NEWS AND NOTES
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-Kansas fell behind early to Kentucky at Rupp, but came from behind and ended up pulling away in the final minutes in what was a very impressive win for the Jayhawks. This is the kind of road win that can cement a team up on the #1 line. Kansas’s next opponent is Baylor who picked up the win at Ole Miss, but it was much more of a struggle than what was expected.
-Florida State dropped their second straight game when they fell to Syracuse on Saturday. Not only have they lost two straight, but they lost two straight to teams that appeared to be on the bubble at best. That’s not something you’d expect from a team that we felt could be gunning for the #1 line.
-Miami FL picked up their biggest and perhaps their most surprising win of the year as they blew past North Carolina, much to the dismay of Tarheel fans and to Roy Williams’s chair, which he smashed during a timeout in the first half.
-Some of us were expecting Oregon to split their road trip to Utah/Colorado this weekend, but we were expecting them to do it in reverse. They picked up a very impressive win at Utah, who isn’t easy to beat at home, and then fell at Colorado, who had just one Pac 12 win coming into the game.
-Georgetown got a very surprising win at Butler. And, when you look at Georgetown you notice they have wins over Oregon on a neutral floor, another win at Syracuse, a win against Creighton, and a road win against Butler. Their RPI has crept up to the 50s, and although they’ve lost ten games, all were to top 100 teams and many were against solid tournament teams. It could be that Georgetown is a team that makes a run at the bubble after being completely out of the picture going into late January.
-Georgia Tech is another team that has made a run at the bubble, and I feel they’ve played their way inside of it. A few blowout losses are hurting them in some of the power rankings, but if you look at the rest of their profile they’ve won at NC State and VCU, which are decent road wins by bubble standards, and they’ve beaten Notre Dame, North Carolina, and Florida State at home. Of their eight losses all but one was against a top 100 team, and four of them were against likely protected seeds. As for their win against Notre Dame yesterday, it was one of the more exciting games of the day as it seesawed back and forth and Georgia Tech won it on a last second fast break dunk.
-Wake Forest is right on the bubble and desperately needed a notable win. With a 7 point lead against Duke with less than two minutes to go it looked like they were going to get it, but Duke fought back and picked up a big road win for them, and since it occurred in such dramatic fashion this may be the kind of game that rallies Duke as we begin to head down the stretch.
-Maryland has a bloated record, but they picked up one of their more impressive wins yesterday when they won at Minnesota.
-Clemson finally snapped their losing streak with a win at Pitt. Pitt, on the other hand, appears to have crashed into the mountain.
-Marquette fell at home to Providence in what was a surprising result after they had managed to pick up back to back wins against Creighton and Villanova.
-Both Arkansas and Iowa State failed to pick up road wins that they really could have used, and TCU fell at home to Auburn, which should knock them out of the picture for now.
-And in Under the Radar action, UNC Wilmington was actually run off the court by William & Mary, which really hurts their at-large chances. I still think that if they win out they’ll be reasonably safe, but they are down to their last strike.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-MICHIGAN AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten). This is an obvious rivalry game, but it’s hugely important on paper as well. Both teams appear to be inside the bubble, but both still have work to do and both need to pick up wins in games like this in order to feel safe on Selection Sunday.
-VIRGINIA AT VILLANOVA. This is an out of conference match-up between two teams that are gunning for the #1 line. If Virginia picks up this win it would be their third true road win against a likely protected seed, which is a remarkable profile.
-NC STATE AT LOUISVILLE (ACC). NC State jumped up to the fringe of the bubble with their big road win at Duke. Louisville looks like they’ll land safely in the protected seed range, and could get as high as a #2 with a strong finish. As for NC State, this is the kind of win that could volt them from being on the bubble to being safely inside of it.
-WASHINGTON AT ARIZONA (Pac Twelve). Arizona’s profile continues to improve and they continue to climb the seed list. Don’t be surprised if they end up as high as a #2 seed.
-SOUTH FLORIDA AT CINCINNATI (American). Cincinnati is coming off a big win against Xavier, which was a feel good win that also helps out their profile. They should be able to hold serve in this game.
-WICHITA STATE AT BRADLEY (Missouri Valley). Wichita State’s margin for error basically limits them from losing another game prior to the conference tournament if they want any real chance at getting in without the automatic bid.
-PURDUE AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten). This would be a nice road win for a Purdue team that’s a very impressive 17-4 and who could end up as a protected seed if they put together a strong finish.
-XAVIER AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East). Xavier has just one true road win this season, and they’re lacking in quality wins of any kind be it home, road, or neutral. They really can’t afford to drop this game to the Johnnies, who are a surprising 4-5 in Big East play.
-INDIANA AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten). Both teams appear to be safely inside the bubble, but both also have room for improvement. It should be a fun game for a Northwestern team that’s not used to being in this situation.
-BOSTON COLLEGE AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC). VA Tech is cruising toward a tournament bid and should be able to hold serve in games like this the rest of the way.
-STANFORD AT CALIFORNIA (Pac Twelve). This is a huge conference rivalry that Cal needs to pick up because they’re on the verge of the bubble.