The quest for undefeated conference records came to an end for a number of teams this week. Florida Gulf Coast of the Atlantic Sun saw their undefeated chances end at home in a surprise 97-93 loss to Kennesaw State (10-17, 6-6).

Montana also lost fairly shockingly, seeing there 13 game win streak come to an end at Eastern Washington (13-13, 8-5) 74-65.

One of the more crushing defeats was to East Tennessee State, that maybe, perhaps, slightly, had half a chance to be an at-large team had they only lost in the conference championship. To be fair, this loss to UNC Greensboro (21-6, 12-2) was the “best” loss of the bunch, the manner they lost – 74-56 – all but asures they have zero shot of an at-large bid.

Finally, New Mexico State lost 86-79 on the road to Utah Valley (18-8, 7-3). New Mexico State was also a team that was starting to amass a bit of a cult following online, but this loss comes at a terrible time for a team hoping for an at-large bid.

After the carnage of this week – in mid-major in power conferences – we now have exactly two teams that remain undefeated in conference. The Vermont Catamounts (22-5, 12-0) of the American East and Rhode Island (21-3, 13-0) of the Atlantic 10.

Weekend Preview –

Speaking of Rhode Island, the Rams face a tough road game at St. Bonaventure (19-6, 9-4) tonight at 7:00 on ESPN2. Vegas likes the Rams as a slight favorite at -1.5. The Rams handled the Bonnies on their home court in mid-January by the score of 87-73.

At 9:00 on ESPNU, the top two teams in the Horizon League Northern Kentucky (19-7, 12-2) travels to Wright State (19-8, 11-3) in a game that looks like it will determine the regular season champions of the conference. On 1/11, Wright State knocked off The Norse of Northern Kentucky 84-81, so if Wright State wins tonight they’ll not only tie NKU atop the conference, but will hold the tiebreaker.

Despite the docket being huge on Saturday, nothing really stands out. One interesting game is The Wolf Pack of Nevada (22-5, 11-2, 1st in Mountain West) traveling to Utah State (14-13, 7-7, 7th MW) Utah State won’t be dancing, barring a miracle run in the conference tournament, but they do play well at home 10-3, and it wouldn’t be the first time Nevada had a let down shortly after making it into the Top-25, taking losses to San Fransisco, Wyoming, and UNLV. This could be a chance to see if they will be a legitimate threat in late March, or will be packing their bags early. This one airs on CBSSN on 6:00

Sunday is a relatively quiet day in NCAA Hoops as a whole. Like Saturday, nothing really stands out. At 1:00 on Sunday, streaming on ESPN3, two of the better teams in the American East, Albany (20-8, 8-5) and UMBC (18-9, 9-3) square off. Both of these teams have already had their shot at undefeated Vermont, but they both are capable of providing a stern battle come conference time, ending Vermont’s hopes of Dancing in March.

Finally, the top two teams in the MAAC, Canisius (18-9, 12-2) and Rider (20-7, 13-2) meet in Lawerenceville, NJ, home to the Rider Broncos. Rider has won nine games in a row, and can pretty much lock up a conference title in the one seed in the MAAC tournament with a victory against Canisius, who has won five in a row. Rider looks to get payback here as Canisius beat them 77-76 in the conference opener for both squads.