NEWS AND NOTES
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-Louisville needs notable road wins, and they’ve picked up two this past week against Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. Neither team is exactly NCAA Tournament caliber, but both have been strong at home so those were two of Louisville’s better wins so far.
-Texas A&M fell at Arkansas, which was kind of surprising. Arkansas has been very tough at home this year as well, but TAMU was ranked in the top five and some were thinking they had a shot at a #1 seed, so that’s the kind of game you expect to see a protected seed win more often than not. The loss doesn’t kill the Aggies by any means, but it does hurt what little chance they had at ending up as a #1.
-Clemson picked up yet another big notable win when they knocked off Pittsburgh yesterday, and looked impressive doing it. If they keep this up they will end up making the field.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-IOWA AT MARYLAND (Big Ten) (***Spotlight Game***). Iowa has several huge wins already, and if they get this one I think it solidifies them as a #1 seed caliber team. Maryland, while high in the rankings, doesn’t have any monster wins yet and needs this to kind of verify that they belong in the Top Ten.
-WILLIAM & MARY AT DELAWARE (Colonial). The chances are slim, but if W&M wins out they should be on the bubble, and perhaps even inside of it.
-ELON AT HOFSTRA (Colonial). Hofstra is another Colonial team that can end up on the bubble, but they pretty much have to win out to do it.
-CINCINNATI AT CONNECTICUT (American). Both of these teams desperately need to win this game, especially Cincinnati, who right now appears to be on the outside looking in and has limited chances at notable wins after this.
-NOTRE DAME AT SYRACUSE (ACC). Syracuse has been playing better as of late, but they still have some work to do if they want to feel safe on Selection Sunday. They are currently two games below 500 in conference games, and they probably won’t end up in the field if that’s how they finish. The Irish are into the rankings and have been improving as the season has progressed. This would be yet another notable road win for them if they pull it off.
-UAB AT WESTERN KENTUCKY (Conference USA). UAB needs to win out just to get any sort of a look from the committee at all, and even that may not be enough. They have the nation’s longest winning streak, but they’ve done it against an SOS that’s ranked in the 290s.
-MONMOUTH AT QUINNIPIAC (Metro Atlantic). Monmouth cannot afford to lose this game, and probably can’t afford to lose any other games either.
-UT ARLINGTON AT LOUISIANA MONROE (Sun Belt). UTA has lost two of their last three games, and anything short of winning out will probably result in them needing the automatic bid to make the NCAAs.
-EVANSVILLE AT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (Missouri Valley). Evansville really shot themselves in the foot over the weekend with their loss to Indiana State. They hadn’t played a tough schedule so their margin for error was very small. This is a chance to pick up a notable road win and resuscitate their profile a little bit, but they pretty much need to win out and even that may not be enough.
-CLEVELAND STATE AT VALPARAISO (Horizon League). I still think Valpo will be okay so long as they win out, which if they’re a tournament team they should be able to do since no one else in the HL even looks like an NIT team.
-GEORGIA SOUTHERN AT LITTLE ROCK (Sun Belt). Little Rock got the big win at UT Arlington over the weekend, and I think they’ve played their way inside the bubble, and will likely stay there so long as they hold serve the rest of the way.
-OREGON STATE AT ARIZONA STATE (Pac Twelve). Oregon State is coming off a much needed win, but they need road wins if they want to land inside the bubble. Like all teams that are on the bubble, this is a very big game for them.
-SANTA CLARA AT GONZAGA (West Coast). Gonzaga is still safe for now, but if they lose any more games to non tournament teams, especially at home, they could be in trouble.
-MICHIGAN STATE AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten). Michigan State got a big win over the weekend, which should get them out of the funk they were in. This is a winnable, yet notable road win (like all road games in the Big Ten), which should help keep them on one of the top two lines so long as they finish strong.
-RICHMOND AT GEORGE WASHINGTON (Atlantic Ten). I think GW is right on the bubble despite being 15-4 and having a big win against Virginia. The Virginia win came at home, and as good as the Hoos are, they haven’t exactly proven themselves to be road warriors this year. If they slip up and lose multiple games to non tournament teams, I think GW will end up on the outside looking in, which is why games like tonight’s are so important.
-OREGON AT ARIZONA (Pac Twelve). Oregon has picked up some big road wins, which has drastically improved their profile. Arizona has played well in some losing efforts, but given some of their injuries it’s going to be difficult for them to end up as a protected seed again this year.
-WASHINGTON AT UCLA (Pac Twelve). Washington is way up in the Pac Twelve standings, but they’re still right on the bubble when you look at their overall body of work and could really use a road win. UCLA is kind of bubbly as well, so this game is very important to both teams.
-WASHINGTON STATE AT USC (Pac Twelve). Playing Wazzu at home is probably the most winnable conference game for any team in the Pac Twelve.
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