These are unusual times for Minnesota, which will be able to safely relax on Selection Sunday after completing the largest win-difference turnaround in college basketball this season. The Gophers bring a seven-game winning streak into Thursday’s matchup against visiting Nebraska, which is looking to avoid a play-in game in next week’s Big Ten tournament.

Central Florida looks to reach 20 victories for the first time since 2013 and end the regular season with five consecutive victories when it visits Sunshine State rival South Florida on Thursday for an American Athletic Conference battle. The Knights capped their four-game winning streak with an emotional 53-49 triumph against No. 20 Cincinnati on Sunday, holding the Bearcats to 29.6 percent from the field.

No. 20 Cincinnati’s hopes of a regular-season American Athletic Conference title took a hit Sunday, but it hopes to get back on track at home on Thursday by continuing its domination of Houston. The Bearcats have won 28 of their 30 all-time meetings with the Cougars, including all 14 at home. 

No. 19 SMU looks to extend its home winning streak to 21 games when it faces Tulsa on Thursday. The surging Mustangs have won 11 consecutive contests overall and are coming off a 69-61 victory against Connecticut on Feb. 25 to take a one-game lead over 20th-ranked Cincinnati in the race for the American Athletic Conference regular-season title.

Wisconsin is sliding in the wrong direction with four defeats in its past five games and the No. 21 Badgers look to stop their funk when they host Iowa in Thursday's Big Ten contest. The Badgers have fallen out of first place and now sit 1 1/2 games behind Purdue with two conference games remaining.

Stanford is surging at just the right time while Colorado has done a little backsliding of late after it appeared to be gathering some late-season steam. It all adds up to a pair of 6-10 Pac-12 teams who meet Thursday night as Stanford calls on the Buffaloes in Boulder.

Memphis looks to break a long losing streak to help strengthen its resume for postseason consideration when it hosts Tulane in an American Athletic Conference contest on Thursday. The Green Wave have lost 11 of their last 12 contests and are coming off a double-overtime setback against Temple, while the Tigers have dropped four straight and five of six.

The battle for a first-round bye in next week’s Pac-12 tournament takes center stage Thursday in Salt Lake City as California aims for a season sweep of Utah. The fourth-place Golden Bears are one game ahead of Utah with two games to go and can secure the coveted bye with a victory over the Utes, who are in sole possession of fifth place.