NEWS, NOTES, AND LINKS
CLICK HERE for our most recent Championship Week Video Notebook, where we recap all of yesterday’s conference tournament action, as well as look ahead to today’s
CLICK HERE for Chad Sherwood’s Four Part Under the Radar Games of the Day
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-VANDERBILT AT TEXAS A&M (SEC). This season, Vandy has gone from being in everyone’s top 20, to falling so far out of the picture that pretty much everyone stopped looking at them, to playing their way back onto the bubble. If they win this game today, chances are they’ll be relatively safely inside the bubble with the chance to improve their profile even more in the SEC Tournament.
-NC STATE AT NOTRE DAME (ACC). Notre Dame has been blown through the roof in their last two games. It would be in their best interest to not let that happen a third time, especially against a non tournament team at home.
-OHIO STATE AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten). Michigan State isn’t quite up on our #1 line, but they could very easily end up there, and on the #1 line of the actual selection committee. Ohio State can still make the field, but they’ll need to win this game and beat other highly ranked team sin the Big Ten Tournament in order to do it.
-SETON HALL AT DEPAUL (Big East). Seton Hall is coming off a loss to Butler, but they’ve still won 9 of their last 11 and appear to be safely in the field. Having said that, they wouldn’t want a loss to a rather weak DePaul team on what is an otherwise very good profile.
-GEORETOWN AT VILLANOVA (Big East). Nova will most likely end up on the #1 line so long as they hold serve in this game, and avoid a loss to a non-tournament caliber team in the Big East Tournament.
-PROVIDENCE AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East). One never knows what Providence is going to do. They need to avoid this damaging loss, and if they do they should be locked in. Chances are they make it whether or not they win or lose, but they went through a stretch where they had lost six of eight prior to winning their last two, which they barely won.
-OKLAHOMA AT TCU (Big Twelve). Oklahoma will most likely end up on the #1 line barring any losses to non-tournament teams the rest of the way. I don’t see them being any lower than the #2 line no matter what happens.
-LSU AT KENTUCKY (SEC). Kentucky is obviously very safely in the field and has a strong chances of playing their way up to a protected seed if they can win the SEC Tournament, and may get up there even if they don’t. LSU has been a little disappointing this season. Yeah, that’s the nice way of putting it.
-WEST VIRGINIA AT BAYLOR (Big Twelve). Two ranked Big Twelve teams. What else is new? West Virginia should end up very high on the seed list, and could go as high as a #2. Baylor is easily in on the initial ballot, and if they can pick up a win in this game, and one or two more in the Big Twelve Tournament then they could end up as a protected seed.
-PITTSBURGH AT GEORGIA TECH (ACC). Pitt could really use a win away from home. I mean, they could REALLY use it. It would take a Herculean effort, but I suppose it’s still POSSIBLE for Georgia Tech to play their way in. It would involve beating the likes of Duke, UNC, and a few others in the ACC Tournament, though.
-MARQUETTE AT BUTLER (Big East). I like how this Butler team has been playing, and think they can pretty much lock themselves into the initial ballot if they win this game. Winning this doesn’t help so much as losing at home to a non-tournament team would hurt.
-CREIGHTON AT XAVIER (Big East). Xavier still has an outside shot at a #1 seed, but they’d pretty much need to win out through the Big East Tournament. Creighton beat them earlier in the year, but that was obviously at Creighton.
-GEORGE WASHINGTON AT DAVIDSON (Atlantic Ten). GW is squarely on the bubble, and a win in this game keeps them there. A loss in this game actually knocks them further outside of it. Now wait for the obvious!!….GW needs to win this game.
-AIR FORCE AT COLORADO STATE (Mountain West, Front Range). We highlight this game only because it is a Front Range game, and we at Hoops HD love the Front Range! As we love all mythical conferences.
-ALABAMA AT GEORGIA (SEC). Alabama is probably too far outside the bubble to play their way back into it without winning the SEC Tournament, but if they pick up this road win and knock off some big teams in the tournament I suppose it’s still possible.
-IOWA STATE AT KANSAS (Big Twelve). Two ranked Big Twelve teams. What else is new? Kansas can pretty much lock up a #1 seed, and perhaps even the top #1 seed regardless of what happens in the Big Twelve Tournament, with a win today. Iowa State still has a good shot at ending up as a protected seed, and if they can do the impossible and pull off this win it pretty much guarantees it for them.
-MIAMI FL AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC). Miami has a very strong resume and is coming off what is perhaps their most impressive road performance of the year. They can clinch at least a share of the ACC regular season title with a win in this game, and can win it out right if UNC falls at Duke.
-DUQUESNE AT SAINT JOSEPH’S (Atlantic Ten). Saint Joe’s should get into the field safely so long as they hold serve, and that means not losing home games to non-tournament teams.
-STANFORD AT ARIZONA (Pac Twelve). Stanford is outside the bubble, and to me doesn’t look that good. But, some of us at Hoops HD still like them (I don’t know why, but they do). Stanford’s paper is strong enough to where if they win this game, and beat a couple of tournament teams in the Pac Twelve Tournament, you could make a case for them. The problem is that I don’t think they’re good enough to do that.
-OREGON AT USC (Pac Twelve). Oregon looks to be a protected seed regardless of what happens from here on out, and although I don’t think the real committee would do this, many here at Hoops HD are saying they could end up on our #1 line. USC has had a great season and should make the field as well.
-GRAND CANYON AT UTAH VALLEY (WAC). Grand Canyon, the Team of the People, closes out the regular season today as they go after what would be an amazing 25th win. That is remarkable considering that they are just a transitional program.
-SOUTH CAROLINA AT ARKANSAS (SEC). South Carolina appears to be safely in, but their resume could use some updating. Arkansas isn’t a tournament team, but this would still be a very nice road win for the Gamecocks, especially when you consider that they’re coming off of a loss.
-SOUTH FLORIDA AT TULSA (American). Tulsa is on the bubble and still has work to do. Bubble teams cannot afford to lose home games to teams as weak as South Florida.
-NORTH CAROLINA AT DUKE (ACC). On the court, North Carolina is perhaps the most talented team in the country. On paper, they’re still missing a solid road win. They did win at Kansas, but that is their only notable road win against a team that’s solidly in the field. Winning at Duke completely changes the complexion of their profile in a very good way. Duke has been somewhat disappointing on the road this year (minus their win at UNC), but they’ve been solid at home. This is a rivalry game with something on the line for both teams. And, a a couple of interesting facts about these two rivals. The two schools are just eight miles apart!! And, they have NEVER met in the NCAA Tournament!!!
-OREGON STATE AT UCLA (Pac Twelve). Whenever Oregon State has to play a game that requires them to pack a suitcase, they generally lose. Their only road wins are Washington State, Rice, and UC Stanta Barbara. I’m not entirely sure that Wazzu and Rice should even count. If they can get just one more true road win, it would improve their profile, even if it came against an NIT caliber team, which UCLA most certainly is. As they were last year, but that’s another story.
-HAWAII AT LONG BEACH STATE (Big West). Hawaii is an outside shot at best to make the field without the automatic bid, and calling it an outside shot may be overstating it. But, still, they have just four losses and they would be the outright first place finisher.
-PRINCETON AT DARTMOUTH (Ivy). Princeton is neck and neck with Yale for the automatic bid, so every game has a tournament stakes feel to it. Speaking of Yale….
-YALE AT COLUMBIA (Ivy). Yale is neck and neck with Princeton for the automatic bid, so every game has a tournament stakes feel to it.
-SAINT BONAVENTURE AT SAINT LOUIS (Atlantic Ten). When you’re squarely on the bubble like Saint Bonaventure, you can’t afford to lose to very bad teams like the Jim Crews coached Saint Louis Billikens.
-IOWA AT MICHIGAN (Big Ten). Iowa has lost four straight and needs a win just to be in a position to play their way back up to a protected seed. Michigan is squarely on the bubble, and the other night some of our staff was arguing that they did not belong in at all. They need a win just to demonstrate that they belong inside the bubble.
-VCU AT DAYTON (Atlantic Ten). First place in the A10 is on the line!! VCU is inside the bubble, but hardly entirely safely inside of it, and a road win like this could really help them out. That is on the line!! Dayton is most likely an initial ballot team, but a win today could really help their resume and in turn help their overall seed. That is on the line!! There is a whole lot on the line today!! It’s about as high stakes a game as any single regular season game could be.
-CALIFORNIA AT ARIZONA STATE (Pac Twelve). After leading for most of the game and playing really well against Arizona the other night, Cal was not able to hold on. Arizona State is nowhere close to being a tournament team, but adding one last true road win to their profile regardless of who it is against should help Cal out.
-LOUISVILLE AT VIRGINIA (ACC). This is Louisville’s curtain call as they will not play in the ACC or NCAA Tournaments due to a self imposed ban, which is not fair to the two seniors that are on the team. They get the chance to take down a Virginia team that still has a chance at finishing in a tie for first in the conference, and depending on how things fall the rest of the way, ending up on the #1 line.
-COLORADO AT UTAH (Pac Twelve). I like Utah’s chances of ending up as a protected seed, and if they hold serve the rest of the way they should be fine. Colorado is relatively safe as well, but they could get a whole lot safer and improve their resume a whole lot more if they’re able to close things out with a big road win like this.
-UNLV AT SAN DIEGO STATE (Mountain West). San Diego State is squarely on the bubble, and I think the fact that they are an outright first place finisher will help them a ton. Having said that, losing this last game would do the opposite of help them. They need to win the automatic bid to be completely safe, but they’ll get a strong look if they don’t win it.
-PORTLAND AT GONZAGA (West Coast). Gonzaga is still outside our bubble, but they should still get consideration for a bid if they end up not winning the WCC Tournament. It may not be much consideration, but it will at least be some.
News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Saturday, March 5th
NEWS, NOTES, AND LINKS
CLICK HERE for our most recent Championship Week Video Notebook, where we recap all of yesterday’s conference tournament action, as well as look ahead to today’s
CLICK HERE for Chad Sherwood’s Four Part Under the Radar Games of the Day
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-VANDERBILT AT TEXAS A&M (SEC). This season, Vandy has gone from being in everyone’s top 20, to falling so far out of the picture that pretty much everyone stopped looking at them, to playing their way back onto the bubble. If they win this game today, chances are they’ll be relatively safely inside the bubble with the chance to improve their profile even more in the SEC Tournament.
-NC STATE AT NOTRE DAME (ACC). Notre Dame has been blown through the roof in their last two games. It would be in their best interest to not let that happen a third time, especially against a non tournament team at home.
-OHIO STATE AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten). Michigan State isn’t quite up on our #1 line, but they could very easily end up there, and on the #1 line of the actual selection committee. Ohio State can still make the field, but they’ll need to win this game and beat other highly ranked team sin the Big Ten Tournament in order to do it.
-SETON HALL AT DEPAUL (Big East). Seton Hall is coming off a loss to Butler, but they’ve still won 9 of their last 11 and appear to be safely in the field. Having said that, they wouldn’t want a loss to a rather weak DePaul team on what is an otherwise very good profile.
-GEORETOWN AT VILLANOVA (Big East). Nova will most likely end up on the #1 line so long as they hold serve in this game, and avoid a loss to a non-tournament caliber team in the Big East Tournament.
-PROVIDENCE AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East). One never knows what Providence is going to do. They need to avoid this damaging loss, and if they do they should be locked in. Chances are they make it whether or not they win or lose, but they went through a stretch where they had lost six of eight prior to winning their last two, which they barely won.
-OKLAHOMA AT TCU (Big Twelve). Oklahoma will most likely end up on the #1 line barring any losses to non-tournament teams the rest of the way. I don’t see them being any lower than the #2 line no matter what happens.
-LSU AT KENTUCKY (SEC). Kentucky is obviously very safely in the field and has a strong chances of playing their way up to a protected seed if they can win the SEC Tournament, and may get up there even if they don’t. LSU has been a little disappointing this season. Yeah, that’s the nice way of putting it.
-WEST VIRGINIA AT BAYLOR (Big Twelve). Two ranked Big Twelve teams. What else is new? West Virginia should end up very high on the seed list, and could go as high as a #2. Baylor is easily in on the initial ballot, and if they can pick up a win in this game, and one or two more in the Big Twelve Tournament then they could end up as a protected seed.
-PITTSBURGH AT GEORGIA TECH (ACC). Pitt could really use a win away from home. I mean, they could REALLY use it. It would take a Herculean effort, but I suppose it’s still POSSIBLE for Georgia Tech to play their way in. It would involve beating the likes of Duke, UNC, and a few others in the ACC Tournament, though.
-MARQUETTE AT BUTLER (Big East). I like how this Butler team has been playing, and think they can pretty much lock themselves into the initial ballot if they win this game. Winning this doesn’t help so much as losing at home to a non-tournament team would hurt.
-CREIGHTON AT XAVIER (Big East). Xavier still has an outside shot at a #1 seed, but they’d pretty much need to win out through the Big East Tournament. Creighton beat them earlier in the year, but that was obviously at Creighton.
-GEORGE WASHINGTON AT DAVIDSON (Atlantic Ten). GW is squarely on the bubble, and a win in this game keeps them there. A loss in this game actually knocks them further outside of it. Now wait for the obvious!!….GW needs to win this game.
-AIR FORCE AT COLORADO STATE (Mountain West, Front Range). We highlight this game only because it is a Front Range game, and we at Hoops HD love the Front Range! As we love all mythical conferences.
-ALABAMA AT GEORGIA (SEC). Alabama is probably too far outside the bubble to play their way back into it without winning the SEC Tournament, but if they pick up this road win and knock off some big teams in the tournament I suppose it’s still possible.
-IOWA STATE AT KANSAS (Big Twelve). Two ranked Big Twelve teams. What else is new? Kansas can pretty much lock up a #1 seed, and perhaps even the top #1 seed regardless of what happens in the Big Twelve Tournament, with a win today. Iowa State still has a good shot at ending up as a protected seed, and if they can do the impossible and pull off this win it pretty much guarantees it for them.
-MIAMI FL AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC). Miami has a very strong resume and is coming off what is perhaps their most impressive road performance of the year. They can clinch at least a share of the ACC regular season title with a win in this game, and can win it out right if UNC falls at Duke.
-DUQUESNE AT SAINT JOSEPH’S (Atlantic Ten). Saint Joe’s should get into the field safely so long as they hold serve, and that means not losing home games to non-tournament teams.
-STANFORD AT ARIZONA (Pac Twelve). Stanford is outside the bubble, and to me doesn’t look that good. But, some of us at Hoops HD still like them (I don’t know why, but they do). Stanford’s paper is strong enough to where if they win this game, and beat a couple of tournament teams in the Pac Twelve Tournament, you could make a case for them. The problem is that I don’t think they’re good enough to do that.
-OREGON AT USC (Pac Twelve). Oregon looks to be a protected seed regardless of what happens from here on out, and although I don’t think the real committee would do this, many here at Hoops HD are saying they could end up on our #1 line. USC has had a great season and should make the field as well.
-GRAND CANYON AT UTAH VALLEY (WAC). Grand Canyon, the Team of the People, closes out the regular season today as they go after what would be an amazing 25th win. That is remarkable considering that they are just a transitional program.
-SOUTH CAROLINA AT ARKANSAS (SEC). South Carolina appears to be safely in, but their resume could use some updating. Arkansas isn’t a tournament team, but this would still be a very nice road win for the Gamecocks, especially when you consider that they’re coming off of a loss.
-SOUTH FLORIDA AT TULSA (American). Tulsa is on the bubble and still has work to do. Bubble teams cannot afford to lose home games to teams as weak as South Florida.
-NORTH CAROLINA AT DUKE (ACC). On the court, North Carolina is perhaps the most talented team in the country. On paper, they’re still missing a solid road win. They did win at Kansas, but that is their only notable road win against a team that’s solidly in the field. Winning at Duke completely changes the complexion of their profile in a very good way. Duke has been somewhat disappointing on the road this year (minus their win at UNC), but they’ve been solid at home. This is a rivalry game with something on the line for both teams. And, a a couple of interesting facts about these two rivals. The two schools are just eight miles apart!! And, they have NEVER met in the NCAA Tournament!!!
-OREGON STATE AT UCLA (Pac Twelve). Whenever Oregon State has to play a game that requires them to pack a suitcase, they generally lose. Their only road wins are Washington State, Rice, and UC Stanta Barbara. I’m not entirely sure that Wazzu and Rice should even count. If they can get just one more true road win, it would improve their profile, even if it came against an NIT caliber team, which UCLA most certainly is. As they were last year, but that’s another story.
-HAWAII AT LONG BEACH STATE (Big West). Hawaii is an outside shot at best to make the field without the automatic bid, and calling it an outside shot may be overstating it. But, still, they have just four losses and they would be the outright first place finisher.
-PRINCETON AT DARTMOUTH (Ivy). Princeton is neck and neck with Yale for the automatic bid, so every game has a tournament stakes feel to it. Speaking of Yale….
-YALE AT COLUMBIA (Ivy). Yale is neck and neck with Princeton for the automatic bid, so every game has a tournament stakes feel to it.
-SAINT BONAVENTURE AT SAINT LOUIS (Atlantic Ten). When you’re squarely on the bubble like Saint Bonaventure, you can’t afford to lose to very bad teams like the Jim Crews coached Saint Louis Billikens.
-IOWA AT MICHIGAN (Big Ten). Iowa has lost four straight and needs a win just to be in a position to play their way back up to a protected seed. Michigan is squarely on the bubble, and the other night some of our staff was arguing that they did not belong in at all. They need a win just to demonstrate that they belong inside the bubble.
-VCU AT DAYTON (Atlantic Ten). First place in the A10 is on the line!! VCU is inside the bubble, but hardly entirely safely inside of it, and a road win like this could really help them out. That is on the line!! Dayton is most likely an initial ballot team, but a win today could really help their resume and in turn help their overall seed. That is on the line!! There is a whole lot on the line today!! It’s about as high stakes a game as any single regular season game could be.
-CALIFORNIA AT ARIZONA STATE (Pac Twelve). After leading for most of the game and playing really well against Arizona the other night, Cal was not able to hold on. Arizona State is nowhere close to being a tournament team, but adding one last true road win to their profile regardless of who it is against should help Cal out.
-LOUISVILLE AT VIRGINIA (ACC). This is Louisville’s curtain call as they will not play in the ACC or NCAA Tournaments due to a self imposed ban, which is not fair to the two seniors that are on the team. They get the chance to take down a Virginia team that still has a chance at finishing in a tie for first in the conference, and depending on how things fall the rest of the way, ending up on the #1 line.
-COLORADO AT UTAH (Pac Twelve). I like Utah’s chances of ending up as a protected seed, and if they hold serve the rest of the way they should be fine. Colorado is relatively safe as well, but they could get a whole lot safer and improve their resume a whole lot more if they’re able to close things out with a big road win like this.
-UNLV AT SAN DIEGO STATE (Mountain West). San Diego State is squarely on the bubble, and I think the fact that they are an outright first place finisher will help them a ton. Having said that, losing this last game would do the opposite of help them. They need to win the automatic bid to be completely safe, but they’ll get a strong look if they don’t win it.
-PORTLAND AT GONZAGA (West Coast). Gonzaga is still outside our bubble, but they should still get consideration for a bid if they end up not winning the WCC Tournament. It may not be much consideration, but it will at least be some.