#11 Wisconsin has just closed out #1 Ohio State in Madison, 71-67, thereby removing the final undefeated team from Division I men’s basketball.

Congrats To the Buckeyes On a Great Run...And the Badgers For Ending It.

[photo credit: @LukeWinn, someone you should follow if you aren’t]

The win was predicted by everyone from casual fans to long-time experts of the game, not because of any weakness perceived in OSU, but rather due to how incredibly well the Badgers play at the Kohl Center. Jordan Taylor used the opportunity to show  everyone why he should have been included on the Bob Cousy Award finalists’ list. The Wisconsin point guard was fantastic, contributing 27 points, four boards, and seven assists. 21 of Taylor’s points were scored in the second half as Wisconsin erased a 15-point Buckeye lead.

Ohio State was led by William Buford’s 21 points on 10-18 shooting. Jared Sullinger provided his usual excellence, adding 19/12. The teams combined for just 15 turnovers, and an impresive total of 33 assists on 50 field goals.

Wisconsin improves to 19-5 (9-3). The Buckeyes, still obviously a top contender for the national title, “fall” to 24-1 (11-1).

If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com. We will add to this post throughout the day as the submissions come in so keep on sending them.

Pre-Game Anlaysis

• #1 Ohio State at #11 Wisconsin: “Ohio State takes its undefeated record and #1 ranking to Madison, WI today for what should be the toughest test of the season thus far. OSU coach Thad Matta is 0-7 on the road against Wisconsin since taking over the team but a win in this game would erase all of the previous frustration. Not only would it preserve the ranking and record, but it would solidify the team’s reputation and also gain a small measure of revenge for the football team’s lone loss of the 2010 season.” (Eleven Warriors)
• Baylor at #2 Texas: “The University of Texas men’s basketball team (21-3, 9-0) returns to action on Saturday afternoon to host the Baylor Bears (16-7, 6-4), who after losing 23 straight games to Rick Barnes and Texas, have won the last four meetings dating back to the 2009 Big XII Tournament. The Bears swept the Longhorns last season, including a pair of double-digit wins in Waco and Kansas City.” (Burnt Orange Nation)
• Iowa State at #3 Kansas: “Round two against the Cyclones and a lot has changed since the first meeting in Hilton Coliseum. For the Jayhawks part the play on the court has improved a great deal. After a sluggish start to begin conference play the Jayhawks have looked a bit like a machine over the last five, especially on the offensive end. This one’s a home game, no Hilton magic. Right around the corner sits a Big Monday matchup against in state rival Kansas State. For Kansas it’s important to keep taking it one game at a time and bringing the defense along to a level that matches the impressive offensive tone.” (Rock Chalk Talk)
• #12 Syracuse at #19 Louisville: “With five losses in seven games, the Orange need a break. They need a chance to course correct and work out their many issues. They will not receive any such break this weekend. Instead, they’ll play a team they haven’t beaten since 2006 and haven’t beaten on the road since they joined the conference.” (Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician)
• Oklahoma at #15 Missouri: “One of my favorite parts of the basketball offseason happened last April, when I was attempting to run some initial projections for the 2010-11 Big 12 season. Oklahoma had just suffered an incredible amount of attrition and had yet to really secure any commitments from replacements. My projections had walk-ons playing semi-significant minutes … and had Oklahoma’s projected conference wins at minus-1. I still giggle about that a little.  Well, Jeff Capel did get some honest-to-god scholarship players to fill the roster, and despite a precarious start to the season, Oklahoma hasn’t been downright terrible. They haven’t necessarily been GOOD, by any means, but … with four conference wins, they officially have five more conference wins than projected. So good on them for that.” (Rock M Nation)
• #18 Kentucky at #23 Vanderbilt: “Saturday afternoon, the Kentucky Wildcats travel down to Nashville to face the Vanderbilt Commodores in venerable Memorial Gymnasium. This has been a competitive contest now for a good number of years, and this year figures to be no different. The Wildcats take a weak 1-4 road record with them down I-65 with an eye toward making that look at least one game closer to .500.” (A Sea of Blue)
• Tennessee at #21 Florida: “After the Vols followed up with a 12 point loss in Lexington, we arrive at the latest edition of “most important game of the year”. And this one has a combination of the elements found in the previous three: team on a losing streak, season could go one of two ways, and yet, championship implications. It’s not a must-win for NCAA Tournament purposes, but it absolutely is for SEC division and/or conference title purposes. And thanks to the dog-eat-dog reality of the SEC in 2011, a win for the Vols in Gainesville could pull them within a game of the Gators and the Tide for the conference lead.” (Rocky Top Talk)

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Zach Hayes is an editor, contributor and bracketologist for Rush the Court.

Mid-February means only one thing: the unveiling of Bubble Watch 2011! Here’s a snapshot of which teams have work to do to punch their NCAA Tournament ticket as we approach one month till Selection Sunday:

Atlantic 10

Xavier (17-6 (8-1), 22 RPI, 27 SOS)- The Musketeers picked up a vital non-conference win over fellow bubble team Georgia in Athens and remain atop the Atlantic 10 with an 8-1 mark. The regular season winner of the conference is a lock to make the tournament. Xavier already has key wins in A-10 play over Temple and at Richmond and this weekend’s meeting at Duquesne is truly the only challenging date remaining on the slate unless you count a February 27 trip to Dayton.

Temple (18-5 (8-2), 37 RPI, 131 SOS)- The Owls have two vital A-10 games in the next week with a visit to Dayton and a home date with Richmond ahead. A mid-February road game at Duke should boost the RPI/SOS and the Owls have an increasingly important home win over Georgetown (#4 RPI) from back in December. Temple has won five in a row and, coupled with their recent A-10 tournament success, it’s difficult to envision the Owls disappointed on Selection Sunday.

Richmond (19-6 (8-2), 70 RPI, 168 SOS)- With Kevin Anderson, Justin Harper and Dan Geriot, the Spiders smell like an NCAA team, but lackluster computer numbers and four sub-70 RPI losses to Bucknell, Rhode Island, Iona and Georgia Tech give us pause. Like Temple’s win over Georgetown, Richmond holds a key victory over Purdue (#12 RPI) and also beat fellow bubble team VCU. An all-important trip to Philly to face the Owls looms on February 17.

Duquesne (16-6 (8-1), RPI 76, 154 SOS)- At 8-1 in the Atlantic 10, the Dukes may seem like a team worthy of tournament inclusion, but their best non-conference win is IUPUI. A win over Temple certainly helped, but Duquesne must go 3-1 in their tough games remaining – Xavier, at Dayton, Rhode Island, at Richmond — to warrant serious consideration.

Malcolm Delaney's Hokies sit right on the bubble again

ACC

Locks: Duke, North Carolina.

Boston College (15-9 (5-5), 44 RPI, 17 SOS)- The Eagles have dropped five of seven during their most challenging stretch of ACC play, but did manage to pick up a key bubble win over Virginia Tech in the process. BC could still go either way with tough games at North Carolina and Virginia Tech remaining, but also a handful against the dregs of the ACC. Along with the VT win and a December triumph at Maryland, BC boasts a win over Texas A&M from the Old Spice Classic.

Florida State (17-7 (7-3), 48 RPI, 87 SOS)- There would have been some nervous ‘Noles fans out there had there been a  letdown at Georgia Tech last night, but Chris Singleton and Co. avoided a loss after two road thrashings from Clemson and North Carolina. Wins over Virginia, Miami and at Wake Forest coming up gives Leonard Hamilton’s team 10 ACC wins and basically locks up a bid. The schedule is favorable and that win over Duke (#8 RPI) stands out.

Clemson (17-7 (6-4), 63 RPI, 116 SOS)- Clemson faced a must-win situation against BC at home and downed the Eagles on Tuesday. The Tigers also destroyed Florida State, but their lack of quality non-conference wins (at Charleston the best) means there’s still work to be done. A golden opportunity presents itself tomorrow with North Carolina coming to town followed by two tricky road games at NC State and Miami that can hurt a lot more than help.

Virginia Tech (15-7 (5-4), 65 RPI, 102 SOS)- Bubble watch just wouldn’t be the same without Virginia Tech. The Hokies face a potential 4-0 stretch upcoming with visits from Georgia Tech and Maryland followed by a Virginia-Wake road swing, but the real key to their NCAA hopes will be a February 26 home date with Duke. Seth Greenberg’s team has wins over Florida State and at Maryland, but their best out-of-conference victory was over Oklahoma State in Anaheim.

Maryland (16-8 (5-4), 80 RPI, 81 SOS)- The Terps have gone a remarkable 0-7 against the RPI top-50 and their best win remains an ACC-Big Ten Challenge triumph at Penn State. Not exactly the resume of an NCAA Tournament team. Maryland has plenty of work to do with a crucial two game swing at BC and Virginia Tech starting Saturday. Lose both and it’s going to be very hard to avoid NIT relegation.

Big 12

Locks: Kansas, Texas.

Texas A&M (18-5 (5-4), 27 RPI, 44 SOS)- The Aggies dodged a huge bullet when B.J. Holmes’ three found the bottom of the net and A&M eventually beat Colorado in overtime to avoid a four-game slide. A&M picked up two solid non-conference wins over Washington and Temple and were a missed layup away from also beating Boston College. The Aggies also boast a Big 12 win over Missouri and have three chances to add a quality road win to the portfolio with trips to Oklahoma State, Baylor and Kansas ahead.

Missouri (18-6 (4-5), 28 RPI, 68 SOS)- Like A&M, Missouri has done close to nothing away from home – their best win away from Columbia was a December downing of Oregon. Missouri should be able to make the Dance behind non-conference wins over Vanderbilt, Illinois and Old Dominion and a respectable RPI, but it’d certainly help if they win either at home vs. Baylor or at Kansas State to make absolutely positive.

Kansas State (16-8 (4-5), 33 RPI, 12 SOS)- Amazingly, Kansas State still has a chance to Dance despite an 0-7 mark vs. the RPI top-50 and top wins over Virginia Tech and at Washington State. The RPI/SOS is boosted by a challenging non-conference slate (Duke, UNLV, Florida) and Big 12 road games (Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Kansas, Missouri = all losses) with a visit to Austin still remaining. A Valentine’s Day visit from Kansas is approaching. Win that and we can consider the Wildcats a legitimate bid threat again.

Oklahoma State (16-7 (4-5), 43 RPI, 63 SOS)- The next four games for the Cowboys could knock them clear out of the bubble picture, especially at 4-5 in the Big 12: at Nebraska, at Texas, Texas A&M, at Kansas. A 2-2 record out of that stretch would be welcomed. A non-conference win over Missouri State is decent, as are home victories over Missouri and Kansas State. This team is currently right on the bubble.

Baylor (16-7 (6-4), 62 RPI, 76 SOS)- Baylor saved their season with a win at Texas A&M on Saturday, but their earlier losses to Iowa State and Oklahoma stand out as black marks. Not to mention Baylor’s best win out of conference is, gulp, Lipscomb and their non-conference SOS is #235. Baylor will either sprint into the tournament or completely flame out during their last four games- home vs. Texas A&M and Texas and visits to Missouri and Oklahoma State. Opportunity knocks for Scott Drew’s team.

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***** – quit your job and divorce your wife if that’s what it takes to watch this game live
**** – best watched live, but if you must, tivo and watch it tonight as soon as you get home
*** – set your tivo but make sure you watch it later
** – set your tivo but we’ll forgive you if it stays in the queue until 2013
* – don’t waste bandwidth (yours or the tivo’s) of any kind on this game

Brian Otskey is an RTC contributor.

So many games, so little time to talk about them. Here are the biggest games of the weekend and why you should pay attention to them. Fair warning: it’s a long list. All rankings from RTC and all times Eastern.

#12 Syracuse @ #19 Louisville – 12 pm Saturday on ESPN (****)

The Cards Need Knowles To Catch Fire Over the Angry Syracuse Zone

With Rakeem Buckles and Gorgui Dieng practicing again for Louisville, the Cardinals are starting to get some of their depth back. Their status for this game is unknown but there’s a chance at least one of them will play. The Cardinals beat Syracuse twice last season and they’ll look to do it again in what is an important separation game for both teams. Only one game in the loss column separates third and eleventh place in the Big East with both of these teams in the thick of that jumbled mess.

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Andrew Murawa is an RTC contributor.

They are the #6 team in the country according to the latest Rush the Court poll, a number that the ESPN/USA Today Coaches and AP polls agree with. They’re #11 according to Ken Pomeroy. They’re sitting at 24-1 on the season, riding high at the top of the Mountain West Conference, and a shoo-in for a NCAA Tournament bid and likely a very high seed. They’re the San Diego State Aztecs, and they’re pretty darn good. But given that they’ve been succeeding out of the spotlight of major BCS conference play and largely outside of the airwaves of that big behemoth in Bristol, they are a bit of a mystery to most. I would guess most of your typical casual college basketball fans have seen them play once, maybe twice, and likely hold some reservations about their chances for a deep tournament run given the MWC’s recent lack of success in March. So, in the interest of shedding some light on a team that could be a big factor next month, we’ll give you the crash course on San Diego State basketball, taking you through their strengths, their weaknesses, some of their potential X-factors and a quick guess at their chances in the postseason.

Steve Fisher Has the Aztecs Nationally Relevant

Strengths

Frontcourt Athleticism – First and foremost, this team is built around their starting frontcourt: senior center Malcolm Thomas, senior forward Billy White, and sophomore forward Kawhi Leonard. Leonard is the star of the bunch, a versatile freak of nature and potential NBA lottery pick come June. Despite checking in at just 6’7, he’s got a 7-foot wingspan and a pair of the biggest and strongest hands you’ll ever get a look at. Throw in effortless athleticism and a tireless work ethic and you’ve got a major force on the basketball court – especially on the boards. Despite having to compete with not only the opposition, but his glass-eating frontcourt mates,  for every ball that comes off the rim, Leonard still grabs almost 13% of all shots missed by an Aztec, and 26% of all shots missed by the other team. Far from just a ferocious rebounder, Leonard is capable of doing plenty of other amazing things on the basketball court. This is a guy who can grab a rebound above the rim on the defensive end, turn and head up court with a confident dribble, and once in the frontcourt, either penetrate the lane and find his own shot or draw the defense and find a teammate either underneath the hoop or at the three-point line. While his jumpshot is still a work in progress (he’s shooting 25% from three this year, up from 20% as a freshman), he’s just now beginning to polish the raw talent we got a glimpse of last year.

While White and Thomas may not have the jaw-dropping set of physical skills that Leonard has, neither one of those guys is a slouch. Thomas, at 6’9, though not the equal of Leonard on the glass, is still an excellent rebounder, posting a defensive rebounding percentage of 21 and an offensive rebounding percentage of just under 13. He’s also one of the best shotblockers in the country and a capable, if not exceptional, offensive threat. He is most effective right around the rim, either on offensive rebounds or lobs, but does have a decent face-up game. White is the perfect complement to Leonard and Thomas. Not as aggressive or flamboyantly athletic, he is more of a steadying influence along the frontline. He is not only the Aztecs’ best offensive post weapon, but he is their best defender in the post, yet still sports a strong face-up game, a good midrange jumper and just when he lulls you to sleep with his silky smooth game, he’ll throw down a merciless dunk on a defender’s head.

Veteran leadership – While White does have that freaky athleticism characteristic of the Aztec frontline, he also provides, along with senior point guard D.J. Gay, a calm veteran presence that can guide SDSU through rough waters when the going gets tough. Down the stretch, when baskets get tougher and tougher to come by, time and again it is White and Gay to whom the Aztecs turn. With the clock ticking down, the opposition inching closer on the scoreboard and the crowd starting to get loud, the Aztecs can safely throw the ball into White in the post and expect that he’ll get single coverage and execute an effective post move. And more times than not, it will be Gay who is feeding that post. Not only is Gay the team’s floor leader, he is also one of the Aztecs’ best three-point shooters, he is their best perimeter defender and he generally doesn’t back down from a challenge. While not the type of point that is going to create an awful lot off the bounce, he is capable of dribbling into a mid-range jumper. Last year when SDSU ran through the MWC Tournament on their way to the conference’s automatic bid, while Leonard earned the most plaudits with his astounding numbers, it was Gay and White to whom the Aztecs turned most often down the stretch in the tight semifinal victory over New Mexico. And in last Wednesday night’s tight road win over Colorado State, White had a big hoop in the clutch before Gay hit the game-winner with a second on the clock. When things get tough in February and March this year, expect White and Gay to continue to answer the call.

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If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com. We will add to this post throughout the day as the submissions come in so keep on sending them.

Top 25 Games

• St. John’s 89, #10 UConn 72: “The Connecticut Huskies were beaten, beasted, basted, knocked around behind a team defensive effort on Kemba Walker (15 points on 16 shots, 7 assists) who looked human once again, even sloppy. The Huskies’ offense wasn’t the real culprit in this loss, though they shot 35% inside the arc. It was the defense that led the Huskies into the wilderness. The Red Storm rebounded and ran on them over and over again, picking up at least 24 fast-break points behind the tenacious outlet passing of D.J. Kennedy (20 points, 11 total rebounds, 5 assists), along with the steady driving and shooting of Dwight Hardy (career-high 33 points, 3 assists). In a 71 possession game, the Storm dropped 89 points, putting up 54 in the second half.” (Rumble in the Garden)
• #23 Vanderbilt 81, Alabama 77: “Few could have predicted a shootout with the Crimson Tide visiting Memorial Gym, but Thursday night’s game turned into a horse race. In the end, the Commodores won by a nose. Vanderbilt snuck past a very tough Alabama team 81-77 behind a solid team effort that saw four ‘Dores in double figures on the night. ‘Bama abused the home team in the paint, but Vandy got the stops they needed late in the second half after the team switched from zone to man defense. Though Anthony Grant’s strategy of running Brad Tinsley through six or seven screens per possession was successful in creating space for his guards, the Tide couldn’t find their range late, leading to Vanderbilt’s fifth SEC win.” (Anchor of Gold)
• Illinois 71, #25 Minnesota 62: “In a game where both teams desperately needed a victory to snap out of their respective funks, Illinois capitalized on Minnesota mistakes and failed opportunities to take home a 71-62 victory in sloppy, grinding contest.” (From the Barn)

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1. One of the great offshoots of the partnership of CBS with Turner Sports for the upcoming fourteen years of NCAA Tournament is that they’ve finally figured out a clean and easy way for fans to watch every game live if they want to.  No more signing up for Mega March Madness or waiting on Greg Gumbel to shoot you to a better game (after a commercial break, of course).  Now, they will have four different channels through which to put the games, and with a more realistic staggering of tip times, there will be fewer scenarios where three games are coming down to a final possession at the same time.  As Mike Aresco, CBS’ executive VP for programming said, this will allow for “wall to wall coverage from Noon to Midnight.”  How awesome is this?
2. Is former Kentucky and Texas A&M head coach Billy Gillispie interested in the open Wyoming job?  Frankly, we don’t understand why he would have any interest at all.  Texas Tech is going to have an opening next month and the Longhorn State is his recruiting base.  And despite all the troubles he ran into in the Bluegrass State, he is a perfect fit for football-oriented schools in the footprint of the old Southwest Conference.  This potential move just doesn’t make a lot of sense to us.
3. The 2011 McDonald’s All-Americans were announced yesterday for the March 30 game in Chicago featuring the stars of tomorrow.  The big winners:  Kentucky (4), Duke (3), Louisville (3), Syracuse (2), UNC (2) — sooooo… what else is new?
4. Here’s a solid analysis of the Duke-UNC game from Wednesday night.  The thing that jumped out at us from this game was just how dominant UNC looked against Duke in the first half.  Sure, we all knew that the Blue Devils would come back, make the game competitive, and probably even win the game.  But we never thought that this collection of North Carolina players were capable of dominating this collection of Duke players at any time, anywhere, even for one half.
5. Luke Winn’s Power Rankings are always fun, but the little animated graphic he came up with to illustrate the assist difference between Larry Drew II and Kendall Marshall really cracked us up for some reason.  We half-expected the scientists from the Dharma Initiative to show up and tell us why we need to keep pressing that infernal button.

The Lede. It was Day Four of Rivalry Week, and though the tag of “rivalry” on some of the games might have been questionable, there was no lack of storylines. Connecticut might have been indoors but still got caught up in one heck of a Storm, and Vanderbilt managed to dodge an entire Tide, though the majority of our friends and Twitter followees feel that the Commodores may have gotten a little help at the end. Oh, and there’s a little WCC team on whom you might want to keep an eye. Let’s jump in…

St. John's Had Walker Frustrated All Night (F. Franklin/AP)

Your Watercooler Moment. There were very few points in this game at which Connecticut appeared to be playing at full speed, and even fewer at which St. John’s appeared to play at anything less. Sure, the Garden may have had a little to do with the Johnnies’ 89-72 win over the Huskies, but the bigger factor was that one team showed up for whole game and the other didn’t. UConn didn’t play its best basketball in the first half but at least seemed interested and stayed close enough to where their talent could have pulled them through in the end. Instead, in the second half, Connecticut didn’t defend in the half-court, didn’t get back in transition defense, didn’t seem at all prepared for St. John’s’ match-up zone, and did nothing to stop SJU’s Dwight Hardy. The St. John’s senior guard dropped 33 on the Huskies and got help with 20 more from D. J. Kennedy, whose 11 boards helped the Red Storm to a 41-31 rebounding edge. UConn got the help it’s been wanting from its non-Kemba corps — Roscoe Smith (16/6), Alex Oriakhi (12/8), Jeremy Lamb (13/5) all played well, though Lamb’s 2-7 from three was a bit of a pinch — it just didn’t defend for most of the game. Nobody expected that from a team who came into MSG ranked in the top ten nationally in FG% defense, especially inside the three-point arc. [Note: For our RTC Live summary and link to the coverage, see below.]

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Game #136.  RTC Live is back in the WCC for a key road game involving the conference-leading St. Mary’s Gaels against an old rival.

In a key battle to determine second place — and perhaps first as well — in the West Coast Conference, league-leading Saint Mary’s (8-1) takes on third-place Santa Clara (5-3) at Santa Clara. Santa Clara, which revived its season with an 85-71 upset of Gonzaga on Jan. 20, needs a win to stay close to San Francisco (6-2). Saint Mary’s needs to navigate two games in hostile environments — tonight’s in the Leavey Center and Saturday’s at San Francisco — to keep its hopes alive for winning the first regular-season title in Randy Bennett’s 10-year tenure.

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Game #137.  RTC Live makes its first trip to the Pacific Northwest for a key Pac-10 game for both Washington and California.

Coming into this season’s Pac-10 race, the storyline on these two teams were headed in different directions.  Both were NCAA Tournament participants last year, with UW heading to the Sweet Sixteen and Cal making the Second Round.  The difference was that Washington returned everyone except all-around star Quincy Pondexter, while Cal returned nobody except all-around role player, Jorge Gutierrez.  The Huskies were expected to run away with the Pac-10 regular season race, while the Bears were expected to be in serious rebuilding mode.  It hasn’t quite worked out that way.  Washington comes into tonight’s home game having dropped three perplexing games in a row, while Cal enters Edmundson Pavilion having won four of five.  As it is, Cal is only one game behind the Huskies in the Pac-10 standings, while Washington at 7-4 doesn’t want to give up any more ground to UCLA at 7-3 or Arizona at 9-2.  Tonight’s game should be a very interesting one, as both teams have considerable reason to give it their all in this one.  Join us on RTC Live for all the action tonight.

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