NEWS AND NOTES
-Charlotte coach Allen Major is sidelined for health reasons. Our thoughts are with him.
-Ole Miss put on a great performance last night. With the exception of about a thirty second stretch at the end of regulation where they were forced into a turnover, and then took a poor shot when they had time to run a play and win the game at the end of regulation, it was a fantastic effort and performance. They didn’t have a great profile, but that win would have made it worth looking at.
-Conference play is officially in full swing! In addition to Ole Miss v Kentucky, Arkansas won a big and exciting game at Georgia, Providence and Butler put on a show in a back and forth affair, Ohio State got a big and much needed road win at Minnesota, 11-1 Central Michigan got a big road win at Toledo which may put them inside the bubble, George Washington came from behind to beat Saint Louis in an exciting game, and Oklahoma State and Iowa State put on a show. There are more great games tonight
TONIGHT’S HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-NC STATE AT VIRGINIA (ACC). NC State has a decent record, but they haven’t looked all that good. Virginia still appears to be a #1 caliber seeded team.
-PURDUE AT WISCONSIN (ACC). Purdue has won their first two conference games, but they’ve got one of their toughest tests of the season against a #1 seed caliber Wiscy team.
-SETON HALL AT XAVIER (Big East). Seton Hall has been one of the biggest surprises this year, and they are now in the rankings. Xavier has been somewhat disappointing overall, but they’re still very tough to win at home. This would be a huge resume win for Seton Hall, not to mention it would keep them in the rankings and keep them unbeaten in the conference.
-DAVIDSON AT VCU (Atlantic Ten). Everyone knows VCU is good. I’m not so sure people know how good Davidson is. This is the kind of game that can legitimize them as a tournament caliber team.
-TEMPLE AT TULANE (American). Temple has been a surprise team this year. Tulane has been better than expected, but still hasn’t looked as good as a tournament team. Both teams are unbeaten in league play, and Tulane has been tough at home.
-SYRACUSE AT GEORGIA TECH (ACC). Syracuse is struggling, and Georgia Tech has been very tough at home. This is a big game between two teams who need to work on their resumes.
-FLORIDA AT SOUTH CAROLINA (SEC). Speaking of surprises, South Carolina has a good record and is coming off a big win against Iowa State. They look like they can land inside the bubble. Florida needs big wins. This is suddenly a much more important game than we originally thought it would be.
-BRADLEY AT WICHITA STATE (Missouri Valley). This is a conference game that will probably end up looking like a buy game.
-SOUTHERN ILLINOIS AT NORTHERN IOWA (Missouri Valley). See directly above.
-LOYOLA IL AT EVANSVILLE (Missouri Valley). A huge match up between two surprise teams that still look good enough to possibly land inside the bubble. This is also Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day. CLICK HERE FOR MORE.
-DUKE AT WAKE FOREST (ACC). It’s a Tobacco Road conference rivalry. Sort of.
-CLEMSON AT LOUISVILLE (ACC). If you throw out the Big South losses, Clemson has been halfway decent. Not good, but halfway decent. Louisville can still get a #1 seed with a strong showing in league play.
-COLORADO AT UTAH (Pac Twelve). Colorado needs to win an improbable game like this to get their season turned around. Utah is in the top ten, and deservedly so.
-MARYLAND AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten). Illinois isn’t desperate yet, but they’re getting there. Maryland has been a huge surprise this year and has a shot at another notable road win tonight.
-KANSAS AT BAYLOR (Big Twelve). Baylor is having a great year, and they should be jacked up tonight for Kansas.
-TCU AT KANSAS STATE (Big Twelve). I’m still not buying into TCU. This is probably their most winnable conference road game, though.
-WYOMING AT COLORADO STATE (Front Range, Mountain West). This is a huge conference rivalry (and mythical conference rivalry) between two teams that are having big years. Should be fun! I guarantee you the committee will be watching this one.
-NEVADA AT UNLV (Mountain West). These two don’t like each other. UNLV doesn’t have any bad losses, but they don’t have a huge margin for error.
-CALIFORINIA AT USC (Pac Twelve). Cal needs this road win. Or, to put it another way, they cannot afford this road loss.
Highlighted Games for Wednesday, Jan 7th
NEWS AND NOTES
-Charlotte coach Allen Major is sidelined for health reasons. Our thoughts are with him.
-Ole Miss put on a great performance last night. With the exception of about a thirty second stretch at the end of regulation where they were forced into a turnover, and then took a poor shot when they had time to run a play and win the game at the end of regulation, it was a fantastic effort and performance. They didn’t have a great profile, but that win would have made it worth looking at.
-Conference play is officially in full swing! In addition to Ole Miss v Kentucky, Arkansas won a big and exciting game at Georgia, Providence and Butler put on a show in a back and forth affair, Ohio State got a big and much needed road win at Minnesota, 11-1 Central Michigan got a big road win at Toledo which may put them inside the bubble, George Washington came from behind to beat Saint Louis in an exciting game, and Oklahoma State and Iowa State put on a show. There are more great games tonight
TONIGHT’S HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-NC STATE AT VIRGINIA (ACC). NC State has a decent record, but they haven’t looked all that good. Virginia still appears to be a #1 caliber seeded team.
-PURDUE AT WISCONSIN (ACC). Purdue has won their first two conference games, but they’ve got one of their toughest tests of the season against a #1 seed caliber Wiscy team.
-SETON HALL AT XAVIER (Big East). Seton Hall has been one of the biggest surprises this year, and they are now in the rankings. Xavier has been somewhat disappointing overall, but they’re still very tough to win at home. This would be a huge resume win for Seton Hall, not to mention it would keep them in the rankings and keep them unbeaten in the conference.
-DAVIDSON AT VCU (Atlantic Ten). Everyone knows VCU is good. I’m not so sure people know how good Davidson is. This is the kind of game that can legitimize them as a tournament caliber team.
-TEMPLE AT TULANE (American). Temple has been a surprise team this year. Tulane has been better than expected, but still hasn’t looked as good as a tournament team. Both teams are unbeaten in league play, and Tulane has been tough at home.
-SYRACUSE AT GEORGIA TECH (ACC). Syracuse is struggling, and Georgia Tech has been very tough at home. This is a big game between two teams who need to work on their resumes.
-FLORIDA AT SOUTH CAROLINA (SEC). Speaking of surprises, South Carolina has a good record and is coming off a big win against Iowa State. They look like they can land inside the bubble. Florida needs big wins. This is suddenly a much more important game than we originally thought it would be.
-BRADLEY AT WICHITA STATE (Missouri Valley). This is a conference game that will probably end up looking like a buy game.
-SOUTHERN ILLINOIS AT NORTHERN IOWA (Missouri Valley). See directly above.
-LOYOLA IL AT EVANSVILLE (Missouri Valley). A huge match up between two surprise teams that still look good enough to possibly land inside the bubble. This is also Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day. CLICK HERE FOR MORE.
-DUKE AT WAKE FOREST (ACC). It’s a Tobacco Road conference rivalry. Sort of.
-CLEMSON AT LOUISVILLE (ACC). If you throw out the Big South losses, Clemson has been halfway decent. Not good, but halfway decent. Louisville can still get a #1 seed with a strong showing in league play.
-COLORADO AT UTAH (Pac Twelve). Colorado needs to win an improbable game like this to get their season turned around. Utah is in the top ten, and deservedly so.
-MARYLAND AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten). Illinois isn’t desperate yet, but they’re getting there. Maryland has been a huge surprise this year and has a shot at another notable road win tonight.
-KANSAS AT BAYLOR (Big Twelve). Baylor is having a great year, and they should be jacked up tonight for Kansas.
-TCU AT KANSAS STATE (Big Twelve). I’m still not buying into TCU. This is probably their most winnable conference road game, though.
-WYOMING AT COLORADO STATE (Front Range, Mountain West). This is a huge conference rivalry (and mythical conference rivalry) between two teams that are having big years. Should be fun! I guarantee you the committee will be watching this one.
-NEVADA AT UNLV (Mountain West). These two don’t like each other. UNLV doesn’t have any bad losses, but they don’t have a huge margin for error.
-CALIFORINIA AT USC (Pac Twelve). Cal needs this road win. Or, to put it another way, they cannot afford this road loss.