The NCAA Basketball season is winding down to the last week or so in terms of the regular season which will be followed by the conference tournaments. As selection Sunday approaches, many teams are running out of time to impress the selection committee in efforts to make the big dance. There are of course many teams locked in and some locked out, but then there is what we like to call the bubble teams who still have a chance to get in. We take a look at some of the teams that are on the verge of making the NCAA Tournament in March and who could be left out. Some of these names may come shocking as teams like Kentucky, Georgetown and more are in danger of missing this year’s March Madness.

Bankroll Sports Handicapping Promotion
March Madness Picks Special Now Available
(Click Here For Full Promotion Details)

Notre Dame Fighting Irish (16-11)

Once upon a time, the Fighting Irish were ranked no. 7 in the country and off to a great start to their season. However, Notre Dame went missing during the middle of the season losing 7 straight games that really hurt their chances of an NCAA Tournament type postseason. The Fighting Irish have one of the best players in America in Luke Harangody who is averaging 24 points and 12.3 rebounds and have won 4 of their last 5 games since the 7 game losing streak. Still the Fighting Irish lack a lot of big time wins outside of their slashing over Louisville when they routed the Cardinals 90-57. Notre Dame could make really make it hard for the selection committee if they could come up with an upset on Saturday when they battle number 2 Connecticut on the road. Unfortunately, without that win and possibly at least one more victory Notre Dame’s chances look slim.

Virginia Tech Hokies (17-10)

Things are not looking good for the Hokies. A little over a week ago things looked bright for Virginia Tech as they stood at a 16-7 record with a key win over Wake Forest to go on the resume. However, lately Virginia Tech has dropped 3 of their last 4 and the forecast is not pretty. The Hokies get Duke, North Carolina, and Florida State in their last 3 games making it a very possible chance they could lose all 3 games. The Hokies will have to come up big some how against the top ACC teams in the conference and they will likely need to win 2 out of 3.

Boston College Eagles (20-9)

Eagles fans should breathe a sigh of relief because they are most likely a lock to make the dance. It would be extremely hard for the selection committee to reject one of the only team in the ACC outside of Wake Forest to beat both North Carolina and Duke. Boston College sits fairly nice right now with a record of 20-9 with games with NC State and Georgia Tech left on the schedule. Boston College should have no problem at least getting a victory in a least one of those games, but they could make it even if they lost the last two.

Kentucky Wildcats (19-9)

Staring at the Wildcats record you might favor them to be selected. However, the SEC has really been down this year and they are not likely to put many teams into the big dance. Kentucky was crushed by the surprise team of the conference in South Carolina on Wednesday 77-59. Add to the fact their best wins are likely Tennessee and Florida it does not impress as much as one might think. Kentucky has 3 games left to play that include both Florida and No. 18 LSU meaning the Wildcats could lose at least two of those games. If that were to happen they would stand at 20-11 with a rather weak schedule losing 4 of the last 6 which would not exactly scream for attention.

UAB Blazers (19-8)

The Blazers are 2nd in Conference USA behind the Memphis Tigers who are ranked number 5 in the nation and could sneak in as a number 1 seed if the top 4 continue to have problems. However, UAB sports a pretty poor schedule and do not have any big out of conference wins. The Blazers stand at the 19-8 mark with 3 games to go and believe they really need to win all 3 to make a legitimate case for the postseason.

Cincinnati Bearcats (18-10)

The question that the selection committee will have is not that if the Bearcats can play and contend with the NCAA Tournament teams, but how many Big East teams will contend in the big dance. The elite conference could put anywhere from 7-10 teams in the NCAA Tournament. Cincinnati still has a legitimate chance to get to a 20 win season with 3 games remaining with the weaker side of the conference. If they get to 20, they will most definitely be included into this year’s tournament.

USC Trojans (16-10)

Southern Cal’s resume looked like a lock a few weeks ago when they were standing at 15-6 in the Pac-10. However, the Trojans have now lost 4 of their last 5 and simply must turn things around before the season concludes. Luckily USC still has 4 games left meaning they have extra time to right the ship. In those final 4 games, the Trojans are 3-1 against those teams that are in the conference and they have already played once this season. Southern Cal could definitely use another 3-1 run to make up for the recent struggles.

Oklahoma State Cowboys (18-9)

The Cowboys were on the outside looking in just two weeks ago. Oklahoma State had come off a stretch where they had lost 4 out of 5 games and stood at 14-9. However, the Cowboys have knocked off 4 straight wins improving their resume quite a bit. Oklahoma State gets Kansas State, Baylor, and Oklahoma left to round out the season. The Cowboys are already 0-2 against Oklahoma and Baylor this season and they will need to find a way to avoid losing the last 3 games. Each win concretes their chances a little more considering the Big 12 has been pretty solid this season.

Michigan Wolverines (17-11)

Michigan’s chances have took a plummet during the latter part of the season. The Wolverines have lost 8 of their last 12 games dropping down the Big Ten rankings like a falling rock. However, Michigan still can get into the March spectacle with 4 final games left on the schedule. Michigan plays Purdue tonight and many think that is a must win for the Wolverines to continue to have NCAA postseason hopes. Going out on a limb and saying the Wolverines get the win over Purdue tonight, then they still get Minnesota twice and Wisconsin to bring in a few more wins to help the cause.

The College Basketball season enters the final 4 weeks of basketball before we head into the always exciting conference championships and March Madness. We have some numerous events take place already on the college hoops stage with upsets, last second buzzer beaters, to instant classics, and much more. The rest of the season promises to be just as exciting and we will take a look what to possibly expect when the NCAA Tournament rolls around with a prediction of number 1 seeds, along with teams to watch out for, and who could possibly win it all.

The 2009 season has seen many different number 1 teams fall, and a few other teams completely fall apart. However, there are a few that have been rather stellar throughout the year and have a great chance at locking up a number 1 seed in March. The most probable team to lock up a number 1 is the Oklahoma Sooners. Oklahoma stands right now at a 23-1 record for the season along with 13 straight wins since their lone loss to Arkansas in late December. Oklahoma has narrowly escaped quite a few games this season but has managed to get the wins none the less. However, Oklahoma will really get tested in their final 5 games of the season with road trips to Missouri and Texas while also hosting Kansas. Oklahoma benefits from teams like Duke, Wake Forest, Louisville, all having at least 4 losses which are also the teams ranked 4-7 nationally. Even if the Sooners lose 1 or possibly 2 of the last 5 they still have a good chance to receive a number 1 seed because they only have 1 loss at this point in the year. While many have criticized the Sooners schedule, Blake Griffin (22ppg, 13rpg) has proven to be one of the best players in the nation and will likely give Oklahoma a chance to win any game they play in for the rest of the season no matter who they play. Given the Sooners do not completely fall apart they should be a safe bet to holding down the number 1 spot in March.

Another number one seed will likely come out of the best conference in basketball throughout 2009 which is the Big East. The Connecticut Huskies has held the number 1 ranking in America over the last two weeks and they will have a great shot to finish the year strong. Pittsburgh is another strong team that will have a chance as well. The Panthers were the top ranked team in America for a good while during the early part of the year, but suffered two losses rather close together to top 15 teams Louisville and Villanova. However, both of these two teams are first and second in the conference and will battle two more times this year including a showdown tonight at Gampel Pavilion. It is safe to say if one of those teams could win both games they could likely win the Big East will continuing to be one of the top ranked teams in the country. Pittsburgh and Connecticut have only 5 games left to play and you would have to give the Huskies the advantage with their outstanding defense and excellent rebounding. If these two teams split, Connecticut will still have the edge with one less loss at this point in the season and many would have to consider them the biggest favorite to capture a number one seed. However, it is too early to count out Pittsburgh heading into tonight’s big game.

The North Carolina Tarheels came out of the gates this season as strong as any team in recent history. North Carolina won 13 straight games in dominating fashion and had some fans believing in an undefeated campaign. However, the Tarheels would lose 2 out of the next 3 to unranked Boston College and also Wake Forest. Since those slips, North Carolina has returned to early season form with 9 straight wins including double digit victories over Clemson and Duke. The Tarheels have a rather light schedule ahead of them with the season finale at home against Duke once again. North Carolina can lose 1 game and still become a number one seed, but considering how well they have been playing they may not lose any. Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, and Wayne Ellington make up an all-star type college hoops lineup and there is no doubt they possess the most talent in America.

The final number one seed could be up for grabs. Pittsburgh will have the best opportunity even with their two match-ups with Connecticut that could go either way. The Panthers only have two losses and if they could avoid dropping both to the Huskies they have the best shot at locking up the final number one seed. However, teams like Memphis and Louisville still have legitimate chances. Louisville suffered their 5th loss of the season and will take a slide towards the bottom of the top 10. However if they could get some help from Connecticut taking down Pittsburgh once or twice, the Cardinals will also get Pittsburgh and they have already beat them once this year. Memphis on the other hand is a team that lacks the strength of schedule or RPI as the top teams, but they have racked up 16 straight wins with the optimistic outlook of an easy schedule. The Tigers could very well have the best chance with the other team’s difficult schedules to rally and earn the final number one position in the NCAA Tournament.

Now we move on to one of the more difficult task in predicting a team that many would not expect to turn the NCAA Tournament into their Cinderella story in 2009. Davidson was one similar scenario last year when they seemingly came out of nowhere to make the Elite 8 before losing to Kansas who went on to win the National Championship. There are some teams that would love to impact the tournament this season and make similar noise. One team that could likely breakout in 2009 Tournament time is the Marquette Golden Eagles. Marquette has played against the best teams in America all season as has hung right with the best of them and is currently only one game behind Connecticut in the Big East. The Golden Eagles are a fast pace team that could give the usual power teams a lot of problems with players like Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews. Another team that could make an impact in the tournament is an unlikely wonder out of the SEC and the only unranked team we have mentioned in the South Carolina Gamecocks. The Gamecocks have really played well behind new coach Darrin Horn. After two straight seasons of 15 or more losses, the Gamecocks now stand at 18-5 and in the lead of the SEC East division. South Carolina was definitely not considered to even make the Tournament this year much less make an impact in the spectacle. However, South Carolina is a scrappy bunch lead by Devan Downey who is one of the better guards in America. South Carolina has won with some exciting close games this year in the SEC and if they can hang in some ball games they will be tough to beat late in games. All of these teams appear to have the ability to surprise some teams, but we never know what will truly shake out. One thing is for certain and that is the uncertain in March.

When you think of college basketball perhaps you think of the great teams throughout the years like UCLA, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Duke. Then when you throw the world rivalry into the phrase with college basketball two names standout far more than the rest and they are the North Carolina Tarheels and the Duke Blue Devils. These two highly successful teams have the most brutally intense rivalry in college basketball fueled by years of close games with anywhere from Conference to National Championship implications. These two programs rivalry burns like no other match-up in basketball and they will reignite the flame this Wednesday night.

It may be hard for those that do not understand the history to fully grasp the significance in this annual rivalry meeting which happens twice a year. North Carolina and Duke rank in the top 4 of schools in NCAA History on the all-time wins list not to mention both schools have combined for 7 National Titles. 5 of those National Titles have also come in the last two decades and only twice since 1990 has a Duke or North Carolina team not won or shared the regular season ACC Championship. The battles that take place twice every year always have extreme implications on the line. Nearly every year these two schools are battling for ACC supremacy or games with National meaning. This Wednesday night’s match-up is no different as these two schools are tied for first place in the ACC and they will take center stage in front of the nation to battle it out once again in one of the most highly anticipated games of the year.

If you could imagine battling the same team year in and year in these type of high pressure meaningful games, you can quickly understand why this game has become a rivalry. Add to the fact that both schools are from the same conference and they meet twice a season and you can see why this is a big rivalry. Finally, throw in the fact that these two campuses are separated by only 8 miles of Tobacco Road and you can perhaps understand why this has become one of the biggest calamities in sports. If you have not witnessed these games first hand, you could not imagine the animosity between the two fan bases. A spectacle that will once again be seen Wednesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium at the home of the Blue Devils.

The rivalry has become of the rarest forms of true hatred between two teams in college sports and quite possibly it is all due to the success of both programs. When you combine 28 Final Four appearances from the Universities, and have to go back over 50 years to 1955 to find the last meeting that occurred when neither team was ranked in the top 25 in the Associated Press polls so you can just get a glimpse at the high profile type of play. In 2006, the rivalry hit one of its climax moments when it turned in to a bloodshed battle between two of the current standout players for each team. The Blue Devils Gerald Henderson went up to test a shot with North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough and the outcome was a scene for the ages. While the act did not look intentional, Henderson frustratingly swung to block the shot when he made a direct hit on Hansbrough’s nose. Hansbrough lied on the floor for a moment before hopping up with a nasty flow of blood streaming from his nose. This moment in time epitomized the rivalries intensity and the hatred between the schools. The 2006 game between North Carolina and Duke was later claimed to be the most watch college basketball game in NCAA history. In case you were missing from the basketball world in 2006 or just want to rekindle the moment here is the video.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH9gnyosh_w

The history between the rivalry is fascinating especially when you consider names like Michael Jordan, Jason Williams, Antawn Jamison, Christian Laettner, and many more have participated in these events then you can appreciate both teams and their significance to college basketball. As far as the recent history goes, North Carolina has won the last 4 of 5 games and they will be the favorites to win on Wednesday night despite Duke is a perfect 14-0 at home this season. Before the impressive run by the Tarheels in the rivalry, Duke put together one of the most impressive streaks in the rivalry when they put together wins in 15 of 19 meetings from prior to the 2006 meeting. The Tarheels lead the all-time series that started back in 1920, by a record of 128-97. However these two elite teams have met a total of 64 times when ranked in the top 25 and they are split even at 32-32. Be sure to tune in late Wednesday night as these two teams return to the spotlight and catch all of the magical moments from the best rivalry in college basketball.

College Basketball actions on Wednesday nights have been full of twists and turns especially over the last few weeks. Thursday mornings in college basketball have become what Sundays are during the college football season which has been full of people talking about the strange and bizarre outcomes from the day before. One conference has been directly hit by crazy Wednesday night action and that is what many consider the best conference in America which is the ACC. Last night the trend continued in the unpredictable conference adding to the growing trend that has captivated since the year changed to 2009.

It all started towards the end of January with a battle between ACC schools down in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Wake Forest Demon Deacons had it all flowing smoothly with a perfect 16-0 record. The Demon Deacons had just knocked off No. 3 North Carolina and handed No. 9 Clemson their first loss of the year. The schedule looked to be fairly simple for a few weeks until their next big game against Duke, but then Wednesday night came. Wake Forest suffered the one of their biggest disappointments of the season when they dropped a loss at home to unranked Virginia Tech knocking them off the top spot in America. Unfortunately this was a trend that was about to get pretty familiar in the ACC.

Exactly one week later on Wednesday night, Wake Forest would return home to host the Duke Blue Devils who had inherited the No. 1 ranking in college basketball due to the Demon Deacons upset loss to Virginia Tech. The Blue Devils entered the game as slight favorites, but quickly this Wednesday would be another disappointment for America’s top ranked team. The Blue Devils trailed the majority of the game and were down as much as 11 points in the closing minutes. However, Duke put together a nice spurt in the closing minutes and tied the game at 68-68 with less than a minute to play. With Wake Forest trying to make a inbounds play, the Duke defense fell apart and let James Johnson catch the ball uncontested inside the paint laying it in to beat the Devils and knocking a number 1 ranked team off the top spot for the 2nd straight Wednesday.

The Clemson Tigers were also another team that fell victim on Wednesday night woes. However, unlike other scenarios Clemson fell apart in an entire different way. The Tigers got off to a perfect 16-0 start before Wake Forest handed them the first loss of the season. The Tigers were expected to give a big rebounding effort the following Wednesday night when they traveled to Chapel Hill to battle North Carolina. The Tarheels entered the game as 11 point favorite and the majority of the betting public was all over the Tigers to keep it within the spread. However, Clemson would get flat out embarrassed inside the Dean Dome as they were blown out by 24 points and dropping their 2nd straight game after the impressive start. Once again the unlikely outcome of Wednesday night had the national talk surrounding the ACC.

Enter the very first Wednesday in the month of February which was last night and the strange Wednesday action was about to receive the biggest single night shocker the ACC has had in years. No. 6 Wake Forest got the action started once again with the early game on Wednesday night when they hosted unranked Miami on their home floor in Winston-Salem. The Demon Deacons were fresh off another upset loss falling to Georgia Tech by a mere 2 points. Wake Forest entered the game with the taste of returning to the national spotlight. The Demon Deacons would get back to the spotlight just not in the way they expected. Miami and Wake Forest battled through the first half of play closely with the Hurricanes getting the 3 point advantage at the break 29-26. However, Wake Forest might as well never come back to the floor for the 2nd half. Miami came out the gates firing on all cylinders and the game quickly got out of hand in the 2nd half as Miami opened with a 25-8 run. The Hurricanes would end up blowing out what many thought was still the best team in the ACC by nearly 30 points 79-52. However, the shocking Wednesday night had just begun.

The No. 3 Duke Blue Devils and No. 10 Clemson Tigers highlighted the 2nd ACC game on Wednesday night in a battle of top ten schools. The Clemson Tigers had lost the previous 21 straight regular season games to the Blue Devils not to mention the Tigers had been receiving non-stop criticism claiming they could not contend with the top teams in the ACC after being beaten by Wake Forest and North Carolina by double digits. The Blue Devils entered the contest as the favorites, but it became apparent quick they were not the favorites on Wednesday night. Clemson dominated on every aspect of the floor and made Duke looked like a mediocre high school team at times. The Tigers full court press and strong defense made the Blue Devils look silly and they constantly turned the ball over. Add to the fact, Duke could not hit a shot from anywhere on the floor and you got one of the biggest Blue Devils losses in over the last two decades. The game has definitely been the talk of the bizarre Wednesday night considering nobody ever expected a Coach K Blue Devil team to ever be beaten the way they were by the Tigers. Now the only question that is left for the ACC is what will next Wednesday night have in store?

How’s that popular saying go? Another one bites the dust, or at least another top ranked team that is. The Duke Blue Devils become yet another victim of the growing trend of number 1 ranked teams to fall in the opening month of 2009. The Blue Devils and Wake Forest ACC classic highlighted what turned out to be the second straight wild Wednesday in the last two weeks. Here is a recap of the night and how some of big games turned out.

#4 Wake Forest 70 – #1 Duke 68

Wake Forest controlled this game from the start making plays all over the court. The Demon Deacons highlights probably flooded the top 10 plays of the night with an outstanding put back slam, a between the legs pass followed by a dunk, and also an inbounds pass with less than 3 seconds to go that lead to James Johnson making the winning shot. Yes the Demon Deacons responded nicely after last week’s upset loss to Virginia Tech that knocked them out of the number 1 ranking. Wake Forest controlled the majority of this game. However, Duke did show that they are a very strong team as they made a valiant comeback effort. Kyle Singler and Gerald Henderson may have been the only two Blue Devils on the floor last night or at least that is the only names that were heard considering the rest of the team must have still been back at Cameron last night. Still Duke closed what was an 11 points gap late in the second half to tie the game with 14 seconds to play after a great shot by Gerald Henderson who scored 20 points on the night. Unfortunately Duke poorly covered the inbounds pass to Johnson and perhaps turned it up a notch a tad to late. The Blue Devils become the 3rd team in 3 weeks to get knocked off the number 1 ranking only two days after earning the top spot.

#3 Pittsburgh 57 – #21 Villanova 67

The Pittsburgh Panthers were the 2nd upset victim of the night to 21 ranked Villanova. Early on in the game the Panthers were quick out of the gates and even jumped to a 10 point lead. However, junior guard Reggie Redding came on strong as the game progressed knocking down 18 points and the Wildcats took over. Villanova capitalized off a poor shooting performance from Pittsburgh to grab their first victory over a top 25 opponent this season despite 4 attempts before. Pittsburgh shot a disappointing 41% from the floor and an embarrassing 3-16 (18%) from behind the arc. Not to mention the Pittsburgh starting lineup only accounted for a total of 36 points the entire night. The loss marked the Panthers 2 loss in the last 4 games while dropping them further down in the Big East standings. Considering Marquette and Louisville is still undefeated in conference play, the Panthers can not afford any more defeats or they can say goodbye to Big East regular season title hopes. With the no. 1 and no. 3 teams both losing on Wednesday night you expect their to be some shake up in the rankings amidst the Top 5 as Connecticut will likely take over the top spot.

#6 North Carolina 80 – Florida State 77

The Tarheels barely escaped becoming the 3rd top 10 team to be upset on Wednesday night. By saying barely escaped is a mere understatement, considering North Carolina trailed in the final moments of the game. If you saw the Duke and Wake Forest ending where James Johnson hit the game winning lay-in with less than 3 seconds to go, you still only saw the second best finish of the night. In another ACC classic type game, North Carolina and Florida State battled back and forth over the closing minutes of the game. In a game where former Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough was held to a season low 8 points, teammates Danny Green and Ty Lawson picked up the slack. Toney Douglas drained 32 points for the Seminoles as they appeared they would get the victory with as they led by 3 under a minute and a half to go in the game. However, Danny Green came up with a huge steal for North Carolina taking it the length of the court and getting the bucket and the foul that eventually led to the game being tied at 77-77. Florida State had a chance to win, but somehow let the shot clock expire with 3.2 seconds to go after a Hansbrough block. Ty Lawson grabbed the inbounds play and sprinted up the court and delivering a floating three pointer that sailed through the net with the buzzer blaring in the background. At first it appeared, the shot came out to late but that did not stop the Tarheels from celebrating. Shortly after, the shot was confirmed legit as the Tarheels escaped Tallahassee capping yet another action filled Wednesday. In case you missed the ending, have a look…

College Basketball on Saturday always brings some wild action to the court. A great game along with a bit of controversy emerged from Tucson, Arizona on Saturday when the Arizona Wildcats hosted the Houston Cougars in what turned out to be a great basketball game. Heading into the game Arizona has been really struggling and ranked near the bottom of the Pac-10. Houston on the other hand has been fairly good with a 12-4 record going in to the contest. Houston started out of the gates strong and quickly suggested that Arizona would fall victim by a steam rolling defeat yet again. However, an unlikely change of events would make a big impact on the game.

Late into the second half in a game where Houston was rolling 63-51, Cougars standout guard Aubrey Coleman and Arizona’s forward Chase Budinger were involved in an altercation. Coleman is the second leading scorer for the Cougars and already had 14 points and 7 rebounds. However, Coleman was called for a charge after driving into Budinger. After Budinger fell to the floor is when the action picked up, Coleman appeared to glance down before stepping directly on the face of Budinger. Budinger quickly popped up and went after Coleman and a few pushes and shoves were exchanged. Budinger got charged with a technical foul for his retaliation tactics. The referees decided that Coleman’s actions where intent while charging a flagrant foul and also ejecting him from the game.

The altercation ramped up the Wildcat home crowd while also igniting the team. Arizona appeared more motivated the last 9 minutes following to close out the game. The Wildcats trimmed the lead slightly, but still trailed by 8 points with a minute and a half to go in the game. However, with the help of a Houston turnover and some two missed free throws in the final seconds Arizona guard Nic Wise hit a game tying 3 pointer with 10 seconds to go to force the game into overtime tied at 88-88. In the extra period, there was not much scoring involved. Wise hit the only basket from the floor with another long ball behind the arc and the Wildcats surged for the 96-90 victory. Houston definitely suffered a bit down the stretch without Coleman’s presence and the Cougars failed to hit a single shot from the floor in overtime going 0-10.

After the game, there was a lot of expected talk about the altercation on the floor. Houston coach Tom Penders admitted to how big of impact not having Coleman on the floor affected the team. Penders also went on to take up for his starting guard by saying that he definitely did not think the actions were intentional. The argument may be made because of how Coleman made the malicious action appear. Seemingly it appeared he accidentally stepped across Budinger while coming down on his head, but if you look at the replay Coleman clearly looks down at Budinger before lifting his head and stepping on the forwards face. Despite the intent of Coleman, the officials most likely made the right call by at least ejecting him from the game and avoiding any other conflicts that may have taken place the rest of the game. Still the game was a perfect example of how heated and passionate the basketball action gets on the floor which is why fans love College Basketball. Decide for yourself, if you think this action was purposely intended by Coleman by checking out the video here…

The College Basketball season took many unexpected turns last night as many of the top teams in the country squared off in conference battles with a load of unexpected outcomes. There were many different plays and games that made Wednesday night one of the most memorable nights of the season. A top ranked team got beaten along with other upsets, and another top 25 team goes down in one of the best finishes all year. The events that went down Wednesday night will definitely shake up next week’s rankings and leave a ton of one loss teams across the country battling for the top spot. In case you missed it, here is a review from one of the most exciting nights of basketball this season.

No. 1 Wake Forest upset by Virginia Tech

The No. 1 ranked Demon Deacons had it all going with a perfect record of 16-0 and the top ranking in America. Wake Forest was rolling after two big wins over top 10 teams North Carolina and Clemson. However, the Demon Deacons fell victim at home from unranked Virginia Tech 78-71. Surprisingly, the Hokies controlled the entire game leading by 10 at the break and as much as 13 later in the game. Wake Forest gave a valiant effort for a comeback as Jeff Teague added 23 points on the night, but in the end the Hokies simply made the shots that mattered most leaving the Demon Deacons in shock on their own
floor.

No. 5 North Carolina crushes No. 10 Clemson

Clemson had it all going in the first half. Terrence Oglesby and K.C Rivers seemed to knock down 3 pointers all over the court with Oglesby having 17 points at halftime. The Tigers seemed to hit everything in the opening half, but still trailed by 5 as they Tarheels were simply too much. In the second half, the Clemson shots that were falling quickly became a rarity to say the least. The Tigers shot 35% for the game and only 29% from the floor the entire second half. Meanwhile, the Tarheels proved why they are one of the best scoring teams in America. North Carolina’s 4 starters Wayne Ellington, Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, and Deon Thompson combined for 76 points with Ellington leading the way with 25 individually. The Tarheels matched their season average 94 points as they blasted the Tigers in Chapel Hill 94-70. The win marked the 54^th straight home win over Clemson in Chapel Hill equaling the longest streak in NCAA history.

No. 7 Michigan State stunned by Northwestern

Northwestern’s Kevin Coble and Michael Thompson had huge nights lifting the Wildcats over the Spartans. Coble went 10-16 from the floor racking up 31 points on the night. Teammate Michael Thompson got hot from behind the arc knocking down 4 3-pointers adding 20 more points on the night. Coble and Thompson combined for more points than the entire Michigan State starting lineup that shot a dismal 39% from the floor and never really got it rolling all night. Michigan State standout guard Kalin Lucas lead the way for the Spartans as he has much of the year with 20 points while center Goran Suton added 15 points, but there was not any other help present Wednesday night. The Spartans turned the ball over an incredible 18 times leading to their demise. The Spartans loss marked the ending of the 3^rd longest home winning streak in the nation with a previous 28 straight wins in East Lansing.

No. 24 Florida heart-breaker at South Carolina

Hard to imagine a game could steal the spotlight amongst all the other dilemma going on across the country, but Florida at South Carolina game was clearly the best game of the night. The two schools battled back in forth all night with Florida seeming to edge away at the end. The Gators took a 7 point lead with just under 3 minutes to play, but the Gamecocks made one last strive. Junior guard Devan Downey who is the second leading scorer in the SEC lead the charge knocking down 7 points including a crucial 3-pointer to cut the lead to two points. Zam Frederick got the opportunity to tie the game for the Gamecocks with 4.7 seconds left with two free-throw shots. Frederick made the first, but missed the second as Florida’s Chandler Parsons grabbed the rebound appearing to seal the deal as he was fouled with 3.3 seconds left. However, Parsons would miss the one-in-one and Mike Holmes grabbed the rebound for South Carolina launching the ball down court to hit Zam Frederick at the other end of the court to lay the ball in as time expired barely beating the buzzer. The play was one of the more exciting finishes to any college basketball this season and capped off a wild and crazy night of hoops action. In case you missed, it check it out here…