ACC

There was the question about how BYU would get along without the suspended Brandon Davies, who was their third-leading scorer and leading rebounder before his dismissal. But while the early returns certainly don't look good, keep in mind the fact that New Mexico beat BYU in their first meeting with Davies on the floor. But they weren't beaten on the boards in that contest as they were tonight, as the Lobos out-rebounded BYU 45-29 on their way to an impressive 82-64 win at the Marriott Center.

Just two games remain for teams in the middle of the Big East pack to separate themselves and earn a first round bye, a fact that makes the game between Connecticut (21-7, 9-7) and West Virginia (18-10, 9-7) all the more important to both. Kemba Walker's been the player whose received the lion's share of the attention for the Huskies and rightfully so as he's one of the top candidates for Big East Player of the Year.

This point in the season offers many at-large candidates the opportunity to boost their resumes with another big win before going into conference tournament play. But having the chance and taking advantage of it are two entirely different things, and this was on full display Tuesday night. Baylor went on the road to Oklahoma State with a chance to simply show that they were effective at staying out of their own way...didn't happen.

 

Saturday brings about the biggest game in the history of the San Diego State (27-1, 12-1) program, which before the recent run of Steve Fisher has been an afterthought in southern California. BYU (26-2, 12-1) visits Viejas Arena with the winner taking a significant step towards not only the Mountain West's regular season crown but possible a one seed in the NCAA Tournament. Both have resumes that could merit such mention should the winner go on to win out, including the conference tournament (BYU is 8-1 vs. RPI Top 50, SDSU 4-1), but that's of little concern.

Well, someone has to go to the NCAA Tournament. But there are more than a few teams who either don't value the importance of making a statement at this point or are willing to roll the dice on Selection Sunday. Wednesday was one of those nights, with a number of teams squandering opportunities to either bolster their causes or avoid stubbing their toe in contests they should win. Boston College qualifies, as they fell behind Miami at home by as many as 21 points before rallying back, ultimately losing 73-64.

Before the season began CHN writer spent some time with current College of Charleston head coach Bobby Cremins to talk about his time at Georgia Tech along with a couple other coaching stops. Cremins took over a program that went 4-23 in the season before his arrival and within four years led the Yellow Jackets to an ACC Tournament title. His 1990 squad made it all the way to the Final Four in Denver, where they were knocked out by eventual national champion UNLV. Cremins' current team leads the Southern Conference and boasts one of the best guard in America in senior Andrew Goudelock.

Despite some solid opportunities still left on their schedule the Baylor Bears (17-9, 6-6) need to rattle off some wins in a hurry thanks to an overall resume that lacks bulk in addition to some eye-opening losses. The most recent result was a 78-69 loss at home to Texas Tech, which doesn't qualify as a statement that Scott Drew's team wants to make at this point in the season. Tonight brings about the challenge of solving the Missouri (21-6, 7-5) press, and the way in which the Bears have protected the ball at times this contest has the potential to get out of hand if they aren't careful.

One of the more important games of the day doesn't involve a ranked team, but because of the inconsistent nature of both teams they find themselves in need of a victory. Michigan State (14-11, 6-7) hosts Illinois (17-9, 7-6) in an important contest both teams need in regards to their NCAA Tournament hopes. Tom Izzo's had to deal with maddening inconsistency from some of the players expected to be leaders, not to mention the dismissal of backup point guard Korie Lucious that's sapped them of their depth at the point.

Many fans and pundits alike felt that Ohio State's trip to Madison would be the point where they'd suffer their first loss of the season. But after a first half that didn't do much to separate either team those prospects didn't look good as Thad Matta's group went on a 23-6 run to push their lead out to 15 points with 13:21 left in the game. Thankfully for the Badgers Jordan Taylor and company had other ideas, answering with a 30-8 run of their own and eventually going on to win 71-67 at the Kohl Center.