College basketball closes its regular season in style this weekend. Before conference tournaments and Selection Sunday rev up, the viewership indulges in some of the sport\u2019s strongest rivalries.<\/p>\n
No. 17 North Carolina and No. 1 Duke resume their bad-blood, blue-blood gauntlet at Cameron Indoor. Michigan State invades Ann Arbor for a top-10 tilt with Michigan. In-state animosity abounds with Virginia Tech-Virginia, Vanderbilt-Tennessee and Auburn-Alabama. There\u2019s a crosstown bubble battle between UCLA and USC. There\u2019s even a quest for perfection, as the 30-0 Miami (OH) RedHawks bring MACtion to the forefront Friday night.<\/p>\n
Of the five major conferences, four have already crowned their regular-season champions \u2014 Duke in the ACC, Arizona in the Big 12, Michigan in the Big Ten and Florida in the SEC. Connecticut and St. John\u2019s are still settling the Big East through Saturday\u2019s slate. Regardless, for some of the field, these closing games can buoy or sink an NCAA Tournament bid. Floor slap season is upon us.<\/p>\n
All times ET. Rankings are from the latest AP poll.<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s college basketball weekend schedule<\/p>\n
Watching in person? Get tickets on StubHub<\/a>.<\/p>\n GameTimeTVStream<\/p>\n Miami (OH) at Ohio<\/p>\n 9 p.m., Fri.<\/p>\n ESPN2<\/p>\n St. John’s at Seton Hall<\/p>\n 9 p.m., Fri.<\/p>\n FS1<\/p>\n Virginia Tech at Virginia<\/p>\n Noon, Sat.<\/p>\n CW<\/p>\n Vanderbilt at Tennessee<\/p>\n 2 p.m., Sat.<\/p>\n ESPN<\/p>\n Cincinnati at TCU<\/p>\n 2 p.m., Sat.<\/p>\n TNT<\/p>\n HBO Max<\/p>\n SMU at Florida St.<\/p>\n 2 p.m., Sat.<\/p>\n ACCN<\/p>\n New Mexico at Utah St.<\/p>\n 4 p.m., Sat.<\/p>\n MWN, Ryz<\/p>\n Indiana at Ohio State<\/p>\n 5:30 p.m., Sat.<\/p>\n Fox<\/p>\n UNC at Duke<\/p>\n 6:30 p.m., Sat.<\/p>\n ESPN<\/p>\n Auburn at Alabama<\/p>\n 8:30 p.m., Sat.<\/p>\n ESPN<\/p>\n UCLA at USC<\/p>\n 9 p.m., Sat.<\/p>\n FS1<\/p>\n Texas Tech at BYU<\/p>\n 10:30 p.m., Sat.<\/p>\n ESPN<\/p>\n Michigan St. at Michigan<\/p>\n 4:30 p.m., Sun.<\/p>\n CBS<\/p>\n Iowa at Nebraska<\/p>\n 5 p.m., Sun.<\/p>\n Fox<\/p>\n CBS and Fox are free over the air. CBS is also available on Paramount+. Fox and FS1 are also available on Fox One. All ESPN programs, including the ACC Network, are on ESPN Unlimited.<\/p>\n Friday openersNo. 19 Miami (OH) at Ohio<\/p>\n Why you should watch:\u00a0Miami is one win from an undefeated regular season. The final hurdle is a \u201cBattle of the Bricks\u201d versus its archenemy in Ohio. What a wonderful scene it should be. The RedHawks are nationally ranked and unbeaten \u2026 and still at risk of missing the Madness. That\u2019s because the MAC rarely gets an at-large bid, and Akron (entering Friday with a 16-1 MAC record) poses a real challenge in the conference tourney.<\/p>\n No. 18 St. John\u2019s at Seton Hall<\/p>\n Why you should watch: Seton Hall is trying to rally from bubble to bracket. Its national case has improved after playing UConn to a four-point finish, then getting a 10th Big East win against Xavier. The Athletic\u2019s Joe Rexrode<\/a> has the Pirates in his \u201cnext four out\u201d tier, but beating formidable St. John\u2019s would shake that up. The Red Storm can lock up at least a share of the regular-season title before UConn faces Marquette on Saturday.<\/p>\n Saturday gamesVirginia Tech at No. 13 Virginia<\/p>\n Why you should watch:\u00a0A \u201cCommonwealth Clash\u201d with tourney implications. The last meeting between these two produced three overtimes and one stinging upset. Tech is still waving around for the committee\u2019s attention, and a third Quad 1 win might warrant it. UVA is comfortably into its dancing shoes, but the campus always levels up to host the Hokies.<\/p>\n No. 24 Vanderbilt at No. 23 Tennessee<\/p>\n Why you should watch: Another well-worn in-state series. This one puts ranked teams on both benches. It\u2019s usually not so even \u2014 Tennessee leads the all-time ledger by a lopsided 133-77. Back on Feb. 21, the Commodores built a nine-point home lead over the Volunteers. Then came the Rick Barnes clampdown, and Vandy went more than nine minutes without a field goal en route to a four-point L.<\/p>\n Revenge can be had at Rocky Top. On Tuesday, Barnes suggested<\/a> that rising star Nate Ament could return from his ankle injury.<\/p>\n Cincinnati at TCU<\/p>\n Why you should watch: Bubble on bubble with heat-check eagerness. As of Thursday, the Bearcats are 42nd in KenPom, with the Horned Frogs nearby at 45th. Rexrode<\/a> puts the latter at \u201clast four in\u201d status.<\/p>\n Both hopefuls are cooking up as things matter most. TCU has won seven of its last eight games, including monumental defeats of Texas Tech and Iowa State. Cincinnati is six for its last seven, with a Feb. 21 thumping of Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse. Yes, Darryn Peterson played (32 minutes!), but it was Cincy center Moustapha Thiam who shined brightest (28 points). Let\u2019s see who breaks through on Saturday.<\/p>\n SMU at Florida State<\/p>\n Why you should watch: SMU is trying to save face and shore up its tourney argument after three straight losses. Will the Mustangs bounce back to land upright, or will they wobble into humiliation? No one wants to see an embarrassed horse. Well, Florida State does, at least on Saturday. Luke Loucks\u2019 group lost by three in the first head-to-head in Dallas, but the Seminoles have gone 8-2 since then.<\/p>\n New Mexico at Utah State<\/p>\n Why you should watch: The Lobos, who are a \u201clast four in\u201d team for Rexrode right now, have a tough Saturday draw with Mountain West leader Utah State. The Aggies scored an earlier 20-point beatdown in Albuquerque, but they\u2019ve also dropped three of their last four contests.<\/p>\n Indiana at Ohio State<\/p>\n Why you should watch: Big Ten bubblers meet up before the B1G-gest conference tournament. Per EvanMiya, Ohio State\u2019s Bruce Thornton has been the nation\u2019s third-most indispensable player. Getting these Buckeyes to the main event for the first time in four years would be impressive. First, he checks into senior night just 12 points shy of breaking the program\u2019s career scoring record.<\/p>\n Rexrode has the Hoosiers as a \u201clast four in\u201d contender. Indiana\u2019s most recent road win was its double-OT marathon at UCLA back on Jan. 31.<\/p>\n No. 17 North Carolina at No. 1 Duke<\/p>\n Why you should watch: You know why, because every sentient being knows why. It\u2019s a summoning of century-old tensions. It\u2019s top-ranked Duke welcoming the UNC team that hit it with a court-storming buzzer-beater last month<\/a>. Senior Seth Trimble takes the Cameron Indoor floor as a heel of all Heels. Freshman Cameron Boozer takes it as a Wooden Award favorite.<\/p>\n Auburn at No. 16 Alabama<\/p>\n Why you should watch: We\u2019re Iron Bowl-ing in March. Under Bruce Pearl, Auburn went 15-3 in last year\u2019s SEC. Under Steven Pearl, the current Tigers arrive at 7-10 in conference action. Their comedown has been stark, but their March Madness application is at least bolded with ranked wins versus St. John\u2019s, Arkansas and Florida. A fourth would go far.<\/p>\n Bucket-getter Labaron Philon Jr. leads a fun Crimson Tide offense. They would gleefully oblige to some bubble-bursting.<\/p>\n UCLA at USC<\/p>\n Why you should watch: Los Angeles rivals stack their bubble hopes against each other. One side will stall in the 10 freeway traffic. UCLA dominated the Westside leg on Feb. 24, and that was when USC still had Chad Baker-Mazara<\/a>. The Trojans will need a massive showing from Alijah Arenas if they\u2019re to end their funky six-game losing streak. The Bruins are feeling themselves with recent top-10 upsets of Illinois and Nebraska.<\/p>\n No. 10 Texas Tech at BYU<\/p>\n Why you should watch:\u00a0It\u2019s a chance to see how the Red Raiders are approaching high-leverage spots without JT Toppin<\/a>. And there\u2019s some real palace intrigue around collapsing BYU. The Cougars opened 2025-26 ranked eighth, and they just fell out of the AP poll for the first time this season. If nothing else, AJ Dybantsa puts on a show. Sam Vecenie has him going first overall in The Athletic\u2019s updated NBA mock draft<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sunday closeoutsNo. 8 Michigan State at No. 3 Michigan<\/p>\n Why you should watch: Again, you know why. Intrastate college basketball doesn\u2019t get too much tougher. Yaxel Lendeborg was a force when the Wolverines took down the Spartans in East Lansing. He finished with 26 points and 12 rebounds in that Jan. 30 statement game.<\/p>\n Michigan State has since responded with one-possession wins against Illinois and Purdue. Tom Izzo coaches up a tremendous defense (eighth-rated at KenPom as of Thursday), but Michigan\u2019s fluid ball movement can be mesmerizing.<\/p>\n Iowa at No. 9 Nebraska<\/p>\n Why you should watch: Iowa basketball won the previous game in Iowa football fashion. The Hawkeyes shot 33 percent and beat Nebraska by five in a low-scoring affair. Iowa City became Party City in that Feb. 17 court-stormer. Fred Hoiberg\u2019s son, Sam, gets his senior night in the rematch, and the Cornhuskers get the chance to hand Iowa its third straight loss and make it sweat out Selection Sunday.<\/p>\n We will not promise anything resembling beautiful basketball, but passion is guaranteed throughout Sunday. And for the country\u2019s corn connoisseurs, here\u2019s your One Shining Moment, yellow and pure.<\/p>\n Ticketing and streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply.\u00a0The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process, and do not review stories before publication.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"College basketball closes its regular season in style this weekend. 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