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-NORTH CAROLINA AT WAKE FOREST (ACC). I get the impression that UNC is improving as the year goes on. They take on a Tobacco Road rival tonight that has struggled so far.
-HOUSTON AT CINCINNATI (American). Cincinnati seems to be very much on the bubble right now, and every game has a pivotal feel to it.
-MEMPHIS AT TULSA (American). I’m open to the idea that one or more of these teams could end up on the bubble, but am thinking that there’s a much better chance of this being an NIT preview.
-MARQUETTE AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East). My God the Jonnies need this one. They are just 1-4 in league play and have some major catching up to do.
-PENN STATE AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten). Michigan State appears to be inside the bubble, but is closer to it than what we’re normally used to seeing so they don’t want to have slipups in games like this.
-MISSOURI AT TEXAS A&M (SEC). I don’t know why anyone would have TAMU in the discussion, but a few do and I guess that means we have to pay attention to them. If they lose tonight, they won’t be, though.
-INDIANA STATE AT NORTHERN IOWA (Missouri Valley). I see Northern Iowa as being a first ballot team, and don’t think they’ll have too much trouble at home tonight.
-EVANSVILLE AT LOYOLA IL (Missouri Valley). Both teams are currently way outside the bubble and they need to basically win out or come close to it if they want to have any hopes of making it.
-WICHITA STATE AT MISSOURI STATE (Missouri Valley). Wichita State is still the best team in the conference and may even end up as a protected seed if they can run away from the rest of the league.
-WASHINGTON STATE AT UTAH (Pac Twelve). I know Utah lost decisively to Arizona over the weekend, but I still really like this team and don’t think they’ll have too much trouble against a very much improved, but still awful, Wazzu team.
-TEXAS TECH AT OKLAHOMA STATE (Big Twelve). There aren’t many easy games in this league, but this is probably one of the easier ones for Oklahoma State.
-SMU AT TULANE (American). Interesting game here as SMU continues to improve, despite recent allegations (and we’ll see how that plays in) as they travel to a Tulane team that is better, but still has a long way to go.
-CREIGHTON AT BUTLER (Big East). Butler is coming off a rough road loss to Georgetown, but I still like this team and think they’ll pick up another conference win tonight against a Creighton team that is 0-6 in league play.
-PURDUE AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten). The Illini need to have a sense of urgency to them. They’re pretty good, but inconsistent and they cannot afford to lose at home to teams that are not in the picture.
-NEW MEXICO AT UNLV (Mountain West). Neither team has done anything close to what they need to do on paper to make the field, but it still feels like this should be a big game…right??