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Another night and another opportunity for bubble teams throughout the nation to add a solid victory to their resumes. Florida and Louisville have opportunities at home to just that and it's fitting that the coach of one school (Billy Donovan) was coached by the head coach of the other (Rick Pitino). The Gators are coming off of a crucial win at Ole Miss on Saturday in a game that likely was an "elimination match" for the loser.

Some SEC News & Notes, as I am trapped inside with around 18 inches of snow on the ground here in Cincinnati. (Yes, I realize other areas of the country have much more than that, but this gives me an excuse to be lazy and stay in front of the television watching college basketball). So without further ado, here's what's happening around the league.

Valentine’s Day for many people involves an intimate dinner, flowers, perhaps some candy, maybe even a romantic horse-drawn carriage ride through the snow. But for college basketball fans – it means that teams have one month left to earn their dance cards. One more month of proving their worth against conference opponents, trying to build momentum as they enter March.

The wisdom of many (myself included) was that it would be near impossible for Tom Izzo's Spartans to lose a third consecutive game, regardless of whether or not Kalin Lucas was at full strength. Well, Purdue showed just how flawed that thinking was, using a 15-4 first-half run to take the lead for good and surviving a Michigan State rally to win 76-64 at the Breslin Center. E'Twaun Moore led the way with a game-high 25 points, including a crucial three to answer a Chris Allen bucket that cut Purdue's lead to 65-62 with just over four minutes remaining.

Injuries can be the great equalizer in sports, turning a race that looks to be all but over into a contested sprint to the finish line. Michigan State can attest to that, with point guard Kalin Lucas (ankle) going down against Wisconsin and being unable to play at Illinois in a second consecutive loss on Saturday night. Tuesday's matchup is in East Lansing but none easier, especially if Lucas is unable to go.

An in-state rivalry will be one of the top matchups on Wednesday night with Vanderbilt heading east to take on Tennessee in Knoxville. Thanks to South Carolina knocking off Kentucky the Commodores lead the SEC East with a 4-0 league record but they could have some company after Wednesday night. Kevin Stallings' team has won nine straight but this will be their toughest challenge by far, especially considering their tendency to struggle away from Memorial Gym in big games.

For SEC fans, the 2009 NBA Draft was about as exciting as watching paint dry.

 

In winning their first fourteen games of the season the Purdue Boilermakers did nothing to dispel the notion that they had a very good chance of getting to the Final Four. But while a record of 14-3 is nothing to disregard there have been some worrisome issues for Matt Painter's squad, who dropped their third consecutive game on Saturday. And the biggest issue may be the tallest man in the rotation, JaJuan Johnson. Over the last three games the junior has averaged just six points per game and struggled through eighteen foul-plagued minutes in Evanston before fouling out.