The 20 college basketball teams that most need to win this weekend

We are a mere nine days until Selection Sunday, which means it's do-or-die time for many college basketball teams nationwide. A look at the 20 teams that most need to win this weekend, and why:

1. Kentucky. Game: Florida at home, Saturday. Sure, in the national championship sense this game is utterly meaningless. But the Wildcats are hunting bigger game now – an undefeated national championship and the chance to shoulder in alongside the great teams in college basketball history. To lose that now would be a colossal buzz kill – and to lose that at home, to this dysfunctional Florida team, would be particularly depressing.

2. North Florida. Game: Atlantic Sun final, Sunday. The Ospreys have never been to the NCAA tournament. They won the A-Sun title and finished four games in front of their opponent in the final, USC Upstate, but lost both meetings with the Spartans in the regular season. In fact, they've lost five straight in the series and were eliminated by Upstate last season in the tourney semifinals. Six straight, with everything on the line? That would be ugly.

3. High Point. Games: Big South quarterfinals vs. Gardner-Webb, Friday. The Panthers' bid to earn their first NCAA tournament berth hit a big obstacle with an overtime loss to Gardner-Webb. They won the most games of any team in the Big South (22) and have the highest Ken Pomeroy rating (131), but are now in big trouble.

4. Yale.

Game: at Harvard on Friday night. The Bulldogs got what they needed, completing a sweep of the Crimson and clinching no worse than a tie for the Ivy League title. If they follow up with a victory over Dartmouth on Saturday, they'll advance to their first NCAA tournament since 1962. Taking out their archrivals – who began the season in the top 25 – makes the accomplishment all the sweeter.

5. Murray State. Game: Ohio Valley Conference final, Saturday. The Racers have dominated the league, going a perfect 16-0. They've won 24 straight after starting 2-4. They've had a great season. And yet the only way they're getting to the NCAA tournament is if they win the conference in Nashville this weekend. Lose, and welcome to the NIT.

6. (Tie) Illinois and Purdue. They play each other Saturday in West Lafayette, and they both need the win badly. Winner gets a boost, loser heads to Chicago for the Big Ten tournament trying to fight off panic.

8. Texas. Game: Kansas State in Austin on Saturday. Beating the Wildcats at home is mandatory for a team still trying to scramble its way onto the right side of the bubble. Then there may be additional work to do at the Big 12 tournament.

9. Miami. Game: At Virginia Tech, which is last in the ACC at 2-15 and on a six-game losing streak. Beating the Hokies won't get the Hurricanes into the Dance, but losing to them would keep 'Canes from any realistic shot at an at-large bid.

10. North Carolina. Game: Duke, Saturday. Tar Heels aren't in any NCAA tournament jeopardy, but they sure don't want to lose a third straight to the Blue Devils. And they'd like to secure a top-four ACC tournament seed and coveted double bye. And the Heels haven't beaten a good team in six weeks, or a likely NCAA tournament team in two months. Time to give the home fans something to get excited about.

11. Tulsa. Game: SMU at home, Sunday. Bubblicious Golden Hurricane lost a big one at home Wednesday to Cincinnati, which ramps up the stakes for this game. And beyond the NCAA ramifications is this: winner takes the regular-season title in the American Athletic Conference.

12. Stanford. Game: at Arizona on Saturday. Cardinal is on the outside at the moment, according to several projections, but beating a top-five team can change that in a hurry. Still, if it doesn't happen, it's not a bad loss and there is a chance for a do-over in the Pac-12 tournament.

13. Louisville. Game: Virginia at home, Saturday. Cardinals dropped to 2-2 without Chris Jones in a home loss to Notre Dame on Wednesday. If they want to show the selection committee they're still a contender without Jones, shocking the Cavaliers would do it. With a loss, Louisville could wind up sliding down to the No. 6 seed line – well below where it has been in projections all season.

14. Temple.

Game: Connecticut at home, Saturday. The Owls are theoretically (and barely) in the field on the strength of a single victory: a 25-point beatdown of Kansas in December. The Owls are trying to overcome a 1-5 record against the teams above them in the AAC standings. Sweeping the defending national champions would help.

15. Indiana. Game: Michigan State at home, Saturday. The hysteria mongers would have you believe Tom Crean is coaching for his job against the Spartans. Athletic director Fred Glass tamped that down Thursday, and Crean's contract (which calls for about an $11 million buyout before July 1) did the rest. Beating the Spartans would work wonders for the Hoosiers' sliding NCAA profile, but losing is not a death knell. It would, however, make Indiana's first Big Ten tournament game a must-win endeavor.

16. Colorado State. Game: at Utah State, Saturday. Rams need every Mountain West win they can get to override the lack of quality victories in the non-conference schedule. Beating beloved, longtime Aggies coach Stew Morrill in his final home game is a daunting task – but failing to do so could push Colorado State to the wrong side of the bubble.

17. North Carolina State. Game: Syracuse at home, Saturday. Victory would get the bubble-addicted Wolfpack above .500 in ACC play for the year, and would help mitigate the damage done by losing to Boston College last week and Wake Forest last month. Lose this one, and the ACC tournament becomes an even more desperate undertaking.

18. Old Dominion. Game: Western Kentucky at home, Saturday. Monarchs are 1-3 against the rest of the Conference USA top five, all of which are clustered between 14-3 and 11-5. Beating the Hilltoppers adds another small layer of respectability, but ODU may have to win the C-USA tournament unless it gets some bubble implosion help.

19. Richmond. Game: Saint Louis at home, Saturday. Spiders' current five-game winning streak has pushed them into at-large contention. The résumé is highlighted by a sweep of VCU, but there are some problematic losses as well. All things considered, Richmond likely would have to at least reach the Atlantic-10 final, if not win it outright.

20. LSU. Game: at Arkansas, Saturday. The Tigers likely wouldn't fall out of the bracket with a loss at the Razorbacks, but they've forfeited much of their margin for error with losses to the dregs of the SEC: Missouri, Mississippi State and Auburn. Adding a 15-point home loss to Tennessee this week to the pile of ugly defeats did not help. LSU can afford to lose, but a blowout could be damaging.

More college basketball coverage: