It is our long-standing policy here at Starting Five headquarters that the word ‘penultimate’ must be used whenever possible. OK, actually we just made that rule up. But be that as it may, we now find ourselves heading into the penultimate weekend of the men’s college basketball regular season, with Selection Sunday now just just two weeks away.

This weekend’s slate features the usual top-10 clash in the SEC, a second Top 25 showdown in that league, and a pair of significant contests in the Big 12. The weekend wraps up with a Sunday tilt important for contenders in the Big Ten.

Here’s the breakdown of the quintet of matchups that will have an impact on the upcoming NCAA Tournament announcement.

No. 1 Auburn at No. 23 Kentucky

Time/TV: Saturday, 1 p.m. ET, ABC.

To say that the top-ranked Tigers have been on a roll is something of an understatement. Auburn enters on a five-game winning streak, capped by Wednesday’s demolition of Ole Miss, and is two games clear in the deepest conference in the nation. The Wildcats have been treading water of late splitting their last eight contests, so they hope the Rupp Arena environment provides a boost for this one. Another plus for Kentucky is the return of point guard Lamont Butler from a shoulder injury. He doled out six assists Wednesday at Oklahoma despite fouling out, and he’ll need to shake off more rust to deal with Tigers’ super pest Chad Baker-Mazara. But like nearly every other opponent Auburn has faced, the Wildcats might not have an answer for big man Johni Broome near the rim.

No. 10 Texas Tech at Kansas

Time/TV: Saturday, 2 p.m. ET, ESPN

While this still shapes up as a major road test for the Red Raiders, it looms as even more of a must-win for Kansas. The Jayhawks are not in bubble trouble, but they’ve been a .500 team since the calendar turned to February, and their postseason staying power is very much in question. Kansas has won its last two but closes with the Big 12’s top three teams, starting with this one. Texas Tech couldn’t complete the season sweep of league leader Houston on Monday night but was within a single possession in the final minute despite missing two of its top three scorers, Chance McMillian and Darrion Williams. Both are still listed as day-to-day, but JT Toppin can expect a heavy workload whether or not those teammates are available. KU’s perimeter shooting has been spotty at best in Big 12 play, so Hunter Dickinson has had to contend with frequent traffic inside.

No. 6 Alabama at No. 5 Tennessee

Time/TV: Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, ESPN

The SEC game of the century of the week could, for the moment at least, determine a spot on the No. 1 seed line in bracket projections. How much postseason success that would actually portend remains to be seen, of course, but a win here on the first day of March would be welcomed. On the surface it’s a contrast in styles, with Alabama’s high-octane attack pitted against the Volunteers’ lockdown defense. But no matter whose preferred tempo prevails, the game will ultimately hinge on making shots. The percentages say the Crimson Tide have more guys capable of doing that, but second-chance points could prove to be an equalizer for Tennessee.

No. 21 Arizona at No. 9 Iowa State

Time/TV: Saturday, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN

Perhaps Arizona didn’t exactly break Iowa State back on Jan. 27, but it is undeniable that the Cyclones haven’t been the same since Caleb Love’s half-court buzzer-beater and overtime dominance propelled the Wildcats to victory in Tucson. Iowa State is now on a two-game skid and could use some Hilton magic to restore the confidence it displayed during the first half of the season. It would also help if Keshon Gilbert is able to return from injury, but that might not be determined until game time. The Wildcats for their part have come back to earth a bit since winning 11 of their first 12 in conference. Love will come out firing as he always does, and Jaden Bradley will also try to help quiet the crowd in Ames.

No. 12 Wisconsin at No. 8 Michigan State

Time/TV: Sunday, 1:30 p.m. ET, CBS

We can’t promise another game winner from backcourt, but the Spartans have certainly made for interesting viewing of late. They now put a four-game winning streak on the line against the Badgers, who successfully closed out Washington after letting Oregon get away last weekend. Long-time Wisconsin fans might still have a hard time recognizing their current team that is putting up 81.9 points a game, paced by Big Ten player of the year candidate John Tonje’s 19.5 per contest. Michigan State can play fast as well but is just as comfortable in a defensive slog like Wednesday night’s squeaker at Maryland. The Spartans’ depth allows them to challenge opposing shooters for the full 40 minutes, so the Badgers must be selective of when to push the pace.

As the regular season winds down in women’s basketball, conference bragging rights and potential No. 1 seeds are still to be settled before conference tournaments start next week.

It remains to be seen if those teams can keep their seeding when the Women’s NCAA Tournament Selection Show airs March 16 (8 p.m. ET on ESPN).

Here are this weekend’s top games to watch:

No. 3 USC at No. 2 UCLA

Time/TV: Saturday, 9 p.m. ET, FOX

Part 2 in the Battle for Los Angeles has national seeding implications more than anything. The Trojans handed UCLA its only defeat, 71-60, on Feb. 13, and another victory over the Bruins would be a résumé booster no other team in the country has, regardless of what happens in the Big Ten tournament. Even though UCLA center Lauren Betts is a front-runner for Player of the Year honors, another vintage JuJu Watkins game could also change the conversation concerning that race.

No. 8 TCU at No. 18 Baylor

Time/TV: Sunday, 6:30 p.m. ET, FS1

First place and the regular-season conference title in the Big 12 are on the line as the Horned Frogs visit the Bears. TCU is led by the dynamic transfer duo of Hailey Van Lith (17.4 ppg, 5.5 apg) and Sedona Prince (17.9 ppg, 9.1 rpg) and will break a 15-year NCAA Tournament absence regardless of what happens the rest of the season. Baylor has been on a roll, winning nine straight since losing back-to-back games to UCLA and TCU. One of the Big 12’s deeper teams, the Bears have six players who average more than 10 points a game.

No. 14 Kentucky at No. 6 South Carolina

Time/TV: Sunday, 2 p.m. ET, ESPN

When the Gamecocks are on defensively and can use that to create offense, there isn’t anyone in the nation beating them. While UConn exposed them in a blowout home loss, Dawn Staley’s crew got back to basics by blowing out Arkansas and Vanderbilt. Kentucky’s Georgia Amoore is playing at an all-conference level and will likely need to play the entire game (she plays an average of 36 minutes per game) and stay out of foul trouble to counter South Carolina’s blitz of quick guards and contributors off the bench.

No. 20 Alabama at No. 13 Oklahoma

Time/TV: Sunday, 2:30 p.m. ET, SECN+

Here is the good about Oklahoma: They can score on anyone, dominate teams on the boards, and share the ball better than anyone in college basketball. Now the bad: The Sooners foul too much and are entirely too careless with the ball, contributing to most of their six losses. Alabama is the best 3-point shooting team in the SEC, with six players hitting 35% or better from downtown, and will need to stretch the floor in order to contain a suddenly red-hot Raegan Beers, who has 76 points and 28 rebounds in her last three games for the Sooners.

Louisville at No. 4 Notre Dame

Time/TV: Sunday, noon ET, ESPN

NC State may have shown the blueprint to beating the Irish when it snapped their 19-game winning streak with a double overtime home win on Sunday. The Irish are the nation’s best 3-point shooting team and ranked fourth in field goal percentage, so the key for Louisville to have any chance is to make them take tough shots and keep them off the boards. The Cardinals didn’t do that in their first meeting and lost by 18 as Notre Dame, despite 23 turnovers, shot 55% and dominated on the boards and in the paint. 

No. 15 Duke at No. 24 Florida State

Time/TV: Sunday, 6 p.m. ET, ACC Network

A double-bye in the ACC Tournament is at stake in this one. For those who haven’t seen Florida State play, you are missing out. The Seminoles have the nation’s leading scorer in Ta’Niya Latson, and for a tough inside presence, Makayla Timpson (3.3 blocks per game) can erase any threat driving to the hoop. The Blue Devils have struggled lately, but got a big victory over rival North Carolina on Thursday. Against Florida State, Duke may need more from leading scorer Toby Fournier, a freshman from Canada, who rarely plays more than 25 minutes a game.

Princeton at Harvard

Time/TV: Friday, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN+

While Columbia has the lead in the Ivy League standings, these two teams might be battling for an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament, with the loser hoping their NET rating will impress the committee to warrant their inclusion unless they go on to win their conference tournament. The Crimson, winners of five straight games, haven’t been to the dance since 2007, and the Tigers are the three-time defending league champions. The first team to score 50 might be at an advantage, as scoring will be at a premium in this matchup. Harvard leads the nation in scoring defense.

INDIANAPOLIS – For nearly 24 hours, the main topic of conversation at Prime, the J.W. Marriott hotel bars and St. Elmo steakhouse hasn’t been a prospect or a veteran quarterback, although Abdul Carter’s health and Matthew Stafford’s potential landing spot have been newsy themes at this year’s combine. 

It’s one reporter confronting another at a Starbucks that doubles as a confluence of influence between executives, coaches, agents and media who frequent the brew station throughout the week.

On Wednesday, FOX and Bleacher Report NFL insider Jordan Schultz (who has also worked for ESPN and the Score) confronted NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport at the Starbucks located above the J.W. Marriott lobby. The situation escalated to the point Rapoport alerted NFL Security (since he is an employee of the league), according to NBC Sports’ Pro Football Talk. 

Schultz did not respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY Sports. The NFL also confirmed to USA TODAY Sports that the league’s security apparatus had been notified.

The spirited interaction first started going viral thanks to a post on social media from Barstool Sports personality “PFT Commenter” (real name Eric Sollenberger). It didn’t become physical, but the two were face-to-face by the end of the discussion.

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

Schultz briefly relayed his side of the story Wednesday to Pro Football Talk. 

“It really isn’t anything too much,” Schultz told Pro Football Talk via text message. “Ian Rapoport and I had a verbal confrontation. It lasted a little over a minute. Multiple agents and reporters were nearby. Rapoport was the one who called security shortly after, but it never escalated further.”

Rapoport, on Thursday, had a chance to set the record straight during an appearance on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show.” 

“Last night when it all broke, everyone in the world texted me, wanting to know details,” Rapoport said. “And it was all out there. (Pro Football Talk) basically wrote the whole thing, so there’s not much to add. And then I woke up this morning, and everyone in the world had texted me.”

The backstory is such: Schultz reported Stafford, the Los Angeles Rams quarterback, and Las Vegas Raiders minority owner Tom Brady had a meeting in Montana recently, with Brady courting him to play for the Raiders. Rapoport’s reporting on social media and the show he co-hosts, “The Insiders,” countered that Brady and Stafford had more of a casual run-in with one another in public rather than a formal meeting. 

Brady’s agent, Don Yee, told a different NFL Network reporter that Schultz’s report essentially amounted to ‘an Internet rumor.’

‘There’s no issue here,’ the NFL told the Las Vegas Review-Journal regarding a potential tampering violation. ‘The Rams gave the player and his agent permission to speak to the Raiders.’

Schultz was insistent he and Rapoport speak. Rapoport did not feel that was necessary. Then the biggest story of the combine was born – or brewed.

Upon inspection Thursday afternoon, there was no yellow caution tape on the Starbucks’ premises. Nor was there an outline of a body composed of plastic coffee stoppers.

The final layer of irony: Schutlz is the son of former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz.

A Florida judge said the U.S. Center for SafeSport “perpetuated a fraud” and intentionally withheld evidence in a criminal case brought at the encouragement of one of the center’s investigators.

In a ruling Tuesday related to the expunction of misdemeanor charges against a female water polo player, Seminole County judge John Woodard said SafeSport violated the woman’s due process rights by withholding evidence that would have cleared her. Even after prosecutors recognized there was no basis for the charges, SafeSport continued to stonewall, Woodard said.

“SafeSport acted in bad faith, intentionally and with malice,” Woodard said in his ruling, “and the court finds the evidence of fraud, collusion, pretense and similar wrongdoing to be clear, convincing, intentional and beyond doubt.”

In a statement, SafeSport said Woodard’s order lacked jurisdictional, factual or legal basis.

“This is a stunt designed to interfere in the Center’s ability to hold individuals accountable for sexual misconduct,” SafeSport said in a statement.

Following sexual abuse scandals in several sports, Congress created SafeSport as an independent body to handle abuse complaints in the Olympic movement. Almost since it opened in 2017, however, SafeSport has been criticized for its lengthy delays in resolving complaints and investigative and appeals processes that both sides of the process have deemed unfair and insensitive.

But Woodard’s rebuke is the most stunning criticism yet.

Kelsey McMullan, then 18 years old and a high school senior, went to SafeSport in February 2022 to report bullying by teammates. According to court records, after talking with the teammates, a SafeSport investigator encouraged police to open a sexual abuse case against McMullan.

McMullan was able to provide evidence refuting the accusations against her, including an acknowledgment by one of the teammates that what she’d told police was not true. The charges against her were dropped 15 months later.

But Woodard blasted SafeSport for not providing McMullan earlier with evidence it knew would clear her. He also was furious the center refused to cooperate when police and prosecutors decided to investigate the other women for potential falsification of a report.

“The exculpatory information is and was within the knowledge, custody and control of SafeSport,” Woodard wrote. “The exculpatory information is and was within a SafeSport file that was the subject of numerous court orders and properly issued subpoenas. The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, the State’s Attorney Office and defense counsel went above and beyond any duty, and made every reasonable and good faith effort to obtain the exculpatory material and compliance by SafeSport to no avail.”

Woodard ordered the charges against McMullan erased, making it as if the case never happened. But Russell Prince, McMullan’s attorney, said nothing can erase the trauma McMullan suffered in fighting the charges.

“The Center is irreparably broken and serves neither claimants or respondents in a fundamentally fair and lawful manner,” he said. “These actions are consistent with a pattern of conduct that the Center employs on a regular basis. This time, they were finally held accountable according to commonly accepted standards of fairness and due process.”

LSU is mourning the loss of freshman pole vaulter Dillon Reidenauer, one of two people killed in a car crash on campus on in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Wednesday night. She was 18.

‘LSU Athletics is heartbroken to share the tragic news of the passing of freshman track and field student-athlete Dillon Reidenauer in a traffic incident Wednesday evening in Baton Rouge,’ the university said in a statement shared with USA TODAY Sports. ‘Our thoughts and prayers are with Dillon’s family, friends and teammates, as well as with those impacted by the loss of another individual who died as a result of the incident.’

The incident happened Wednesday evening around 9:07 p.m. local time. Authorities say a Honda Civic was struck by a motorcycle while attempting to make a left turn, according to an incident report obtained by WVLA Baton Rouge. The motorcyclist, identified by police as 23-year-old Bodhi Linton, also died in the crash.

Reidenauer graduated from Fontainebleau High School in Mandeville, Louisiana in May 2024. A native of Abita Springs, Louisiana, Reidenauer finished second at the 2024 Louisiana High School Athletic Association State Championships with a clearance of 3.64 meters. She committed to LSU as one of the top pole vaulters in the state.

‘I’m so excited to announce that I will continue to pole vault for Louisiana State University next year,’ Reidenauer wrote on Instagram, days after her high school graduation. ‘I am so blessed and grateful to have a great support group and a wonderful coach who has taught me everything I know. I am so excited to be a part of the LSU track and field team next year! GEAUX TIGERS!’

LSU track and field coach Dennis Shaver said Reidenauer was ‘taken from us much too soon.’

“Everyone in our LSU Track & Field family is keeping Dillon’s loved ones in our thoughts and prayers, as well as those of the other individual lost in the incident. “We will do everything we can to make sure our student-athletes and staff have the resources they need to process the grief of this terrible loss. I would also like to thank Texas A&M for offering their support and compassion as we are on the road at College Station for the SEC Championships.”

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