For most of the season, there was one clear front-runner for National Player of the Year: Buddy Hield.

And no wonder: The Oklahoma senior starting reeling off 30-point games in the Sooners' first contest — and he had a 46-point game in huge matchup with Kansas.

But don't tell Denzel Valentine that the race for the Naismith or Wooden awards is wrapped up — the Michigan State senior has had his eyes on that prize all along.

"Other people may not have thought that, but I felt like the sky was the limit coming into this year," Valentine said. "I knew what I was capable of."

Now, the rest of college basketball is getting a pretty good clue as well.

In the past four games, he has averaged 24.5 points and 10.3 assists a game with three double-doubles — rebounding from a knee injury to help orchestrate Michigan State's recent surge, which has left the Spartans projected as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament in both CBSSports.com and ESPN.com's bracket predictions.

The extra gear has come simultaneous to a slight downturn by Hield, who has fallen a step or two short of the same lofty heights in the past few weeks — a fact that's further underscored given Oklahoma's three losses in the past six games.

And so while Hield might still be the favorite, after months of pundits like myself trying to prematurely hand the goods away, the conversation about this year's Player of the Year suddenly has a new face.

Could Valentine, after all this, wind up walking away with the prize? If he keeps playing the way he is, I'm not betting against him.

"That's one thing about me — I like proving people wrong," Valentine said. "I like winning and I'm very competitive. So when I feel like somebody's doubting me or counting me out, I'm just going to work that much harder, play that much harder. I'm going to beat you."

He has already beaten expectations. The 6-5 swingman might be one of the biggest surprises of the past four years. Hield has long been lauded for his steady improvement since his freshman season, but Valentine might have taken even bigger leaps.

After falling just inside the national top 100 by most recruit ratings out of high school, Valentine averaged only 5.0 and 8.0 points in his first two seasons. This year, he could well be called the nation's most versatile player, averaging 19.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 7.6 assists; he will be the only player to put up at least 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists per game since 1995-96 if those numbers hold.

Meanwhile, Valentine has dominated the Big Ten in so many ways, landing No. 1 in points, assists, defensive rebounds (6.7) and three-pointers made per game (3.4). His offensive rating — 126.1 — is the nation's best and one of only five ratings higher than 125 in the past decade, according to analyst Ken Pomeroy.

There are plenty of other things on Valentine's mind as the Spartans barrel into March — for example, getting back to the Final Four and maybe taking that other award, the national championship, this time.

But he's not shying away from the hype surrounding his name for college hoops' biggest individual accolade either.

"It would be a very huge accomplishment … after all I've been through, throughout my career," he said. "To end out up on top and get that award, that would be huge for me."

Rayno's three pointers

WEEKEND GAME TO WATCH

No. 7 North Carolina at No. 3 Virginia, 5:30 p.m., Saturday (ESPN)

Virginia might be undermanned with the statuses of both forwards Isaiah Wilkins (head) and Evan Nolte (toe) up in the air, but after losses to No. 15 Duke and No. 12 Miami in the past three games, the Cavaliers are desperate to get back on track. The Tar Heels are coming off a pair of strong victories over Miami and N.C. State, but they lost earlier this month to Louisville, Notre Dame and Duke and are trying to maintain their tenuous hold on the ACC. The game will likely have conference standing and NCAA tournament seeding implications on both sides.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

14 Games in which Xavier sophomore and Lakeville North product J.P. Macura has scored in double digits after he scored 19 as the No. 5 Musketeers took down No. 1 Villanova on Wednesday.

0-3 The finish Kansas would have to have in its last three games to lose its grasp on what certainly looks like a 12th consecutive Big 12 title.

6-0 Wisconsin's record in its past six games decided by single digits after the Badgers' 67-59 victory at Iowa. Wisconsin went 0-4 in the four single-digit decisions before that.

FINAL THOUGHT

I won't lie. After Tubby Smith was fired from the Gophers and took a job down in Lubbock, I was among the many who wondered whether the one-time national champion had another surge left in him. But there's no denying he has infused Texas Tech with a different feel than the school has had at least since the Bob Knight era. The Red Raiders have rattled off five consecutive Big 12 wins — the only such streak in program history — bucking Smith's reputation at Minnesota for February crashes. And Texas Tech, which will have its first winning season since 2010, has crept up to a seven seed in CBSSports.com's mock NCAA tournament bracket. But the biggest tests yet to this momentum lie ahead. The Raiders have games at No. 2 Kansas and No. 14 West Virginia before wrapping up the regular season with a game at Kansas State.

BIG TEN POWER POLL

Wisconsin (18-10, 10-5 Big Ten): Athletic director Barry Alvarez has officially posted the head coaching job opening, but after Greg Gard has authored nine victories in the last 10 games, it's probably all his.

Brian Stensaas — Associated Press, Star Tribune

Michigan State (23-5, 10-5): With games against Penn State, Rutgers and Ohio State remaining, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Spartans win out.

Indiana (23-6, 13-3): The Hoosiers have won six of their past eight games and are alone in first place, but they have dates with Iowa and Maryland to end the regular-season slate.

Purdue (21-7, 9-6): The Boilermakers plowed back from a 19-point deficit against Indiana, but they still lost for the third time in five games.

Maryland (23-5, 10-4): The Terrapins have turned the ball over 33 times in the past two games (13 by Melo Trimble), including 15 in a 68-63 loss to the Gophers.

Iowa (20-7, 11-4): The Hawkeyes have lost three of their past four while shooting only 32.9 percent from three-point range.

Penn State (15-13, 6-9): What's going on in Happy Valley? The Nittany Lions have won four of their past five, including beating Indiana and Iowa.

Ohio State (18-11, 10-6): Say this at least: the Buckeyes have had an uncanny steadiness in beating the teams they "should" be beating in conference play.

Michigan (20-9, 10-6): The Wolverines are very close to sliding off the bubble after an uninspiring month of competition,

Gophers (8-19, 2-13): The Gophers appear to be playing their best basketball after their first two-game winning streak since November.

Nebraska (14-15, 6-10): Opponents have made at least nine three-point attempts in three of the Cornhuskers' past four losses.

Northwestern (14-15, 6-10): The Wildcats haven't scored more than 63 points in four consecutive games. Long ago are the days of apparent improvement.

Illinois (12-16, 4-11): The Illini have squandered first-half leads in each of the past two games, losses at Wisconsin and at home to Indiana.

Rutgers (6-22, 0-15): The Scarlet Knights have only three more chances to avoid going winless in the conference this season.