Another wild week of college basketball was accompanied by another helter-skelter poll in which each of our seven pollsters remain significantly divided on team placement within the RTC25. This week was notable in a Big East where #5 Xavier finally shook the monkey off its back to defeat #4 Villanova on Wednesday, only to follow that up with each team responding to the result in an equal and opposite way. Villanova recovered with a win at Marquette on Saturday while Xavier was dominated in a loss at Seton Hall on Sunday. Villanova still leads the Big East and is in good position to take home the regular season conference title. But with the parity in college basketball this season, the Big East Tournament in Madison Square Garden could be defined by inherent uncertainty. This week’s Quick N’ Dirty is after the jump.
Quick N’ Dirty Analysis.
- Kansas remains #1. With Saturday’s home victory over Texas Tech, Kansas has now won a share of 12 consecutive Big 12 regular season titles — when you consider the parity in today’s college basketball, this is a preposterous accomplishment. The Jayhawks have had their share of one-and-dones and lottery picks over the years, but this season’s squad is a mostly veteran group that has relied on offensive balance and rugged defense. Bill Self’s squad has an opportunity to claim the outright league title this week if it can grab a win tonight at #20 Texas or Saturday against #19 Iowa State. The Jayhawks have been humming along nicely lately, so it is more than reasonable to expect another outright crown to reside in Lawrence.
- #11 Indiana has clinched a share of the Big Ten title. Expectations were reasonably high for Indiana this season, but questions emerged regarding the Hoosiers’ long-term prospects after bad losses to Wake Forest and UNLV in Maui. Tom Crean’s squad currently sits at 13-3 in Big Ten play with at least a share of the conference title in hand given #14 Maryland and #21 Iowa’s losses over the weekend. The journey to the outright title, however, will be difficult for the Hoosiers, as a trip to Iowa on Tuesday precedes a home game against Maryland in the regular season finale on Sunday. Regardless of this week’s results, Indiana should be proud of its ability to shake off an uneven start to the season and finish strong.
- What to do with #22 Wichita State? The Shockers finished off their regular season Saturday with a dominant victory over Illinois State in what was the final home game for senior standouts Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker. Gregg Marshall’s group finished Missouri Valley Conference play with a 16-2 record that gives it the top seed in this week’s Arch Madness in St. Louis. What is working against Wichita State, though, is injury-riddled but weak non-conference profile. It appears that the Shockers will need to win the league title in order to be sure about another NCAA Tournament bid. The unevenness of Wichita State’s resume has flummoxed our pollsters on where to put them within the RTC25, as the Shockers are as high as #9 in one ballot while three others do not even rank them. There is a lot of major conference basketball to consume this week, but Wichita State’s challenge is definitely something to pay attention to as well next weekend.
Game of the Week. #7 North Carolina vs. #15 Duke. The best rivalry in college basketball once again takes center stage on the final Saturday of the regular season. In their first meeting on February 17, North Carolina blew a late lead and allowed Duke to emerge with an impressive 74-73 road victory. The Tar Heels will look for revenge on the Blue Devils in Durham, as Roy Williams’ squad still has a shot at the regular season ACC crown. Duke struggled mightily on defense and in rebounding in their loss at Pittsburgh on Sunday, so look for North Carolina to come out in attack mode and try to overwhelm Duke early.
Keep Tabs On. #7 North Carolina vs. Syracuse; #1 Kansas vs. #20 Texas; #6 Oklahoma vs. #24 Baylor; #11 Indiana vs. #21 Iowa; #8 Miami (FL) vs. Notre Dame; #9 West Virginia vs. #24 Baylor; #1 Kansas vs. #19 Iowa State; #3 Virginia vs. #12 Louisville; #13 Utah vs. Colorado; #11 Indiana vs. #14 Maryland; #18 Purdue vs. #23 Wisconsin.
Conference Call: Big Ten (6), Big 12 (6), ACC (5), Pac-12 (3), Big East (2), SEC (2), Missouri Valley (1).