Penn State

It's been a while since there's been the ability to say "Wyoming" and "NCAA Tournament" in the same sentence, but in the first season of Larry Shyatt's second run in Laramie the Cowboys (16-3, 2-1) have turned some heads. With first-place #12 San Diego State (17-2, 3-0) visiting, not only can the Pokes pull into a tie atop the Mountain West with a win but they can also lend the NCAA talk a little credibility with a win.

On the heels of their first loss of the season, #3 Baylor (17-1, 4-1) returns home to take on #5 Missouri (17-1, 4-1) in a game that features a major contrast when it comes to team strengths. Scott Drew's Bears are one of the biggest teams in college basketball while Frank Haith's Tigers are neither as big or as deep in the frontcourt. That simply means that in addition to forwards Ricardo Ratliffe (13.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and Steve Moore (4.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg) all hands must be on deck of Missouri is to have any shot of leaving Waco with a victory.

Remember the concerns late in non-conference play that Vanderbilt was destined to be one of the country's biggest busts? Don't look now but Kevin Stallings' Commodores won their eighth straight game on Thursday night, beating Alabama 69-59 in Tuscaloosa to remain tied atop the SEC with Kentucky (4-0). Alabama shot 26.5% from the field in the first half and trailed 26-19 at the half, and a 17-4 run over a five-minute stretch pushed the Vanderbilt lead out to 23 points at 58-35 with 8:12 remaining.

Given how reliant Michigan is on the three-point shot, many would think it highly unlikely that John Beilein's team would win a game in which they shot 6-for-21 from beyond the arc. But thanks to a late basket from Stu Douglass and some solid defense on the final possession of the game, that's exactly what happened as the Wolverines beat in-state rival Michigan 60-59 at Crisler Arena. Trey Burke scored a game-high 20 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. and Zack Novak scored ten points apiece, but Novak's biggest contribution came on the defensive end of the floor. 

To understand the funk that Pittsburgh and Villanova are currently mired in, it may take this fact about the two teams they lost to on Thursday night. This is the first time as members of the Big East (since 2005-06 for both) that DePaul and USF have won conference games on the same night. Yes, allowing that to sink in underlines the gravity of the situation for both the Panthers and Wildcats, as both teams are in need of some answers at this point in time. 

In each of North Carolina's last two games sophomore forward Harrison Barnes shot 4-for-12 from the field and scored nine points. Some may have been concerned given the fact that those performances came against Appalachian State and Nicholls State, ignoring the fact that the Tar Heels still managed to win both games by comfortable margins. Barnes is fine, as he showed in North Carolina's 82-63 win over Texas by scoring a season-high 26 points and grabbing ten rebounds in just 25 minutes of action.

Illinois

Michigan

Michigan St

Ohio St

Purdue

Wisconsin

Other (Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Penn St)

As part of our 5-Year Ranking series, here's how the Big Ten teams stack up according to conference wins. The makeup of the Big Ten is quite different from most of the other power-conferences. The also-rans in the Big Ten have fared much better than other league also-rans, while the middle teams are much more mediocre. With one or two surprises, the final league standings will probably look pretty similar to the 5-year standings.

The final region is the West, which is where Connecticut began their run to the national title. While some of the departures in this region will steal the majority of the ink there are a number of teams who should feel good about their prospects in 2011-12. Below is a quick breakdown of each of the 16 teams.

(1) Duke: lost to Arizona in the Sweet 16

The true fun that is the NCAA Tournament tips off on Thursday, beginning with Clemson taking on West Virginia in Tampa (no disrespect to the "First Four"). Sixteen games across the nation will captivate the country with thrilling finishes and routine blowouts being the order of the day. Below is the schedule breakdown by region by tip time, with one game from each quadrant being featured.

By the time Thursday's schedule is finished millions of brackets will be ruined, which should come as no surprise given the regular season.