It was conference title-clinching week across college basketball as the regular season comes to a close. North Carolina won the ACC outright by stealing one away from rival Duke inside Cameron Indoor Stadium. Houston won the Big 12 outright and then blasted Kansas for good measure. Meanwhile, Tennessee, Purdue, Arizona and UConn all clinched their respective conference championships with room to spare, securing No. 1 seeds for this week's conference tournaments.
Some performances were more impressive than others, though, if I'm being truthful. So, in the final regular season edition of our weekly report card, I've sorted out the good, the great and the not-so-good into categories below and handed out grades for each team covering the period running from Monday-Sunday.
Let's get to the report card for the week.
College basketball grades: This week's report card
Team | Grade | Analysis | |
---|---|---|---|
North Carolina | A+ | UNC wrapped up the outright ACC title in style with a dominant win over Duke inside Cameron Indoor. That's about as cool a way to secure a chip -- winning on your rival's home floor as an underdog -- as you can in college sports. | |
Houston | A+ | Houston won the outright Big 12 title this weekend in its first season as a league member after Iowa State fell to Kansas State. Then, Houston went and blasted KU for good measure by 30 -- the Jayhawks' largest loss of the season. Don't mess with Kelvin Sampson's crew. The title might be theirs for the taking. | |
Purdue | A+ | Purdue got arguably its best win of the season this week at Illinois in come-from-behind fashion. The Boilermakers then cruised past Wisconsin on Sunday to close the regular season. It's the third time Matt Painter and Co. have won the league by multiple games in the last eight seasons -- including two in a row now. | |
Kentucky | A | Hello, Kentucky! It has felt like progress has been made in recent weeks, but this week was splendiferous. Exceptional. Took care of business at Vandy then wrapped the week with one of the best wins of the season at Tennessee, led by Reed Sheppard and Antonio Reeves. Wildcats look to be hitting their stride at just the right time. | |
UConn | A | The Connecticut Huskies are a wagon. After wrapping up the Big East last week, they went on the road and won twice -- at Marquette and at Providence -- to close out its regular season at 28-3. | |
Utah State | A | Utah State clinched the Mountain West in one of the best years in ages for the league with two wins this week. Danny Sprinkle's got the Aggies sitting 26-5 entering postseason play and in line to be seriously considered as national coach of the year. Deservedly so. | |
Nevada | B+ | Nevada finished just behind Utah State in the MWC, but it was a heckuva run to get there. The Wolf Pack downed Boise State on the road mid-week then defeated UNLV to secure the No. 2 seed in the MWC tourney. They've won 10 of 11 and look like they can be a perfect representative for a strong and underrated league. | |
Loyola Chicago | B+ | How about Loyola Chicago?! Denzel Valentine's Ramblers snuck up from behind to win a share of the Atlantic 10 regular season thanks to a Richmond loss at George Mason and a shaky closing stretch from Dayton. The A-10 has multiple teams capable of being a factor in March -- including Loyola. | |
St. John's | B | That's five straight wins for St. John's to close out the regular season. Games against Georgetown and DePaul aren't anything to write home about, but the Red Storm have made their way back into the NCAA Tournament picture with another steady week. | |
Tennessee | B- | Tennessee clinched its first outright SEC title since 2008 this week with an impressive win at South Carolina only to turn around and give up 85 in a home loss to Kentucky. For as good as this team's defense has been, it has shown signs of weakness down the stretch. UK's offensive explosion -- made possible by 15 3s (!!) -- was eye-opening. | |
Florida | C | Florida, baby, what is you doing? A win at home over Alabama was a great start to the week -- but losing to Vanderbilt? As a nearly double-digit favorite? After blowing a 12-point lead?! Gross! Not even a nice win over Bama can't cover this one up. | |
South Florida | C | Tulsa snapped USF's 15-game winning streak in a game the Bulls didn't need -- but should have won -- to feel a little safer about their at-large hopes. I'd strongly advise winning the AAC tourney to secure the automatic NCAA berth just to play it safe. | |
Arizona | C | Weird week for Arizona. Goes on the road and blasts a salty UCLA team then turns around and gets blasted by a downtrodden USC team that's struggled all season. | |
Duke | C | Duke had a golden opportunity to clinch a share of the ACC at home but failed in letting UNC run the score up early as the Tar Heels swept the regular-season series. The Blue Devils played well most of the game aside from the opening minutes, where they trailed by as many as 15 in the first half. | |
Kansas | C- | KU closed its regular season with three losses in its last four games -- culminating with a 30-point blowout loss to No. 1 Houston. With injury uncertainty and momentum stymied, it's hard to be bullish about where KU is right now and where it could finish this postseason. | |
Alabama | C- | All the concerns about Alabama were on full display this week. It gave up 105 in a loss at Florida then surrendered 88 to a walking-dead Arkansas team, needing overtime to outlast the Razorbacks. Great offensive team, zero defense. Don't be tricked when you get your fresh bracket next week. |