College basketball games to watch and bet leading up to the NCAA Tournament

Just two weeks remain in the 2022-23 college basketball regular season for major conference teams. The bracket watch is followed daily ahead of next months NCAA Tournament. Smaller conferences are down to their final week with a focus on the upcoming conference tournaments and just one team receiving an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The big conferences and top teams across the AP Top 25 still have much to settle with regular season titles ahead of the conference tournaments, and more at large bids awarded to the Big Dance beyond the conference tournament champions.

Let's take a look at some of the tight conference races and key games to close the season that will decide regular season titles, and which top teams to watch ahead of the conference tournaments and NCAA Tournament. As the NCAA Tournament approaches in mid March, I'll be adding a Countdown to the NCAA Tournament with top teams (1-5 seeds) and team profiles including stats. 

With No. 1 Alabama losing to No. 10 Tennessee this week, and No. 3 Purdue losing twice to Northwestern and Maryland, we're going to see No. 4 UCLA move up next week and No. 5 Kansas and No. 6 Texas continue their push for a Big 12 title and potential No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed. 

Sat., Feb. 18 Key Games

Check back by Saturday morning for betting lines from leading online sportsbooks. (Odds posted Friday evening courtesy of BetOnline)

No. 9 Baylor at No. 5 Kansas (-5.5)
No. 19 Iowa State at No. 12 Kansas State (-3)
No. 10 Tennessee (-2) at Kentucky
Georgia at No. 1 Alabama (-18.5)
Illinois at No. 14 Indiana (-6)
Wake Forest at No. 15 Miami (-6.5)
Oklahoma at No. 6 Texas (-11)
Oklahoma State at No. 22 TCU (-5)
Seton Hall at No. 20 Connecticut (-10) 
Texas A&M at Missouri (-2)
Fordham at VCU (-8)
Duquesne at St. Louis (-4.5)
Nevada at Utah State (-4.5)
Michigan State at Michigan (-2.5)

Major Conference Races

American Athletic

Houston (12-1, 24-2)
Memphis (10-3, 20-6)
Tulane (9-3, 16-7)

Atlantic 10

VCU (10-3, 19-7)
Fordham (9-4, 21-5)
Dayton (9-4, 17-9)
St. Louis (9-4, 17-9)
Duquesne (8-5, 18-8)

ACC

Virginia (12-3, 20-4)
Pittsburgh (12-3, 19-7)
Miami (12-4, 21-5)
Clemson (11-4, 19-7)
NC State (10-6, 20-7)
Duke (9-6, 18-8)
Wake Forest (9-6, 17-9) 

Big 12 

Kansas (9-4, 21-5)
Texas (9-4, 20-6)
Baylor (9-4, 20-6)
Iowa State (8-5, 17-8)
Kansas State 7-6, 19-7)

Big East
Marquette (13-3, 21-6)
Providence (11-4, 19-7)
Xavier (11-4, 19-7)
Creighton (11-4, 17-9)
UConn (8-7, 19-7)

Big Ten 

Purdue (12-4, 23-4)
Northwestern (10-5, 19-7)
Indiana (9-6, 18-8)
Maryland (9-6, 18-8)
Iowa (9-6, 17-9)
Illinois (8-6, 17-8)
Michigan State (8-6, 16-9)
Rutgers (8-7, 16-10)

Pac 12
UCLA (13-2, 22-4)
Arizona (12-4, 23-4)
USC (10-5, 18-8)

SEC
Alabama (12-1, 22-4)
Texas A&M (11-2, 19-7)
Tennessee (9-4, 20-6)
Auburn (8-5, 18-8)
Kentucky (8-5, 17-9)
Missouri (7-6, 19-7)
Arkansas (6-7, 17-9) 

Other Conferences regular season title races

Big West
UC Santa Barbara (11-3, 20-5)
UC Irvine (11-3, 18-8)

Ivy
Yale (7-3, 17-6)
Princeton (7-3, 16-7))

MAAC
Iona (11-3, 18-7)
Rider (11-3, 14-9)
Siena (11-4, 17-9)

MAC
Kent State (11-2, 21-5)
Toledo (11-2, 20-6)
Ball State (10-3, 19-7)
Akron (10-3, 18-8)

Missouri Valley
Drake (13-4, 22-6)
Bradley (13-4, 20-8)
Southern Illinois (12-5, 20-8)
Indiana State (12-5, 19-9)

Mountain West 
San Diego State (12-2, 21-5)
Boise State (10-3, 20-6)
Nevada (10-3, 20-6)
Utah State (9-5, 20-7)

Southern
Samford (13-2, 19-9)
Furman (12-3, 21-7)
UNC Greensboro (12-3, 18-10)

Southland 
Northwestern State (11-3, 19-8)
Texas A&M-CC (11-3, 18-9)

Sun Belt
Southern Miss (12-3, 23-5)
Marshall (11-4, 22-6)
UL Lafayette (11-4, 22-6)

West Coast
St. Mary's (12-1, 23-5)
Gonzaga (11-2, 22-5)

Key games

Feb. 19 
Memphis at Houston
Iowa at Northwestern 

Feb. 20
Kansas at TCU 

Feb. 21 
Baylor at Kansas State
Marquette at Creighton
Indiana at Michigan State
Tennessee at Texas A&M

Feb. 22
Tulane at Houston
Wake Forest at NC State
Providence at UCONN 

Feb. 23
Northwestern at Illinois 

Feb. 25
Clemson at NC State
Texas at Baylor
Indiana at Purdue
Arkansas at Alabama
Auburn at Kentucky
Furman at Samford
Northwestern State at Texas A&M-CC
St. Mary's at Gonzaga 

Feb. 26
Northwestern at Maryland 

Feb. 28
St. Louis at VCU
Clemson at Virginia
NC State at Duke
Iowa at Indiana
Arkansas at Tennessee 

March 1
Texas at TCU
Xavier at Providence
Auburn at Alabama 

March 3 
Dayton at St. Louis 

March 4 
Duquesne at Fordham
Pittsburgh at Miami
Kansas at Texas 
Iowa State at Baylor
Arizona at UCLA
Alabama at Texas A&M
Tennessee at Auburn
Kentucky at Arkansas 

March 5 
Houston at Memphis
Kansas at Texas
Illinois at Purdue
Northwestern at Rutgers  

2023 NCAA Tournament Conference Breakdown 
Per Joe Lunardi (ESPN)

Big Ten - 9
Big 12 - 8
ACC - 7
SEC - 7
Big East - 5
Mountain West - 3
Pac-12 - 2
WCC - 2
American - 2

National Championship Odds
(Odds from BetOnline as of Feb. 17) 

+750 - Houston
+900 - Alabama
+1000 - Purdue, UCLA
+1100 - Kansas
+1400 - Arizona
+1800 - Tennessee, Baylor
+2000 - Connecticut
+2500 - Creighton, Texas, Indiana
+2800 - Virginia, Gonzaga
+4000 - St. Mary's
+4500 - Marquette, Iowa State, TCU, Xavier
+5000 - Kansas State
+5500 - Miami, Arkansas
+6000 - Duke
+6600 - Illinois
+7500 - North Carolina, Maryland
+8000 - Kentucky, San Diego State
+10000 - Auburn, Providence, Northwestern
+12500 - Michigan State

FairwayJay is a leading national sports handicapper and is recognized as one of the sports industry's most insightful analysts. 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