If you weren't glued to the TV on Saturday taking in all the drama college hoops provided, then you should be kicking yourself.
But don't worry—this week's edition of winners and losers has everything you missed and need to know to catch up, beginning with one doozy of a comeback in the Big Ten.
Here are all of the winners and losers from a wild Saturday in college basketball:
Winner: Michigan State
And by doozy, I mean historic. No. 2 Michigan State overcame a 27-point deficit vs. Northwestern, fighting from down 43-16 in the first half to come back and win in stunning fashion, 65-60. The Spartans outscored the Wildcats 38-11 in the second half to snag their tenth straight win, and in doing so, completed the largest comeback in Big Ten history.
According to Ken Pomeroy, the comeback equals the largest of the decade. It is also tied for the fifth-largest comeback in NCAA history, and it's why none other than Sparty tops our biggest winners from a wacky Saturday slate.
Loser: Oklahoma
The Sooners entered their rivalry matchup vs. Texas in desperate need of a win to snap a four-game losing skid, and instead they continued their free fall in the Big 12, losing to Texas 77-66.
Trae Young finished with a solid 26 points and seven assists, but his day was mostly littered with inefficiency. He hit just 7 of his 21 field goal attempts and 3 of his 10 3-pointers, and to make matters worse, he didn't get much help elsewhere. Only one other OU player finished in double figures, Christian James, and players not named Trae Young shot a combined 13 of 44 on the afternoon.
OU is limping to the finish line after having lost eight of its last 10. And while its star battles through the freshman wall, there's not yet been a player proving capable of being a stopgap on offense when Young isn't firing on all cylinders.
Not even Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield could will the Sooners out of their slump!
Winners: Kentucky
As my colleague Matt Norlander pointed out in his column from Saturday, Kentucky was on the verge of a full-blown meltdown entering the day on a four-game losing streak and in desperate need of a bounce back.
The young Wildcats delivered the goods with a resounding 81-71 win over a solid Alabama team, providing hope that they may be turning a corner as March looms.
I don't think anyone is yet ready to proclaim, "Kentucky is back!" At least not yet. But Big Blue Nation has to be pleased with their team's performance against a Crimson Tide team projected by Jerry Palm as a 9 seed in his latest Bracketology.
Loser: Bruce Pearl
Auburn, with a chance to clamp an even tighter grip on the SEC and its standing in first-place, laid an egg against South Carolina. There's really no way of sugar-coating it. After falling behind by as many as 26 points, the No. 10 Tigers mounted a rally, but it wasn't enough to fix the damage that was done early.
The 84-75 loss is even more stunning given the 76-66 shellacking it handed Kentucky just three days prior.
For Bruce Pearl, though, the loss was likely only the second biggest on the day. Pearl also lost sophomore forward Anfernee McLemore, who went down with a brutal ankle injury and is expected to be out for 4-6 months with a dislocated ankle, a broken tibia and torn ligaments. The 6-7 sophomore was averaging 7.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and nearly 20 minutes per game this season for the Tigers, and was a vital pawn in their climb up the national rankings.
Without him, Pearl - who is undeniably a candidate for Coach of the Year - has his work cut out for him as he works with a shorter bench with postseason play looming.
Auburn was a No. 1 seed in Jerry Palm's Bracketology before the loss, but won't be there when the bracket is updated after Saturday's games.
Winner: Villanova
The Wildcats completed the season sweep of No. 4 Xavier on Saturday, 95-79 on the road—and did so without the presence of starter Phil Booth.
Oh, and I guess hitting 16 of 34 3-pointers helped, too.
Villanova is now just a half-game back in the Big East standings with Xavier; more importantly, though, Villanova is now on a collision course to clinch a No. 1 seed come Selection Sunday, barring an utter collapse in the final weeks of the regular season.
| BIG EAST STANDINGS | |||
| TEAM | CONF. W-L | TOT. W-L | RPI RANK |
| Xavier | 12-3 | 24-4 | 2 |
| Villanova | 11-3 | 24-3 | 3 |
| Creighton | 8-5 | 19-7 | 24 |
| Providence | 8-6 | 17-10 | 36 |
| Butler | 8-7 | 18-10 | 44 |
| Seton Hall | 6-7 | 17-9 | 25 |
| Marquette | 5-8 | 14-11 | 67 |
| Georgetown | 5-9 | 15-10 | 129 |
| DePaul | 3-10 | 10-15 | 179 |
| St. Johns | 3-11 | 14-13 | 65 |
Winner: SEC
The SEC completely cannibalized itself on Saturday ... but almost all of the results were a good thing for the league.
Arkansas destroying No. 21 Texas A&M, Auburn getting smashed by South Carolina and Vanderbilt outlasting Florida was among the more surprising results—but Kentucky beating Alabama and LSU beating Missouri was somewhat unexpected too.
All of those are mostly good news for the SEC. Arkansas' postseason resume looks even better now, Kentucky appears to (maybe?) be turning a corner, and Vandy, although not a tournament team this season, snagged a big one in what has been an otherwise tumultuous season. It proved even more so that, from top to bottom, the league has improved leaps and bounds from what it once was.
Loser: Missouri
Of all the SEC teams, Missouri was the clear-cut second biggest loser behind Auburn. The Tigers snapped their five-game winning streak by suffering a 64-63 setback at LSU, slowing their tremendous momentum they'd built over the last two weeks.
The Tigers have a pretty challenging remaining schedule-namely a road trip to Lexington next Saturday-so to drop one it could have, and should have won, is a stinger.
For now they are safely in the NCAA Tournament field in Jerry Palm's latest Bracketology, though. So take a deep breath, Tiger nation.
Winner: Texas
It's hard to say any game is a must-win in college hoops, but Texas needed one worse than ever on Saturday—and it got it against a struggling Oklahoma team to end its three-game losing streak.
Jerry Palm has the Horns among the last four in in his latest Bracketology, so this win keeps them afloat and significantly boosts their NCAA Tournament prospects.
Winner: Kermit Davis
The fearless leader of mid-major power Middle Tennessee, Kermit Davis, snatched up his 400th career win as a Division I head coach Saturday with his Blue Raiders team handling a good Louisiana Tech team, 87-70.
It's Middle Tennessee's ninth consecutive win and, barring a collapse on its home floor in the final three games of the season, all but seals a C-USA title. And as a tip: be sure to keep in mind the Blue Raiders when filling out your bracket in March. They might not only be a lock, assuming they win the postseason tournament, but could also have a case for an at-large bid come Selection Sunday.
Loser: Minnesota
Minnesota's season has been off the rails for awhile now, but Saturday's news that Amir Coffey's season will end to undergo surgery is just adding injury to insult. Here's all you need to know about the Golden Gophers: they've won just TWICE in 2018.
Things likely won't get any better from here for Richard Pitino's team.
Winner: Syracuse's NCAA Tournament hopes
The Orange are definitely still a longshot to go dancing, but their hopes got an injection of encouragement with an impressive road win over Miami in Coral Gables, 62-55. So after a brutal 5-loss January, Cuse improved to 3-1 in February with wins over Louisville, Miami and Wake Forest.
How Jim Boeheim's team fares in the final four games against Clemson, Duke, North Carolina and Boston College will ultimately determine their postseason standing. But Orange fans have to be feeling good about their surge towards the bubble conversation.
Loser: West Virginia
West Virginia had a double digit lead with under 11 minutes to go vs. Kansas — AT Kansas — and still found a way to let the game slip out of hand in stunning fashion.
Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins found himself perturbed, particularly at the free throw discrepancy late in the game, and picked up two quick technicals and a subsequent ejection to cap off a miserable WVU collapse.
The loss also dropped WVU to 8-6 in the league, all but unofficially dropping them out of regular season title contention.
Winner: Vasa Pusica
How about some love for one of the Colonial's most talented players, Northeastern's Vasa Pusica?
The junior guard scored 19 points on Saturday—including the dagger to sink William & Mary in a 69-67 thriller that ended at the buzzer.