Happy March Madness, everybody! It is the best dadgum calendar month of the year! If you haven’t been doing so already, you can follow along with my 31 days of madness on Twitter, @alexcincy, where I will post the daily thoughts every morning.
The Bearcats have two games in their final week of the regular-season that are both going to feel like heavyweight fights. Tied for first with Houston in the American Athletic Conference, they control their own destiny in the race for a regular-season title. As long as they beat Houston on Sunday, they’ll win at least a share of the title. Two wins, or a split for the week, combined with two Houston losses will result in an outright regular season title for the second year in a row. Either way, though, at least a share gives the Bearcats the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.
The game at Central Florida may keep me up at night. I think it already is because I started writing this preview shortly before 3 a.m. last night. Anyway, UCF is a really good team. They just went into Houston and won, and they have won three straight games since the Bearcats beat them back on Feb. 21 in a 60-55 thriller. As I mentioned leading up to that game, their versatility could be a matchup problem for the Bearcats. All I know right now is the Knights are going to be ready to battle on Thursday night. It will be the most hostile environment UC encounters all year. Senior Night and the defending regular-season champions in town with a chance to boost your NCAA Tournament resume, a place the Knights haven’t been since 2005? That crowd is going to be ready to rock.
But I also know that Fifth Third Arena is going to be ready to rock on Sunday for the Bearcats final regular-season home game and Senior Day for Cane Broome and Justin Jenifer. Plus, the implications of the game against Houston have it already completely sold out. That includes standing room only. Houston is beatable, as we saw the first time the Bearcats played them. If the Bearcats outrebound the Cougars and make shots, especially in the last six minutes, they will be in a position to win the game and at least a share of the regular-season championship.
Speaking of regular-season championships, the AAC isn’t the only one left to be decided this weekend. The ACC has been an absolute heavyweight fight at the top throughout the season, and three teams could end up sharing the regular-season title. What’s that called? Tri-champions?
Anyway, the Carolina-Duke game Saturday will be nothing short of spectacular, especially if Zion Williamson plays. If he doesn’t and Duke loses, it’s not the total end of the world for the Blue Devils because Zion’s injury, at times, has appeared to have had a significant impact. But if he does play and Duke loses, which I think very well could happen, I’ll view it as a national championship contender getting swept by their hated rival. Not a successful regular-season, to say the least. Anything short of a national championship would constitute a failure for the Blue Devils this season.
The Big 12 will draw interest to see how that race finishes out. Kansas still has a shot at winning its 15th straight regular-season title. Wow! Kansas State and Texas Tech are tied atop the conference, and all three teams have easy schedules this week. In addition, the Big East standings changed dramatically at the top last week with Marquette losing to Villanova and then, stunningly, at home to Creighton. So now, despite some recent struggles, Villanova is back atop the conference. Plus, Tennessee and LSU are tied atop the SEC. Tennessee avenged their loss to Kentucky on Saturday in dominating fashion. I don’t think Kentucky played like they knew the significance of Saturday’s game, and it may bump them down to a 3-seed in the SEC Tournament. That means they could have to play Tennessee or LSU in the semifinals and potentially the other in the championship game. It must be March!
FC Cincinnati struggled in their MLS debut last Saturday at Seattle. They didn’t give up in the second half, but it may have been a rude awakening for how much faster the MLS is than the USL. This Sunday FC Cincinnati is in Hotlanta for a match against the reigning MLS Cup champion Atlanta United FC, who will be playing their home-opener and celebrating their MLS Cup title. It will be great to see FC Cincinnati on ESPN, but hopefully the score isn’t as lopsided as it was last Saturday in the Emerald City.
National TV Schedules
College Basketball
Big Monday on ESPN
2. Virginia @ Syracuse – 7 p.m. (Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas, Allison Williams)
Texas @ 8. Texas Tech – 9 p.m. (Bob Wischusen, Fran Fraschilla, Holly Rowe)
Super Tuesday on ESPN
Wake Forest @ 4. Duke – 7 p.m. (Rece Davis, LaPhonso Ellis, Brooke Weisbrod)
6. Kentucky @ Ole Miss – 9 p.m. (Karl Ravech, Jimmy Dykes, Laura Rutledge)
FOX/FS1
Tuesday
Xavier @ Butler – 6 p.m. (Tim Brando, Nick Bache)
NBA
NBA on TNT
Tuesday
Houston Rockets @ Toronto Raptors – 8 p.m. (Dennis Soctt, Isaiah Thomas, Grant Hill, Jason Terry)
Boston Celtics @ Golden State Warriors – 10:30 p.m. (Greg Anthony, Kevin McHale, Jim Jackson, Caron Butler)
NBA on NBA TV
Monday
Dallas Mavericks @ Brooklyn Nets – 7:30 p.m.
Los Angeles Clippers @ Los Angeles Lakers – 10:30 p.m.
NHL
NHL on NBCS /NBCSN
Tuesday
Minnesota Wild @ Nashville Predators – 8 p.m. (John Walton, Pierre McGuire)
NHL on ESPN+
Monday
Toronto Maple Leafs @ Calgary Flames – 9 p.m.
Tuesday
Carolina Hurricane @ Boston Bruins – 7 p.m.
Florida Panthers @ Pittsburgh Penguins – 7 p.m.
Montreal Canadiens @ Los Angeles Kings – 10 p.m.
Let me be Frank and Cut to the Chase 