Morning Madness: Wednesday, Feb. 22

Here's what you need to know in college hoops for Wednesday, Feb. 22.

Oh boy. Ohhh boy. It's Wednesday. We have some basketball tonight. UNC-Louisville. Butler-Villanova. Duke-Syracuse. Oregon-California. Let's get down to business.

What to watch for today (Hint: everything)

• No. 7 Louisville (22-5) at No. 8 North Carolina (23-5) in a game that in all likelihood will determine the No. 1 team in the No. 1 conference in the country. The Tar Heels have won 11 of their last 13 games, including back-to-back 24-point wins. Lousiville has won 10 of its last 13, but their past three wins have all been by five points or fewer. (9 ET, ESPN) 

• No. 22 Butler (21-6) at No. 2 Villanova (26-2): The Bulldogs are the proud owners of one of Villanova's two losses this season (66-58 on Jan. 4). The Wildcats have already locked up the regular-season Big East title. (9 ET, FS1)

• No. 10 Duke (22-5) at Syracuse (16-12): The Blue Devils had a rocky middle of the season, but they've won seven in a row and sit in second place in the ACC. Syracuse has dropped three in a row, but does have two top 10 wins in its past seven games. (7 ET, ESPN) 

• No. 6 Oregon (24-4) at California (18-8): California has dropped two road games in a row and Oregon has won its past three. California leads the all-time series 84-58 and has won seven of the last 10 meetings. (9 ET, ESPN2)

• Full Wednesday schedule

In case you missed it

• NC State had lost seven games in a row by an average of 17.7 points a game before Tuesday night's matchup with Georgia Tech in Atlanta, where the Yellow Jackets have some NCAA tournament hopes. But the Wolfpack pulled out the 71-69 win after Tech missed a great look at a game-winning three-pointer.

• No. 9 Baylor took down Oklahoma 60-54, completing a season sweep for only the third time during the Big 12 era.

• No. 13 Florida had little trouble with South Carolina, winning 81-66 (Watch the highlights here). The score was tied with under a minute left in the first half before KeVaughn Allen picked up a quick steal and finished with this nasty dunk. Florida never trailed after that.

• No. 11 Kentucky beat Missouri, 72-62. The Wildcats host Florida on Saturday with the SEC title in the balance. Both are 23-5, 13-2 in the conference.

• It took an overtime period, but No. 14 Purdue held off Penn State 74-70. Check out the highlights.

• ICYM yesterday's ICYMI, here's our reaction to this week's AP Top 25 and our look behind the numbers of the rankings.

• Full Tuesday scoreboard

Stat of the day

62-2 -- With its 109-83 win over Evansville, Wichita State improved to 62-2 at home in the past four years. That's the second best home winning percentage in that time behind Arizona (66-1).

VIDEO: Newcomer spotlight

Maryland had to replace four starters around Melo Trimble this year. One of those is freshman Anthony Cowen. The 6-foot guard leads Maryland in assists, is third on the team in scoring and has the Terps looking like a lock for their third straight NCAA tournament. WATCH

Bracket tip of the day: How important is it to pick Final Four teams correctly?

The first Thursday and Friday of March Madness may be the two most entertaining days on the sports calendar. Buzzer-beaters, unthinkable upsets and shenanigans everywhere. You name it, those two days have it.

MARCH MADNESS SHOP

NCAA.com's Joe Boozell explains why that doesn't have to be the case in this edition of the Bracket Beat.

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Mark your calendar

Selection Sunday: March 12
First Four in Dayton: March 14, 15
First Thursday of the NCAA tournament: March 16
Final Four in Phoenix: April 1-3

FULL MARCH MADNESS SCHEDULE | TICKETS | SHOP