NEWS AND NOTES:
-We will be recording our Under the Radar Video Podcast tonight, which will likely be the final of the season in its current format. Next week, we will begin our nightly Championship Week Video Notebooks, so be sure and check us out tonight.
Speaking of Under the Radar, for Chad’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-VIRGINIA AT WAKE FOREST (ACC). Virginia is battling injuries, and Wake Forest is battling not being good. Still, it’s never easy to win on the road, even if it’s a weaker team, and it’s even harder to do while injured.
-GEORGE MASON AT DAYTON (Atlantic Ten). Dayton is coming off a very damaging loss to Duquesne. If they lose this one it might be a knockout punch.
-DAVIDSON AT RHODE ISLAND (Atlantic Ten). This is a hugely important game between a Davidson team that’s right on the bubble, and a Rhody team that’s outside the bubble, but will have a chance to play their way in if they can finish really strongly. Both teams need to come in with a sense of desperation.
-INDIANA AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten). Indiana is in good shape, but could improve their profile with more true road wins, and this is one of their more winnable true road games.
-KENTUCKY AT MISSISSIPPI STATE (SEC). Kentucky is cruising to the #1 overall seed and isn’t likely to be derailed tonight.
-VCU AT RICHMOND (Atlantic Ten). This game is always fun. Richmond upset VCU at VCU earlier this year, albeit VCU was dealing with injuries at the time. They’re going to be jacked up for this one. As well as VCU has been playing, this isn’t the easiest game to win.
-WICHITA STATE AT INDIANA STATE (Missouri Valley). Wichita should win this, but Indiana State is somewhat formidable at home, and Wichita doesn’t want to get caught looking ahead to Saturday.
-UCF AT CINCINNATI (American). Cincinnati simply cannot afford to lose this one at home.
-TULANE AT TULSA (American). Tulsa is outside the bubble, but has played well their last couple of games. A slip up at home to a weak Tulane team may be too much to overcome.
-MARQUETTE AT BUTLER (Big East). Butler has struggled since losing a key player to injury, but should be able to take care of business at home in this one.
-BAYLOR AT IOWA STATE (Big Twelve). Both teams could end up as protected seeds, and a strong finish by Iowa State could get them as high as the #2 line.
-EVANSVILLE AT NORTHERN IOWA (Missouri Valley). Northern Iowa has been really impressive this year, especially at home. They fell to Evansville earlier in the season, but I don’t see them falling a second time tonight.
-DUKE AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC). Duke continues to play like a #1 seed and they should get it if they keep going at the clip they’ve gone at all season long.
-FLORIDA STATE AT MIAMI FL (ACC). Miami is coming off a very disappointing loss to Louisville, and they need to get over it quick because they’re right on the bubble and can’t afford a loss to a non tournament team at home.
-SAN JOSE STATE AT COLORADO STATE (Missouri Valley). Colorado State has had a good season, and is hosting one of the weakest teams in the country. A loss in a game like this could make a good season look really bad in a hurry.
-ILLINOIS AT IOWA (Big Ten). Both appear to be in the field, but both need some big wins to feel completely safe. Illinois has been playing better, but a notable road win would really help their profile. Wins of any kind would help Iowa’s profile as well.
-GEORGIA AT OLE MISS (SEC). Georgia is right on the bubble, and could use a big road win like this to get them safely inside of it. Ole Miss has been playing really well. They haven’t racked up any monster wins, but have a lot of decent ones and can continue to climb up the seed list if they keep it up.
-FRESNO STATE AT WYOMING (Mountain West). Wyoming is a long shot, but they’re still in the discussion. They won’t be if they lose this game, though.
-WASHINGTON AT UCLA (Pac Twelve). Washington is in a bit of a slump. They are coming off a win over rival Wazzu, but Wazzu isn’t any good and Washington barely beat them. They’d lost seven straight prior to that. UCLA is on the bubble and can’t afford a home loss to a team like that.
-OREGON AT CALIFORNIA (Pac Twelve). Oregon is right on the bubble, but one of the things that’s lousy about their profile is a lack of road wins. Cal isn’t a tournament team, but any road wins would be really helpful for the Ducks.