Written by Mike Lopresti at NCAA.org
Another weekend, another all-you-can-eat buffet of surprises and flip-flops in college basketball. If February is this good, imagine what March will be like. But what to keep the public occupied until then? More about that in a minute.
Consider this latest crescendo. Ten ranked teams lost Saturday. There were 12 overtime games, and 31 decided by one possession — three points or fewer – over the weekend. Seven games were settled by someone scoring in the final two seconds.
You didn’t need to be a powerhouse to share in the tumult. Take Alcorn State. The Braves hit a 3-pointer with one second left to force overtime against Mississippi Valley State, then buried another jumper with one second left in the extra period to win 72-71, meaning Mississippi Valley State twice led with two seconds left on the clock, and lost.
Meanwhile, home winning streaks became an endangered species. Wichita State’s was stopped at a nation-leading 43, Maryland’s at 27, Valparaiso’s at 25 (on a tip-in at the buzzer), Oklahoma’s at 19, by its old friends from Kansas, whose own 39-game streak is now the nation’s longest.
So the landscape looks as volatile as ever. Now, about the future. The conference tournaments are just down the road, but there are still some regular-season games that should make the intrigue meter click.
Such as …
North Carolina versus Duke in Chapel Hill on Feb. 17, and in Durham on March 5
Yes, this season has steamed up the windows, and the most ballyhooed rivalry of all hasn’t even tipped off yet. Duke went three months without a win over a ranked opponent. And now two in six days, including Grayson Allen’s last-second winning bank shot against Virginia on Mike Krzyzewski’s 69th birthday, just after he had missed two free throws. You can’t make this stuff up.
The Blue Devils have had the better of Tobacco Road lately, winning three meetings in a row and 10 of the past 13. But the Tar Heels are supposed to be positioned for a reversal. We’ll see.
Wisconsin at Michigan State, Feb. 18
No, neither team is leading the Big Ten, but they might be the two hottest teams in the conference. Wisconsin, for example, has gone from 9-9 to 16-9, after blowing through Maryland. Let’s see who keeps Big Mo.
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