3 ranked college basketball teams on upset alert this week, March 4-10

No. 12 Illinois (At Iowa 3/10)

The final game of the regular season involving a ranked team comes out of the Big Ten and has some serious upset potential for the Fighting Illini. The nation's No. 12 ranked team will be hitting the road after an emotional Senior Night against Purdue earlier in the week, which will take a lot of energy from Illinois regardless of the outcome.

Brad Underwood's squad has done enough work to merit a spot on the top four seed lines on Selection Sunday, so it wouldn't be shocking to see Illinois take its foot off the gas a bit in the regular season finale to get ready for the Big Ten Tournament. That could open the door for Iowa, which has been trying to make a late push for the NCAA Tournament bubble, to grab a win they desperately need.

The Hawkeyes have earned all three of their Quad 1 wins in the past month, upsetting then-No. 20 Wisconsin at home before earning true road victories against Michigan State and Northwestern. A 3-8 mark in Quad 1 is still a bit light for a potential tournament team so finding a way to snag a fourth Quad 1 victory prior to the Big Ten Tournament would be massive for Iowa's at-large hopes.

Expect head coach Fran McCaffrey to drill that message into his team all week since this is the only game left on Iowa's regular season schedule. Illinois may be walking into a buzzsaw on Sunday night and the Hawkeyes' explosive offense may shoot the Illini right out of the gym as they continue their push to stunningly make the field on Selection Sunday.