Dude..
March is almost a month away. The conference games continue to pile up as the rankings continue to shift. Who took advantage of the shift and who fell from the mountain top? Yet another PC Corner 3 report has all the latest action!
Top of the Mountain?- The top of the mountain had two giants duking it out for the top spot. The Auburn Tigers were the consensus number 1 team in the nation. Johni Broome and company have had big win after big win. Dismantling every team it went against. They only had 1 loss on the season. That loss came from the other giant, the Duke Blue Devils. Lead by freshmen phenom Cooper Flagg have multiple top ranked wins as well, even though they were non-conference wins. With a weak ACC, Duke looked to end it’s ACC as undefeated champions. However, on Saturday, both giants were struck down by a bunch of Davids. One David, is a legit national championship contender. The Florida Gators went into Auburn, Alabama, and handed the Tigers their second loss of the season. Without Alijah Martin, the second leading scorer for the Gators, it looked like the Tigers were gonna win yet another SEC game. However, Walter Clayton Jr. still showed up, scoring 19 points and being an influence on the defensive end. Alex Condon had 17 and the boost off the bench from Thomas Haugh having 16, pushed the Gators over Auburn. All looked great for the Duke Blue Devils to officially take the #1 seed, but found a way to lose a close game to a tough Clemson team on the road. Alabama, who was 3rd in the nation, beat Arkansas pretty easily. So the top 3 is a big question mark, who takes the #1 spot? Personally, Auburn has done enough to stay at 1, as the AP Poll showed us on Monday. However, don’t sleep on the Blue Devils, this is a team that could be cutting the nets down in March.
Big 12 shenanigans- The Big 12 is always the most interesting conference. It starts off really tough, and then for some reason the bad teams get good and flip everything on its head. It happens every year. History repeats itself this year yet again. The K State Wildcats started 1-6 in conference. Now, they have won 6 straight including wins over #23 West Virginia, #16 Kansas, at #3 Iowa State and at #13 Arizona. Now, they’re 7-6 and in the hunt for a tournament that seemed impossible 3 weeks ago. On the other hand, Arizona, who was on a hot streak, has flown too close to the sun. Losing to K State is awful, especially for a team who is in real contention to be the Big 12 regular season champion. Houston still remains at the top of the totem pole and I believe will finish there at the end of the regular season. However, seeds 2-8 are still up for grabs. Kansas, not figuring it out. Arizona, can they bounce back? Can Texas Tech and Iowa State continue their momentum? Time will tell, but I will tell you that it’s going to be one hell of a ride to March.
Other Upsets- Kentucky secured a massive road win at Tennessee, thanks to a balanced team effort led by Ansley Almonor and Otega Oweh, who each dropped 13 points, while Koby Brea added 11, hitting 3-6 from deep. If Tennessee wants to make a Final Four run and contend for a national championship, Chaz Lanier has to be better—going 0-7 from three and finishing with just 10 points won’t get it done. Meanwhile, Indiana pulled off a huge upset over Big Ten leader Michigan State, but despite the win, Mike Woodson is still expected to be fired after the season. Their victory also gave Michigan a shot at the conference title after the Wolverines took down Purdue in an instant classic. In the Big East, UCONN rolled into Omaha and took down Creighton, with Liam McNeeley exploding for 38 points, proving he might be the missing piece for Dan Hurley’s squad. Amidst the boos from Creighton fans, Hurley smirked, flashed his two championship rings, and told them to be quiet—if McNeeley stays healthy, a three-peat isn’t out of the question for the Huskies. Villanova, behind Erik Dixon’s stellar play, took down St. John’s, and while Kyle Neptune may have saved his job for now, he remains on the hot seat. Finally, Maryland continues to solidify its NCAA Tournament resume with a tough road win at Nebraska, and with Derik Queen leading the charge, the Terrapins are shaping up to be a dangerous dark horse in March.
PC’S TOP 5
Auburn
Alabam
Duke
Florida
Houston
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