I’m giddy with excitement folks, and do you want to know why? Tomorrow is the first day of March. It’s the final week of the regular season in men’s college basketball which means tournament season is right around the corner. While the NBA enters the final quarter of the regular season, the professionals will take a backseat to the collegiate game for the next month.

As we get closer to March Madness, I’ll be taking a closer look how the 68-team field will be determined. For today though, I’ll be giving you my most intriguing takeaways from the latest AP top-25 poll and Joe Lundardi’s Bracketology predictions. Then I will look ahead to the biggest matchups of the week. Strap in folks, its going to be one hell of a ride to the national championship game in April.

So let’s start our look towards tournament season with a quick peek at the AP top-25 for this week. Gonzaga’s run as the top ranked team in the country came to an end along with its bid for an undefeated season. That opened the door for a new team to take over the number one ranking in the polls. Enter the Kansas Jayhawks, who recently put the finishing touches on a thirteenth-consecutive Big 12 regular season title. Bill Self’s team is looking strong yet again, and will almost assuredly be one of the top seeds in the NCAA tournament.

Interestingly enough, Villanova stayed put at number two despite losing at home against Butler last week while Gonzaga dropped down to number four. UCLA got a huge bump in the rankings following a massive road win against Arizona, which got them to the third spot in the top-25 for the week.

While we did get a new-look top-five this week, there has already been a casualty at the top. #5 North Carolina was upset last night by #23 Virginia in an extremely defensive game. The Tar Heels had been looking like it would be one of the favorites for the NCAA tournament, but this could prove to be a small bump in the road if they can bounce back later this week against #17 Duke.

Speaking of the Blue Devils, they took quite the dive in the rankings after a rough week, which saw them upset by Syracuse and Miami. Duke had been on a great run after beating UNC in the first matchup this year in the Tobacco Road Rivalry which saw them reach #10 in last week’s rankings. The Blue Devils are currently sitting fifth in the standings in the ACC, which could give them a difficult road in the conference tournament. I still think that the Blue Devils are a team that you don’t want to see in the national tournament, but the next two weeks will give us a good idea of how this latest set back will affect them.

The biggest move in the top-25 was the ascension of the Butler Bulldogs. They jumped up nine spots in the rankings after an impressive road win against Villanova. Sitting at #13, the Bulldogs are an intriguing team heading into March. A mix of veteran prowess and a defensive mindset is going to make the Bulldogs a tough-out in the national tournament.

Over these next two weeks, you are going to be hearing the name Joe Lunardi a lot whenever the big dance conversation comes up. Lunardi is one of the foremost experts when it comes to predicting the field for the national tournament. His insight into the 68-team field is usually spot-on and gives us a great idea into where teams will end up and which teams are sitting on the infamous bubble.

In his latest edition of Bracketology, Lunardi has a very interesting tournament field. As of yesterday, Lunardi’s number one seeds are Kansas, Villanova, North Carolina, and Gonzaga. This is definitely subject to change considering Gonaga’s loss over the weekend and North Carolina’s loss last night. Kansas and Villanova look virtually locked-in as the top-two overall seeds in the tournament.

With the final two top seeds in the tournament in flux right now, it will be interesting to see if any team could jump up and snag one of those spots. Interestingly enough, Lunardi isn’t showing a whole lot of love for the Pac-12. Oregon is currently a two-seed while UCLA and Arizona are sitting as three-seeds. You would have to think that if one of these teams is able to win the Pac-12 tournament, the champion would have a strong case to sneak into the one-line.

Typically, the tournament committee tends to have one region set as a murderer’s row. Lunardi believes that will be the Midwest region this year, and boy is it loaded. The top-four seeds in this region according to Lunardi are Kansas, Kentucky, Arizona, and Duke. That is just scratching the surface because this region also includes SMU, Virginia Tech, Wichita State, and Michigan State. Also, both of the non-16 seed play-in games are currently in this region. Clearly Lunardi thinks that the committee is going to put whichever team reaches the Final Four in this region through the ringer.

As far as the bubble goes, Lunardi’s “Last Four In” is Seton Hall, Providence, Marquette, and Vanderbilt. The safest of those four teams might be Seton Hall, but they would have to avoid an early exit in the Big East tournament to seal its bid. Looking at the “First Four Out” Lunardi has Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Rhode Island, and Georgia on the outside looking in. Keep an eye on Georgia Tech and Wake Forest out of this group. The ACC tournament will provide them with opportunities to score major wins against some of the top-25, which could vault either team into the big dance.

The most intriguing team in Lunardi’s latest bracket is Cincinnati. The Bearcats are currently a five-seed in the West Region, which could be a great spot for a deep run in the tournament. Cincinnati could end up as a surprise team in the Elite Eight if this is how the chips fall on Selection Sunday.

Before I wrap things up for the day, here are a few games to keep an eye on this week:

Tonight

– Georgetown vs. Seton Hall, 6:30 PM (FS1)

– #15 Florida State vs. #17 Duke, 7:00 PM (ESPN)

– Vanderbilt vs. #9 Kentucky, 9:00 PM (ESPN)

 

Wednesday

– #8 Louisvile vs. Wake Forest, 9:00 PM (ACC Network)

– Marquette vs. Xavier, 9:00 PM (FS1)

– Washington vs. #3 UCLA, 11:00 PM (FS1)

 

Thursday

– Houston vs. #18 Cincinnati, 7:00 PM (ESPN2)

 

Friday

– #24 Iowa State vs. #10 West Virginia (ESPN2)

 

Saturday

– #2 Villanova vs. Georgetown, Noon

– #19 Notre Dame vs. #8 Louisville, 2:00 PM (CBS)

– Seton Hall vs. #13 Butler, 2:30 PM

– #25 Miami vs. #15 Florida State, 4:00 PM (ACC Network)

– #7 Arizona vs. Arizona State, 4:00 PM (CBS)

– #6 Oregon vs. Oregon State, 6:00 PM (ESPN2)

– #1 Kansas vs. Oklahoma State, 6:00 PM (ESPN)

– #17 Duke vs. #5 North Carolina, 8:15 PM (ESPN)

 

Sunday

– #16 Purdue vs. Northwestern, 4:30 PM (CBS)

 

That’s it for me today. Enjoy all of the college basketball action this week. It should be a great warm-up for tournament season. I’ll be back tomorrow with a wrap-up of the NHL trade deadline. Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook.