Game of the Night: No. 15 Oklahoma at No. 17 Iowa State, 9:00 p.m.
Last month, these two teams got together and put forth one of the most entertaining games of the season in the Big 12. Both coaches like to let their guys get out and run the floor and fire up threes, which means that this game will be aesthetically appealing. But it’s also a very important game in the Big 12 race. Oklahoma is the only team to remain just a game behind Kansas in the Big 12 standings, and with a game against the Jayhawks in the season finale, they still have a chance to win the outright league title. But Iowa State, who has one of the best home courts in the country, lost at home last week and has gone from sharing the lead in the Big 12 to being two games out of first place with two to play. They need to stop the bleeding.
The Other Game of the Night: No. 14 Baylor at Texas, 7:00 p.m.
There aren’t many teams in the country that have been better than Baylor over the course of the last month. They’re coming off of wins at Iowa State and over West Virginia last week, and on Monday, they’ll pay a visit to Austin to take on a Texas team that is in an absolute must-win scenario. The Longhorns have lost four in a row and have not beaten an NCAA tournament team since Jan. 17th. They’re 17-12 on the season and 1-12 against the top 50. Lose to the Bears, and Texas may end up needing the Big 12’s automatic bid to go dancing.
The Other, Other Game of the Night: No. 2 Virginia at Syracuse, 7:00 p.m.
This will be Senior Night for Rakeem Christmas, the all-american center for the Orange that had his chance to play in the NCAA tournament as a senior ruthlessly ripped from his hands by Syracuse, who self-imposed a postseason ban last month. They’ll get a shot at upsetting Virginia, who still has not lost since losing Justin Anderson to a broken finger. A win will clinch the the second straight outright ACC regular season title for Tony Bennett.