March Madness 2023: Rutgers, Utah State need resume-boosting Ws

March Madness is coming up fast. Here is what to know along withsome key games to watch and who’s on the bubble ahead of SelectionSunday for the NCAA Tournament:

KEY DATES

All eyes will be on the conference tournaments this week:

— The ACC Tournament is rolling March 7-11 in Greensboro, NorthCarolina.

— The Big 12 Tournament will be March 8-11 in Kansas City,Missouri.

— The Big Ten Tournament will be March 8-12 in Chicago.

— The Big East Tournament will be March 8-11 in New York.

— The Pac-12 Tournament will be March 8-11 in Las Vegas.

— The SEC Tournament will be March 8-12 in Nashville,Tennessee.

MARCH MADNESS

Selection Sunday is March 12, when bracket matchups will be setfor the First Four and first- and second-round games that stretchfrom Florida to California.

Sweet 16 weekend will see games in New York City (East Region),Las Vegas (West), Kansas City, Missouri (Midwest), and Louisville,Kentucky (South).

FINAL FOUR

In Houston, on April 1, with the championship game on April3.

Basketball aficionados, take note: The women’s NCAA Tournamentwill hold its Final Four in Dallas, a four-hour drive up the roadfrom Houston.

BETTING GUIDE

Who’s going to win the national championship? With the regularseason over, the betting favorites as of this week to reach theFinal Four are Houston, Alabama, Kansas and UCLA, according toFanDuel Sportsbook. That differs from the top teams in the NCAA’sinitial seed watch, which had Purdue in the top four, not UCLA. Allof this matches many of the teams in the AP Top 25, too.

WHO’S IN

These teams are already going dancing after landing theirleague’s automatic bid: Kennesaw State (26-8, Atlantic Sun), UNCAsheville (27-7, Big South), Fairleigh Dickinson (19-14,Northeast), Drake (27-7, Missouri Valley), Furman (27-7, Southern),Louisiana-Lafayette (26-7, Sun Belt), Southeast Missouri State(19-16, Ohio Valley), Gonzaga (28-5, West Coast), College ofCharleston (31-3, Colonial Athletic Association), Oral Roberts(30-4, Summit League), Colgate (28-5, Patriot) and Texas A&MCorpus Christi (23-10, Southland).

BUBBLE WATCH

Mississippi State (20-11). The Bulldogs closed the regularseason by losing half of their final six games, including games atNCAA Tournament-bound Missouri and red-hot Vanderbilt that wouldhave bolstered their resume. Now, sitting 46th in the NET rankings,they surely need to beat Florida in the second round of theSoutheastern Conference Tournament on Thursday to at least avoidseveral restless nights before the Selection Show.

Utah State (24-7). The Aggies won five straight in lopsidedfashion to close out the regular season and put themselves inposition to land an at-large bid in the NCAA field. They rank 21stin the NET but have just one Quad 1 victory, so they probably can’tafford an early exit in the Mountain West Conference Tournament inLas Vegas.

Rutgers (18-13). The Scarlet Knights have dropped five of sevenheading into the Big Ten Tournament, a shaky stretch that has themsquarely on the bubble and in need of a win against even moredesperate Michigan on Thursday.

GAME(S) TO WATCH

Providence (21-10) vs. No. 11 UConn (24-7), Big East Tournamentquarterfinals, Thursday, 2:30 p.m. Eastern (FS1). The Friars hadbeen in solid NCAA Tournament shape before closing the regularseason with home losses to No. 15 Xavier and Seton Hall. Beatingthe Huskies would give Providence a huge boost. The teams splittheir matchups this season, each winning at home by 12.

Auburn (20-11) vs. Arkansas (19-12), SEC Tournamentquarterfinals, Thursday, 7 p.m. Eastern (SECN). As statement winsgo, the Tigers’ 79-70 takedown of No. 17 Tennessee in theregular-season finale was massive. Auburn faces another toughchallenge in its SEC Tournament opener against Arkansas. TheRazorbacks closed the regular season with three straight losses, sowinning at least one game in Nashville would make them feel a wholelot better on Selection Sunday.