-Big 5!!! Penn snapped a 15 year losing streak to Nova, and I think a 25 Big 5 game winning streak for Nova, with their 78-75 win yesterday. Penn sprinted out to an early 14-2 lead, and while Nova came back they never really got control of the game. To Penn’s credit, every time the momentum seemed to be going toward Nova, they would come up with a big play. For the Quakers, it’s a huge feel good win, but it’s also an important win on paper. They’re suddenly putting together quite a nice resume and may be hovering around the bubble, or even inside of it, if they can hold serve and blow through the Ivy League.
-Colorado had to overcome an early 17 point deficit at New Mexico, but came back and picked up the win. The Buffs are now 8-1 on the year, and while we haven’t talked all that much about them, they are a Pac Twelve team that doesn’t appear to suck.
-LIPSCOMB AT LOUISVILLE. This is a buy game, but it’s one of the more interesting buy games that you’ll see. Lipscomb has already picked up road wins at TCU and SMU, and while Louisville is the better team and they are at home, Lipscomb should still be able to play really well.
-UMASS AT TEMPLE. This is an old Atlantic Ten rivalry from when the A10 had its classic ten team lineup. Temple has done fairly well so far this season and just needs to hold serve in games like this when they’re playing sub-tournament caliber teams at home.
-MURRAY STATE AT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS. This is a really good UTR game between two possible (and perhaps even probable) NCAA Tournament caliber teams. Murray State’s only loss on the year was at Alabama, and SIU has won 7 of their last 8 since dropping their first two to Kentucky and Buffalo. Both teams need quality wins on their resume in order to jump out to the committee, so this game is rather important.
-LSU AT HOUSTON. This is a big road test for an LSU team that is probably better than what their current resume indicates. Houston is unbeaten, but they’re also facing what is probably their biggest test of the year even though they are at home.
-SAN DIEGO AT OREGON. San Diego is off to a really good 8-2 start, whereas Oregon has somewhat underachieved this year. The Ducks are at home and are undoubtedly favored to win this game, but they’re not so much better than San Diego that they can just overlook them. If San Diego picks up this road win then we have to start talking about them as a possible at-large worthy team.
-Columbia @ Boston College
-LIU Brooklyn @ Stony Brook – A win gets Stony Brook to an impressive 8-2
-Chattanooga @ Georgia State – Georgia State has proclaimed themselves first place in the SEC, and can get to 7-3 overall tonight
-Northwestern State @ Texas Tech
-Coppin State @ UNC Greensboro
-Jacksonville State @ Wichita State
-Chicago State @ DePaul
-Portland State @ BYU