The end of the college basketball season is here and it is the final weekend of the regular season for many teams and, for some, conference tournaments will be in full swing. For teams on the bubble, it will be the last chance they have to add to their resume before conference tournaments begin. For hopeful mid-major schools, it could be the start to their Cinderella run by winning their conference and punching a ticket to the big dance.
Perhaps the biggest game happening this weekend will be at Cameron Indoor Arena when Duke takes on North Carolina for Mike Krzyzewski’s final game at home. Arkansas travels to Knoxville to take on Tennessee in a big game at the top of the SEC and the Arch Madness quarterfinals kick off this afternoon in St. Louis.
Coach K’s Final Game at Cameron Indoor
The winningest coach in the history of college basketball will be on the sidelines for his final regular season game at home on Saturday when Coach K’s Duke Blue Devils take on archrival North Carolina. It has been a legendary career for Coach K, with five national championships and 1,195 wins, the most wins all-time in Division I. He has a chance to add to that win total this Saturday and this Duke team certainly has what it takes to make it to the Final Four and win it all.
Duke students have been camping out for this game for six weeks, eagerly waiting to watch the legendary coach’s final game at home. While it is Coach K’s last game, they will have a chance to watch another one of his great teams in action. The Blue Devils are the fourth ranked team in the AP Poll and sit as the highest rated 2-seed for the NCAA Tournament, according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.
This team is loaded with star power, and it starts with freshman Paulo Banchero. Banchero, a projected top-3 pick in the upcoming NBA draft, is averaging 16.9 ppg, 7.8 rpg, and 3 apg. He has been as advertised coming out of high school, a big reason why Duke is one of the favorites to win it all. AJ Griffin is another star freshman on this team that averages 10.4 ppg and is also a projected lottery pick. Five players on this Duke team average double digits and their rotation runs eight deep.
North Carolina enters this game on the bubble fighting to make it into the tournament under first year head coach Hubert Davis. The Tar Heels have had a disappointing season, a season that saw this team get blown out at home against Duke by 20 one month ago.
Two of the reasons why North Carolina is on the bubble are Armando Bacot and Caleb Love. Bacot leads the ACC in rebounding and is also in the top-10 in scoring. Love averages 15.5 points per game and when he heats up he can take over a game like he did at the end of regulation and in overtime on Monday against Syracuse. They will need to have big games if the Tar Heels want to spoil Coach K’s final game at home and get off the bubble.
The ticket prices for this game are higher than seven of the last 10 Super Bowl’s, with the average price being $5,392 while the get in price is $3,690. It should be a special night at Cameron Indoor Arena on senior night, a night filled with celebration that Duke fans hope ends with a win.
Big Battle in the SEC
Arkansas and Tennessee met a few weeks ago in Fayetteville when the Razorbacks got the
58-48 win. Arkansas has been one of the hottest teams in the country over the last two months, going 14-1 over their last 15 games. Tennessee has been playing great as well with an 11-2 record over their last 13 games, including a win over third ranked Auburn this past Saturday. These teams will meet for seeding in the SEC tournament as well as the NCAA Tournament.
Eric Musselman has his team playing their best basketball at the right time and have been doing so for nearly two months. JD Notae has been the backbone of this team averaging 18.8 ppg, second in the SEC only to Scotty Pippen Jr. of Vanderbilt. Arkansas is 19 in the KenPom and 21 in the NET ratings with a 6-4 record in Quad 1 games, leading to their current 4-seed projection. This is a huge game for Arkansas as they have a chance to win a share of the SEC and possibly jump to the 3-seed line.
Tennessee hung tough with Arkansas three weeks ago but ran out of gas late and lost by 10. Tennessee will have the advantage of having the home crowd behind them which should give them a big boost, like it did against Auburn last Saturday. The Volunteers only have two guys who average double figures in Kennedy Chandler (13.6 ppg) and Santiago Vescovi (13.5 ppg), but they have a very deep rotation and play lockdown defense giving up just 63 ppg, ranking 28th in the country. They will need that defense to come up big on Saturday to get their revenge over Arkansas.
This could be a preview of a potential SEC semi-final or final in the conference tournament and both teams will look to use this game as a springboard heading into the postseason.
Arch Madness
The Missouri Valley has a chance at being a two-bid league, but it is unlikely after Loyola Chicago lost to UNI on Saturday. Loyola would have to make the championship game on Sunday to have any chance at an at-large bid, so their best bet is to win the tournament.
UNI won the regular season and comes into the tournament as the 1-seed. They also boast the MVC player of the year in AJ Green. Green averaged 19.1 ppg, second in the league behind Missouri State’s Isaiah Mosely. Green missed most of last season after hip surgery and UNI had a down year as a result. The Panthers have rebounded with a healthy Green and will look to get back to the tournament for the first time since 2016.
The favorite entering the tournament is the 4-seed Loyola. The Ramblers have had a somewhat disappointing season after returning everyone from last year’s team besides head coach Porter Moser and last year’s MVC player of the year Cameron Krutwig. They went from being a team that was almost a lock for the tournament to a team on the bubble and are now the last team in in the latest bracketology from Joe Lunardi. They should get back guard Marquise Kennedy who was out for the last month and that will be a big boost for this team. If Loyola shoots the three well and plays good defense, they should be able to repeat as tournament champions.
Drake and Missouri State are the other two favorites to win the conference this weekend. Drake came into this year as the preseason favorites, but they have struggled to be consistent. The one consistent part of this Drake team has been freshman Tucker Devries, the coach’s son, who leads the team in scoring with 13.6 ppg.
Missouri State has relied on Isaiah Mosely and Gaige Prim all year long. Moseley leads the conference with 20 ppg and Prim averages 16.3 of his own. They will need to have big games this weekend if they want a ticket to the dance.
Arch Madness is always unpredictable and of the eight remaining teams, all four mentioned previously have a chance to cut down the nets on Sunday and make it to the NCAA Tournament.
March has officially arrived and after action wraps up on Tuesday night, 10 teams will have their hard-earned bid to the tournament. 22 more bids will be claimed throughout next week and even for the teams already in with an automatic bid it is the biggest week to date for every college basketball program across the country.
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