The regular season is now over in a number of conferences, while in still others it’s about to end and a few more have a week left to go. Some conference results were not surprising, including one of two that end with a team going undefeated, while others were, as is often the case.
A number of bubble teams lost on Saturday, just further reminding us how weak the bubble is this year – especially since a lot of those losses may not be damaging ones. The reason they aren’t can be summed up with a simple rhetorical question: have you seen the other teams on the bubble?
With that, for the last time this season, we have notes on a number of games from the final Saturday of 2018-19 with solely regular season games.
Gonzaga 69, Saint Mary’s 55: This was a ballgame for a while, but you had a feeling that Gonzaga was going to pull away to finish undefeated in WCC play. Simply put, the Bulldogs are one of the elite teams in the country and the next best teams in the conference are down, so an undefeated run isn’t at all surprising.
Tennessee 71, Kentucky 52: The Vols come back and handle the Wildcats after it was the other way around a couple of weeks ago. A rubber match on Selection Sunday would surely be fun to watch.
LSU 74, Alabama 69: Alabama could have used a win here, but LSU took care of business to stay with Tennessee and Kentucky. The Tigers are undefeated on the road in SEC play.
Auburn 80, Mississippi State 75: A big win for Auburn as they have needed some quality wins, and they’re starting to look better of late save for the clunker at Kentucky.
Arkansas 74, Ole Miss 73: Arkansas breaks a six-game losing streak and plays spoiler as this loss doesn’t help Ole Miss at all.
Georgia 61, Florida 55: This is probably not as damaging a loss for Florida as it would have been a couple of weeks ago, but it still doesn’t help coming in Gainesville. It’s a nice bit of salvation for Georgia after a number of close, tough losses.
Texas Tech 81, TCU 66: This is a big win for the Red Raiders, their seventh in a row, and they damage TCU even more as the Horned Frogs will finish Big 12 play with a sub-.500 record.
Kansas State 66, Baylor 60: The Wildcats hold off the Bears to stay tied with Texas Tech atop the Big 12.
Kansas 72, Oklahoma State 67: It didn’t come easily, but Kansas did what they had to do today. They didn’t get any help today, however, so they have to hold out hope for it in the final week while continuing to win their own games.
Texas 86, Iowa State 69: The Longhorns did well to not allow the game they blew at Baylor a few nights earlier carry into this game, taking care of the slumping Cyclones (four losses in their last six games) in what wasn’t a competitive game for long.
North Carolina 81, Clemson 79: Another missed opportunity for the Tigers, as this one was very much there for the taking. Coby White was terrific again, this time with 28 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Florida State 78, NC State 73: The Seminoles look to be back on track, and now they have a big one in Tallahassee on Tuesday night as Virginia Tech comes to town. The Hokies are tied with FSU for fourth place in the ACC, meaning the last double bye in the ACC Tournament.
Purdue 86, Ohio State 51: This was a wipeout, plain and simple, and with Michigan State losing a little earlier in the day, the Boilermakers control their own destiny for an outright regular season title.
Indiana 69, Michigan State 67: The Hoosiers are still being thought of as a possible NCAA Tournament team because of wins like this, despite the fact that they’re already guaranteed to finish no better than 8-12 – four games below .500 – in their conference.
Rutgers 86, Iowa 72: The Scarlet Knights have pulled off some good wins this year, but most have come at home. This one in Iowa City is a big one, and a further sign of growth under Steve Pikiell.
UCF 69, Houston 64: Just the second loss of the season for Houston, and it’s a big win for UCF to boost their NCAA Tournament at-large hopes. It’s one they needed, and they took advantage of it.
Cincinnati 71, Memphis 69: The Bearcats hold off the Tigers to set up a big week as they go to UCF and then host Houston in what’s long been viewed as the big showdown for the regular season title.
Utah State 81, Nevada 76: Utah State is now your leader in the Mountain West, though only by a half game and with these two teams even in the loss column. This should put them more comfortably in the NCAA Tournament.
Villanova 75, Butler 54: Butler was likely already out of the at-large bid running, but this cements it. Only a Big East Tournament title will get them dancing.
Georgetown 77, Seton Hall 71 (2 OT): This is big for the Hoyas, who get to 8-8 in Big East play and knock the Pirates below .500. Bigger still is their final regular season game, a big quality win opportunity (albeit a very difficult one) at Marquette in a week.
Cal 76, Washington State 69: Break up the Golden Bears! After 23 straight Pac-12 losses, they now have a winning streak.
VCU 69, Richmond 66: This makes ten straight wins for VCU, holding off their arch rival on the road.
St. Bonaventure 64, George Washington 58: The Bonnies remain hot as they win their sixth straight game and are now tied for third in the Atlantic 10. A sign of their rise came in this game as freshman Osun Osunniyi had a monster double-double with 18 points and 16 rebounds. He can still get a lot better, too.
Loyola-Chicago 81, Bradley 68: The Ramblers did one thing they were expected to do before the season, which is get the top seed for Arch Madness, thanks to sweeping Drake in their two meetings.
Drake 73, Missouri State 62: The Bulldogs are one of the big pleasant surprises in college basketball this season, as they share the regular season title with Loyola-Chicago after being picked ninth in the preseason poll. First-year head coach Darian DeVries should run away with the conference Coach of the Year honors.
Hofstra 92, Delaware 70: The Pride win their first outright CAA regular season title, having already clinched the top seed in the conference tournament next weekend.
Wofford 85, Samford 64: Wofford finishes the regular season undefeated in Southern Conference play.
Campbell 64, Radford 62: Chris Clemons (30 points) has made the Fighting Camels relevant first, and now the top seed in the Big South Tournament as they win the tiebreaker with Radford while sharing the regular season championship.
UC Irvine 68, UC Riverside 47: Another Big West title for the Anteaters, who will probably be quite heavily favored to win the conference tournament in a couple of weeks. They have remained strong while others who were challengers have faded down the stretch.
South Alabama 77, Texas State 63: This result, combined with Georgia State and Georgia Southern both winning, produces a three-way tie atop the Sun Belt with one game to go. Only Georgia Southern is at home in their final game.
Loyola Marymount 74, San Francisco 69: The Dons were good in non-conference and looked promising early on, but faded down the stretch with three straight losses, the last two coming at home.
Brown 75, Cornell 51: Each team has two games still to play, but this could be big in deciding who joins Harvard, Yale and Princeton in the Ivy League Tournament as the Bears are now a game up. The Bears, however, have to go to Princeton and Penn (and the Quakers are tied with Cornell just a game back), while the Big Red are home against Harvard and Dartmouth.
Columbia 83, Yale 75: Speaking of the top teams, this was a bit of a surprise coming in New Haven, and combined with Harvard’s win over Princeton, it puts the two teams in a tie for first with the Crimson controlling their own destiny thanks to a sweep of the two head-to-head meetings.
Colgate 76, Lafayette 70: The Raiders will be the top seed in the Patriot League Tournament by virtue of a tiebreaker, continuing the great work Matt Langel has done there.
Bucknell 62, Army 61: The Bison needed to come from behind to win this one, but they claim a share of the regular season title yet again, despite heavy personnel losses from last season’s juggernaut.
Loyola (Md.) 92, Lehigh 73: This was the shocker of the three big games on the day in the league, even accounting for the game being in Baltimore.
Vermont 56, Stony Brook 50: The Catamounts will win another America East regular season title, clinching it outright with this win.
Norfolk State 72, Coppin State 38: The Spartans clinch the top seed in the MEAC Tournament in over a week, improving to 13-1 in conference play.
