College Basketball Daily Feast: Texas Wins, Jim Calhoun Suspended, Duke Favored

Welcome to the TeamRankings.com Daily Feast, where every weekday we stuff your head with the tastiest data-driven insights on college hoops.

Coffee & Cooler Talk: News And Results From Yesterday

In Big Ten play, Ohio State easily handled Illinois, 89-70, and in a game with huge bubble implications, Michigan State won at Minnesota, 53-48. At 6-9 in Big Ten play, Minnesota's at-large chances are looking slim. They'll likely need to rely on winning the conference tournament to get an NCAA birth. Our Big Ten tournament simulation gives them only a 1% chance to do so.

Tennessee completed a season sweep of Vanderbilt, winning 60-51 on the road. Tennessee has been better on the road than at home this season, with a high away power rating and a negative home court advantage.

Texas suspended forward Alexis Wangmene indefinitely for a violation of team rules. They did fine without him last night, pasting Iowa State at home, 76-53. Wangmene's absence shouldn't be a big issue for the Longhorns: he has contributed only three percent of the team's points and six percent of the rebounds.

Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun was suspended by the NCAA for three games due to recruiting violations. The penalty, however, won't be served until next year, and there is no postseason ban for the Huskies, so their one percent chance to win the NCAA tournament hasn't been wiped out.

Coastal Carolina was stunned at home by UNC Asheville in an amazing finish: Asheville's Matt Dickey stole an inbounds court at half court and hit a running three at the buzzer. The loss doesn't hurt Coastal Carolina much, as they're still in first place in the Big South standings by half a game, but it does move UNC Asheville up to third place.

Finally, some news from Division III. Caltech ended a 310-game conference losing streak last night. Yes, you read that right. It was their first conference win in over 26 years. As you might expect, there was an enthusiastic court storming. No team in Division I comes close to that kind of futility: the current longest losing streak belongs to Centenary at 33 games.

Lunchtime Reading: Interesting Posts from around the Blogosphere

Ohio State's recent struggles, if you can apply that label to losing at Purdue and Wisconsin, have been driven more by a declining defense than a sputtering offense. The Mikan Drill takes a look at one contributing factor: Jared Sullinger's lazy defense (his term, not mine).

Lost Letterman gives us a rundown of which coaches are sitting on the hottest seats.

Dinner & a Game: Notes on Tonight’s Hottest Games

No. 24 Cincinnati at No. 10 Georgetown The worst Cincinnati loss all season was to No. 23 West Virginia, and they won at No. 17 St. John's. They did play a soft non-conference schedule, but they're 8-6 in a tough Big East.

No. 27 Temple at No. 2 Duke Duke is favored by 13.5, but the Blue Devils have laid some eggs in recent years in late-season non-conference play.

No. 9 Wisconsin at No. 44 Michigan Do you like close, low scoring games? The Vegas implied final score for this game is 63-59, Wisconsin.

No. 38 Florida St at No. 43 Maryland Florida State hasn't missed Chris Singleton yet, winning both games in his absence, but TeamRankings gives Maryland a 70.6% chance to win tonight.

No. 33 Kansas St at No. 52 Nebraska A battle of giant killers. Can Kansas State continue to build on their upset of Kansas? Or will Nebraska keep rolling after taking down Texas?

No. 20 N Carolina at No. 77 NC State This could be a shootout, as the Vegas implied score is 75-70, and the TeamRankings predictive model is leaning towards the over (though with only 51 percent confidence).

No. 72 Baylor at No. 23 Missouri Baylor is in big trouble after losing at home to Texas Tech. They need a win tonight just to get back on the radar of the Selection Committee.