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College Basketball Best Bets: Conference Tournament Semifinal Picks

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Mar 12, 2026; Kansas City, MO, USA; Houston Cougars guard Emanuel Sharp (21) rebounds during the second half against the BYU Cougars at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn ImagesMar 12, 2026; Kansas City, MO, USA; Houston Cougars guard Emanuel Sharp (21) rebounds during the second half against the BYU Cougars at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images

Championship Week rolls on Friday with several semifinal games on the schedule featuring some of the best teams in the country. It’s definitely more fun to make picks for semifinal games with the stakes elevated even higher.

Today’s NCAA Basketball Best Bets will feature three conference semifinal contests.

Let’s get started by talking about the Big Easy Tournament Semifinal featuring the Georgetown Hoyas and No. 6 Connecticut Huskies before moving on to ACC and Big 12 Semifinal games.

Big East Tournament – Semifinal: Georgetown vs. No. 6 UConn

Georgetown ended the regular season with a 14-17 record after going 1-7 down the stretch. They should have been an early out in the Big East Tournament, but instead, they upset Villanova to earn a spot in the semifinals. Cinderellas win all the time; could they do it again?

If the regular season is any indication, maybe. The Hoyas and Huskies played twice, UConn won both, but by a two-point margin in one (64-62) and a four-point margin in the other (79-75). But on paper, these games shouldn’t have even been close.

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My Pick: UConn -13.5 at -106

I’m a little nervous about this one because of the regular-season games being so close. But after watching the beatdown they gave Xavier, the dominant version of UConn appears to be back. The Huskies will cover this large spread.

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ACC Tournament – Semifinal: Clemson vs. No. 1 Duke

If the Clemson Tigers were wondering how to beat Duke, the Florida State Seminoles were kind enough to give them a blueprint Thursday night: hit 52% of your shots, including 10+ three-pointers, force turnovers, and generate points from those turnovers.

In Clemson’s regular-season matchup with Duke, they shot 35% from the floor, hit 6 of 24 three-pointers, and scored eight points off nine turnovers (Duke scored 13 off ten).

The Tigers are certainly competitive on the defensive end (No. 23 in the country, 66.2 points per game allowed). But not so much on the offensive end (No. 223, 77.4 points per game). They are a decent three-point shooting team (34%) and are capable of generating turnovers (11.59 per game).

My Pick: Duke -11.5

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Clemson’s defense will keep them from getting blown out, but their offense is going to struggle against the Duke defense (No. 2 in the country, 62.5 points per game allowed).

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Big 12 Tournament – Semifinal: No. 14 Kansas vs. No. 5 Houston

Kansas was the third loss in Houston’s three-game losing streak late in the season and essentially beat the Cougars at their own game: they played better defense. Houston shot a dreadful 32% in that game, while Kansas made one more shot (22 to 21) and took 16 fewer shots (50 to 66).

The Jayhawks also won the three-point line, going 7-17 while holding Houston to 5-24.

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The Cougars rebounded with three strong wins to close the regular season and had a solid outing against BYU in their tournament opener. Kansas came out on top of a battle with TCU in the quarterfinals Thursday night.

My Pick: Houston -5.5

Kansas deserved to win their first meeting with Houston, but the Cougars defense is too good not to have a better performance this time around. Houston’s balanced offense will get the job done this time against the Jayhawks defense.

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Guard play will be key for Vanderbilt, Arkansas in SEC final

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Syndication: The TennesseanVanderbilt guard Duke Miles (2) starts a fast break against Florida during their semifinal game of the 2026 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, March 14, 2026.

NASHVILLE — No. 22 Vanderbilt will try to win its first Southeastern Conference tournament championship since 2012 when it meets 17th-ranked Arkansas on Sunday.

The Commodores (26-7), playing two miles from their campus, routed fourth-ranked Florida (the tournament’s top seed) by a 91-74 score on Saturday, snapping the Gators’ 12-game winning streak.

“Proud of the guys,” Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington said afterward. “Not really much celebrating. It’s on to Sunday, and that’s what we started this tournament for, is to play for a trophy on Sunday, and that’s what we have a chance to do tomorrow.”

Vanderbilt enters on a four-game winning streak, none of those wins coming on its campus.

Arkansas (25-8) has also won four straight, surviving in a 93-90 overtime win over Ole Miss to get here.

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It’ll be the third game in three days for both teams, and Arkansas coach John Calipari was particularly perturbed about tournament scheduling on Friday evening.

After beating Oklahoma in a game that ended around 11:30 p.m. Central on Friday, Calipari lamented a Sunday tip-off that comes less than 19 hours after Arkansas finished off the Rebels.

Vanderbilt knows something about overcoming difficult circumstances lately.

The Commodores struggle against teams with size and rebounding, but in their last three games have knocked off the nation’s top offensive rebounding team in Tennessee (twice) and then clocked the Gators, who rank second.

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Vanderbilt was beaten on the glass by Tennessee by counts of 40-31 and 46-34, and then 38-23 by Florida.

But neither team could come close to matching Vanderbilt’s guard play of Tyler Tanner (19.2 ppg, 5.2 apg, 2.4 spg) and Duke Miles (16.5 ppg, 4.2 apg, 2.6 spg).

The two have been a wrecking crew most of the season through their quickness and play-making ability. Tanner was a first-team All-SEC pick and Miles scored 30 in the win Friday over Tennessee.

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Arkansas also has elite guards, led by SEC Player of the Year Darius Acuff Jr. (22.7 ppg, 6.5 apg) and Meleek Thomas (15.6 ppg). Acuff scored 24 and dished out seven assists on Saturday and Thomas added 29 and five.

Thomas played all 45 minutes on Saturday, just as he did in an 88-84 win over Missouri when Acuff was out with injury.

“There is no one that would say to Meleek anything that would believe him to believe he’s not as good as good as any player in the country,” Calipari said after Saturday. “He has otherworldly — otherworldly, now — confidence. Like, he could run for president one day. … I’ve gotta let him do some crazy stuff. I get on him but he’ll look at me like, ‘You’re nuts. You don’t have any idea how good I am.’ And I love that.”

The Razorbacks handed Vanderbilt its most lopsided loss of the season with a 93-68 walloping in Fayetteville on Jan. 20.

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Arkansas is best in the country at avoiding turnovers (12.2%), per KenPom.

The 6-foot-3 Acuff and 6-5 Thomas also have the height advantage, respectively, on Tanner (6-0) and Miles (6-2), who had just 11 and five points, respectively, in the first game.

–Chris Lee, Field Level Media

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Inter held meeting with referees’ team after controversial Atalanta draw

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Serie A league leaders Inter felt undone in their 1-1 draw against Atalanta, as La Dea were handed a controversial goal and the Nerazzurri were also denied a clear penalty late in the tie.

The scenes were rather ugly towards the conclusion of the game, as Cristian Chivu was also sent off for dissent.

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La Gazzetta dello Sport – relayed by Calciomercato, report that Inter CEO Beppe Marotta and sporting director Piero Ausilio spoke to the refereeing team after the tie. The conversation has been described as rather polite.

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This is the second time Inter had complained to the refs, with the first instance coming in the loss to Napoli earlier in the campaign. Unlike that point, Inter went into a media blackout and no one from the club came forward to make statements.

After the Napoli controversy, Marotta had questioned the calls. This time, the league leaders remainded silent and let that do the talking.

Kaustubh Pandey I GIFN

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“That’s BIG V impact” – Fans react as BTS’ Taehyung hits 3M TikTok followers in under 48 hours without posts or verification

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On March 14, X account, TheePopCore reported that BTS’ Taehyung had crossed three million followers on TikTok. The milestone arrived in less than 48 hours after the account appeared online. What makes the moment unusual is the lack of activity on the page, which has the username @tete_kimv.

There are no uploads, no verification badge, and no official confirmation attached to the profile as of now. Even so, curiosity spread rapidly among admirers. As a result, the follower count continued rising at an impressive pace.

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“That’s BIG V impact,” an X user commented.

Fans are hailing Taehyung’s impact.

Sheer social media powerKim Taehyung is in his own league

TAEHYUNG POWER 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Others are hailing him as a “king.”

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We call him King of this nation🤴

This isn’t easy but he’s is Kim taehyung. King behaviour


More about BTS’ Taehyung’s alleged TikTok account

The TikTok profile, @tete_kimv, first surfaced on March 13. Soon after fans discovered the page, the numbers began climbing almost instantly. Within only a few hours, the account had already attracted more than 434,000 followers. Interest kept building throughout the evening. Soon, the total had already crossed one million followers. The sudden growth, therefore, turned the quiet launch into a widely discussed topic across fan communities.

Early interactions around the account also offered an important hint. j-hope and Jungkook appeared among the first followers. At that point, they remained the only BTS members actively present on TikTok. Their connection to the new page quickly caught attention. Fans noticed the unfamiliar username in their following list. Naturally, speculation began spreading online. Many observers soon concluded that the account likely belonged to Taehyung.

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The discovery itself unfolded through careful observation. On March 12, one day before the profile appeared, Jungkook had quietly adjusted his TikTok following list. After that change, only Hobi and the official BTS account remained visible. When fans checked the list again the following day, a new profile had suddenly appeared. That small update sparked immediate discussion. ARMY members compared details and timing. The connection became clear to many fans within minutes.

Meanwhile, the timing of the account has also sparked excitement about possible content. In a recent interview with GQ, V and Jungkook spoke about the idea of trying TikTok challenges together after a fan suggested it. For now, fans continue watching the page closely in anticipation of the first post.


In other news, Kim Tae-hyung remained a major talking point during Paris Fashion Week even without attending Celine’s Celine Hiver 2026 show on March 7. The brand’s official X account shared a photo taken by him with hashtags linked to the event, which quickly drew attention online.