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LSU Basketball Takes Its Crack At Kentucky

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In the long history of LSU basketball, their biggest win over Kentucky came in the regional finals of the 1986 NCAA Tournament. The undermanned Tigers, coached by master motivator Dale Brown, stunned the favored Wildcats and reached the Final Four as an 11-seed, unprecedented at the time and matched in future years only by George Mason and Virginia Commonwealth. Tonight’s LSU-Kentucky game (7 PM ET, ESPN) from Baton Rouge won’t match that, but it could take over the #2 spot.

College Basketball Conference Tournaments: Who Needs To Win?

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If March Madness is the great feast of college basketball, then the conference tournaments are the appetizer. All across America, from Brooklyn to Atlanta to Kansas City to a double down in Las Vegas and a lot of other places in between, the major leagues gather for several days of non-stop hoops.

The Big 12 Bubble: Oklahoma Basketball Faces Tough Stretch

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The Big 12 is shaping up to have an interesting race around the bubble of the NCAA Tournament, and Oklahoma basketball is right at the heart of the conversation at this point in the schedule. The Sooners are a modest surprise, off to a 13-5 start, including victories in four of six Big 12 games. But a big schedule stretch starts tonight when they visit Baylor (7 PM ET, ESPNU). Then OU hosts Kansas State on Saturday (6 PM ET, ESPN2).

The Pac-12’s Five Contenders To Move Off The NCAA Bubble

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No conference race has as many good scenarios for the final week than the Pac-12, as the league begins its usual run of Thursday night games that set the stage for the weekend. The championship is in play, five teams are on the radar for the NCAA Tournament, and only one can really feel secure about its position in the Dance. So if you don’t feel like following the controversy that’s flared up at UCLA about whether Ben Howland is or isn’t in control of the program, there’s still plenty of on-court action to keep up with in the Pac-12. TheSportsNotebook will look at the five relevant teams.

Missouri-Kansas & Other College Basketball Weekend Highlights

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Missouri’s win over Kansas earlier this month was right up there with the finish to North Carolina-Duke in Chapel Hill when it comes to college basketball’s regular season. The Tigers rallied from nine down in the final two minutes and stole a win from UK. It should have set up a great winner-take-all battle for the Big 12 crown on Saturday in Lawrence. Unfortunately, Mizzou dropped a home game to Kansas State, so the Tigers can only move into a tie for first. Kansas, on the other hand, can all but sew up another conference championship in front of the home fans at 4 PM ET on CBS.

In Case You Missed It…The Week That Was At TheSportsNotebook

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I hope your sports week was better than mine (well, unless you’re the fan of a rival team). The Celtics are melting down. The Bruins have the Senators in the rearview mirror. Wisconsin lost to Iowa again last night. If your sports residence is in Boston-Madison Corridor With Redskins Detour, life is rough. With Wisconsin at Ohio State on Sunday I don’t anticpate college hoops getting much better, although if the B’s can beat Ottawa tomorrow night, that’s what I want the most.

Now, to the point of this post, which is to link you to the eight feature articles that ran here at TheSportsNotebook from Monday thru Thursday.

Atlantic 10 Basketball Six-Pack Races To The Wire

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The Atlantic 10 isn’t having one it’s best years in college basketball, but there’s still an interesting a conference championship race and some fluidity among the NCAA bubble teams that make it worth keeping an eye for fans of power conference teams. TheSportsNotebook breaks six teams into three categories. You have Temple/St. Louis in the race for the top spot. Xavier/St. Joe’s are legitimate NCAA bubble teams. And LaSalle/UMass are longshots, but could still play their way onto the NCAA radar with a spirited finish. Here’s the rundown…

Big East & ACC Tournament Bubble Talk: Miami & South Florida

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The battle on the NCAA bubble is intense in the Big East and ACC, and particularly down in the southern part of Florida. Today, TheSportsNotebook will take a look at the cases of bubble teams in Miami and South Florida, and briefly summarize the rest of the conference.

College Basketball Weekend Preview

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It was last Saturday, in front of an ESPN audience, that Michigan State went to Columbus, held Ohio State to 26 percent shooting from the floor, and came up with a road win that turned the Big Ten race into a dead heat coming down the stretch. The Spartans and Buckeyes both answered tests during the week, beating Wisconsin and Minnesota respectively. Now they both face stern tests again on Saturday, each on the road.

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