Highlighted Games for Thursday, Jan 22nd

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TONIGHT’S HIGHLIGHTED ACTION

-SAINT MARY’S AT GONZAGA (West Coast) (***Spotlight Game***).  We shine the spotlight on this one because it features a conference rivalry between a team that looks to be a potential #1 seed, and a bubble team that can kick down the door as far as putting a quality win on their resume and solidifying themselves as an NCAA Tournament caliber team.  It’s a rivalry, and a high stakes game.

-SOUTH FLORIDA AT TEMPLE (American).  It’s slipping away for Temple, after what appeared to be a promising start to the season.  They cannot afford to lose home games to non-NIT teams.

-UCF AT UCONN (American).  Same as above.  UConn is on the outside looking in as it is, so a loss tonight would really kill them.

-NOTRE DAME AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC).  Notre Dame is now ranked 8th in the country, and has another winnable road game tonight.

-DEPAUL AT SETON HALL (Big East).  There aren’t many easy games in the Big East, but Seton Hall shouldn’t have too much trouble with DePaul at home.

-XAVIER AT PROVIDENCE (Big East).  Xavier needs road wins.  Period.  Providence is a team that looks to be inside the bubble, and beating them on the road won’t be easy, but right now Xavier has no wins away from home of any note, and if they don’t get any between now and the end of the season they will not make the field.

-GEORGE WASHINGTON AT FORDHAM (Atlantic Ten).  I like this GW team and don’t expect them to have any trouble picking up a conference road win tonight.

-OHIO STATE AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten).  This may be a tricky road game for the Buckeyes, who have a decent but not great profile.  As of now they have just one true road win, so they don’t want to fall to a Northwestern team that will likely miss the postseason.

-ALABAMA AT ARKANSAS (SEC).  Alabama is outside the bubble, and has struggled on the road.  If they want to get into the discussion then this is the kind of game that they’ll need to win.

-GEORGIA TECH AT VIRGINIA (ACC).  Virginia is unbeaten, looking like a #1 seed, and could even end up being the top #1 seed.  They shouldn’t have too much trouble at home against a Georgia Tech team that struggles on the road.

-NC STATE AT MIAMI FL (ACC).  I like this Miami team more than this NC State team, but both have a shot at making the NCAAs.  Both are also very inconsistent.  NC State has looked good in their last four games, and this is the kind of road win that would look good on their profile.

-OLD DOMINION AT MIDDLE TENNESSEE (Conference USA).  Middle Tennessee isn’t the easiest place to win, but ODU has a very strong team and if they’re a solid NCAA team this is the kind of road game they need to be expected to win the majority of the time.

-LOUISIANA TECH AT NORTH TEXAS (Conference USA).  If LA Tech wins out, they got a shot.

-UTEP AT WESTERN KENTUCKY (Conference USA).  We believe both teams are currently outside the bubble.  In fact, we don’t believe the are all that close to the bubble.  But, with how they’ve been playing lately, and WKU in particular, we do think the door is open for them to play their way into the discussion, but they would pretty much have to win out to do it, and that means winning tonight.

-ARIZONA AT STANFORD (Pac Twelve).  This is a tough road game for Arizona.  Arizona is easily a protected seed, and Stanford is a team that is very much in the picture and who can further solidify that with signature wins.

-UCLA AT OREGON STATE (Pac Twelve).  UCLA has looked better after a midseason collapse, but they still have a lot of work to do.  This is a big week for them.  If they pick up these two road wins it’ll go a long way toward getting them back in the hunt.

-MARYLAND AT INDIANA (Big Ten).  Two surprise teams, at least in my book, out of the Big Ten.  Both are in the rankings, and both are very much in the NCAA picture.

-WASHINGTON AT COLORADO (Pac Twelve).  There needs to be a huge sense of urgency for this Washington team.  They need conference road wins.  Really, they need wins of any kind.