The madness is nearly at hand. As the college basketball season winds down, teams look to take advantage of their final opportunities to boost their NCAA tournament profiles, either to gain more favorable seeds or just to make the field.Without further ado, we leap into Saturday’s Starting Five on February’s quadrennial overtime date.No. 24 Michigan State at No. 9 MarylandSaturday, 8 p.m. ET, ESPNThanks to Wednesday night’s nearly miraculous escape from Minnesota, the Terrapins stayed two games clear of the field in the Big Ten standings. The Spartans, somewhat inconsistent but still as talented as any team in the country, hope to pull within a game and grab a high-value road win in the process. Michigan State also hopes to avenge a home loss from two weeks ago, in which Maryland scored the last 14 points to erase a seven-point deficit. Anthony Cowan Jr. was the catalyst for that rally, but he has also been getting more perimeter scoring help of late in addition to the usual contributions from Jalen Smith in the paint. Similarly, the Spartans need more complementary production from guys other than Cassius Winston and Xavier Tillman, such as Aaron Henry’s solid performance in Tuesday night’s win against Iowa.No. 14 Penn State at No. 17 IowaSaturday, noon ET, BTNSpeaking of Iowa, the Hawkeyes tip off the big day in the Big Ten also hoping to gain a season split. Penn State won a thriller against the Hawkeyes in January but haven’t been as sharp over the last couple of weeks. The Nittany Lions’ narrow escape Wednesday against Rutgers ended a brief two-game skid, and they now make the long trip to Iowa City, where the Hawkeyes haven’t lost since Nov. 11. PSU’s front-court tandem of Lamar Stevens and Mike Watkins must work together to handle Iowa’s Luka Garza, who is glad to be home after getting banged around a bit in East Lansing.BRACKETOLOGY:No. 5 seeds could again be ripe for upsets this yearWORST CASE:NCAA faces embarrassing scenario of Kansas winning titleNEW LOOKS:College basketball teams taking court designs to new levelNo. 15 Auburn at No. 9 KentuckySaturday, 3:45 p.m. ET, CBSKentucky will still be atop the SEC standings regardless of the outcome here, but a win would cement the regular-season crown for the Wildcats. The Tigers look to pull within a game heading into the final week. Immanuel Quickley, the Wildcats’ streaky shooting guard, has been hot of late. But the Kentucky offense tends to work better when the ball finds Nick Richards at the rim. The return of Isaac Okoro from a hamstring injury for Auburn’s recent home win against Ole Miss helped the Tigers stop a recent trend of falling behind early, a scenario that must be avoided in the hostile environs of Rupp Arena.No. 13 Seton Hall at MarquetteSaturday, 2:30 p.m. ET, FoxThis Big East tilt features a head-to-head meeting of arguably the two top candidates for league player of the year honors. It’s also the last home date for the Golden Eagles, who could use another positive result t
Starting Five: Big Ten takes center stage for the college basketball weekend
The madness is nearly at hand. As the college basketball season winds down, teams look to take advantage of their final opportunities to boost their NCAA tournament profiles, either to gain more favorable seeds or just to make the field.Without further ado, we leap into Saturday’s Starting Five on February’s quadrennial overtime date.No. 24 Michigan State at No. 9 MarylandSaturday, 8 p.m. ET, ESPNThanks to Wednesday night’s nearly miraculous escape from Minnesota, the Terrapins stayed two games clear of the field in the Big Ten standings. The Spartans, somewhat inconsistent but still as talented as any team in the country, hope to pull within a game and grab a high-value road win in the process. Michigan State also hopes to avenge a home loss from two weeks ago, in which Maryland scored the last 14 points to erase a seven-point deficit. Anthony Cowan Jr. was the catalyst for that rally, but he has also been getting more perimeter scoring help of late in addition to the usual contributions from Jalen Smith in the paint. Similarly, the Spartans need more complementary production from guys other than Cassius Winston and Xavier Tillman, such as Aaron Henry’s solid performance in Tuesday night’s win against Iowa.No. 14 Penn State at No. 17 IowaSaturday, noon ET, BTNSpeaking of Iowa, the Hawkeyes tip off the big day in the Big Ten also hoping to gain a season split. Penn State won a thriller against the Hawkeyes in January but haven’t been as sharp over the last couple of weeks. The Nittany Lions’ narrow escape Wednesday against Rutgers ended a brief two-game skid, and they now make the long trip to Iowa City, where the Hawkeyes haven’t lost since Nov. 11. PSU’s front-court tandem of Lamar Stevens and Mike Watkins must work together to handle Iowa’s Luka Garza, who is glad to be home after getting banged around a bit in East Lansing.BRACKETOLOGY:No. 5 seeds could again be ripe for upsets this yearWORST CASE:NCAA faces embarrassing scenario of Kansas winning titleNEW LOOKS:College basketball teams taking court designs to new levelNo. 15 Auburn at No. 9 KentuckySaturday, 3:45 p.m. ET, CBSKentucky will still be atop the SEC standings regardless of the outcome here, but a win would cement the regular-season crown for the Wildcats. The Tigers look to pull within a game heading into the final week. Immanuel Quickley, the Wildcats’ streaky shooting guard, has been hot of late. But the Kentucky offense tends to work better when the ball finds Nick Richards at the rim. The return of Isaac Okoro from a hamstring injury for Auburn’s recent home win against Ole Miss helped the Tigers stop a recent trend of falling behind early, a scenario that must be avoided in the hostile environs of Rupp Arena.No. 13 Seton Hall at MarquetteSaturday, 2:30 p.m. ET, FoxThis Big East tilt features a head-to-head meeting of arguably the two top candidates for league player of the year honors. It’s also the last home date for the Golden Eagles, who could use another positive result t
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