Full schedule
Monday
Kansas at Kansas St. (9pm, ESPN) - This one has been fun to watch for the past few years, and Kansas's freshman duo of Joel Embiid and Andrew Wiggins are really a treat when they are on target. The Wildcats' resume is solid enough to get them into the NCAA tournament right now and they've won games over a pair of teams above them in the Big 12 standings (Texas & Oklahoma) plus a pair of teams in George Washington and Gonzaga that should be in regardless of their conference tournament.
Tuesday
Oklahoma St. at Texas (7pm, ESPN2) - Its time for Oklahoma St. to control its own destiny. This will be the first of three games that they won't have Marcus Smart. 4-6 in Big 12 play with losses in five of the last six. Can they rise up?
Wednesday
Syracuse at Pittsburgh (7pm, ESPN) - These two met three week ago and it went down to the final possession. I don't expect it to be any different. Each ACC school they face will put even more emphasis on the Orange, and Pitt knows them the best. Syracuse's last win at the Petersen Events Center: 2004. They are 0-5 since then.
George Washington at VCU (7pm, NBCSN) - What, no Olympics on NBCSN? ;) Saint Louis, at the moment, is in a class of its own in the A-10, but both of these schools have tournament resumes. George Washington owns one win over VCU at home, and a successful return trip to Richmond would be another bankable win for them.
Toledo at Ohio (7pm, Time Warner Sports/Full Court/ESPN3) - Toledo has the tournament resume of an at-large team at the moment, but Ohio isn't far behind. Ohio's best win is a road win vs. Richmond. The Bobcats also need to keep pace with Akron as the MAC continues to reward the division winners with conference tournament byes into the semifinal round.
Duke at North Carolina (9pm, ESPN/ACC Network) - You'll watch because it is one of the best rivalries in college sports. Duke really can't afford another ACC loss and they might end up playing in the 2nd round of the tournament instead of having a bye through to the quarterfinals.
Reminder to fans in most ACC markets, particularly for fans in parts of New York and Pennsylvania: You do have two options to watch the game on television. ESPN will provide the national coverage and Raycom's ACC Network also produces a telecast. You are not blacked out of the ESPN telecast even if you are receiving the ACC Network telecast. The two productions coexist with each other.
Thursday & Friday
Choose your own adventure. There are plenty of games, but I couldn't find one that stuck out to me at the moment.
Well, Thursday night on ESPN3 features the two Southland transitioning members as Abilene Christian visits Incarnate Word in a game that is virtually meaningless outside of bragging rights, but there could be some interest since Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word typically play games within 5-7 points of each other over their history.
ReplyDeleteFriday has Arizona/ Arizona State, so there are some games that could generate interest.