What’s Trending is a column examining the week that was in college basketball social media. Matthew Eisenberg (@matteise) is your weekly host.

The first four months of the college basketball season are now in the books, and this week gave us the annual Jon Rothstein countdown to March. Like clockwork, the CBS analyst delivered as all hoops fans knew he would. Welcome to March!

With March now here, conference races are in the home stretch. As such, Saturday night’s game between the best teams in the Mountain West ended with Utah State beating Nevada. After the game, Utah State fans rushed the court. Shortly after that, bedlam took place in the hallway under the arena as Nevada‘s Jordan Caroline erupted in anger. While to this point the incident is full of rumors and hearsay, it sets up what could be a wild match-up if the two teams see each other again in the Mountain West Tournament…

This week also featured some history. First there was Purdue’s Matt Haarms’ night of perfection against Illinois…

For mid-major NCAA Tournament hopefuls, non-conference play offers the only realistic chance to notch marquee, resume-building wins. Teams able to capitalize on those opportunities may put themselves in position for a bid next March even if they stumble during Championship Week. With only a few weeks of non-conference action remaining, let’s examine the important week that lies ahead for a few O26 at-large hopefuls:

Big opportunities lie ahead for Nevada and Rhode Island. (John Byrne, Nevada Wolf Pack Athletics)

• Gonzaga (7-1) – This week: vs. #4 Villanova, 7:00 PM ET, ESPN, Tuesday. With another talented roster and early wins over Texas, Ohio State and #25 Creighton, Gonzaga should be in fine shape to reach its 20th-straight Big Dance, even if it slips up in the the WCC Tournament. Still, tonight’s Jimmy V Classic match-up against #4 Villanova — the best team in college basketball, according to KenPom — offers the Zags an important chance to significantly strengthen its profile. A win over the Wildcats would give Mark Few’s group a neutral court victory against a potential power conference champion. A loss, and Gonzaga — without any match-ups remaining against likely NCAA Tournament teams — will be left hoping those wins over the Longhorns, Buckeyes and Bluejays age well. It’s not an exaggeration to suggest that this specific outcome could bump the Bulldogs up or down multiple seed lines come Selection Sunday.

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Iowa State won the most entertaining of the four-game session today in Milwaukee, doing so behind the stellar play of its senior class. Every time Nevada made a run, one of the Cyclones’ four senior starters had an answer.

Iowa State (USA Today Images)

Three Key Takeaways.

1. This was the highest level and most fun game of the day. It actually wasn’t even close. Between the multiple comeback attempts from Nevada every time the Wolf Pack would get behind by double-figures to the high level plays above the rim, it was the most entertaining game by a landslide. There were multiple tweets that went out from this writer telling people at home to switch over and watch.
2. Iowa State is going to be a really difficult team to beat. The team that ends up removing Iowa State from the bracket (and this is certainly not meant to rule them out of the National Championship picture) will have to figure out how to bend the will of four extremely mentally tough seniors — Monte Morris, Naz Mitrou-Long, Matt Thomas and Deonte Burton — who simply do not crumble in the face of pressure. This team has confidence and experience in spades right now, which is a dangerous combination in March.
3. Nevada lived up to its billing. Nevada’s talented trio of Cam Oliver, Marcus Marshall and Jordan Caroline exhibited their talent and resilience in how they kept coming back. Had the Wolf Pack not missed a number of easy shots in the first half, things might have turned out differently in the end. This was a fun team with several multi-skilled athletes who played at a fast tempo.

Star of the Game. Monte’ Morris didn’t have his best game of the season, but he nearly notched a triple-double tonight on his way to 19 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. As mentioned at the top, his quartet of Cyclone seniors were there to get a key bucket each and every time Nevada made some kind of run. A seven-point working margin was officially stretched and finished off when the floor general drew a foul shooting a three with 2:00 remaining.

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