College basketball schedule: March Madness stakes high for loaded final weekend

The final weekend of the regular season in many collegiate sports usually means a rivalry game. That is indeed the case in many basketball hotbeds around the nation as the men’s campaign concludes.

While these contests always mean bragging rights, there’s a bit more on the line for some of the involved teams as they hope to improve their positions for upcoming conference tournaments and of course for March Madness. Our last edition of the Starting Five offers Saturday double dips in the ACC and SEC, and the weekend lineup concludes with a Sunday top-10 showdown in the Big Ten.

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Here’s a look at our picks of games to watch.

No. 22 Vanderbilt at No. 25 Tennessee

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

A Tennessee win would complete a sweep of its in-state foe as well as lock in an SEC tourney double bye for the Volunteers. The 4 seed could also be in play for the Commodores if some tiebreakers go their way, but toppling the archrival Vols will be incentive enough. Their first encounter in Nashville was played at Tennessee’s preferred deliberate pace resulting in a 69-65 victory, so Vandy’s back-court duo of Tyler Tanner and Duke Miles will need some early makes to increase the tempo. Tennessee hopes to have top scorer Nate Ament back in the lineup after he sat out the win at South Carolina, but if he can’t go the interior defense will still be formidable thanks to J.P. Estrella and Felix Okpara.

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Louisville at No. 23 Miami (Fla.)

Time/TV: Saturday, 2 p.m. ET, ESPNU.

The Hurricanes’ win at SMU this week effectively locked them into the No. 3 seed for the ACC tournament, but they’d still like to close the regular season on a high note on their home floor. The Cardinals have dropped their last three league road contests and could use a confidence boost entering the postseason. While a healthy Mikel Brown is capable of going nuclear, Ryan Conwell has been the steady hand in the Louisville lineup who will also demand attention from the Miami defense. The…

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Publish date : 2026-03-06 10:59:00

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