Men's Basketball Weeknight Viewers Guide: 2/17 - 2/21

NCAA projected seeds next to the school are from KPISports.com as of Friday, so it does not include this weekend's results.

EDIT: KPI adjusted for games played through 2/16

Schedule

Monday
Delaware (14) at Towson (OUT) (7pm, NBCSN) - Top two schools in the CAA standings for a conference that is likely to be only sending its tournament champion.  A win by Delaware will clinch a share of the CAA title for the Blue Hens and assure them of the #1 seed in the conference tournament

Tuesday
Kentucky (5) at Ole Miss (NIT 3) (7pm, ESPN) - Ole Miss gets the SEC gauntlet of Kentucky and Florida back-to-back, but both games are in Oxford, where they have won their five SEC home games.  If the Rebels can get a split, that would be a big boost to their NCAA chances.

Texas (5) at Iowa St. (5) (7pm, ESPN2) - The Longhorns are quite hot in Big 12 play, winning nine of their last ten in Big 12 play after opening with two losses.  After this one for the Cyclones, only Kansas St. appears to be a likely NCAA tournament team.

Villanova (2) at Providence (NIT 3) (7pm, FOX Sports 1) - 7pm on Tuesday is a popular spot.  I expect when the numbers are run for this weekend's games at KPISports, you won't find Villanova as a two seed after being trucked by Creighton twice.  Providence, Xavier, St. John's, Marquette - someone needs to step up from this group or Big East #3 will be more likely to find their bubble burst on March 16th.

Worth paying attention to: George Washington (9) at Richmond (12) (7pm, NBCSN).  See Friday.

Wednesday
UCLA (4) at California (9) (10pm, Pac-12 Networks) - I don't know if we hear enough about the Pac-12.  Its a deep conference, but it certainly has its flaws now with Arizona and Colorado suffering key injuries.  UCLA is in a great position to grab some headlines and maybe steal the regular season title if Arizona falters a few more times down the stretch.  Cal's schedule strength should increase of the rest of the conference schedule facing key teams in Arizona, Arizona St. and Colorado.  Get those wins along with this one and they might be looking up a seed in the upper half of the bracket.

Arizona St. (8) at Colorado (10) (11pm, ESPNU) - Colorado is treading water, while the Sun Devils are trending up.  After Colorado, ASU should be favored to win four of their final five with a home game vs. California as their last regular season chance at beefing up their resume

Thursday
Duke (4) at North Carolina (7) (9pm, ESPN/ACC Network) - Its a big deal & people watch.  UNC is surging ahead, but is still fighting it out with Pitt for the important #4 seed in the ACC.   Catching a team after its first or second game in Greensboro is worth clawing for.

Gonzaga (7) at BYU (12) (11pm, ESPN2) - BYU used a great second half to win at St. Mary's and put themselves in the drivers' seat for the 2nd seed in the WCC tournament by sweeping the Gaels.  Like Villanova, I suspect BYU now finds itself "in" the tournament at the moment, but needs to assert itself at home vs. the Bulldogs.  It wasn't that close in Spokane (84-69 loss) and this is the last big regular season game for the Cougars until the conference as they should be favored against Portland and San Diego.

Friday
Mercer (14) at Florida Gulf Coast (OUT) (6pm, ESPNU) - Top two of the Atlantic Sun.  If Mercer wins, they need one win in their last three to outright clinch the A-Sun's regular season title and, at a minimum, a postseason opportunity in the NIT.

VCU (6) at Massachusetts (4) (7pm, ESPN2) - The Rams gave Saint Louis all sorts of fits, many of them self-induced, before losing at Chafeitz to the Billikens.  On the other side, UMass got a win it absolutely needed at George Washington.  There's a real battle going on between five teams separated by one loss (VCU, UMass, Richmond, GW & St. Joe's) for the second seed in the A-10 tournament and each school will face another one from this grouping at least once.