No. 5 Tennessee Eyeing First SEC Regular-season Title In 6 Years – News18

No. 5 Tennessee has an opportunity to clinch its first Southeastern Conference common-season championship since sharing the title with Auburn in 2017-18.

The Vols enter the ultimate week of the common season with a one-sport lead over No. 16 Alabama and No. 17 South Carolina, however wrapping up the title received’t be straightforward.

“We’ve got a lot of these guys that have been with us for a long time and they’ve been in games like this,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes mentioned after his crew beat Alabama 81-74 on Saturday.

The SEC, which has had 10 groups ranked within the AP Top 25 this season, has been a gauntlet all yr and Tennessee faces two powerful checks this week with video games at South Carolina and at house towards No. 15 Kentucky.

Win each video games, the Vols could have the title outright. Tennessee additionally may clinch by beating South Carolina on Wednesday and Alabama shedding to Florida on Tuesday.

Split the 2 video games and Tennessee will share the title, however with whom will rely upon the opposite video games this week. Lose each and out of the blue Kentucky and Auburn are again within the combine, together with the Gamecocks and Tide.

“Every team we play from here on out is going to be an NCAA team and a team that can play deep into March,” Barnes mentioned. “But we’ve just tried to keep our focus on what’s ahead, not feel too good about anything.”

CHAMPION COUGARS?

Top-ranked Houston has made a formidable inaugural run by way of the Big 12.

Coming off a final-second win at Oklahoma, the Cougars have put themselves in place to win the common-season title of their first yr within the league.

Houston, No. 1 within the AP Top 25 the previous two weeks, enters the ultimate week of the common season with a one-sport lead over No. 6 Iowa State at 13-3. The Cougars can clinch a minimum of a share of the Big 12 title at UCF on Wednesday and win it outright with two wins this week.

The second one received’t be straightforward. On Saturday, Houston hosts No. 14 Kansas, which beat the Cougars by 13 in Lawrence earlier this season.

The Cyclones host No. 20 BYU on Wednesday and are at Kansas State on Saturday of their bid to catch the Cougars.

CHAMPION HUSKIES

UConn has received three nationwide championships since 2006, together with final season.

Big East titles have been a distinct story.

With a 91-61 win over Seton Hall final week, the second-ranked Huskies clinched their first outright Big East title in 25 years. They hadn’t even shared the title in 18 years.

UConn performs what may very well be the very best sport of the week at No. 8 Marquette on Wednesday and closes the common season at Providence on Saturday. Win each and have a very good run within the Big East event, the Huskies ought to be in a very good place to earn a No. 1 seed within the NCAA Tournament.

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DUKE-CAROLINA

One of the game’s finest rivalries fires up once more on Saturday: Duke-Carolina.

An ACC title may very well be on the road, too.

The No. 7 Tar Heels have a half-sport lead over the Blue Devils at 15-3 and face Notre Dame on Tuesday.

With Duke’s 79-64 win towards N.C. State, North Carolina must beat the Fighting Irish to keep away from dropping right into a tie for the ACC lead. Win that and beat the Blue Devils, the Tar Heels are ACC champions. Win and lose at Duke, the 2 rivals will share the common-season title.

North Carolina received the primary assembly 93-84 on the Smith Center.

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AP school basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)