College basketball this week: North Carolina chases No. 1 seed

March is here. Well, OK, it will be in a couple of days.

With the regular season complete in some leagues and in its final week in others, teams are putting the finishing touches on their résumés for the NCAA committee’s consideration. Here are a few things to monitor over the next few days.

Game of the week

No. 8 North Carolina at No. 19 Virginia, Monday, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN

A No.-1 regional seed is in sight for the Tar Heels. But they have a difficult stretch run to negotiate if they want to stay on the top line of the bracket, including a season finale against a certain archrival from their triangular neighborhood.

First, however, they must contend with the Cavaliers, who snapped a four-game skid over the weekend. Virginia suffered a 24-point drubbing on UNC’s home court during that losing streak, but this one should be more competitive if the Cavs find the range early.

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Player to watch

Scoochie Smith, Dayton

A veteran point guard is a true luxury in March. The Flyers have one, and Smith proved his mettle in Saturday’s overtime win at Davidson. The 6-2 senior scored 11 of his 17 points in the extra session while also finishing with his usual five assists. Dayton can close out the Atlantic-10 regular-season title Wednesday night against Virginia Commonwalth (8 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network). The Rams won the first encounter in Richmond and can position themselves to claim the top seed if they can complete the sweep of Dayton.

Conference to watch

Southeastern

We focus on the SEC in the early part of the week once again, as a couple of the most intriguing bubble candidates have opportunities to move closer to safe territory. In both cases, however, it will require a strong performance on the road.

Vanderbilt gets its chance Tuesday night at first-place Kentucky (9 p.m. ET, ESPN). But the Wildcats just regained the league lead with a hard-fought triumph against Florida and won’t be eager to give it up.

As for Florida, the Gators will look to rebound from that setback in Lexington at home Wednesday against Arkansas (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2). The Razorbacks enter on a five-game winning streak that has improved their case, and a win in Gainesville would help even more.

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