A taste of what's to come?

March is an opportunity. Win a few games, and you can be in the single greatest tournament in sports. And sometimes, that opportunity can be guessing who’s going to win those games. Probably time for periodic Daily writer Greg Waddell to purchase his own subscription.

Let's get to what happened on Saturday.

1. Coogs, Boilers, Vols cap a super Saturday

Saturday’s slate was always backloaded with great games. But this?

This was everything a college hoops could want.

Whether it was Jamal Shead’s game-winner, the Vols (mostly) grinding out a win against Alabama’s potent offense, or Zach Edey doing Zach Edey things (32 points, 11 rebounds), it served as what I can only hope is a delicious appetizer for what’s ahead in March.

Start with No. 2 Purdue (26-3, 15-3 in Big Ten), which beat Michigan State 80-74 and clinched a share of the league title. That’s two in a row (the first since Ohio State in 2006 and 2007) for Matt Painter’s team, and a Big Ten best 26th overall.

The Boilermakers will have a shot as the No. 1 overall seed. And Michigan State? The Spartans (17-12, 9-9) have lost three straight, and Tom Izzo sounds like a guy who’s trying to stay positive.

Given how No. 4 Tennessee is playing, it should join Purdue as a 1 seed. The Vols (23-6, 13-3 in SEC) kept No. 14 Alabama (20-9, 12-4) in check for most of the second half and are now all alone atop the SEC. That they did it without Dalton Knecht going nuclear (13 points on 5-of-14 shooting) and holding Bama to 1 point per possession (the nation’s most efficient offense scores 1.27 ppp) is a credit to how deep and athletic Rick Barnes’ team is.

The most dramatic win of the bunch certainly belonged to No. 1 Houston, which led by 15 with 12 minutes to play, only to see the lead fritter away.

Still, the 87-85 win at Oklahoma (19-10, 7-9 in Big 12) not only kept Houston atop the Big 12, but also showed the Coogs (26-3, 11-3) can grind out wins on the road, even when its nasty defense can’t get every stop. The Sooners scored 1.33 ppp — by far the most against Houston this season, and the most since Baylor in the 2021 Final Four — and his 52.7% of its shots.

It says a lot that Houston could match that offensive performance (56.7% from the field, 1.36 ppp) in a game that coach Kelvin Sampson wasn’t happy about, but didn’t mind the result that came from “winning DNA. We had a lot of things go against us tonight. … We were just plugging the holes in the boat up.”

If that’s plugging the boat up, I can’t wait to see what the rest of the month holds.

2. Bubble winners: Gonzaga, Villanova and … St. John’s?

Saint Mary’s won the WCC, but Gonzaga might still be the team to beat in the conference tournament. What other conclusion can there be after the Zags’ 70-57 victory in Moraga on Saturday night?

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