Under the Radar Game of the Day: Ohio at Buffalo, 7:00 PM Eastern, ESPNU
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The Under the Radar Game of the Day returns to the MAC tonight as the battle for second place in the East Division behind Akron heats up. Akron currently sits at 9-2 in conference play with a two game lead over Buffalo and Kent State, who are both 7-4 entering play tonight. Ohio University sits one game further back at 6-5. With the West Division leaders all sitting at 6-5 as well, it appears that whichever team finishes second in the East will earn the #2 seed in the MAC Tournament. Tonight, in Buffalo, the Bulls will be welcoming in the Ohio Bobcats in a game that will either establish Buffalo as one of the favorites for that #2 seed or pull them back into the pack.
Buffalo enters play today with a 7-4 MAC record and 13-10 overall. Ohio is 6-5 in conference and 14-8 overall. Tonight’s game is the first of two between these teams, who will meet again in Ohio on February 27. Blake Hamilton is one of the key players to keep an eye on for Buffalo as he has been in double digits in eight of his last nine games. For Ohio, Antonio Campbell has the ability to dominate a game, with 11 double-doubles on the season including a 26 point, 10 rebound effort last time out against Ball State. If Buffalo can find a way to shut him down, they have a chance to pick up their 5th win in their last 6 games and move one step closer to a top seed in the MAC Tournament.
DAVID’S NOTES AND OTHER HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-Going into yesterday, it didn’t look like it was going to be all that crazy of a day. So, very little of what we were expecting to happen happened.
Little Rock and Chattanooga were Under the Radar teams that we felt were inside the bubble going into yesterday, but both suffered very damaging losses, which really hurt their chances of making it in without the automatic bid.
VCU also went down at UMass, which doesn’t knock them out of the tournament field, but it does knock them down quite a bit.
Oregon, who had been playing well on the road, did not play well on the road yesterday as Cal absolutely blew their doors off.
William & Mary was in a position to land inside the bubble, especially when you look at how well they had been playing, but they just went cold in the second half against Hofstra. Hofstra isn’t bad, but they’re not a tournament team and Bill & Mary lost to them at home.
Saint Mary’s fell to Pepperdine, which was sort of surprising, but I personally wasn’t that big on them anyway. Still, it was a surprising result.
Iowa lost at Indiana in a game that I thought they’d win, but I’m not too terribly shocked that they didn’t. That was actually one of the least surprising results from yesterday.
-DAYTON AT RHODE ISLAND (Atlantic Ten). Dayton had to sweat out their last game, but they still got the win and can add another road win to their already impressive profile tonight. If they keep going like they have been they should end up as a protected seed.
-YALE AT DARTMOUTH (Ivy League). Yale returns to the scene of where their Ivy League championship hopes went south last season; the Bulldogs also begin a brutal stretch where 6 out of their final 8 games will be played on the road.
-PENN AT COLUMBIA (Ivy League). The Lions look to bounce back from last weekend where they got a split on the Yale/Brown road trip. They’re a game back of Yale and face a middling Quaker team tonight.
-UCLA AT ARIZONA (Pac Twelve). The Bruins are running out of chances to get notable wins in Pac 12; they’re already 2 games under .500 in league play. Arizona has a decent chance to get back up to 2nd place after this weekend, but they’d better not take this one for granted at home.
-USC AT ARIZONA STATE (Pac Twelve). The one thing USC could really use is more road wins, and tonight they have a chance to add to that because this is a winnable road game, despite having to go against the Curtain of Distraction.
-MONMOUTH AT RIDER (Metro Atlantic). If Monmouth wins out, they’ll be safely inside the bubble.
-GRAND CANYON AT SEATTLE (WAC). This is another big road test for the Team of the People, as they try and finish in the top 100 of the RPI as a transitional team. #LopesWaiver