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
The Big 12 should be aiming to have multiple teams in the Final Four
Brett Yormark’s innovation as the Big 12’s Commissioner has changed the national perception of this conference. The next step is for the league to have more than one team in the Final Four in Indianapolis. It’s very much within the realm of possibility. Five teams from the Big 12 — Arizona, Houston, Iowa State, Texas Tech, and Kansas — are projected to be among the Top 16 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, which gives the league plenty of options to reach the final weekend of the 2025-26 college basketball season. Multiple teams in the Final Four would provide clear separation for this conference, which has provided incredible theater each and every night thanks to one elite league matchup after another. It will be interesting to if the Big 12 or the Big Ten — who also has several teams entrenched at the top of the sport — can have more one than one participant during the first weekend of April in Indianapolis.
Michigan/Purdue
A massive week for the Wolverines gets going tonight at Mackey Arena against the Boilers, who have won four games in a row and are playing some of their best basketball of the season. Michigan currently leads Purdue by two games in the loss column in the Big Ten standings and could take a major step towards locking up the regular season title with a road victory tonight. A fascinating 40 minutes lies ahead in West Lafayette.
UMass re-enters the spotlight
It’s been a while since the Minutemen have been nationally relevant, but they’ll get a chance to have their name back in the headlines tonight if they can be the first team this season to knock off Miami (OH). The Redhawks enter tonight’s game at 25-0 and are college basketball’s last remaining undefeated team. Travis Steele’s squad beat UMass by two points in the first meeting between these two programs on Jan. 27th in Ohio. It’s been tough sledding for the Minutemen under Frank Martin as UMass has had to transition from the Atlantic 10 to the MAC, but this is the type of opportunity that can change the feel of an entire season. For the first time in a while, there’s a big-game feel in Amherst.
On The Side
- Kansas State’s decision to part ways with Jerome Tang is fine. Kansas State’s decision to fire him for cause is not. Tang’s buyout with the school was for just under $19 million dollars.
- Texas Tech’s JT Toppin has tallied a combined 47 points and 31 rebounds in his last two games entering tonight’s tilt in Tempe against Arizona State.
- Four of UCLA’s final six regular season games will be Quad 1 opportunities, starting with tonight’s tilt against Michigan State in East Lansing. The Bruins need to win at least two of those Quad 1 games to be comfortably in the bracket on Selection Sunday.
- Seven of the 11 teams in the Big East are currently below .500 in conference play.
- Tennessee’s Rick Barnes is today’s guest on INSIDE COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOW. To watch the full interview, click HERE.
Daily Specials
- Michigan at Purdue
- North Carolina at NC State
- Nebraska at Iowa
- Wisconsin at Ohio State
- Texas Tech at Arizona State
