B's Five Games of The Week #3

              This weekend we have so many beautiful events in the world of sports going on. From Selection Sunday in College Basketball to title races in European Football to playoff pushes in the NHL and the NBA. Easily my favorite time of the sports calendar and as the weather gets warmer so will the stakes for each and every game. Let’s get into what is going down this weekend in the world of sports.

Atletico Madrid vs. Barcelona @ 4:00 P.M. on Sunday on ESPN+– Both teams are coming off huge wins in the Champions League this past week. Atletico Madrid battled their way back against an Inter Milan side who had not lost a game in any competition since December. Barcelona found a way to beat a different Italian team in Napoli who has struggled this season but still has top tier talent that is dangerous no matter what their form is.

              In La Liga, Barcelona trails Real Madrid for the top spot in the league by nine points. Atletico Madrid leads the race for the final Champions League spot by just two points. Barcelona is attempting to claw their way back into the race for back-to-back La Liga titles as Atletico Madrid is fighting to keep their Champions League position. Atletico Madrid has lacked consistency as of late, but do not let that fool you into thinking they can’t step up under the bright lights to beat Barcelona.

New York Islanders vs New York Rangers at 1:00 P.M. on ESPN – There are about sixteen games left for most teams which means the margin of error for teams fighting for a playoff spot is thin. In the eastern conference, the race for the second wild card spot involves four teams separated by less than three points. The team currently leading that race, the New York Islanders, has seventeen games to get to the playoffs. This weekend the Islanders play against a struggling Senators team and a buzzing Rangers team who is fighting for first place in the Metropolitan division.

              There will be no excuses for either team given that both teams will have played the day before. This will be the first of three meetings between these two teams in the final stretch. The Rangers are four points back of the one-seed in the eastern conference and the Islanders are four points back of the three-seed in the Metropolitan division. Both teams have six of their last ten, and given the stakes of this game, this is must watch television.

Houston Cougars vs. Iowa State Cyclones @ 6:00 on ESPN– Houston lost three games all season, and one of them came against Iowa State. In the best conference in college basketball, these two teams are the two best teams. Both teams have fought for the right to play for the Big Twelve Championship but given how well these teams have played, it’s a possibility this isn’t the last time these teams see each other this season.

Iowa State is fighting for a one seed in this game and depending on what happens around the nation tomorrow night, they could potentially get one even with a loss. The Cyclones are seventh in the nation in terms of strength of record and are fifth in the country in quality wins (wins against top-fifty opponents). This is a team that shows up no matter who they play and always lives up to the challenge. They are top-five in defense along with Houston but play at a much faster pace than the Cougars do.

Houston has been the best team in the country all season and nothing that could happen in this game could change my mind about that fact. They are the best team in the country in defense and lead the nation in opponent field-goal percentage. They also have an average point differential of 17.3 points per game. This team is not anywhere close to being the best offensively, but they are tenth in offensive rebounds which allows them to control the pace of the game.

This game will come down to a battle of pace, and a chess match of adjustments. This is what Conference Championship Week and March Basketball is all about. Two great teams battling it out for their conference title. No doubt to me that we are in for a barn burner.

New York Knicks at Sacramento Kings @ 10:00 P.M. – Both of these teams have been on a tear recently as the regular season starts to wind down. As both teams battle for a higher seed in the playoffs, they have found ways to battle through adversity. The Kings have had many difficulties this season, they have just found their way out of the oh-so-scary play-in tournament. They must hold on to that six seed with everything they have because everybody in the western conference has been excelling recently. The Kings big game-changer is Domantas Sabonis who has played a crucial role in each of the Kings last five games. Sabonis has averaged nineteen points and fifteen rebounds in his last ten games.

As for the Knicks, they just got a huge piece of their team back in OG Anunoby and with him in the lineup they have lost just two games total. Anunoby has an average plus-minus (net-points while on the court) of eighteen points in his fifteen games he has played with the knicks. He is a major game changer and has the Knicks fighting for a potential two-seed which they are just three and a half games back of. The Knicks have not allowed a team to score triple-digit points in the month of March despite missing more than half of their starters for most of this month.

Sabonis and Anunoby will be going at each other in tonight’s game which will feature two teams with bright futures trying to make that future start sooner rather than later. The Knicks are looking to continue their road trip on a winning streak and inch closer to the Milwaukee Bucks. This is while the Kings are aiming to continue their successful home stand by creating separation between them and the Pheonix Suns who are tied with them for the sixth seed in the west,

Marquette Golden Eagles vs. UConn Huskies @ 6:30 on Fox– If Houston has been the best team in the nation all season, UConn has been the second best. They have the best chance of repeating as national champions since Florida in 2007. What makes this team so damn good? The balance. This team averages a point differential of 17.1 points per game and keeps their opponents off the glass so that they can control the tempo of the game like Houston. They are not half as defense oriented as Houston, given they average 80. Points per game but they do rank inside the top fifteen in opponent points per game which is quite impressive. They are doing all of this with the third-best strength of record in the country, in the second-best conference in the country.

Shaka Smart’s Golden Eagles are quite an electric bunch to watch. They are currently ranked tenth in the nation (which would put them at a three seed) but have a chance to climb their way up into a two-seed with a win tonight. They win games by having one of the best shot-selections in college hoops and forcing their opponents to commit unnecessary turnovers through their fast-paced style. They rank top-twenty in both adjusted offense and adjusted defense meaning they are efficient on both ends of the floor.

This conference is all about grit and performing under pressure and at Madison Square Garden tonight how both of these two teams do when it comes to those checkmarks will be put to the test. I think Marquette doesn’t get the credit they deserve, given how good of a team they are and I think UConn doesn’t get the respect that comes with winning a championship. These are teams that play with chips on their shoulders that will create a hell of a game for all to enjoy.