Crunch Time

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With most teams having just two or three games left in the regular season, we are definitely getting to crunch time in the men's college basketball world. With Selection Sunday being just two weeks away, this isn't the time when you want your team to be faltering, but unfortunately (for them) some teams are doing just that.

I'll be the first to admit, I am really concerned about how Michigan State is going to finish up this season. They have a game on the road at Iowa this week and then they have their final game at home against Michigan next Sunday. I'll talk about that dynamic more in a little bit here.

Thursday night there we only two games in the top 25. (15) Michigan didn't want to feel left out from the buzzer beater win that Michigan State had, so they crafted their own for a 84 to 82 win over Rutgers. Meanwhile, (23) Saint Mary's had a close game over Loyola Marymount 58 to 55.

It's actually pretty funny because there has a been a bit of debate in Michigan about which buzzer beater shot was better. Obviously, people are falling pretty in line with the team that they favor, but it is funny to see how Michigan fans try to justify that theirs was better.

They say that Michigan hit their shot for the win and since they were behind that makes it a better shot. Meanwhile, the Michigan State game was already tied. If MSU misses the shot, worst case they go to overtime, of course by hitting it they won the game.

Then you have Spartan fans pointing out that our shot was from well past the half court line where the Michigan shot was just outside the three point arc. Finally, Michigan was playing a forgettable Rutgers team in Ann Arbor. They had the home court advantage against a lesser team, it should have been a blow out, not a buzzer beater victory.

On the flip side, Michigan State was playing a really good Maryland team on the road in Maryland. Obviously, I am a Michigan State fan, but I think the scales clearly tip in favor of MSU.

Friday we had a single game in the top 25, (20) Purdue beat UCLA 76 to 66.

Saturday there were a plentiful sixteen games in the top 25. (16) Maryland rebounded from their loss against Michigan State to beat Penn State 68 to 64 in Pennsylvania. (1) Auburn took down (17) Kentucky 94 to 78 to remain in the top spot.

(10) Texas Tech beat Kansas 78 to 73 in what is a joyous occasion for me. I am so happy to see Kansas not even ranked heading into this time of year. Given the fact that they started the season as the number 1 team, I think they will still make it to the tournament, but I hope they get bounced out fairly early.

(5) Tennessee had their own buzzer beater action finishing over (6) Alabama 79 to 76. You should watch the highlights if you get the chance. It was a pretty hectic final two minutes of that game. Vanderbilt just might be one of the darlings of the tournament this year. They upset (14) Missouri 97 to 93 in overtime. I am definitely going to be looking at them to bust a bracket or two.

Oddly enough, that was the only upset out of all those games on Saturday.

Finally, on Sunday we had three games in the top 25. (8) Michigan State handled (11) Wisconsin in East Lansing beating them 71 to 62. That put them a half game ahead of Michigan in the Big Ten standings. Then, Illinois played the spoiler spanking (15) Michigan 93 to 73 in Ann Arbor to put Michigan a full game behind Michigan State.

Michigan has what should be a tough game against the previously mentioned really good Maryland team on Wednesday. Michigan State faces what should be an easily beatable Iowa team this week as well. If Michigan State wins, and Michigan loses, it won't matter who wins next Sunday when Michigan comes to Michigan State because MSU will be the regular season champion.

The way I understand it anyway. Hopefully Michigan State just wins all the games and then it doesn't even matter...

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