The Daily Gus: March 2nd

Welcome to Bracketville. We all reside in this state of mind for a month out of the calendar, a month which all of America is transfixed on sheets of integrity of their own bracket predictions. Predictions which many times will falter on the first day of the NCAA Tournament. Conference tournaments get underway this week with the mid-majors tipping off in the tourneys that actually mean something; not the collective four day money-grubbing fan fests. So this week belongs to the little guys, carving out their spot on the corner of the dance floor. We will have previews of each conference tournament on the day they tip.

First, this weekend featured teams clinching regular season titles and some bubble teams making some big performances as well as some teams maybe coming out of the woodwork to be legit national contenders.

Teams of the weekend
- Kansas. The Jayhawks throttled Missouri in a big time revenge game on national television to snag their 13th win in 14 games. The Jayhawks are peaking at the right time, and completed a great week where they got the big win in Norman against a top five Oklahoma team (sans Blake Griffin) and then a game they needed after blowing a second half lead against Mizzou two weeks ago. Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich are playing like two players who have won a national title before and KU captures a regular season Big 12 title this week. Again.

- Georgetown. Could absolutely positively could not afford another loss, and needed a big time win. They accomplished both on Saturday afternoon by traveling to Philadelphia and beating Villanova. The Hoyas are now 16-12 and have the toughest schedule in all of America. They have road wins at 'Nova and UCONN and really have no poor losses on the entire schedule. The problem is the quantity of those losses, 12 of them. If they end the season in the Big East semis with 13 losses, GTown is making the dance.

- Virginia Tech. The Hokies went into Saturday knowing they could control their own destiny. Three games in seven days against ranked teams, two of which at home against UNC and Duke. By no means an easy task, but at the same time, they hold a spot which alot of bubble teams wish they could have. Tech has alot of losses on their resume and not alot of meat to speak for other than a diminishing road win at Wake Forest when they were number one. Who knows, that maybe enough, but not enough to feel confident especially after dropping the first one to Duke. Tech has got to get one of these last two and a win or two in the ACC tourney.

- BYU. They had the nation's longest win streak destroyed earlier this year when Wake went in to the Marriott Center and punched the Cougars in the mouth. BYU has been up and down all season in a real tough Mountain West. Not exactly a bubble team, the Cougars have figured prominently in most mock brackets all year, but they picked up the biggest win of the year against rival Utah Saturday. Utah has exceeded all expectations, leading the Mountain West wire to wire and BYU beating them cements their spot in the field. The Mountain West is by far the most underrated league in the country. They should get four teams in the field (UNLV, Utah, BYU, SDSU) and could possibly squeeze in New Mexico with a late surge by the Lobos.

- Florida. Why do you do this to college basketball fans? The Gators were playing for seeding as far as most advanced basketball minds were concerned, and then last week happened. Just win one game. Florida visits LSU and gets beat in the last few minutes, then hosts Tennessee on Sunday. Florida could have knocked Tennessee out of NCAA talks, but instead put themselves in a dicey situation. Bruce Pearl's Vols went into "The Swamp" and came out with a sticky 79-75 win. Florida now faces two games they better win; a contest in Starkville against Mississippi State on Wednesday night and then a home showdown against two bubblers, Kentucky on Sunday. If not, the SEC Tournament becomes vital for Florida, a team in the top 20 just two weeks ago.