The Mourning After: One Week Remaining

College basketball just has one week remaining in the regular season before conference championships begin. The contenders and pretenders are starting to show up in the biggest games.

The final week always provides us a glimpse at what team will make the strongest tournament run. Remember Florida two years ago? They struggled for most of the season and then turned on the afterburners with only a few games remaining. They won the SEC tournament and cruised right to the national championship. This final week is huge to see what team rises and which team falls.

Lets take a look at some of the other highlights for the past weekend.

Kansas is better than predicted: Kansas wasn't expected to be this good this season. They lost their starters from a National Championship team. But Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich have picked up where that team left off. Kansas has only lost one game in the Big 12 and yesterday they avenged that lost by blowing out Missouri. Granted they did play against an Oklahoma team that was playing with Blake Griffin, but they have proved that they have what it takes to compete in the tournament.

Oklahoma missed Blake Griffin: Without Giffin, OU went lost two games to their rivals(Texas and Kansas). OU needs Griffin's energy. His hustle and guts is what powers this team. Without him they are a middle of the pack type of team. I expect an epic showdown between Oklahoma and Kansas in the Big 12 title game.

The Big East has come down to Lousiville and UConn: Both Villanova and Marquette blew their chance to claim a piece of the Big East title. Lousiville and UConn is all what stands at the top right now. Both teams will most likely get a bye in the first round of the Big East tournament.

Clemson basketball is starting to resemble Clemson football: Clemson was on the verge of being the top team in the ACC. Then they lost to both Virginia Tech and Florida St. Clemson football has been known to not to live up to the expectations. Now the basketball team is feeling the same pressure. When they have had their chances they have blown them to teams of a lesser quality.

Duke gets all the calls: During their game against Virginia Tech, Duke player Jon Scheyer was allowed to take three steps then finally call a timeout. The refs didn't call any fouls and shockingly it came during a key stretch of the game. Virginia Tech lost the game and their tournament bubble most likely popped. Just another reason to hate Duke. During the Duke-North Carolina documentary on HBO, Coach K complained that UNC was getting all the calls by the refs. I guess things have turned the other way.

Bubble Watch:

In

Florida St: They punched their ticket for the dance by sweeping their series against Clemson. They are playing with house money right now.

Tennessee: They scored huge by beating Florida yesterday. They have only South Carolina and Alabama next. Unless they play careless, they should be fine.

Dayton: They got their much needed win against Temple. They have already beat Xavier and Marquette this season. If they could beat Xavier again this week, then they should be fine.

St. Mary's: Everyone expected them to struggle without point guard Patty Mils. And they did losing two straight. They though have righted the ship and have won the past five games. And with Mils returning for the WCC tournament, this team will get huge consideration for the tournament.

California: Even though they lost to UCLA at home on Saturday, they did split their series by getting a win over USC.

On the verge:

Texas A&M: The Aggies have won four straight and they do have key wins over LSU, Texas, and Arizona. They still need a win against Missouri.

Providence: A key win against Pittsburgh helped their case. They will need a win though against Villanova to secure a spot in the tournament.

Davidson: Davidson will need to win their league title to get an at-large bid. Their only key win came against West Virginia earlier this year.

Out:

Arizona: While they have played admirably this season, their lost to Washington did them in. They will need to get a win against the Bay Area teams to get in.

Florida: The Gators have struggled down the stretch. They dropped a tough one against Tennessee yesterday and their match up with Kentucky will most likely be a play-in game.

Michigan: Their early season wins against UCLA and Duke will help them. They will need to beat Minnesota to get in.

Virgina Tech: Their heartbreaking loss to Duke heart their case. They will need to make a nice run in the ACC tournament to get considered for a at-large bid.

This should be a fun last week of college basketball. A lot of fates will be on the line this week and it will also set up an epic Championship week.