Xavier-Temple

ESPN’s Gameday crew will be in Vanderbilt on Saturday night anticipating the visit from #1 Kentucky, and while I can’t deny the caliber of that game, there’s three others that stand out even more, in terms of a directly impacting a conference championship. The biggest game of the day is Michigan State-Ohio State, which is at least on right before Kentucky-Vandy, tipping off at 6 PM ET on ESPN from Columbus. The other two won’t grab national attention, but first place goes on the line in the Mountain West with San Diego State-UNLV and in the Atlantic 10 with Xavier-Temple (9 PM ET, ESPN2). With these three games as the centerpiece of TheSportsNotebook, here’s a breakdown of how things shape up around the country…