There's some great basketball being played down the conference stretch by teams that have improved since the beginning of the year. Here's a list of a few teams. In fact these teams fall into the "no one wants to play these guys" category.

1. Maryland Terrapins.
FEAR THE TURTLE!
The Terps beat Duke at Cameron Indoor (again). The Cameron Crazies student section deserves the credit it gets, but some teams just are not intimidated by what can be a suffocating atmosphere. Take Maryland freshman pointguard Greivis Vasquez. He had 132 points, 12 assists and 9 rebounds.

2. Syracuse Orange
Every year, I get hyped on Syracuse. In 2003, it was Carmelo Anthony leading the 'Cuse to the national championship. In 2005, Hakim Warrick's dunk got my attention. And in 2006. It was (OVERRATED?!) Gerry McNamara's run to the Big East tournament championship. Now it's Eric Devendorf.

3. Michigan State Spartans.
And the pattern continues. It should have been a classic #1 vs. #1 battle in Columbus, Ohio. But as with much of the potential marquee games this season, Wisconsin lost before facing the Ohio State Buckeyes. Tom Izzo's Spartans delivered big blow the visiting Badgers, one game before the anticipated matchup.

4. Louisville Cardinals.
Same theme here. The Cardinals were pronounced dead in the water. But now they're one of the hottest teams in the country. They've won they're last five games since a loss against the Georgetown Hoyas. And two of those wins were against ranked teamas on the road (Marquette and Pittsburgh).

And what do the above four teams have in common? Championship coaches.
Gary Williams, Jim Boeheim, Tom Izzo and Rick Pitino all have NCAA championships and more than one Final Four run under their belts.