NCAA Men’s Basketball Conference Review- February 23

NCAA men’s basketball action is at a fever pace with the best teams in the country using the month of February to try and put themselves in the best position possible come tournament-time in March. The following is a brief review of the top few teams in each of the major conferences along with a few teams to watch from the Mid-Majors. All rankings quoted are from the latest Coaches Poll.

ACC
Duke is not only on top of the ACC, but it is back to No.1 in the country in the latest polls. The Blue Devils ran their record to 25-2 with a 79-57 win over Georgia Tech this past Sunday. They lead No.19 North Carolina by a game and a half in the conference standings with a record of 12-1. The Tar Heels (20-6, 10-2) are coming off a 48-46 win over Boston College.

Big East
No.6 Pittsburgh remains on top in the Big East at 12-2, but fell to 24-3 on the year with a last-second 60-59 loss to No.25 St. John’s this past Saturday. The rest of the conference remains a jumbled mess with seven ranked teams all within two games of one another. No.9 Notre Dame (21-5, 10-4) is in second-place by a half game over No.11 Georgetown (21-6, 10-5) and No.16 Louisville (21-7, 10-5), while the Red Storm (17-9, 9-5) and No.20 Syracuse (23-6, 10-6) are three games in back of Pitt.

Big Ten
No.3 Ohio State blew a chance to get back to top of the polls with a 76-63 loss to No.8 Purdue last Sunday. The Buckeyes are 26-2 overall and still have a game and half lead over the Boilermakers (22-5, 11-3) in the Big Ten at 13-2. No.12 Wisconsin is the only other team in the conference that remains in the top 25. The Badgers have an overall record of 20-6 and are 10-4 in conference play.

[Read more...]