NCAA Basketball Conference Review

NCAA Men’s Basketball Conference Review- February 23

NCAA men’s basketball action is at a fever pace with the best teams in the country using the month of February to try and put themselves in the best position possible come tournament-time in March. The following is a brief review of the top few teams in each of the major conferences along with a few teams to watch from the Mid-Majors. All rankings quoted are from the latest Coaches Poll.

ACC
Duke is not only on top of the ACC, but it is back to No.1 in the country in the latest polls. The Blue Devils ran their record to 25-2 with a 79-57 win over Georgia Tech this past Sunday. They lead No.19 North Carolina by a game and a half in the conference standings with a record of 12-1. The Tar Heels (20-6, 10-2) are coming off a 48-46 win over Boston College.

Big East
No.6 Pittsburgh remains on top in the Big East at 12-2, but fell to 24-3 on the year with a last-second 60-59 loss to No.25 St. John’s this past Saturday. The rest of the conference remains a jumbled mess with seven ranked teams all within two games of one another. No.9 Notre Dame (21-5, 10-4) is in second-place by a half game over No.11 Georgetown (21-6, 10-5) and No.16 Louisville (21-7, 10-5), while the Red Storm (17-9, 9-5) and No.20 Syracuse (23-6, 10-6) are three games in back of Pitt.

Big Ten
No.3 Ohio State blew a chance to get back to top of the polls with a 76-63 loss to No.8 Purdue last Sunday. The Buckeyes are 26-2 overall and still have a game and half lead over the Boilermakers (22-5, 11-3) in the Big Ten at 13-2. No.12 Wisconsin is the only other team in the conference that remains in the top 25. The Badgers have an overall record of 20-6 and are 10-4 in conference play.

Big 12
It is a two-team race in the Big 12 with No.5 Texas leading No.2 Kansas by one game in the conference standings. The Longhorns (24-4, 12-1) bounced back from a stunning 70-67 loss to Nebraska with a 76-53 win over Iowa State this past Monday. The Jayhawks moved to 26-2 overall and 11-2 in the Big 12 with a 92-65 win over Oklahoma State. No.17 Texas A&M (21-5, 8-4) and No.21 Missouri (21-6, 7-5) are the other two nationally ranked schools in the conference.

PAC-10
No.10 Arizona continues to climb in the polls with eight straight wins including a thrilling 87-86 victory over Washington last Saturday. The Wildcats are currently 23-4 overall and have a two-game lead over UCLA in the PAC-10 at 12-2. The Bruins (19-8, 10-4) six-game winning streak came to an end with a 76-72 loss to Cal in overtime this past Sunday.

SEC
The SEC has three teams in the top 25 led by No.13 Florida. The Gators’ 68-61 win over LSU raised their record to 21-5 overall and 10-2 in the SEC-East. No. 18 Vanderbilt fell to 20-7 and 8-5 in the conference with a 60-51 loss to Tennessee on Tuesday night. No.22 Kentucky (19-7) is three games behind Florida in the East at 7-5. Alabama (18-8) is unranked but leads the SEC-West by four games with a conference record of 10-2.

Mid-Majors
San Diego State is back in the top five at No.4 after reeling off seven straight victories to raise its record to 27-1 overall and 12-1 in the Mountain West. The Aztecs take on No.7 BYU in huge MWC showdown this upcoming Saturday. The Cougars are currently 25-2 overall and 11-1 in conference play. They can also sweep the season series between the two teams after beating the Aztecs 71-58 on Jan.26.
No.23 Utah State (25-3, 12-1) out of the WAC and No.24 Temple (21-5, 11-2) from the Atlantic-10 are the only other Mid-Major schools currently ranked in the top 25.