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The Breakfast Buffet: Florida/Auburn, Kansas State starts a big home stand, Alabama hits Bud Walton Arena

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

Florida/Auburn
How close is the relationship between Todd Golden and Bruce Pearl? Pearl hired Golden to be a part of his first staff at Auburn in 2014 when Golden was an assistant at Columbia. 11 years later, both are now vying for number one seeds in the NCAA Tournament. Can the Gators beat the Tigers today at Neville Arena? It would take a herculean effort. Auburn’s average margin of victory at home during SEC play is 17.0 points. The Tigers have won 14 consecutive games and are currently 21-1 overall while Florida checks in at 19-3.

Kansas State has a big home stand
Jerome Tang has rallied the Wildcats and has his team on a four-game winning streak entering today’s game against Kansas in Manhattan. Kansas State will also host Arizona on Tuesday night. That’s two Quad 1 opportunities in a row at home for the Wildcats, who at 11-11 are currently a long ways from the bubble, but could instantly join the NCAA Tournament conversation with a pair of wins in their next two games. A massive 80 minute stretch looms for Tang and Kansas State.

Alabama hits Bud Walton Arena
Arkansas has gotten its season back over the past seven days with a pair of road victories at Texas and Kentucky. Beating Alabama would put the Razorbacks into a completely different stratosphere. Can John Calipari’s team pull the upset? It doesn’t seem likely, but for the first time in Calipari’s tenure, Arkansas has legitimate on-court momentum. Don’t be shocked if Bud Walton Arena — one of the sport’s best home court venues — reaches a level that we haven’t seen during the 2024-25 season. A win tonight would likely take the Razorbacks off the bubble and put them comfortably into the NCAA Tournament.

On The Side

  • Michigan’s Dusty May — who was a student manager at Indiana under Bob Knight — returns to Bloomington today as the Wolverines visit the Hoosiers. Tip off is at 1 PM ET on CBS. Indiana announced on Friday that Mike Woodson will resign as head coach following the conclusion of the 2024-25 season.
  • Duke’s game tonight at Clemson is the first time that the Blue Devils will face a team projected to comfortably make the 2025 NCAA Tournament on the road since they visited Louisville on Dec. 8th.
  • Creighton is 5-1 this season in games decided by five points or fewer entering today’s game against Marquette in Omaha.
  • Caleb Love’s buzzer beater against Iowa State on Jan. 27th has ignited an incredible run for the fifth-year senior. In Arizona’s two games since beating the Cyclones in overtime, Love is averaging 22.5 points, 5.5 assists, and 6.0 rebounds. The Wildcats will host Texas Tech tonight in Tucson.
  • Oregon is on a four-game losing streak for the first time since 2014. The Ducks’ opponent this afternoon? Michigan State in East Lansing and the Spartans are on a two-game losing streak of their own. Yikes!

Daily Specials

  • Texas A&M at Missouri
  • Auburn at Florida
  • Duke at Clemson
  • Alabama at Arkansas
  • Texas Tech at Arizona

Leftovers