The college basketball regular season ends in less than a month.
If it ended today none of the following schools would be the No. 1 seed in their respective conference tournaments: Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, Michigan State, UCLA, Kentucky and Florida.
Of that list only Kansas would be as high as the No. 2 seed and only the Jayhawks wouldn’t require a huge run to win their league’s regular season crown.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. The usual suspects were all picked highly in the preseason, but it’s all gone haywire since.
Coaches are fond of dismissing preseason polls. This season gives them plenty of evidence.
Preseason national No. 1 Duke is three games behind Virginia, which was picked No. 6 in the ACC poll. The Cavaliers are No. 2 in the country. Defending national champion UNC is five games back. Clemson, which was picked No. 13, is in second, a half game ahead of Duke.
Kansas is technically tied for first, but loses a tiebreaker with Texas Tech, which beat the Jayhawks last month. The Red Raiders were picked No. 7 in the preseason.
Preseason SEC favorite Kentucky is three games behind Auburn. Yes Auburn. The same Auburn that was picked ninth in the conference and is currently ranked eighth in the nation.
The same Auburn team that lost two players and an assistant coach to the FBI investigation, and the same Auburn that usually fields a sub-mediocre program to keep fans occupied between fall football and spring football.
After Saturday’s blue blood blood bath that saw schools representing 14 of the last 20 national championships lose, standings in conferences around the country are in disarray. The stage is set for a potentially terrific final month and NCAA Tournament. Beginning with a terrific slate of action this week.
GAMES OF THE WEEK: — The scheduling czars of college basketball aren’t dumb.
Once the Super Bowl is over college basketball earns a much more prominent place on the sports landscape, and to whet the appetite of anyone who hasn’t been paying close attention, there are some terrific games on the schedule.
No. 9 Duke at No. 21 North Carolina, Thursday 8 p.m., ESPN — This game always matters, but both of these teams could use a momentum win.
No. 3 Purdue at No. 4 Michigan State, Saturday 4, ESPN — Purdue (23-2, 12-0) is what Michigan State was supposed to be this season, the Big Ten leader and a national championship contender.
The Spartans (22-3, 10-2) are very much still in the national title hunt, but they probably need to win Saturday to have even a chance to be the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.
No. 5 Xavier at Creighton, Saturday 2:30, FOX — It’s hard to beat Xavier (21-3) anywhere this year and hard to win at Creighton (17-6 overall, 13-0 at home) in any year.
No. 12 Gonzaga at No. 11 St. Mary’s, Saturday 10, ESPN2 — The Gaels stunned the Zags last month in Spokane, Washington. St. Mary’s can assure itself of smooth sailing toward the West Coast Conference regular season crown and a high NCAA Tournament seed with a win.
ATLANTIC 10 GAME OF THE WEEK:VCU at Richmond, Wednesday 9, CBSSN — This intra-city rivalry is usually a good game of contrasting styles, but with both teams at 6-4 in league play, it could go a long way toward determining who finishes in the top four and gets a first-round bye in the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
MY TOP 10 — 1. Villanova, 2. Virginia, 3. Purdue, 4. Michigan State, 5. Xavier, 6. Cincinnati, 7.Auburn, 8. Duke, 9. Texas Tech, 10. Saint Mary’s.
BUZZER BEATER — Through Sunday’s games, UMass’ Carl Pierre is the nation’s top 3-point shooting freshman. He’s hit 66 of 138 attempts for a 47.8 percentage that ranks him fourth in the nation. The next closest rookie is Duke’s Gary Trent Jr. at 44.8 percent, which is 19th in the nation.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage