NEWS AND NOTES
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-Louisville got another HUGE win at Notre Dame last night in double overtime. Their resume has gone from being extremely bland to suddenly having two big road wins, which makes them look like a solid tournament team. Another overtime game between Louisville and Notre Dame. No big deal.
-Oklahoma, who we were touting as a likely #1 seed, went into Kansas State last night and were completely run off the floor. It was a huge win for the Wildcats, who may have been exercising a little bit of frustration after losing to rival Kansas on a missed last second shot.
-It was a blistering display of offense where both teams lit up the scoreboard!! Cincinnati got a big road win at UCF 49-38. Well, in football that would be considered lighting up the scoreboard at least.
-North Carolina has now beaten Clemson at home 59 times in a row. Clemson fell behind early, but played their way back into it. They just couldn’t play their way into the lead.
-Kentucky had a comfortable lead late in the second half at South Carolina, and then for over 7 minutes (I believe) did not make a single field goal which enabled the Gamecocks to come from behind and get the win.
-Georgia picked up a huge road win at LSU in what was another thrilling game. It was one that the Dawgs desperately needed.
-Texas A&M FINALLY won a conference game. They came as close to not winning but still winning as a team can possibly come. A shot at the buzzer for Ole Miss seemed to go 80 percent of the way into the hoop before somehow rattling out.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-VILLANOVA AT GEORGETOWN (Big East). This edition of this long time rivalry is suddenly a huge mismatch. Nova is looking at a #1 seed and Georgetown would have to improve just to make it to the NIT.
-SMU AT WICHITA STATE (American). Coming into the year this was a game we had been looking forward to, but SMU has really been disappointing and is off to just a 2-3 start in the American. They’ll need to win a game like this and finish on a huge hot streak just to land on the right side of the bubble.
-AUBURN AT ALABAMA (SEC). For the first time in many years, both teams are in the hunt for the NCAA Tournament. Auburn is off to such a good start that it looks like they can end up as a protected seed, and Alabama is a lot more bubblish, but if they can string together some wins they can certainly land in the safety zone. A win tonight would really help with that.
-ARKANSAS AT FLORIDA (SEC). As we discussed the other night, you get the sense that this is a huge game for both teams. Arkansas is just 2-3 in conference play and is capable of being a lot better than what their current resume indicates, and Florida has been inconsistent all year. Every time it looks like they’re coming out of a funk they drop a game that you would expect them to win. Still, both are likely tournament teams and this would be a quality win for whoever pulls it off.
-UMASS AT RHODE ISLAND (Atlantic Ten). Rhody has been blowing through the league so far and that should continue. They’ve got another sub-NIT caliber team at home tonight and they need to hold serve.
-TEXAS TECH AT TEXAS (Big 12). Texas Tech is having such a good season that they’re flirting with the #1 line, but in order to end up there it basically means having to win every game they play. Texas is just 2-3 in league play and I keep waiting for them to kick it into gear. A home win tonight would certainly go a long way.
-HOUSTON AT TULANE (American). This game probably has bigger NIT stakes than it does NCAA stakes, but neither team is completely out of reach. If it’s going to happen for either one of them then they need to win this one tonight.
-STEPHEN F AUSTIN AT ABILENE CHRISTIAN. SFA still has a very slim shot of ending up on the bubble if they win out, so we will continue to highlight their games.
-SAINT JOHN’S AT XAVIER (Big East). The Johnnies looked strong out of conference, but injuries have plagued them and they’re now so far out of the picture that it’s unlikely that they’ll catch up. Xavier, on the other hand, looks to be cruising toward a protected seed.
-SETON HALL AT CREIGHTON (Big East). It’s another Big East match-up between two very likely tournament teams. Seton Hall will be flirting with a protected seed if they can pick up a few road wins like this one.
-ARIZONA AT CALIFORNIA (Pac Twelve). This is the textbook definition of a winnable conference road game for Arizona.
-TENNESSEE AT MISSOURI (SEC). Both teams are having good seasons, but both have room to improve and have shown at times that they could be better than what their current resume indicates, and whenever teams like that are in games like this it’s a big game.
-OHIO STATE AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten). Ohio State is red hot and can keep that momentum up with another conference road win tonight.
-IOWA STATE AT TCU (Big 12). This is a very pivotal game for TCU. They’ve had a great year, but are just 1-4 in league play. This is a winnable conference home game that they really cannot afford to lose because as good as they’ve been so far they will slip down the seed list, and maybe even outside the bubble, if they can’t finish better than four games below .500 in league play.
-AIR FORCE AT COLORADO STATE (Mountain West, Front Range). We highlight this totally meaningless game that won’t even impact the NIT for one reason and one reason only! WE LOVE THE FRONT RANGE!!
-UTAH STATE AT BOISE STATE (Mountain West). Boise State is on a roll, but their margin for error is small and they need to hold serve in games like this. A home loss to a sub-NIT team would not be a good thing.
-NEW MEXICO AT UNLV (Mountain West). There are still very slim hopes that UNLV can string together enough wins to land inside the bubble, but they’d pretty much need to win out to do it.
-NEVADA AT SAN JOSE STATE (Mountain West). Nevada is blowing through conference, nearing the top 25, and appears to be headed safely toward the top half of the bracket. They just need to hold serve in games like this.
-ARIZONA STATE AT STANFORD (Pac Twelve). Stanford has won four in a row and if they can get both of these wins at home this week you have to start looking at them as a possible NCAA team, which is crazy to think of considering how bad they were just a month ago. Arizona State is headed in the opposite direction and needs to win a game like this just to stabilize themselves.
-FRESNO STATE AT SAN DIEGO STATE (Mountain West). Both of these teams pretty much need a miracle finish to land anywhere close to the NCAA Tournament.