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It's coming down to crunch time, not only for the bubble teams but also for those that are looking to capture regular season conference titles. The Big XII's best two squads, Kansas and Texas, will go head-to-head in Austin, while the Big East's top two teams, Villanova and Connecticut, will do battle on Saturday as well. Also keep an eye on the Big South where Winthrop and Birmingham Southern will match up with the winner taking home that conference's regular season championship. MUST-SEE THIS WEEKEND Michigan at Ohio State With this pair's wins earlier this week, this game just got a lot bigger. The Wolverines took down Illinois on Tuesday before Ohio State went on the road and knocked off Michigan State on Wednesday. The Buckeyes are now tied for the Big Ten lead, while UM is 1.5 games back of the leaders. OSU has won six of their last seven, including three victories against top 25 teams. While the Wolves aren't ranked, Michigan is a near-lock for next month's NCAA Tournament. A win in Columbus would certainly seal their bid. Iowa at Illinois The second co-leader in the Big Ten, Iowa, has had a week to recover after a four-game stretch that saw the team lose two games to unranked teams while picking up a pair of victories over teams in the top 25. Strange as it sounds, that's been the way the Hawkeyes' season has been. They have struggled away from home, but if they want to pick up their tenth league win of the year, they'll have to get it done in Champaign on Saturday. The Illini have lost three of their last five but aren't out of the Big Ten race. A victory in this game would give these two identical league records and possibly move Illinois into a tie atop the standings depending on what Ohio State does. Kansas at Texas You might as well call this one the Big XII championship game. Both the 'Horns and 'Hawks are 11-2 in conference play and two games ahead of the nearest contender with just three matchups left. While most expected Texas to be where they are, the same cannot be said for KU. The Jayhawks got off to a rocky start, losing two of their first three league games. Since then, however, Kansas has won ten straight and caught UT in the standings. The Longhorns are not playing their best ball at the moment. After losing by three touchdowns at Oklahoma State last weekend, they only survived at Kansas State by a single point. Look for this game to be close as well, and for the winner to take the regular season Big XII title. Villanova at Connecticut We told you about the Big XII championship game earlier; now here's a look at the Big East title game. The 'Cats currently lead the Huskies by a single game, but a UConn win on Sunday would split the season series between the pair and possibly lead to a regular season title tie if both win out afterwards. Each is very much in contention for a number one seed when the bracket is released in two weeks, and a win like this will look good on the resume when the committee sits down to dish out those top seeds. Both are ranked among the top three in the country, so why wouldn't you expect a great game? Florida at Alabama The Gators dropped a close one at home to Tennessee on Wednesday and are now out of the SEC East race. Still, UF is in good shape for the Tournament. Bama, meanwhile, is looking to finish second in the SEC West and is working on securing their berth into the Big Dance. A win over the Gators, once ranked number two in the country, would likely do just that. The Tide, though, has dropped two of their last three games. Two of those were on the road, however, and the good news for Mark Gottfried's team is that this one is in Tuscaloosa. The Gators have underachieved at home recently, so it will be interesting to see if they can steal one on the road from a team trying to work their way into the Tourney. MUST-SEE MID-MAJORS East Tennessee State at Lipscomb Northern Iowa at Southern Illinois Miami (Ohio) at Kent State Winthrop at Birmingham-Southern Creighton at Missouri State Nevada at Utah State Iona at Manhattan YOU'LL WANT TO CATCH THESE, TOO Syracuse at Georgeotwn - Saturday 11:00 AM CST Arkansas at Tennesssee - Saturday 12:00 PM CST Vanderbilt at South Carolina - Saturday 12:00 PM CST Louisville at West Virginia - Saturday 12:30 PM CST Virginia at Clemson - Saturday 1:00 PM CST Seton Hall at DePaul - Saturday 2:00 PM CST Boston College at NC State - Saturday 2:45 PM CST Kentucky at LSU - Saturday 2:45 PM CST Nebraska at Texas A&M - Saturday 3:00 PM CST Marquette at Notre Dame - Saturday 5:00 PM CST Florida State at Virginia Tech - Saturday 6:00 PM CST Houston at UTEP - Saturday 8:00 PM CST Michigan State at Indiana - Sunday 11:00 AM CST Maryland at North Carolina - Sunday 4:30 PM CST California at Washington - Sunday 7:00 PM CST |
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