HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Well, the Athletic New Year was back in July, so nevermind.
-We did end the year with two rather big upsets. Hartford won on the road at Boston College in overtime 79-78. BC is 9-3 on the year, but two of those losses were home buy games.
The second game was a huge shocker. Monmouth picked up their first win of the year at Penn. Monmouth had not won a game all year, and was near the bottom of all div1 in nearly every metric ranking. In rankings like the NET and JNG, the two teams were close to 300 spots apart. That is a HUGE upset!! And, I think it has doomed Penn to needing the automatic bid to make the NCAA Tournament.
-NJIT now has 7 true road wins, and is 12-3 on the season. They had a nice win at Duquesne yesterday and are off to their best start ever since jumping to div1.
-Creighton picked up their biggest win of the year by winning at Providence. It gives the Jays a much needed quality road win away from home, not to mention a conference win.
-NOTRE DAME AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC). Notre Dame has a fairly decent OOC profile, but they still have a lot of work to do to land inside the bubble. Winning a game like this would jack their resume through the roof.
-MARQUETTE AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East). The Johnnies are coming off their first loss of the year, but it was perhaps their most impressive performance. They at the buzzer against a very good Seton Hall team on the road. They’re at home tonight against a Marquette team that’s looked as strong as anyone in the Big East this year, but that’s still looking for their first true road win.
-Winthrop @ Florida State
-Cal State Fullerton @ Washington