News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Tuesday, Feb 19th

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-Virginia picked up another win against a ranked team away from home when they knocked off Virginia Tech last night.  The Hoos have yet to lose to anyone other than Duke, and that may be good enough for a solid #1 seed.

-Illinois is worth paying attention to.  They have a lousy resume due to being lousy for most of the season, but they’re not playing lousy now.  They went into Wisconsin and actually had themselves in position to win the game with less than a minute to go.  They’ll need to win the Big Ten Tournament to make the field, but they appear to be good enough to break quite a bit of stuff and ruin some peoples’ days between now and the end of the year.

-TCU lost to Oklahoma State, which has me scratching my head even more about how the hell they won at Iowa State.  I think they’ll make the field, and there have been nights where they’ve definitely looked like an NCAA Tournament caliber team, but there have seemingly been more nights where they haven’t.

-DAYTON AT DAVIDSON (Atlantic Ten).  Most likely not a game that impacts the NCAA tournament, but Davidson is tied for first place and will be looked at by the committee (albeit for maybe just a few seconds) if they end up there.

-VANDERBILT AT TENNESSEE (SEC).  Vandy is still looking for their first conference win, and Tennessee is looking to bounce back from a rather decisive loss at Kentucky.  I’d say Tennessee should blow them out, but this was a struggle for them the first time they met.

-PURDUE AT INDIANA (Big Ten).  This is a rivalry game that Purdue needs to win to help cement their spot as a protected seed, and that Indiana needs to win in order to stop sucking and help get them into the NCAA Tournament at all.

-OHIO AT BUFFALO (MAC).  Buffalo should land in the top half of the bracket if they win out through the regular season, which they are good enough to do.

-AKRON AT BOWLING GREEN (MAC).  This game won’t impact the NCAA at-large pool, but Bowling Green is in a tie for first place with Buffalo.

-OLE MISS AT SOUTH CAROLINA (SEC).  Both teams are 8-4 in conference play, but South Carolina started running once they were so far behind the pack that they’re still not caught up to the at-large caliber teams.  Still, if they keep winning, they can put themselves in a unique situation.  Ole Miss is one of the biggest surprise teams of the year, and they should land safely in the NCAA Tournament barring a collapse.

-MARYLAND AT IOWA (Big Ten).  Both teams will probably land in the top half of the bracket, and if Iowa keeps winning at the clip they have been they could end up as a protected seed.

-RHODE ISLAND AT VCU (Atlantic Ten).  If VCU wins out through the regular season, which they should, I believe they will be inside the bubble and in the field even if they don’t win the A10 Tournament.  As weak as that league has been this year, it still looks as though they’ll put a team inside the bubble.

-KENTUCKY AT MISSOURI (SEC).  Kentucky is coming off a huge home win against Tennessee and should be able to get this one so long as they don’t fall asleep during the game.  Well, I guess a little nap wouldn’t hurt, but anything beyond that and they may be in trouble.

-FLORIDA STATE AT CLEMSON (ACC).  Florida State has won seven straight and can add another nice win to their resume if they pull this off.  Clemson is back to losing multiple games in spectacular ways that only Clemson can seem to do.  They’ve lost their last two games by just one point, and need a win like this (along with a few others) to put them on the right side of the bubble, so there is a huge sense of urgency tonight.

-BAYLOR AT IOWA STATE (Big 12).  Baylor is still looking like a tournament team, but they have hit a bit of a skid.  Iowa State is looking more and more like a protected seeded caliber team, especially after what they did over the weekend, and should be able to pick this one up at home.

-ALABAMA AT TEXAS A&M (SEC).  Alabama is right on the bubble, and they need to win.  They don’t have many true road wins, and they have to demonstrate that they’re able to beat teams as bad as TAMU on the road.

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