The week ahead: 10 college basketball matchups you have to see (Mar. 2)

Pittsburgh's DeJuan Blair (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

(#16) Villanova at Notre Dame

7:00 pm - ESPN - Monday, March 2nd

With their backs against the wall, the Fighting Irish cannot afford to drop another game if they plan on playing deep into March. At 7-9 in the Big East, another Notre Dame loss would probably eliminate their outside chance for an at-large bid. Obviously the Big East Tournament yields an automatic entry for the victor, but the gauntlet ND would be forced to run through for that to happen might actually be impossible. The Irish need to hold strong on their home court, in a game where they match up fairly well with Villanova's quickness and athleticism. Desperation is an afterthought; this is must-win territory for Notre Dame. Beating the Wildcats here would almost assure an NCAA bid later on this month.

Prediction: 77-73 Notre Dame

(#15) Marquette at (#4) Pittsburgh

7:30 pm - ESPN2 - Wednesday, March 4th

As expected, Marquette dropped off slightly in the Big East standings after two recent losses against better basketball teams. Even though the season-ending injury to point guard Dominic James might seem crippling, it really isn't as bad as some people think. The Golden Eagles are just so used to playing with James on the court, that they have appeared lost without him at times. But James was silently handicapping his school's offense with horrible shooting from both the field and the free throw line, and they might actually be better off without him heading into the NCAA Tournament if they can get junior guard Maurice Acker to step up. Against one of the most physical teams in the entire country in Pittsburgh, the Golden Eagles will once again have their hands full, and another loss seems imminent.

Prediction: 79-70 Pittsburgh

Dayton at (#18) Xavier

9:00 pm - ESPN2 - Thursday, March 5th

The common consensus among Bracketologists right now is that many top mid-majors could be shut out of an at-large NCAA bid. This can mostly be attributed to the overall depth and strength of some of the power conferences like the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and Big East. One of the teams that could feel the wrath of the selection committee in a few weeks is the Dayton Flyers. At 24-5 and 10-4 in the Atlantic 10, the Flyers just don't have enough on their resume working in their favor. Sure, their lone quality victory over Marquette is nice, but other than that this has been a good team who has beat up on lesser opponents for most of the year. Dayton has also dropped two of their past three games to A-10 foes, and it's clear that a win here could go lengths for their NCAA Tournament case.

Prediction: 84-76 Xavier

(#1) Connecticut at (#4) Pittsburgh

12:00 pm - CBS - Saturday, March 7th

With one of these two schools holding the #1 ranking over six of the past eight weeks of polls, it's obvious that these are two of the best basketball teams in the college game. Their previous meeting saw Pittsburgh's 6'7" DeJuan Blair shut down 7'3" Hasheem Thabeet in every aspect, as the Panthers upended a then #1 overall Huskies squad. This time will ironically be a similar scenario, as Connecticut will bring their shiny new #1 ranking to Peterson Events Center for another huge Big East clash. Each team would certainly benefit from a big win here, and there's a good chance that whoever does come out ahead on the scoreboard will be a likely candidate for a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Prediction: 78-69 Connecticut

Michigan at Minnesota

12:00 pm - Big Ten Network - Saturday, March 7th

Still hanging on by a thread, the Michigan Wolverines are facing with a must-win game here if they want to have any chance of grabbing an at-large bid. The same scenario exists for Minnesota, a team that has struggled as of late and is now 8-8 in the Big Ten after starting off 4-1. The Golden Gophers own a half game lead on the Wolverines and sport a prettier overall record, but Michigan's two victories over top teams (UCLA and Duke) are going to work heavily in their favor. Minnesota will be looking to avenge their previous loss to Michigan two weeks ago, a game where the Wolverines connected on 13 of 28 three pointers. The loser here will probably be sent home, while the winner should retain a friendly, but uncomfortable seat on the bubble.

Prediction: 58-50 Michigan

California at (#21) Arizona State

2:00 pm - CBS - Saturday, March 7th

There's just something fishy about the Pac-10 this season. It seems like whenever a good team heads on the road to play back-to-back games in the same state, the school in question can't find a way to win. That's what happened to Arizona State this past week, as the Sun Devils dropped road games to Washington and Washington state over a three day span. California did the same thing back in late January, as they lost to USC and UCLA, also over a span of three days. The UCLA Bruins of course did the exact same thing on Valentine's Day weekend, losing to Arizona and Arizona State. None have been worse than Arizona however, as the Wildcats have accomplished this feat twice this year, whiffing completely in the state of Washington (Washington State, Washington) and then California (USC, UCLA). The reason this is so interesting is because the Cal Bears are set up to do it again to close out their season. With a game at Arizona on Thursday and then this game on Saturday, there's a good bet Cal loses each one. With how crazy the Pac-10 has been this year, this looks like a good bet to take.

Prediction: 61-56 Arizona State

Texas at (#9) Kansas

4:00 pm - CBS - Saturday, March 7th

In the season finale for both teams, Kansas and Texas should give everyone a preview of things to come in the Big 12 Tournament. The Jayhawks have already grabbed a share of the regular season crown, and just need to hold strong over their final two games to keep it all for themselves. Texas is essentially in the NCAA Tournament field already, barring a complete collapse and a no-show in the conference tournament. This game features two of the most dangerous sharp shooters in the college game, as Texas guard A.J. Abrams will try to go shot-for-shot against KU guard Sherron Collins. If it wasn't for Oklahoma's Blake Griffin, Collins would be a near-lock for Big 12 Player of the Year honors. Abrams has improved his game tremendously as of late, so it wouldn't be stretch to see each guy approach 30 points before the night is out.

Prediction: 78-74 Texas

(#6) Louisville at West Virginia

9:00 pm - ESPN - Saturday, March 7th

Don't look now, but the Louisville Cardinals are headed for a #1 seed at their current pace. Whether it's a #1 overall seed in the polls next week or a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament later this month, the Cardinals have looked utterly dominant during their current five game win streak. All signs point towards Louisville grabbing at least a share of the Big East regular season title, a daunting feat to say the least in the deepest conference in college hoops. The Mountaineers are widely expected to sneak into the Big Dance and should be in if they can beat DePaul on Wednesday, but this game is a big test for Bob Huggins' team. West Virginia will likely have to face a team of Louisville's caliber in the second round of the Big East Tournament, and a big performance here would give them some much needed confidence at the home stretch of their schedule.

Prediction: 88-79 Louisville

(#8) Michigan State at (#20) Purdue

12:00 pm - CBS - Sunday, March 8th

If somebody tries to tell you who the best team in the Big Ten is this season, you probably shouldn't believe them. The conference has been so up and down that it's nearly impossible to call anyone the single best team. We've seen that on any given night, anybody in the conference can pull off an upset. The year started with high praise for Purdue, who then struggled out of the gate. That opened things up for Michigan State and Minnesota to emerge. Illinois then joined the party while Minnesota fell off, only to have Purdue come right back again and beat Michigan State. Right when pundits were about to call Purdue the best team in the conference, they go out and lose to Michigan. That, in turn, has given Michigan State a two game lead in the Big Ten standings, and added to the support for Tom Izzo's team in this argument. This game should help shed more light on just how good each of these teams actually is, but we'll have to wait for the Big Ten Tournament to see exactly who the top team in the conference is this year.

Prediction: 68-61 Michigan State

(#7) Duke at (#2) North Carolina

4:00 - CBS - Sunday, March 8th

Hidden in your television listings for this weekend is none other than the biggest rivalry game in the entire sport. You probably won't hear about this matchup a whole lot because neither ESPN nor ABC will be covering it. That can be both a good thing and a bad thing at the same time. The ESPN hype machine will be focused on other ESPN-covered games, so you can take your earplugs out and relax for this one. The Tar Heels went into Cameron and stole the last meeting, and it will be extremely difficult for the Dukies to head on the road and win this against a better overall squad. As always, you can throw out the records when these schools meet up, so make sure not to miss this game on Sunday afternoon.

Prediction: 80-72 North Carolina

Last Week's Record: 8-2

Overall Record: 30-10

All rankings were taken from the latest ESPN/USA Today Top 25 poll. All games are Eastern time.

Previous Weeks:

Feb. 23   |   Feb. 16    |    Feb. 9    |    Feb. 2    |    Jan. 26

Jan. 19   |   Jan. 12   |   Jan. 5    |    Dec. 29