Auburn guard Miles Kelly (13) drives to the basket around Florida guard Will Richard (5) during the ... [+]
The push towards the postseason and NCAA Tournament is on, and the biggest games of the college basketball season will also determine conference champions, seedings in both the conference tournaments and March Madness. That includes Saturday’s showdown in Tuscaloosa between No. 1 Auburn and No. 2 Alabama
Many games will also be tournament like environments and effort as many teams remain on the NCAA Tournament bubble and losses will leave them settling for the NIT or CBI post season events.
College Basketball Top 25
The Associated Press (AP) Top 25 College Basketball Poll below is effective through games on Feb. 10. Next release is Monday, Feb. 17.
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) has four of the top-5 teams, six in the top-10 and 9 teams in the Top 25.
- Auburn (22-2)
- Alabama (21-3)
- Florida (21-3)
- Duke (21-3)
- Tennessee (20-5)
- Houston (21-5)
- Purdue (19-6)
- Texas A&M (19-5)
- St. John’s (21-4)
- Iowa State (19-5)
- Michigan State (19-5)
- Texas Tech (19-5)
- Arizona (17-7)
- Memphis (21-4)
- Kentucky (17-7)
- Wisconsin (19-5)
- Kansas (17-7)
- Marquette (19-6)
- Ole Miss (19-6)
- Michigan (19-5)
- Missouri (18-6)
- Mississippi State (17-7)
- Clemson (21-5)
- Creighton (18-7)
- Maryland (19-6)
UCLA (19-7), Connecticut (17-7), Illinois (17-8), Louisville (19-6) and New Mexico (21-4) are the next five teams receiving votes for the Top-25.
The power conference are dominating the rankings.
- SEC - 9 teams
- Big 10 - 5
- Big 12 - 5
- Big East - 3
- ACC - 2
- AAC - 1
Look at the changes in the Top 25 rankings since just before the Thanksgiving tournaments. Defending champion Connecticut was ranked No. 2, and the Huskies (19-4) are now in 4th place in the Big East and unranked. Gonzaga (19-7) is also unranked, and the Bulldogs were ranked No. 3 in the country ahead of Thanksgiving and currently in 2nd place in the West Coast Conference. Auburn (4), Purdue (6), Houston (7) and Alabama (8) are the four teams that were in the top-10 at Thanksgiving and are currently in the top-10.
Other teams falling out of the rankings since Thanksgiving include North Carolina (14-11), who was No. 10, Baylor (15-9) who was No. 13, Indiana (15-11) who was No. 16, Cincinnati (15-9) who was No. 18, Arkansas (15-9) who was No. 21, Rutgers (12-13) who was No. 24 and Illinois (17-8) who was No. 25.
Key games remaining in February
FanDuel Sportsbook provides college basketball betting odds for the most watched and wagered college basketball games. Odds and futures refresh periodically and are subject to change, including on props and live betting. Bet types, odds and betting terms along with upcoming week’s games and odds will be updated as provided by FanDuel and leading online sportsbooks. Betting favorites (-) listed.
Sat., Feb. 15
- Arkansas at No. 8 Texas A&M (-8.5), game total 140.5
- No. 23 Clemson (-4.5) at Florida State, 143.5
- No. 16 Wisconsin at No. 7 Purdue (-5.5), 150.5
- Vanderbilt at No. 5 Tennessee (-12.5), 139.5
- No. 6 Houston (-1.5) at No. 13 Arizona, 136.5
- No. 12 Texas Tech (-9.5) at Oklahoma State, 149.5
- No. 21 Missouri at Georgia, 145.5
- Stanford at No. 4 Duke (-18.5), 139.5
- No. 1 Auburn at No. 2 Alabama (-2.5), 171.5
- Cincinnati at No. 10 Iowa State (-12.5), 137.5
- No. 15 Kentucky at Texas (-4.5), 158.5
- No. 22 Mississippi State at No. 19 Ole Miss (-4.5), 146.5
- No. 11 Michigan State at Illinois (-6.5), 159.5
- South Carolina at No. 3 Florida (-13.5), 144.5
- No. 17 Kansas (-6.5) at Utah, 146.5
Update: Auburn beats Alabama, 94-85. Other winners included Texas A&M, Clemson, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Houston, Texas Tech, Missouri, Duke, Iowa State, Mississippi State, Florida. Ranked losers included Purdue, Arizona and Kentucky, Olie Miss, Kansas.
Sunday, Feb. 16
- No. 14 Memphis at Wichita State
- No. 20 Michigan at Ohio State
- No. 24 Creighton at No. 9 St. Johns
- Iowa at No. 25 Maryland
- Utah State (12-2) at New Mexico (13-1) - first place in Mountain West
Monday, Feb. 17
- No. 4 Duke at Virginia
- No. 13 Arizona at Baylor
Auburn at Alabama and SEC Standings
Auburn and Alabama are tied on top of the SEC at 10-1 followed by Florida (8-3), Texas A&M (8-3), Mississippi (8-4), Missouri (7-4), Tennessee (7-5), Kentucky (6-5) and Mississippi State (5-6) in the loaded conference.
Auburn won 14-straight games from early Dec. through Feb. 4 before losing at Florida as an 11-point favorite on Feb. 8. The Tigers have also played the No. 1 net schedule rating in the country, according to KenPom with the Crimson Tide’s strength of schedule No. 2. Alabama enters with 7-straight wins over the past month while scoring 100+ points three times and 80 or more points in all seven wins.
It gets no easier for Alabama following the Auburn game, as the Tide play six more top-25 teams over the next three weeks to close the regular season - at Missouri, Kentucky, Mississippi State, at Tennessee March 1, Florida and at Auburn for the rematch in the final game of the regular season March 8. Auburn’s final four games are against Top-25 teams Mississippi, at Kentucky (March 1), at Texas A&M and home vs. Alabama
The turnarounds by Alabama coach Nate Oats and Auburn coach Bruce Pearl have been among the best of the high-profile power conference programs in recent years.
The Crimson tied lead the country in scoring offense averaging 90.5 points per game vs. FBS opponents. Auburn is No. 5 averaging 80.8 points per game, and other top-25 teams among the top-10 in scoring offense include Kentucky (86.3), Illinois (85.1), Florida (83.6) and Maryland (82.8).
Purdue (49.3%) and Michigan (49.1%) are the only top-25 teams in the top-10 in the country in shooting percentage.
Houston (57.3), Tennessee (59.9) and Duke (60.4) all rank top-4 in the country in scoring defense. Tennessee (36.7%) is No. 1 in opponents shooting percentage, Houston (38.2%) No. 6 and Duke (38.4) No. 7.
College Basketball Standings
Big East - St. John’s (12-2), Marquette (11-3), Creighton (10-4) and 2-time defending national champions UCONN (9-4) are battling it out in the Big East. St. Johns and Connecticut collide Feb. 23 at Madison Square Garden. St. Johns at Marquette is the final game of the regular season March 8.
Big 12 - Houston (12-1), Arizona (11-2), Texas Tech (10-3), Iowa State (9-4) and Kansas (8-5) top the Big 12 standings. Houston at Arizona Feb. 15 is a huge game in the conference, and Houston is at Texas Tech Feb. 24. Arizona has two tough road games in March at Iowa State and final game at Kansas.
Big Ten - Michigan (11-2) is surprisingly on top of the Big Ten with seven games remaining including two vs. state-rival Michigan State. Purdue (11-3), Michigan State (10-3), Wisconsin (9-4), UCLA (10-5), Maryland (9-5) and Illinois (9-6) are all pushing towards the top and NCAA Tournament bids.
ACC - Duke (13-1) is on top of Clemson (12-2) are the only ranked teams followed by Louisville (12-2), SMU (10-3) and Wake Forest (10-4). Duke’s toughest game remaining is non-conference neutral site vs. Illinois Feb. 22.
NCAA Tournament Bracketology
Follow more college basketball betting news, picks and information you can bet on with ESPN’s Bracketology by Joe Lunardi updated twice each week Tuesday and Friday through the rest of the season and conference tournaments. As teams push for regular season and conference titles along with higher seeds for the NCAA Tournament, there is much on the line in the closing weeks with the best watch and wager college basketball action.
You can bet on it.
