's squad a big margin for error ahead of the conference tournament, so the Wildcats need to be prepared for a massive fight from Oklahoma.
No. 14 Missouri
One of the more difficult aspects of breaking down the SEC this season is trying to define how good the middle of its conference is. While most experts largely agree that the quartet of Auburn, Alabama, Florida and Tennessee have championship upside, its unclear whether teams like Texas A&M, Missouri, and the Mississippi schools can do much more than reach the second weekend.
The Tigers have already beaten Florida this season and snagged a big home win over Alabama last week but followed it up by getting upset at Arkansas, which is firmly on the bubble now. Another road trip to one of the league's bubble teams is on tap for Missouri on Saturday as they take on Vanderbilt.
A big win over Ole Miss on Saturday was important for the Commodores, who are just on the right side of the bubble entering the week. Finding a way to take down another ranked team at home (two of Vandy's biggest wins have come at home against Kentucky and Tennessee) would be a massive boost for the Commodores, so they will throw everything they have at Missouri on Saturday afternoon.