At last, March has arrived.
Men’s college basketball’s showcase month tips off in earnest Saturday with a strong slate featuring a handful of games pitting AP Top 25 teams. There’s a showdown for first place in the SEC, a battle between Big East powers seeking to improve their NCAA tournament seeding and several games with major bubble implications.
Here is a look at the most intriguing games of March’s opening weekend. All times listed are Eastern.
No. 7 Kansas at No. 15 Baylor, Saturday, 1 p.m. (ABC)
Already only five deep with Kevin McCullar Jr. healthy, Kansas is now even thinner with its best player sidelined by a lingering knee injury. The Jayhawks suffered a 29-point road loss at Texas Tech without McCullar on Feb. 12 and endured a rare home loss against BYU earlier this week. If McCullar can’t play on Saturday at Baylor, it may not be his 19.0 points per game that Kansas misses most. McCullar’s defensive presence and versatility would be especially useful against a deep, talented Baylor backcourt.
No. 5 Marquette at No. 12 Creighton, Saturday, 2:30 p.m. (FOX)
Marquette’s chances of winning in Omaha probably rest on the health of its All-American point guard. Tyler Kolek injured an oblique muscle during the second half of a win over Providence earlier this week. He exited that game for good with 12 minutes to go and has not practiced since then. While Shaka Smart isn’t ruling out Kolek returning against Creighton, he might be wise to err on the side of caution. Marquette isn’t making up a two-game deficit to catch UConn for a share of the Big East title. Why not play it safe and get Kolek healthy for the postseason?
With much of last year’s Sweet 16 team returning and a strong freshman class set to contribute, this was supposed to be Michigan State coach Tom Izzo’s best remaining chance to capture his elusive second national title. Instead, the preseason top-five Spartans have underwhelmed so badly that they aren’t even a surefire NCAA tournament team. A win at Mackey Arena would probably remove all doubt, but Purdue doesn’t just hand those out. If Michigan State loses, it would fall to 17-12 overall and .500 in Big Ten play with regular season contests remaining at home against Northwestern and at Indiana.
No. 4 Tennessee at No. 14 Alabama, Saturday, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
On one side is Alabama, 12-3 in the SEC thanks to the highest-scoring, fastest-paced offense in college basketball. On the other side is Tennessee, also 12-3 in the SEC but fueled by the dynamic Dalton Knecht and a physical, defense-oriented approach. At stake is the chance to seize control of the race for the league title — and much more. Tennessee is among the teams vying for the NCAA tournament’s final No. 1 seed alongside the projected top three of Purdue, Houston and UConn. Alabama still has hope of climbing to a No. 2 seed. It also badly needs to demonstrate that its defense is competent enough for it to make a run at a Final Four.
No. 23 Gonzaga at No. 17 Saint Mary’s, Saturday, 10 p.m. (ESPN2)
While Saint Mary’s already clinched the outright WCC title with Thursday night’s victory over Pepperdine, this matchup still has massive implications for Gonzaga. The Zags likely need to win in Moraga to avoid entering the WCC tournament needing to secure the auto bid to extend a streak of NCAA bids dating back to 1999. Strong computer metrics and a massive February road win at Kentucky have elevated Gonzaga into at-large contention, but the Zags don’t have much room for error. They’re still only 2-5 in Quadrant 1 games and 4-6 against the top two quadrants.
Daniel Miller is a sports fanatic who lives and breathes athletics. His coverage spans from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis for sports enthusiasts.
