Saturday College Basketball Look-Back

Notre Dame 85, #16 Marquette 73
Big win for Notre Dame, and another step in the wrong direction for Marquette. Notre Dame clinched it's tournament bid with this win, if they hadn't already. Not only that, but with a 22-6 record overall, a 10-5 record in the Big East (and a game coming up against 10-18 Rutgers) the Fighting Irish could be in line for a higher seed than many people imagined, especially since every other medicore team in the country seems to be trying to do all it can to slip down the rankings. Marquette, on the other hand, came into the game ranked 16th in the country, but they are heading the wrong way fast. After winning eight Big East games in a row, they have now lost 4 of their last 5 in conference play, and with their final regular season coming up against Pittsburgh, they could easily head into tourney play having lost 5 of 6.

#12 Georgetown 61, #10 Pittsburgh 53
This was a fairly ugly game, however Georgetown was able to pull out a big win over a top ten team and take over sole possession of first place in the Big East. The Hoyas have now won 11 straight games after starting out Big East play 1-2. Leading Georgetown on this recent surge have been 7-2 center Roy Hibbert and 6-9 forward Jeff Green. Green has been playing so well lately that you could make an argument for him being Big East player of the year. However, the biggest thing for the Hoyas lately has been how their role players have stepped up. Young players such as Jessie Sapp and DaJuan Summers have really been playing well lately. I have considered Pittsburgh to be a little overrated all year long, and although they put up a good fight today, this game did nothing to change my opinion. Aaron Gray seems like he can be frustrated easily, and I just don't see how they can beat one of the top tier teams in the country unless their outside shooting is on fire. I think Pitt will be seeded too high when the bracket comes out, and could easily see a second round upset keeping them out of the Sweet 16.

LSU 66, #3 Florida 56
Not exactly the kind of performance you'd like to see out of the most talented team in the country, especially coming off a recent loss to Vanderbilt. While it's hard to tell if this a sign of Florida's weaknesses or simply slight boredom on Florida's part with the SEC title already in hand, Billy Donovan has to be slightly worried about his team. Florida will most likely still go into March Madness as the consensus pick to win it all, but all it takes is one performance like the ones against LSU and Vandy (or like the Florida State game earlier this year) for the season to end early.

Auburn 86, # 25 Alabama 77. Texas Tech 59, Oklahoma State 57
I grouped these two games together because Alabama and Oklahoma State were easily the two most disappointing teams of the day. It is mind boggling to me how Alabama is still ranked in the top 25, but this loss should finally be enough to put them out of it. With only a 6-8 record in an extremely weak SEC West division, I think that Alabama's bubble may have burst today. You simply cannot lose at home to a team like Auburn when fighting for your tournament life. Oklahoma State, on the other hand, has completely self-combusted after going 14-1 in non-conference play. The Cowboys don't have a single conference win on the road, and that fact is going to kill them on Selection Sunday. This game would have been huge for them not only because it would have taken them to 6-7 in conference play (as opposed to where they are now at 5-8) but it also would have been a road win, as the game was at Texas Tech. However, they failed to come through, and now may be stuck in the NIT this postseason. And by the way, what was Mario Boggan thinking on that last possession when he pulled out for the three?

#6 Kansas 89, Iowa State 52
With six vicories in a row by an average of 27 points, Kansas sure seems to be living up to pre-season expectations and hitting their stride at the right time of the year.

#19 Texas 68, Oklahoma 58
Kevin Durant: 32 points and 10 rebounds. Wow. Player of the year in college basketball this season.