San Diego St

It's almost become an annual occurrence in college basketball: Seth Greenberg's Virginia Tech Hokies in their customary spot on the bubble. And they looked to be headed in that direction tonight against Florida State in the final quarterfinal of the night in Greensboro, trailing 27-19 at the half and shooting a brutal 17.9% from the field. The Seminoles outscored Virginia Tech 16-6 in the paint and 14-7 in bench points in the first half, and guards Malcolm Delaney and Erick Green combined to shoot 1-for-15.

The Non-BCS Top 25 is a weekly follow-up to the popular CHN Top 50 ranking. Using the power-conference teams ranked in the CHN Top 50 as a base, an in-depth look at the world of "mid-major" basketball is pieced together. The Non-BCS Top 25 will be released early Monday morning following the Top 50..

With three NCAA Tournament tickets assured of being punched (that number becomes four if Princeton wins at Harvard in a crucial Ivy League tilt), it makes sense to touch on each of those games as opposed to the usual daily preview. The title game in the Atlantic Sun provides a matchup of the prohibitive favorite taking on the underdog, a storyline that usually doesn't come into play for another two weeks.

 

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.

The big matchup on Wednesday is also one of the better rivalries in the Big East as Syracuse (18-4, 5-4) visits Connecticut (17-3, 5-3) with both teams looking to rebound from losses on Saturday. Syracuse's situation may be a bit more urgent since they've now lost four straight games, and during the Jim Boeheim era the Orange have never dropped five in a row. While point guard Scoop Jardine played well in the loss at Marquette he wasn't the most pressing issue for Syracuse during their losing streak.

In arguably the most hyped regular season game in the history of the Mountain West it was only fitting that the stars on the marquee put on an impressive show. San Diego State forward Kawhi Leonard fought through flu-like symptoms to score 22 points and grab 15 rebounds, but his effort wasn't enough for the Aztecs in Provo. That's because Jimmer Fredette went off, scoring 43 points (14-24 FG) in a 71-58 BYU victory, moving the Cougars into sole possession of first place in the MWC.

First place in the Mountain West is on the line in Provo as undefeated San Diego State (20-0, 5-0) visits BYU (19-1, 5-0). The Aztecs will also take on history tonight, as they've beaten BYU just once in Provo since the inception of the Mountain West (59-57 in 2005) with that victory being part of their only season sweep of the Cougars as MWC members.

Many expected the matchup between #12 Missouri and #13 Texas A&M to be a thriller and it most certainly didn't disappoint, requiring an extra five minutes before rendering a verdict. Khris Middleton was outstanding for the Aggies, scoring 28 points and grabbing seven rebounds as Mark Turgeon's team remained undefeated in Big 12 play with a 91-89 overtime victory. Five A&M players reached double figures but it was Middleton who made the difference, scoring 11 points in the extra session to lead the way.