It was a weekend of separation across the country in college basketball as teams clinched conference titles or inched one step closer to hardware. The week gave us glimpses at greatness with many of the top teams in the top conferences sending statements about their standing in the league's hierarchy like Tennessee, Purdue, Houston, UConn and North Carolina -- in the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East and ACC, respectively -- knocking out opponents and remaining atop their respective league standings.
This week's report card reflects kindly on those teams whose performances were critical to claiming -- or helping their team creep closer to clinching -- a regular season title. As has long been the case, my grading system is based more on recent vibes and performance within a week and less on any formula or model. But that's mostly good news because the vibes are good for a large swath of teams with March Madness on the horizon.
Let's get to the report card for the week.
College basketball grades: This week's report card
| Team | Grade | Analysis | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tennessee | A+ | Tennessee grabbed the reins of the SEC with a huge 81-74 road win at Alabama over the weekend. The Vols fended off Auburn and Alabama by multiple possessions in one of the best two-game stretches by any team this season. | |
| Arizona | A+ | Big wins this week over Arizona State and Oregon positioned Arizona alone atop the Pac-12 standings with two games left. The Wildcats' offense is humming at an elite level just in time for March Madness. | |
| Duke | A+ | Duke responded to getting stuck in a court-storm a week ago with an impressive 2-0 week in which it ran both Louisville and Virginia off the floor. Duke's dismantling of UVA on Saturday was particularly jarring as it held the Cavaliers under 50 points in a 73-48 beatdown. | |
| UConn | A+ | UConn didn't even break a sweat in two destructions of Big East foes this week in Villanova and Seton Hall. Scary, because this team -- this now 26-3 UConn team -- continues to get better and better. | |
| Gonzaga | A | There was doubt a few weeks ago, but there should be none now: Gonzaga will be an NCAA Tournament team. Mark Few's club downed San Francisco then spoiled Saint Mary's near-perfect run through WCC play to burnish its tourney creds at just the right time. | |
| Princeton | A | Princeton held off Cornell in a huge game with Ivy League title implications over the weekend to make it a two-way tie atop the league with Yale with one game left. | |
| Houston | A | Houston walked wounded into Norman on Saturday and outlasted a good OU team on some last-second heroics from Jamal Shead. Cougars aren't healthy but they're still perfect (2-0) when ranked No. 1. | |
| Boise State | A | Boise scored a big win at home over New Mexico this weekend to pull even in the MWC standings with Utah State. Broncos have two toughies left in regular season play but have a chance to win their third MWC regular season title under Leon Rice. | |
| South Florida | A | USF clinched the AAC outright this week and extended its nation-leading winning streak to 14 games. The team has won 20 of its last 21 games and poised to be a huge factor in March. | |
| Purdue | B+ | Purdue knocked down 10 3-pointers to hold off a pesky Michigan State team at home in its lone showing this week. Edey continues to dominate, but the supporting cast looks outstanding. | |
| North Carolina | B- | UNC had a hard time closing on Miami and had a hard time opening against NC State -- but took down both in a 2-0 week. This team's depth and star power is going to be tough to match in the NCAA Tournament. | |
| Kentucky | C+ | Wins are wins and Kentucky got two of them this week. That matters. But UK needed Reed Sheppard's heroics against Mississippi State in the final seconds to get over an early deficit, and it was dicier than it should've been Saturday against a mediocre Arkansas team. | |
| Dayton | C- | It wasn't long ago that Dayton controlled its own destiny in the Atlantic 10. The Flyers now, though, are two games out of first place after a loss this week to Loyola. | |
| Virginia | D+ | Tony Bennett's UVA team mustered just 48 points in a blowout loss to Duke, marking the fourth time in its last five outings it has failed to score 50. Most unwatchable team in CBB right now resides in Charlottesville. | |
| Kansas | D | Kansas joined historic company with a loss at Baylor over the weekend . Self has never suffered seven conference losses before this season, and KU hasn't had such a bad showing in league play since before the Big 12 was formed. | |
| Wake Forest | D- | Wake's win over Duke a week ago seemed like it was heading safely into the NCAA Tournament picture -- but this week was two steps back. A loss at Notre Dame is ugly but blowing a huge lead against Virginia Tech was a wild way to cap a weird week. |