Texas looking to make some headway in strong Southeastern Conference

The Southeastern Conference has been the best league in college basketball this season, with nine ranked teams and five in the top 10.

One team that hoped to contend for the conference title will likely need a strong finish just to get into the NCAA Tournament.

Texas (15-9, 4-7 SEC) started the season at No. 19 in the preseason AP Top 25, but has had trouble gaining much traction since. The Longhorns lost both of their games last week and are 4-7 since the start of the new year.

Texas is No. 31 in the NET rankings and has two big resume-building opportunities against No. 2 Alabama on Tuesday and No. 15 Kentucky on Saturday.

Bubble watch

Arkansas at No. 8 Texas A&M, Saturday. The Razorbacks (14-9, 3-7 SEC, No. 43 NET) are coming off a tight loss to No. 2 Alabama and are 7-9 against the top three quadrants.

UCLA at Illinois, Saturday. The Bruins (18-6, 9-4 Big Ten, No. 25 NET) once looked like a lost cause with a stretch of five losses in six games, but have won seven straight to strengthen their NCAA Tournament resume.

West Virginia vs. BYU, Tuesday and at Baylor, Saturday. The Mountaineers (15-8, 6-6 Big 12, No. 38 NET) have wins over Kansas, Gonzaga and Arizona, but have lost six of nine.

Key ratings

Villanova: The Wildcats (14-10, 7-6 Big East) picked up a key win over Xavier last week to move up to No. 53 in the NET. Villanova faces a huge game against No. 8 St. John’s on Wednesday.

San Diego State: With the Mountain West Conference likely to get fewer NCAA Tournament teams than last year’s six, the Aztecs (15-6, 8-4) could use a strong finish. San Diego State is No. 52 in the NET, with games against Boise State, Utah State and New Mexico still on its schedule.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball