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The Virginia Tech Hokies got a big boost to their NCAA men’s tournament hopes last time out with an upset of Virginia. They hope to continue to strengthen their argument next time out in a matchup against the Pittsburgh Panthers.... 

There will be no love lost on the court in this Valentine’s Day matchup as the Kentucky Wildcats seek to avenge one of their two losses in SEC play when they host the Tennessee Volunteers. The Vols pulled off the upset just three weeks ago, knocking off UK as a 10.5-point underdog at Thompson-Boling Arena. It’ll be a different scenario this time around with the Cats looking to avenge that defeat on the Rupp Arena floor where they are unbeaten in league play.... 

The Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners are used to being two of the strongest programs in the Big XII. This season, though, they are both in the conference cellar.... 

With Grayson Allen keeping his extremities to himself and Coach K back on the sideline, the Duke Blue Devils have put together a five-game winning streak, getting hot at the right time of the year. Duke won at No. 20 Notre Dame three weeks ago and has a shot at another road win over a ranked opponent when the Blue Devils take on the Virginia Cavaliers. The Cavs are going the other direction with losses in three of their last five games.... 

The Michigan State Spartans are in an unfamiliar spot, possibly on the NCAA men’s basketball tournament as the regular season hits its stretch run. They would love to pick up a host of victories the rest of the way to avoid that drama, and could get a big one this week against the Ohio State Buckeyes.... 

The Iowa State Cyclones and Kansas State Wildcats are both on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament. A huge road win over Kansas for Iowa State helped their chances immensely and the Cyclones kept it up with a win against Oklahoma on Saturday. As for Kansas State, the Wildcats currently sit at 5-7 in conference but have a very manageable schedule the rest of the way. A win here for the Wildcats would be a big step in the right direction.... 

Earlier this week, the South Carolina Gamecocks blew a big chance. South Carolina had the opportunity to move ahead of Kentucky and Florida in the SEC race, but blew it by losing to Alabama. Now the three schools are tied at the top with identical 9-2 conference records and the Gamecocks have no breathing room if they want to win the SEC regular season title. They will have a very winnable game on Saturday when they face the Mississippi State Bulldogs.... 

The two best teams in the American Conference are ready to do battle. The Cincinnati Bearcats will travel to face off against the SMU Mustangs in a critical showdown for both teams.Cincinnati sits one game ahead in the standings but if the Mustangs take care of business behind the home crowd the teams will be deadlocked with only a few games left. Both are nationally ranked and this is going to be an intriguing matchup.... 

The Big Ten isn’t getting a lot of attention this season, and that’s partly because two of the premier programs in the conference have struggled. Basketball in the state of Indiana isn’t taken lightly and the natives are not happy with the way the Indiana Hoosiers have played. A preseason pick to be among the conference leaders, the Hoosiers are floundering. It hasn’t been much better for the Michigan Wolverines, but at least they weren’t picked to finish at the top of the standings.... 

The DePaul Blue Demons once again bring up the rear of the Big East standings. They’ve won a grand total of one game in conference play, and likely won’t be tallying No. 2 this evening against the No. 2 ranked Villanova Wildcats. It is however possible that the Blue Demons find a way to cover the game with the Cats invading the Windy City off what’s likely to be an incredibly physical game with Xavier.... 

After traveling to Lubbock to battle Texas Tech over the weekend, the No. 3 ranked Kansas Jayhawks will return home to the comforts of the Phog where they’ll partake in a grudge match against the West Virginia Mountaineers. Huggy Bear’s Mounty’s once again got the best of Bill Self’s kids only 20 days ago in Morgantown where WVU turned on the afterburners in the second half to hand the Jayhawks their fourth straight defeat in the Coliseum.... 

Don’t look now, but Jimmy Boeheim’s Syracuse Orange continue to climb up the ACC standings after rattling off five straight wins with a visit to Pitt set for the weekend. They’ll return home for this one to battle a Louisville Cardinals squad that just partook in an extremely physical Miami squad. These former Big East rivals have a ton of history with one another, and it’s the Cards that have held the recent upper hand in taking three of the last four skirmishes.... 

Can the Gonzaga Bulldogs end the season and enter March Madness undefeated? The Zags face their biggest remaining regular season test on Saturday night when they travel to the Bay Area to take on the Saint Mary’s Gaels. Saint Mary’s has only lost twice this season, once already to Gonzaga, and will be looking to gain a split of the West Coast Conference title with a win in this one. If Gonzaga emerges victorious in this one, it will be odds-on to enter the NCAA Tournament with an unblemished record.... 

It’s been an awful year for the Oklahoma Sooners. Oklahoma looks set to finish dead last in the Big 12 just one season after making the Final Four in one of the worst collapses we have ever seen in college basketball. For a moment, the Sooners looked like they might shock the Big 12 again and sweep West Virginia on Wednesday night, but the Mountaineers came back and put those hopes to bed. All that’s left now is ruining other teams’ seasons and next up on the list is the Iowa State Cyclones who can’t afford a loss with their fringe bubble status.... 

The Villanova Wildcats coverless streak extended to six straight on Tuesday night when it pulled out an 11 point win as near 15-point favorites against Georgetown. They’ll look to put an end to that streak on the road Saturday afternoon when they invade Cincinnati for a huge No. 1 versus No. 2 matchup with the Xavier Musketeers. Though a win won’t earn the X-Men the conference lead, it won’t stop them from looking to avenge a bitter defeat suffered to the Cats over a month ago.... 

The Florida State Seminoles could find themselves in a position to reclaim the top spot in the ACC on Saturday night dependent upon what goes down in Durham on Thursday night. If that turns out to be the case, they’re still going to get a game effort from a Notre Dame Fighting Irish squad that enters off a satisfying win and cover against upstart Wake Forest last time out. Especially with the Noles taking the meeting in Tallahassee earlier this season.... 

Playing at home against a team in the middle of the ACC pack, this is a game that the Louisville Cardinals figure they should win. North Carolina probably thought the same thing when they faced the Miami Hurricanes two weeks ago, but it was Miami that pulled off the 15-point stunner against the No. 9 Tar Heels. And for the Canes to improve their at-large tournament hopes, a similar victory will surely help. But this one is on the road where the Cardinals have lost just once all season.... 

The No. 3 ranked Kansas Jayhawks will have had four-plus days to recuperate from the gauntlet the team just went through when they head down south to match up against a Texas Tech Red Raiders outfit badly in need of a big win to jumpstart the team for the stretch run. Chris Beard’s squad has been pretty decent in Lubbock, so the Big 12 leader’s best take them seriously in the rival’s final meeting of the regular season.... 

The Alabama Crimson Tide will no doubt be jacked for this afternoon tussle after outlasting South Carolina in a triple overtime thriller to log their seventh SEC win of the season. Whether they’ll have enough gas in the tank to run with the Kentucky Wildcats remains to be seen, but after getting embarrassed in all three meetings last season, they’ll no doubt give it the old college try.... 

The Arizona Wildcats suffered their first Pac-12 loss of the season last time out to Oregon, but still sit in a tie with the Ducks for the conference lead. They will aim to bounce back in a matchup with the California Golden Bears next time out.... 

The Marquette Golden Eagles are on the NCAA men’s basketball tournament bubble as the regular season draws to a close, and every win is critical down the stretch. They have a big game coming up this week against the Georgetown Hoyas.... 

With the NCAA Tournament bubble encircling both teams, the Atlantic 10 matchup between the Dayton Flyers and Rhode Island Rams has added significance. The teams are separated by a game at the top of the standings, but gaining quality wins at this stage of the season is most important. Of course winning the conference tournament brings the automatic bid, but these clubs can’t count on that, so piling up as many victories as possible will give them a shot.... 

The No. 10 UCLA Bruins have some work to do if they’re to once again become a topic in the regular season Pac-12 championship discussion. Steve Alford’s squad will be presented an excellent opportunity to throw its hat back into the ring on Thursday night when it welcomes the No. 7 ranked Oregon Ducks into Tinseltown for the heavyweight’s second and final meeting of the regular season. Oregon stole one at the buzzer in these team’s late December meeting that kicked off conference play.... 

The Florida State Seminoles haven't had a team anywhere near this good in quite some time. Leonard Hamilton's crew is going to be back at it on Wednesday night in Tallahassee in a game that would historically give this club some issues. The N.C. State Wolfpack have already gone on the road and beaten Duke this year, so the Noles had better be careful if they're thinking that this game is going to be as easy as the one they had last Sunday against Clemson.Don't miss the action on the hardwood from the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday, February 8, 2016. Catch every moment of the game live on ESPN2.... 

The American Conference has been whittled down to a two-team race, as the SMU Mustangs are only a half-game behind Cincinnati as the two teams prepare to clash this week. Before SMU plays that crucial contest, it must travel to face off against the Temple Owls....