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
Injuries have decimated the Big 12
Season-ending ACL tears to BYU’s Richie Saunders (18.0 points, 5.8 rebounds) and Texas Tech’s JT Toppin (21.8 points, 10.8 rebounds) has drastically lowered this conference’s overall ceiling for the NCAA Tournament. On Tuesday, I wrote about how the Big 12’s goal should be to have multiple teams in the 2026 Final Four. That quest got increasingly more difficult following the losses of both Saunders and Toppin. In reality, the Big 12 only now has four true Final Four contenders remaining with Houston, Arizona, Iowa State, and Kansas.
Darius Acuff had a performance for the ages
Arkansas didn’t beat Alabama on Wednesday night in Tuscaloosa, but the Razorbacks’ two-point double-overtime defeat to the Crimson Tide featured a performance for the ages from their freshman point guard. Acuff’s 49-point, five-rebound, five-assist performance in the loss featured the highest scoring output ever by a player under John Calipari. This guy is somebody who could take over the NCAA Tournament next month — he’s that good.
Creighton is the bid stealer to watch at the Big East Tournament
This league may only have three teams — UConn, St. John’s, and Villanova — in play for March Madness, but the Bluejays are the one team that could pluck a bid next month at Madison Square Garden. Greg McDermott’s squad stunned the Huskies at Gampel Pavilion on Wednesday night and beat the Wildcats in Philadelphia earlier this season. Don’t count this team out during Championship Week. Creighton will next face St. John’s on Saturday at MSG.
On The Side
- Villanova’s six-game winning streak is its longest since the 2021-22 season, which was the last year of Jay Wright’s Hall-of-Fame career.
- NC State is 9-2 this season in games where Matt Able scores in double figures.
- The Mountain West and WCC have as many teams in the mix for the NCAA Tournament — three — as the Big East.
- The game of the year in the Atlantic 10 is Friday night at Chaifetz Arena as Saint Louis hosts VCU. The Rams are currently 21-6 and on a 10-game winning streak, but don’t currently own any Quad 1 wins on their NCAA Tournament resume.
- Belmont’s Casey Alexander has the Bruins at 24-4 after Sunday’s massive win against Murray State. This could be the second program that Alexander — who was previously the head coach at Lipscomb — takes to the NCAA Tournament.
Daily Specials
- Florida International at Liberty
- Memphis at South Florida
- Cal Poly at Hawaii
