Wednesday's Pregame Beat

8:00 pm: Kansas State @ Kansas: The best game you will ever have to stream. For just the second time this season, two top five teams will play, only you are not going to be able to get it on you TV unless you get the Big XII Network. But regardless of where you are forced to watch this game, it should be a dandy. Kansas comes in having just lost to Oklahoma State, keeping the Wildcat's hopes for a regular season conference title alive. The last time these two teams played, it was an instant classic won by KU in OT in the Octagon of Doom. Tonight, it is at the Phog and senior night for Sherron Collins. You better believe the Jayhawks are going to come out fired up, especially coming off of a loss. If Kansas State isn't ready to play, they may get run off the court.

9:00 pm: Duke @ Maryland: Maryland has established themselves as the second best team in the ACC, but are the Terps really that good? They don't have any great wins, and lost to the Blue Devils by 21 the last time they met. The issue for Maryland in the first game was, believe it or not, slowing down Brian Zoubek, who had 16 points and 17 boards. If Maryland wants to win, it has to start with a better performance from guys like Jordan Williams and Landon Milbourne.

An interesting subplot to this game is the battle for the ACC POY. The consensus seems to be that Scheyer and Vasquez are the two favorites, and their respective performances in this game could go a long way towards determining who wins the award. Also of note, Operation Scheyerface.

8:00 pm: Kentucky @ Georgia: Georgia gave Kentucky all they could handle in Rupp earlier this year. The Bulldogs don't have a gaudy record, but this is a team that has sprung some upsets and been much more competitive than they were given credit for in the preseason. This game will also be on 360, so be sure to keep an eye on the scoreboard tonight if things get close.

Bubble Watch

• 7:00 pm: UConn @ Notre Dame: You can't get much more of a bubble game than this. Both UConn and Notre Dame are right on the cut line for the tournament. Both have three excellent wins. Both have a few ugly losses. Both teams are arguably playing their best basketball of the season right now. A win won't necessarily determine which tournament either team goes to, but it could be an important tiebreaker come March 14th. It will also be an interesting contrast of styles. Notre Dame without Harangody moves the ball much more freely and takes advantage of their talented perimeter players by spreading the floor and working for open shots. UConn likes to push the ball and attack before the defense can get set, relying on 1-on-1 penetration in the half court. If Notre Dame can keep Kemba Walker and Jerome Dyson from penetrating and knock down some shots, the Irish will win this one.
  


• 7:00 pm: Wake Forest @ Florida State: Wake Forest was seemingly locked into a bid as they were sitting at 8-3 in the ACC. But since then, the Deacons have gone 0-3, losing to both NC State and UNC. Florida State could also use the win as they, too, are sitting at 8-6 in the ACC right now. It will be interesting to see how the middle of the conference shakes itself out. They are five teams that are probably good enough to warrant at-large consideration, but with the number of games they play against each other over the last week, all five may not get in. In this one, the key is going to be how Florida State tries to slow down Ishmael Smith. Florida State doesn't have much in the way of a true point guard.


• 7:00 pm: Charlotte @ Rhode Island: Is it safe to call this an elimination game? Depending on where you look, right now URI is barely in the tournament while Charlotte has gone and played themselves out of the field. But the Rams have lost four out of five and can nary afford another loss this late. I really doubt a seven loss A-10 team is going to get an at-large bid.


• 7:00 pm: NC State @ Virginia Tech: The Hokies can all but kiss their tournament chances goodbye with a loss in this one. They have already dropped three in a row -- although two of those were to Duke and Maryland. Virginia Tech has the weakest out of conference resume of anyone in the ACC, so Tech may want to win their last two and get to 10-6 if they want an at-large bid.
  


• 8:00 pm: Mississippi State @ Auburn: The Bulldogs are in the same boat as Va Tech. If they are in right now, they are barely in and can ill afford a loss to a team at the bottom of the SEC. The SEC West is just as weak as the Pac-10. Six losses in that division of the SEC may not be enough to warrant an at-large.


• 9:00 pm: Memphis @ UAB: Both the Blazers and the Tigers still have a shot at earning an at-large bid, although UAB is much more likely. Losing tonight would all but eliminate UAB from consideration.
  


• 10:30 pm: Colorado State @ San Diego State: The Aztecs are a bit of an interesting situation. Most brackets have them right at the cut off point, which is a step up from where they were a few weeks ago. SDSU has won nine of their last 12 games, but those three losses have come at the hands of BYU and New Mexico. What that means is the Aztecs, who did basically nothing in the non-conference, don't have much in the way of quality wins (they did beat the Lobos at home at the start of MWC play). They need these last two games, and a trip to the finals of the MWC Tourney would go a long way towards a bid.
  

Other notable games

• 6:30 pm: Indiana @ Purdue
• 7:00 pm: Arkansas @ Tennessee
• 7:00 pm: Xavier @ Fordham
• 8:00 pm: SMU @ Tulsa
  
• 8:00 pm: Temple @ St. Louis
• 8:30 pm: Iowa @ Wisconsin
• 8:30 pm: TCU @ New Mexico
• 9:00 pm: BYU @ Utah
  
• 9:00 pm: Oklahoma State @ Texas A&M