Alabama-Auburn just one of the many fascinating university basketball matches this weekend

In the immortal words of Semisonic, “each new start comes from the end of another beginning”. It is therefore that a phase of the regular season of male university basketball arrives at its conclusion this weekend with the last batch of matches on the campus before the tournament season.

While most teams of male hoops know what they should do from this moment, there are still a lot of unknown factors that could change the appearance of the NCAA tournament support with the selection on Sunday for a week. In our final edition of the first five, decomposing the biggest games the biggest games of the weekend, we will focus our attention on the teams in the running for the best heads of series, others obtaining a last chance for a splashing victory.

N ° 8 alabama at n ° 1 auburn

Hour / television: Saturday, 2:30 p.m. he, espn

When these fierce rivals in the state met last month, they occupied the two main survey positions. In front of the revenge match, the two come from losses, just business as usual in the ultra-competitive dry this year. In this case, the Crimson Tide has dropped two in a row thanks to an approximate closure section which sent them to Tennessee just before welcoming Florida on Wednesday. A third setback to the Tigers would probably end their offer for a regional seeded NCAA, but keep in mind that they made the Final Four a year ago as No. 4. As for Auburn, their place at the top of the support will not be likely to change even after the defeat of Tuesday evening in Texas A&M, although the scan of Alabama is not sufficiently incentive. Crimson Tide’s approach to try to surpass everyone only works until a sufficiently high number of their three -point attempts fall. Lately, they have not been, and this is a problem against teams that pay more attention to the defense – like Auburn. Tigers will always have to make shots, but expect a more concerted effort from them on the boards after coach Bruce Pearl said that his team had been overwhelmed by the AGGIES.

N ° 15 Michigan at n ° 7 Michigan State

Hour / television: Sunday, noon and, cbs

On the surface, Spartans do not have much on the line here. The title of the regular season of the Big Ten is already secure, and an NCAA seed n ° 2 seems a likely landing point everything that is happening in next week. Again, it is also a game of rivalry, so wolverines will certainly have their attention. Michigan hopes that its share hopes to take a slip of two games and avenge the defeat against Michigan State only 16 days earlier on its own floor in the process. The good news for the Wolverines is that they have won their share of tight competitions, but three of their five conference defeats were two figures, including the previous meeting with the Spartans. To avoid a similar result, they will have to keep the perimeter, easier to say than to do against the many options of Michigan State.

Bracker: The new sec takes the lead n ° 1 in the projected tournament field

N ° 6 St. John’s at n ° 20 Marquette

Hour / television: Saturday, noon and, fox

As is the case in most power conferences, the regular season championship is already decided in the Big East. But the red storm would nevertheless like to close with another result of the quality road before playing the conference tournament on its usual home at home. The Golden Eagles have a thin chance of improving for a seeded n ° 3 next week at the Madison Square Garden, but they could use a victory here, even if they have not won a victory against a high -level conference team since Creighton’s reversal has been reterroged on January 3. St. John’s has made its mark this year by crushing offensive glass, and the constant improvement of the shots team made the red storm even more difficult to beat.

N ° 2 Duke in North Carolina

Hour / television: Saturday, 6.30 p.m. he, espn

Curiously, despite having dominated his league during most of the season, Duke is the leader of the conference of power who does not have the seed of his tournament locked up before the last weekend. Blue Devils can do it with a victory, which would have the additional advantage of bringing their archival closer to oblivion in the NCAA tournament. The Tar Heels on their credit have won their last six competitions, although none of these results did much to improve their CV in the playoffs. A victory here would obviously do it, but to remove it, they will have to shoot the lights and keep Ven-Allen Lubin and Jalen Washington with trouble to have a chance on the boards. Duke arrives with an additional day of rest since he published his eruption on Monday from Wake Forest on Monday, and the veteran goalkeeper Tyrese Proctor returned from a knee bruise only helps the young and extremely talented range.

N ° 3 Houston in Baylor

Hour / television: Saturday, 10 p.m. he, espn

Unlike the North Carolina, Baylor is probably always on the right side of the NCAA tournament bubble. Despite this, the Bears can feel much safer about their position if they can eliminate cougars, which have now claimed the crown of the regular Big 12 season during each of their two years in the conference. Known for its stingy defense, Houston makes life even more difficult for opponents by connecting to a clip of almost 40% of the three -point beach, LJ Cryer and Emanuel Sharp doing most of the damage. Baylor has not been so effective in the perimeter this season, but the big veteran Norchad Omier can help provide a second chance.

This article originally appeared on USA Today: Chock university basketball schedule full of intriguing weekend matches