The biggest college basketball games to bet the final month of the season in major conferences - Big 12, Big East and ACC 

The closing month of the college basketball regular season will be watched closely as the top teams and major conferences set the pace towards conference tournament action and the 2026 NCAA Tournament. With less than 10 games remaining in the regular seaosn, some of the key games in the Big 12, Big East and ACC will drive the watch and wager action, along with the Big Ten and SEC. The bracket watch will provide a daily dose of the top teams that will make the NCAA Tournament and push for conference titles and tournament positioning. 

I'll add some small conference coverage in the weeks ahead, along with stats and profiles to add to your college basketball handicapping and betting. Ahead of March Madness and Selection Sunday on March 15, we'll again be providing conference tournament coverage in the Big 12, Big East and ACC like las year as part of our Countdown to the 2026 NCAA Tournament with betting previews and profiles of the top teams. 

Top Teams And Schedules Big 12, Big East And ACC

Let's take a look at the tight conference races in the Big 12, Big East and ACC. The ACC is projected to send 8 teams to the NCAA Tournament, Big 12 projected 7 teams and Big East 3 teams. The standings, rankings and projections will change in the weeks ahead as the top teams battle through key games to close the season that will decide regular season and conference tournament titles, along with seedings for the NCAA Tournament. 

There are 32 auto bids/36 at-large in 2026 with conference realignment. These at-large spots are awarded by the NCAA Selection Committee based on metrics, game results, and expert analysis. Following the Feb. 2-4 games and the recent bracket projections on Feb. 3 from Joe Lunardi at ESPN, here are the updates along with the AP Top 25 as of Feb. 2. 

The Big 12 tops all conferences with six teams in the Top 25, while the Big Ten and ACC had five apiece with four Big Ten teams in the top 10. The SEC had four ranked teams, the Big East had two and the West Coast, A-10 and MAC had one apiece.

Update: College basketball top defensive teams, stats.

Big 12

Top-ranked Arizona (22-0) remains undefeated and is 9-0 in Big 12 play. The Wildcats are also 10-0 vs. Quad 1 teams joining Michigan (7-0) as the only unbeatens vs. Quad 1 opponents. No. 7 Iowa State (20-2/7-2) and No. 8 Houston (19-2/7-1) are still in the mix for a No. 2 NCAA Tournament seed. Arizona (2), Iowa State (4) and Houston (9) are also in the top 10 of the NET rankings. Both Kansas (17-5/7-2) and Texas Tech (16-6/6-3) were projected No. 4 seeds last week and the Jayhawks won on the road Monday with an 8-0 run to finish the game and beat the Red Raiders 64-61 for TT first home loss this season. Arizona, Iowa State and Houston remain undefeated on their home court. 

BYU (17-4/5-3) is safely in the NCAAT field as a 4-5 seed while Central Florida (17-4/6-3) is also in as a projected No. 9 seed. West Virginia (14-8/5-4) is on the outside looking in with NET ranking of 66 and 1-5 vs. Quad 1 teams with just one win in seven games away from home. 

The top scoring teams in the Big 12 are Arizona (89.5 points per game), Iowa State (86.5) and BYU (86.4) - all top 20 in the country. Iowa State tops the conference in effective FG shooting (59% - top 6 in country) while Texas Tech (56.5%) and Arizona (56.5%) are next in the top 25. 

Houston (61.7 points per game) and Iowa State (64.8) are also top 10 in the country in scoring defense and adjusted defensive efficiency rating with Arizona No. 3. 

Adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency ratings: 

- Arizona (5/3) 
- Iowa State (6/6)
- Houston (11/11)
- Kansas (32/8) - was 24/13
- BYU (10/32)
- Texas Tech (16/36) - was 10/44
- UCF (30/77)
- West Virginia (128/35)

Feb. 2 - Kansas at Texas Tech
Feb. 4 - UCF at Houston
Feb. 7 - Houston at BYU
Feb. 8 - Texas Tech at West Virginia
Feb. 9 - Arizona at Kansas
Feb. 14 - Kansas at Iowa State, West Virginia at UCF, Texas Tech at Arizona
Feb. 16 - Houston at Iowa State
Feb. 18 - BYU at Arizona
Feb. 21 - Arizona at Houston, Iowa State at BYU
Feb. 23 - Houston at Kansas
Feb. 24 - UCF at BYU
Feb. 28 - Texas Tech at Iowa State, Kansas at Arizona, BYU at West Virginia
March 2 - Iowa State at Arizona
March 6 - UCF at West Virginia
March 7 - Texas Tech at BYU 

I'm surprised there are not more key games between Big 12 teams in the title race and NCAAT position. A number of Saturday's have just one matchup of teams in the top half of the Big 12 playing each other. 

Big 12 regular season title odds Arizona (-250), Houston (+285), Iowa State (+900), Kansas (+1400), Texas Tech (+8000), BYU (+20000) with conference tournament odds available in March.

Odds to win the NCAA Tournament 

Current odds from BetOnline, and subject to change. BetOnline will have a huge 6-figure NCAAT Bracket Contest for as little as $25 entry available in March with OSGA also providing its free 24th March Mardness Bracket Challenge.

+450: Arizona
+1000: Houston
+1600: Iowa State
+1800: Kansas
+3300: Texas Tech
+6600: BYU
+15000: UCF
+30000: West Virginia

Final Four odds: Arizona (-125), Houston (+225), Iowa State (+375), Kansas (+425), Texas Tech (+700), BYU (+1400), Louisville (+1600)

Big East

The Big East is a two team race as anticipated prior to the season. Connecticut (22-1) remains unbeaten in Big East play (12-0) with their only loss this season at home to current No. 1 Arizona just before Thanksgiving. UCONN and St. John's (17-5/10-1) play two times in February starting Feb. 6 at Madison Square Garden, where the Red Storm have lost twice this season to Providence (10-13/3-9) and SEC's Alabama in the second game of the season when SJU allowed a season-high 103 points. Now in Week 14 of the college basketball season, Connecticut is ranked No. 3 in the country and St. John's No. 22, but the Red Storm are just 3-4 vs. Quad 1 teams and No. 24 in the NET rankings. UCONN is 5-1 and No. 6 NET and currently projected as the last No. 1 seed in the NCAAT bracket projections by Joe Lunardi and ESPN. 

Next is Villanova (17-5/8-3) with a NET ranking of No. 32 and a projected No. 8 seed in the Big Dance. The Wildcats are 3-4 vs. Quad 1 teams and took Connecticut to overtime on the road in late January before losing 75-67. Two other non-conference losses away from home to top teams include Michigan and BYU. Seton Hall (16-7/6-6) and Creighton (12-11/6-6) are the only other Big East teams .500 or better in conference play, but neither is projected as a NCAAT team with Seton Hall currently a Last Four Out and playing UCONN on the road and St. John's at home in two of their final three games looking to raise their stock. Xavier (12-11/4-8) has lost 4-of-5 to fall back following a blowout loss at UCONN Feb. 3 which saw the game go over the total for a league-high 17th time in Xavier games including 6 of their last 7 contests. 

Connecticut (-700) is a heavy favorite to win the Big East regular season title ahead of St. John's (+350) with conference tournament odds available in March. 

Odds to win NCAA Tournament

+400: Connecticut
+5000: St. John's
+20000: Villanova

Final Four odds UCONN (+300), St. John's (+1200), Villanova (+6600) 

Adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency ratings: (Feb. 5)

- Connecticut (25/5) 
- St. John's (26/18)
- Villanova (31/38)
- Seton Hall (152/12)
- Creighton (66/119) 

Big East Schedule - Top Teams

Feb. 4 - Seton Hall at Villanova 
Feb. 6 - Connecticut at St. John's
Feb. 7 - Seton Hall at Creighton
Feb. 9 - Xavier at St. John's
Feb. 14 - Villanova at Creighton, Georgetown at UCONN
Feb. 17 - Villanova at Xavier
Feb. 18 - Creighton at Connecticut
Feb. 21 - Creighton at St. John's, UCONN at Villanova 
Feb. 25 - St. John's at UCONN
Feb. 28 - Seton Hall at UCONN, Villanova at St. John's, Georgetown at Xavier
March 3 - Georgetown at St. John's, Seton Hall at Xavier
March 6 - St. John's at Seton Hall
March 7 - Xavier at Villanova

ACC

A huge game the opening weekend of February is Duke (21-1/10-0) at North Carolina (18-4/6-3), and both team remain undefeated on their home court. Those two blue bloods, projected at No. 1 and No. 6 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, are joined by 5-6 other projected ACC March Madness teams - Clemson (19-4/9-1) as a 6-seed, Virginia (19-3/8-2) as a 5-seed, NC State (17-6/8-2) as an 8-seed, Miami (17-5/6-3) at No. 11, Louisville (16-6/6-4) as No. 6 and Virginia Tech (16-7/5-5) and Cal Golden Bears (17-6/5-5) both currently First Four Out with work to do in February and early March. Southern Methodist (SMU) is 15-7 and 4-5 in ACC play following an 84-83 home loss to NC State to start February.  

Duke is outside the top 25 nationally in scoring averaging 84.1 points per game but top 5 in scoring defense allowing just 63.6 points per game with Clemson (64.5) also a top 10 scoring defense. Duke 9-1 vs. Quad 1 teams and top 5 in both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency ratings at KenPom making them a top national title contender. 

Adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency ratings: (Feb. 5) 

- Duke (5/3)
- Virginia (17/22)
- Louisville (16/27)
- NC State (18/40)
- North Carolina (19/56)
- Clemson (69/15)
- Miami (49/48)
- Virginia Tech (76/60)
- Cal (77/59) 
- SMU (21/79)

Atlantic Coast Conference Schedule - Top Teams 

Feb. 7 - Duke at North Carolina, Virginia Tech at NC State
Feb. 9 - NC State at Louisville
Feb. 10 - North Carolina at Miami
Feb. 11 - Virginia Tech at Clemson
Feb. 14 - Clemson at Duke, Miami at NC State
Feb. 17 - North Carolina at NC State, Louisville at SMU, Virginia Tech at Miami
Feb. 21 - Miami at Virginia, Duke vs. Michigan in D.C. (ACC/Big Ten)  
Feb. 23 - Louisville at North Carolina
Feb. 24 - NC State at Virginia
Feb. 25 - SMU at Cal
Feb. 28 - Virginia at Duke, Louisville at Clemson, Virginia Tech at North Carolina
March 2 - Duke at NC State
March 3 - Clemson at North Carolina
March 4 - Miami at SMU
March 7 - North Carolina at Duke, Virginia Tech at Virginia, Louisville at Miami

Duke (-1100) is the heavy favorite to win the ACC followed by Virginia (+800), Clemson (+1200), NC State (+2500) and North Carolina (+10000). ACC Tournament odds follow in March. 

Odds to win the NCAA Tournament 

+600: Duke
+6600: Louisville
+7500: Virginia
+8000: North Carolina, NC State
+15000: Clemson
+20000: SMU
+25000: Miami 

Final Four odds Duke (+115), Louisville (+1600), North Carolina (+2000), NC State (+2000), Viginia (+2000), Clemson (+5000), SMU (+6000), Miami (+8000)

NCAA Tournament Stats And Trends

When evaluating the KenPom advanced stats that adjust weekly, know that 22 of the last 23 National Champions have finished in the Top 20 in both offensive and defensive adjusted efficiency. This year's teams currently include: 

Arizona (4/2/), Duke (5/3), Iowa State (6/6), Houston (8/8), Michigan (11/1), Illinois (1/19), Florida (13/7), Vanderbilt (14/17)

Teams to watch (Iowa (20/21), UCONN (25/5), Purdue (2/26), Nebraska (23/11), Virginia (17/22), Gonzaga (30/13), Kansas (33/9), Louisville (16/27), St. John's (26/18), Tennessee (34/14), St. Louis (29/25).

Last year, four of the six teams with top 20 adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency ratings just before the NCAAT started made the Final Four (all No. 1 seeds). Florida (1 offense, 10 defense) beat Houston (10/2) in the national championship game with Duke (3/4) and Auburn (2/12) also making the Final Four.

Kansas, Florida, Michigan, Purdue, Illinois, Duke and Tennessee are notable highly-rated teams that have played a top 20 strength of schedules. Alabama, Auburn and Texas Tech have played the No. 1, 2 and 4 toughest strength of schedule through early February with SEC's Arkansas, Kentucky and Texas also top 15 SOS.

Select matchups and game odds with any additional stats, picks and information you can bet on provided as able as the season moves through February and into the conference tournaments and Big Dance. 

You can bet on it.

FairwayJay is a proven sports handicapper and insightful analyst with proven winning results including in college basketball. He chips in additional sports betting coverage and reporting on industry news and events. Read more great insights from FairwayJay and follow him on Twitter: @FairwayJay

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