NEWS AND NOTES
–For the latest Hoops HD Report, where we run through all the major conferences and touch on all the teams we believe to be inside the bubble, as well as talk about the situation at Louisville with the self imposed postseason ban – CLICK HERE
-For Chad Sherwood’s Under the Radar Game of the Day between Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan – CLICK HERE
-For the most part, the chalk held yesterday. Notre Dame did get a very nice road win against a Clemson team who’s small margin for error just got a lot smaller, Duke knocked off Louisville, which is a nice win that they needed, Chattanooga held serve and picked up a road win at Mercer in what was most likely their toughest remaining game, and Oklahoma held on to beat Texas at home.
Oklahoma’s home win over Texas in and of itself isn’t noteworthy, but the way Texas played against what is one of the nation’s best teams in a true road game really is. It won’t show up on the paper, but Texas led Oklahoma for the entire game, and had a chance to win in the final seconds. That is a tremendous effort, and to me a tremendous statement as to what this Texas team is capable of doing. They have improved drastically as the year has progressed, and I definitely think they’ll end up as a protected seed with the capability of going far in the NCAA Tournament.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-WEST VIRGINIA AT KANSAS (Big Twelve). Nothing much to see here. Just yet another Big Twelve game between two likely protected seeds that are ranked in the top ten. West Virginia won the first meeting, but they’ll have a tons harder time winning this one.
-CINCINNATI AT UCF (American). Cincinnati is squarely on the bubble and basically can’t afford to lose to any more non-tournament caliber teams.
-PITTSBURGH AT MIAMI FL (ACC). I think Miami is looking like a protected seed. The Hoops HD staff all feels differently about Pittsburgh, but I do think they’ll be wearing white in the Round of 64, and if they’re able to pull off a win in this game everyone else will probably start agreeing with that.
-MICHIGAN STATE AT PURDUE (Big Ten). Michigan State could really use a road win against a top 25 caliber team in order to cement their profile and prove that they belong on the #2 line. Purdue has a lot of good wins, but no great ones, so they have some room to move up as well. Both teams have room for improvement, and both can improve with a win today.
-DUQUESNE AT DAYTON (Atlantic Ten). Duquesne actually is improved, but the NIT is a much more realistic goal than the NCAAs this year, and a win in this game would help. Dayton actually has a shot at a protected seed, and if they win out, which they’re good enough to do, they should get it.
-MONMOUTH AT MARIST (Metro Atlantic). We say it for every Monmouth game, and we’ll say it again for this one. If they win out they’ll be safely inside the bubble. If they drop a game they may be in real trouble without the automatic bid.
-VIRGINIA TECH AT VIRGINIA (ACC). This is a rivalry game that Virginia lost earlier in the season as the road team. In this past few weeks, Virginia has suddenly turned into road warriors. Virginia Tech has improved this year and has their program heading in the right direction, but this is an unbelievably tall order given how well UVA has looked recently.
-NORTH CAROLINA AT BOSTON COLLEGE (ACC). UNC needs some big road wins if they want to end up on the #1 line. This game does not qualify, but they also need to avoid losses to weak teams.
-XAVIER AT CREIGHTON (Big East). Xavier is ranked in the top five and is on our #1 line, but it will be interesting to see how they react as a road team going into a snake pit with a huge bullseye on their back. If they want to end up with a #1 seed they need to win games like this.
-WICHITA STATE AT DRAKE (Missouri Valley). Wichita is coming off somewhat of a surprising loss, but shouldn’t have too much trouble rebounding. If they win out, which they’re good enough to do, they’ll be safely inside the bubble.
-VILLANOVA AT DEPAUL (Big East). Nova is ranked #1, and shouldn’t have too much trouble picking up another conference road win tonight.
-GEORGIA AT KENTUCKY (SEC). Kentucky is very safely in the field, but they’re not the protected seed that we were expecting them to be. They’ve been strong at home all year long, though, and shouldn’t have too much trouble beating a Georgia team that’s had a rough season.
-OLE MISS AT FLORIDA (SEC). Florida got blitzed by Kentucky over the weekend, but is still in good shape and should be able to pick this one up at home.
-Bowie State (nondiv1) @ Maryland (Buy Game)
-Benedictine (nondiv1) @ Grand Canyon. This is a buy game, but it’s a buy game that features the Team of the People!!!
News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Tuesday, Feb 9th
NEWS AND NOTES
–For the latest Hoops HD Report, where we run through all the major conferences and touch on all the teams we believe to be inside the bubble, as well as talk about the situation at Louisville with the self imposed postseason ban – CLICK HERE
-For Chad Sherwood’s Under the Radar Game of the Day between Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan – CLICK HERE
-For the most part, the chalk held yesterday. Notre Dame did get a very nice road win against a Clemson team who’s small margin for error just got a lot smaller, Duke knocked off Louisville, which is a nice win that they needed, Chattanooga held serve and picked up a road win at Mercer in what was most likely their toughest remaining game, and Oklahoma held on to beat Texas at home.
Oklahoma’s home win over Texas in and of itself isn’t noteworthy, but the way Texas played against what is one of the nation’s best teams in a true road game really is. It won’t show up on the paper, but Texas led Oklahoma for the entire game, and had a chance to win in the final seconds. That is a tremendous effort, and to me a tremendous statement as to what this Texas team is capable of doing. They have improved drastically as the year has progressed, and I definitely think they’ll end up as a protected seed with the capability of going far in the NCAA Tournament.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-WEST VIRGINIA AT KANSAS (Big Twelve). Nothing much to see here. Just yet another Big Twelve game between two likely protected seeds that are ranked in the top ten. West Virginia won the first meeting, but they’ll have a tons harder time winning this one.
-CINCINNATI AT UCF (American). Cincinnati is squarely on the bubble and basically can’t afford to lose to any more non-tournament caliber teams.
-PITTSBURGH AT MIAMI FL (ACC). I think Miami is looking like a protected seed. The Hoops HD staff all feels differently about Pittsburgh, but I do think they’ll be wearing white in the Round of 64, and if they’re able to pull off a win in this game everyone else will probably start agreeing with that.
-MICHIGAN STATE AT PURDUE (Big Ten). Michigan State could really use a road win against a top 25 caliber team in order to cement their profile and prove that they belong on the #2 line. Purdue has a lot of good wins, but no great ones, so they have some room to move up as well. Both teams have room for improvement, and both can improve with a win today.
-DUQUESNE AT DAYTON (Atlantic Ten). Duquesne actually is improved, but the NIT is a much more realistic goal than the NCAAs this year, and a win in this game would help. Dayton actually has a shot at a protected seed, and if they win out, which they’re good enough to do, they should get it.
-MONMOUTH AT MARIST (Metro Atlantic). We say it for every Monmouth game, and we’ll say it again for this one. If they win out they’ll be safely inside the bubble. If they drop a game they may be in real trouble without the automatic bid.
-VIRGINIA TECH AT VIRGINIA (ACC). This is a rivalry game that Virginia lost earlier in the season as the road team. In this past few weeks, Virginia has suddenly turned into road warriors. Virginia Tech has improved this year and has their program heading in the right direction, but this is an unbelievably tall order given how well UVA has looked recently.
-NORTH CAROLINA AT BOSTON COLLEGE (ACC). UNC needs some big road wins if they want to end up on the #1 line. This game does not qualify, but they also need to avoid losses to weak teams.
-XAVIER AT CREIGHTON (Big East). Xavier is ranked in the top five and is on our #1 line, but it will be interesting to see how they react as a road team going into a snake pit with a huge bullseye on their back. If they want to end up with a #1 seed they need to win games like this.
-WICHITA STATE AT DRAKE (Missouri Valley). Wichita is coming off somewhat of a surprising loss, but shouldn’t have too much trouble rebounding. If they win out, which they’re good enough to do, they’ll be safely inside the bubble.
-VILLANOVA AT DEPAUL (Big East). Nova is ranked #1, and shouldn’t have too much trouble picking up another conference road win tonight.
-GEORGIA AT KENTUCKY (SEC). Kentucky is very safely in the field, but they’re not the protected seed that we were expecting them to be. They’ve been strong at home all year long, though, and shouldn’t have too much trouble beating a Georgia team that’s had a rough season.
-OLE MISS AT FLORIDA (SEC). Florida got blitzed by Kentucky over the weekend, but is still in good shape and should be able to pick this one up at home.
-Bowie State (nondiv1) @ Maryland (Buy Game)
-Benedictine (nondiv1) @ Grand Canyon. This is a buy game, but it’s a buy game that features the Team of the People!!!