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The Breakfast Buffet: Oklahoma State will be a trendy Final Four pick, Georgia Tech has turned a corner, Nevada

Who’s hungry for college basketball?

Here’s today’s installment of “The Breakfast Buffet”, a daily column that can be found here every single morning getting you caught up to date on everything that’s happened from the day/night before and everything that’s going to happen in the next 24 hours.

Mangia!

Things To Sample

Oklahoma State is going to be a trendy Final Four pick
And it’s not just because of Cade Cunningham. Despite a lengthy hand injury to Isaac Likekele over the past few weeks, Oklahoma State will enter today’s Big 12 Tournament semifinal game against Baylor as winners of seven of its last eight games. The only loss during that span? Last week’s tilt against the Bears in Waco when Likekele was out of the lineup. Keep an eye on sophomore guard Avery Anderson, who is quietly averaging 24 points over his last two games.

Georgia Tech has officially turned a corner
The Yellow Jackets cemented their first NCAA Tournament bid since 2010 a few weeks ago and tonight they’ll play in the ACC Tournament semifinals against Virginia. Those things are not to be taken lightly. It’s taken Josh Pastner some time, but he’s finally gotten Georgia Tech’s program back to being nationally relevant. This is the first time that the Yellow Jackets have finished in the top-five of the ACC in back-to-back seasons since 2004 and 2005. 

Nevada’s backcourt is underrated nationally
Just ask Leon Rice. The Wolf Pack’s combination of Grant Sherfield and Desmond Cambridge gave Boise State fits on Thursday for the third time this season and may have knocked the Broncos out of the NCAA Tournament altogether. Sherfield and Cambridge combined for 57 of Nevada’s 89 points in the seven-point victory over Boise State. The Wolf Pack will face top-seeded San Diego State tonight in the Mountain West Conference Tournament semifinals. 

Indiana is going to have a long three weeks
Going 12-15 at a program that expects to compete for Big Ten titles and deep NCAA Tournament runs on an annual basis is one thing. Doing it in a season that the entire NCAA Tournament is going to be held in the Hoosiers’ geographic region is another. Does this mean that Indiana is going to fire Archie Miller? Probably not. Miller’s buyout is around $10 million dollars and simply too hefty for anyone to hand out in this climate. The Hoosiers have not been to the NCAA Tournament since 2016 where they advanced to the Sweet 16 under Tom Crean. 

Duke and Kentucky both finished their seasons on March 11th 
That is not a misprint. The Blue Devils bowed out of the ACC Tournament on Thursday due to an issue related to COVID-19 and the Wildcats fell by one in their SEC Tournament opener against Mississippi State. Duke and Kentucky — arguably the two biggest brands in college basketball — finished this season with a combined record of 22-27. It truly is the year of the outlier.

Leftovers: