It’s another busy Saturday in college basketball. Below is a rundown of all the action.
NEWS AND NOTES
-For Chad Sherwood’s Under the Radar Game of the Day between TAMUCC and SFA – CLICK HERE
-To sign our online petition so the President of the United States will order that Grand Canyon be allowed to play in the NCAA Tournament – CLICK HERE!!!! People, this is why WhiteHouse.Gov exists!! CLICK ON THE LINK AND SIGN THE PETITION!!!
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-WEST VIRGINIA AT FLORIDA (Big Twelve/SEC Challenge). Florida is hovering around our bubble, and the one thing they’re really missing is a hugely notable win. Beating a top ten team would certainly help with that, even if they are at home.
-CLEMSON AT FLORIDA STATE (ACC). Clemson has already picked up 5 notable wins at “home” in Greenville in ACC play (including Florida State); now they just need to start adding ACC road wins to their profile to solidify a profile that exponentially got better in January. The Seminoles are in a more perilous position with a 3-5 record in the ACC, but Tallahassee can be a snake pit at times. Just ask Virginia.
-VANDERBILT AT TEXAS (Big Twelve/SEC Challenge). Coming into the season we were pretty high on Vanderbilt and had a lot of questions about Texas. Now, the roles have flipped. It’s Texas that appears to be on their way to the dance and Vandy who looks to be going to the NIT.
-MICHIGAN AT PENN STATE (Big Ten). This is one of the more winnable road games that Michigan has remaining so they need to take advantage.
-GEORGIA TECH AT SYRACUSE (ACC). Syracuse has played their way inside our bubble for the time being, but they’ve been very schizophrenic all season and can’t afford a home loss to a Georgia Tech team that’s been awful on the road this year.
-BUTLER AT MARQUETTE (Big East). Butler has just one loss to a team outside the top fifteen, but having said that they really need to continue to hold serve against non tournament teams, and that includes when they are the road team.
-VIRGINIA AT LOUISVILLE (ACC). Louisville has not lost at home, whereas Virginia has struggled. Both teams have the opportunity to improve their resumes with a win today. For UVA, it gives them their best true road win of the year, and for Louisville it would be the best team they’ve managed to beat this year as well.
-IOWA STATE AT TEXAS A&M (Big Twelve/SEC Challenge). This one should be a fun one as it’s a matchup between two top fifteen teams. It’s a chance for Iowa State to pick up a monster road win, and it’s a chance for TAMU to beat the highest ranked team on their schedule. Don’t be surprised if both end up as protected seeds come March.
-XAVIER AT DEPAUL (Big East). Xavier is back on our #1 line, and needs to hold serve in games like this in order to remain there.
-LA SALLE AT DAYTON (Atlantic Ten). Dayton actually lost to La Salle earlier this year, but shouldn’t have any trouble with them at home today.
-MINNESOTA AT INDIANA (Big Ten). Indiana has won a lot of games over the past several weeks, and they’ve climbed in the rankings as a result. The thing is that none of those wins came against particularly good teams. If they win today, that won’t change.
-MIAMI FL AT NC STATE (ACC). We still feel Miami FL is a solid protected seed, and I don’t expect them to have too much trouble picking up a road win today.
-WASHINGTON AT USC (Pac Twelve). Right now USC is safely in our field, and they still have a shot to end up as a protected seed if they finish strong. Washington is right on the bubble, but one way to really boost their resume is to pick up a high quality road win in a game like this.
-TEXAS TECH AT ARKANSAS (Big Twelve/SEC Challenge). Texas Tech has been abysmal on the road, and Arkansas, while nowhere close to a tournament team, has been very strong at home. Both have tons of work to do in order to make the field, though, and although it’s not impossible, I don’t think either of them will.
-BOSTON COLLEGE AT NORTH CAROLINA (ACC). I’m expecting a very lopsided result with North Carolina rolling and remaining in strong contention for a #1 seed.
-NEBRASKA AT PURDUE (Big Ten). I like Purdue a lot, and think that a strong finish will land them on one of the top four lines. Nebraska has been playing better, but they’ll have to really go on a tear between now and the end of the season to be anywhere close to the bubble.
-OKLAHOMA AT LSU (Big Twelve/SEC Challenge). LSU keeps improving, and I think they’re good enough to make this game interesting, but Oklahoma is very strong, even when they play on the road. We do have two of the best players in the country on the floor today, so it’s definitely worth tuning tin.
-STANFORD AT UTAH (Pac Twelve). Stanford is right on our bubble, and needs quality wins between now and the end of the year in order to be safely inside it. Winning at Utah would certainly qualify as a quality win.
-GEORGIA AT BAYLOR (Big Twelve/SEC Challenge). Given how Georgia has looked on the road, and given how well Baylor has been playing lately, I don’t think it’s fair to call this game a “Challenge.”
-ALABAMA AT SOUTH CAROLINA (SEC). South Carolina has a bloated record with a lot of decent wins, but no real good wins. A win today won’t change that, but it’s important that they hold serve.
-SAINT JOSEPH’S AT RHODE ISLAND (Atlantic Ten). The more and more I see this Joe’s team, the better I think they are. They can add another conference road win to their profile today and improve to a very impressive 18-3 overall.
-KENTUCKY AT KANSAS (Big Twelve/SEC Challenge). When these two met last year it wasn’t pretty with Kentucky absolutely dominating. As good as Kansas is at home, it may not be pretty this year either, but with the opposite result. Right now, we don’t even have Kentucky as a protected seed. Now, if they manage a win today that would certainly change.
-GEORGIA STATE AT LITTLE ROCK (Sun Belt). These are two of the better teams in the Sun Belt, and we currently have Little Rock inside our bubble. It’s hard to say what the real committee will think of them, but they’ll certainly be in the discussion, and perhaps in the field, if they can blow through the rest of their schedule.
-SAINT PETER’S AT MONMOUTH (Metro Atlantic). Monmouth has had a great year overall, but they do have some losses on their profile that smell pretty bad. They should be fine if they win out, but they really can’t afford any more.
-WASHINGTON STATE AT UCLA (Pac Twelve). UCLA’s record is just 12-9, but they’ve played a tough schedule and managed some big wins. This is a big game simply because it’s winnable, and they need wins right now.
-SAN DIEGO STATE AT UNLV (Mountain West). San Diego State isn’t inside our bubble yet, but if they win out, which I certainly think they’re good enough to do, I’m guessing they will be.
-SAN FRANCISCO AT GONZAGA (West Coast). The Zags have been one of the more disappointing teams this year, and are in danger of missing the field altogether. They basically need to win out in order to feel safe.
-SETON HALL AT CREIGHTON (Big East). Creighton had been sneaking up on people, and I think they would have made our last field had they pulled off the win at Georgetown, but they ended up melting down late in the game. Still, they’re playing well, but still have a lot of work to do if they want to make the field. Seton Hall has looked really good this year, and I think they’ve been a little undervalued nationally. This will not be an easy game for them to win, and the Pirates will deserve credit for it if they do, but probably still won’t get it. At least not from the media. Hopefully the committee is watching.
-PROVIDENCE AT GEORGETOWN (Big East). Georgetown was sluggish out of conference, but are an impressive 6-2 in the Big East. They’re at home against Providence, but seeing as how all three of Providence’s conference losses came at home, Georgetown may fare better if it were at Providence.
-YOUNGSTOWN STATE AT VALPARAISO (Horizon League). We still have Valpo safely inside our bubble, but it’s hard to say if the actual committee would. Jon Teitel is guessing that they would not. I do think Valpo will be okay if they win out, though, which they’re good enough to do and should do.
-SEATTLE AT GRAND CANYON (WAC). THE TEAM OF THE PEOPLE IS BACK IN ACTION!!! Sign the petition if you haven’t yet!! CLICK HERE to do it
-OREGON STATE AT ARIZONA (Pac Twelve). Arizona has been really beat up with injuries, but they should still make the field. Just not as a protected seed. Oregon State is on the outside looking in right now, but they can change that with a big road win. Unfortunately, that’s much easier to say than to do.
-UC SANTA BARBARA AT UC IRVINE (Big West). We talked about this during Under the Radar, but if UC Irvine wins out they should get a serious look for an at-large if they end up needing it.
-SAINT MARY’S AT PACIFIC (West Coast). Saint Mary’s continues to face unchallenging competition, but they also keep winning, which they need to do since their margin for error is so small.
-LONG BEACH STATE AT HAWAII (Big West). Similar to UC Irvine, I think the committee will look at Hawaii if they can win out. Granted, both teams can’t win out, so….