The wheels are coming off

The GIST: Notre Dame’s aforementioned loss was the biggest upset of a wild Thursday, but last night featured all sorts of bizarre score lines as teams careen towards the postseason. Look out, the wheels are coming off.

Huge blowouts dominate the night: A stunning seven games featuring top-25 teams ended in landslides last night. No. 15 Kentucky and No. 16 Duke both notched big upsets over No. 11 Tennessee and No. 8 UNC respectively, but it was No. 13 Oklahoma who ran up the score the most in their 89–65 spanking of Florida. Holy moly.

• One of the few games that wasn’t a smackdown, surprisingly, was No. 1 Texas’ distressingly narrow 68–64 win over Mississippi State, which was neck-and-neck until the very end. Toss in No. 7 LSU’s overtime 88–85 loss to No. 20 Alabama, and you have one weird night on the hardwood.

No. 5 UConn becomes first Power 5 team to clinch: The Huskies stomped No. 22 Creighton 72–53 to secure the regular-season Big East title, along with the all-important No. 1 seed (plus a first-round bye) in next week’s conference tournament, bringing with it an easier path to a March Madness auto-bid.

• Notre Dame could’ve clinched their conference crown last night, but now, they’re tied with No. 9 NC State for the lead in the ACC.

• It’s a similar scene in the SEC, where Texas and No. 6 South Carolina are in a deadlock for the regular-season crown. But things are even spicier in the Big Ten and Big 12…

Two winner-take-all matchups ahead: Tomorrow holds a rematch made for Hollywood as No. 2 UCLA seeks redemption against crosstown rival No. 4 USC at 9 p.m. ET on FOX. The Trojans handed UCLA their only loss of the season back on Galentine’s Day, but it’s not just revenge on the line: The winner will also clinch the Big Ten regular-season ’ship. And the winner for Best Drama is…

• And in the Big 12, No. 10 TCU (where Sedona Prince is still a starter, BTW…) and No. 17 Baylor will duke it out to break their tie for the regular-season title Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET on FS1. Clear your cal now, you’re booked and busy all weekend.

The GIST: Spring is in the air, but we’re not done with winter just yet — the puck dropped on most women’s hockey conference tournaments this week, the first step on the road to the March 23rd national championship game.

• And while it’s early in the postseason, these games are certainly not short on intrigue: The unique playoff structure makes the hunt for the natty extra-spicy from the beginning.

The context: Like other NCAA sports, hockey’s conference tourneys offer the winner an automatic bid to the national championship bracket. But that’s especially coveted in women’s hockey because the bracket is so small: Only five auto-bids and six at-large selections qualify for the 11-team natty.

• And while parity is improving, there are still only a handful of teams that dominate that at-large selection process…so if a squad wants to make a Cinderella run to the Frozen Four, they better clinch their spot by winning their conference tourney.

The top contenders: Only five different schools have ever won the sport’s 23 national tournaments, and four of them hail from the WCHA. It’s by far the most competitive conference, containing four of the top six programs, so expect world-class hockey and a whole lot of rivalry action when all eight teams take the ice today starting at 3 p.m. ET.

• No. 9 Clarkson, the fifth program to hoist the hardware, competes in the ECAC, the second-toughest conference. These East Coast early birds are already through their first round, which means quarter-final action awaits you starting today at 2 p.m. ET. Game on.

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🏒 Men’s ice hockey: No. 11 Michigan Wolverines (17-12-3) vs. No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes (20-10-2) — Tonight at 6 p.m. ET — Big Ten Network

• What better way to close out the regular season than by taking down your blood rival? Last night’s opener of the two-game series went to overtime, with Ohio State taking the 2–1 dub thanks to defenseman William Smith’s sudden-death goal. The Fresh Prince of Columbus strikes again.

🥍 Men’s lacrosse: No. 1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3-0) vs. No. 2 Maryland Terrapins (4-0) — Tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET — ACC Network

• Men’s lax wasted no time turning the heat all the way up: This is a rematch of last year’s national title game, featuring the two-time reigning champ Irish and one of the sport’s dynasties. Lax rats, unite.

🏀 Men’s basketball: No. 12 Texas A&M Aggies (20-8) vs. No. 3 Florida Gators (24-4) — Tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. ET — SEC Network

• Both of these squads were upset by unranked opponents in absolute heartbreakers this week, so they’ll be desperate for a momentum shift. And with less than two weeks until the SEC Tournament, it’s not not time to panic.