Alabama-Auburn just one of many exciting college basketball games this weekend

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In the immortal words of Semisonic, “every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” So it is that one phase of the men’s college basketball regular season comes to its conclusion this weekend with the final batch of on-campus games before tournament season.

While most men’s hoops squads know what they need to do from this point forward, there are still a lot of unknown factors that could alter the look of the NCAA Tournament bracket with Selection Sunday just one week away. In our final edition of the Starting Five breaking down the biggest games the biggest games of the weekend, we’ll focus our attention on teams still vying for top seeds with some others getting one last chance for a splashy win.

No. 8 Alabama at No. 1 Auburn

Time/TV: Saturday, 2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

When these fierce in-state rivals met last month they held the top two poll positions. Heading into the rematch, both are coming off losses, just business as usual in the ultra-competitive SEC this year. As it happens, the Crimson Tide have dropped two in a row thanks to a rough closing stretch that sent them to Tennessee just before hosting Florida on Wednesday. A third setback to the Tigers would likely end their bid for a No. 1 NCAA regional seed, but bear in mind they made the Final Four a year ago as a No. 4. As for Auburn, their place at the top of the bracket isn’t likely to change even after Tuesday night’s defeat at Texas A&M, though sweeping Alabama will be incentive enough. The Crimson Tide’s approach of just trying to outscore everyone works only as long as a high enough number of their three-point attempts are falling. Lately they haven’t been, and that is an issue against teams that pay more attention to defense – like Auburn. The Tigers will still have to make shots, but expect a more concerted effort from them on the boards after coach Bruce Pearl said his team was outtoughed by the Aggies.

Alabama center Clifford Omoruyi (11) dribbles as Auburn guard Denver Jones (2)…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/alabama-auburn-just-one-many-100418465.html

Author : USA TODAY Sports

Publish date : 2025-03-08 10:04:00

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