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Western Kentucky at Louisiana Tech, 7:00 PM Eastern, CBS Sports Network
The choice for UTR Game of the Day tonight could not have been easier as first place in Conference USA is on the line as the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers take on the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs in one of the conference’s biggest and most important games so far this season. Western Kentucky has caught our attention (and may be turning a lot more heads if they keep winning), jumping out to a 7-0 start in C-USA play and a 14-5 record overall. They have won 9 straight games and notably have already picked up wins over Ole Miss, Old Dominion and UTEP this season. They also took Louisville to the wire, in a game much closer than its 9 point final margin of victory. While an at-large bid would probably require the Hilltoppers to run the slate in CUSA regular season play, we are not writing them out of that conversation quite yet.
WKU’s opponent tonight is the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, who enter the game at 6-1 in conference and 15-5 overall. La Tech was our preseason pick to win CUSA and, at least since conference play began, has been playing up to that billing. The Bulldogs’ biggest problem was their lack of quality non-conference games. They were only able to schedule three (at Temple, at Syrcause, and at NC State), and lost them all. In addition, a non-conference loss at Louisiana-Lafayette and a conference loss at North Texas have probably knocked them out of any serious conversation for an at-large bid. However, if they want to get back into those talks, or at least make a run at the top seed in the CUSA tournament, the Bulldogs need to win and keep winning. And they need to start tonight, at home, against the Hilltoppers.