NEWS AND NOTES
-Happy Valentines Day from Hoops HD! Well, I guess. I know this is a difficult day for a lot of basketball fans, because Valentines Day activities can distract from more important activities such as college basketball. I encourage everyone to realize that if he or she wants to do anything other than watch college basketball today, then chances are they are not worth keeping!!!
-For Chad Sherwood’s Under the Radar Game of the Day between New Hampshire and Stony Brook – CLICK HERE
-Wisconsin got a huge road win against Maryland, which blasts them into the tournament picture. Maryland’s profile didn’t sustain that much damage because the one thing that’s missing from it is a big time road win, and they’ll still have their chances to pick that up, but Wiscy’s profile is a million times better than it was before the game.
-Normally winning at Maryland would be one of the most impressive wins that anyone manages all season. As it turns out, it wasn’t even the most impressive road win of the day. Kansas went into Oklahoma, and pulled off the win of all wins by downing the Sooners on the road. Kansas has now beaten Oklahoma twice. Kansas is now in first place of what we believe the toughest conference to be. Kansas has the most impressive singular win of anyone this season. I’ve got to believe that this win puts Kansas on the #1 line, and perhaps even as the overall #1 seed.
-Xavier went into Butler and won convincingly, which was a 180 from how they had looked in their previous road game against Creighton earlier in the week.
-Virginia went down at Duke, but as instant replay has shown us they should have won the game. In defense of the referees, I didn’t notice it when I watched it in real time, but when Grayson Allen (who was very well defended), got up a desperation heave, his feet left the ground, and then touched the ground, and then he shot the ball. That’s a travel. But, it wasn’t called, and it went in, and Duke came out with a huge win. It stings for Virginia, but I don’t think it does anything to hurt them, and wouldn’t be surprised if they still ended up as a #2 or even a #1 seed based on ho well they’re playing and how they have opportunities to keep building their resume.
-Oregon lost their second straight when they fell at Stanford. I was starting to like them an awful lot, but two straight road losses to a team that’s on the bubble, and another team that’s nowhere near the bubble isn’t exactly playing like a #1 or #2 seed.
-LSU got a big win against Texas A&M. Texas A&M has now lost five of their last six. Things really started to go south for TAMU after Lee Delvecchio and Chad Sherwood began discussing how they thought they could be a #1 seed.
-Kentucky’s coach John Calipari was kicked out within the first three minutes of their game against South Carolina. Kentucky then went on to absolutely blast the Gamecocks out of their own gym. Calipari was apparently furious that a foul had been called on South Carolina (yes, this happened after a foul had been called on the other team) and wouldn’t stop yelling about it until they kicked him out. I believe he was channeling his inner Norman Dale for whatever reason. I really don’t know the reason, but if he did do it on purpose then I guess it worked.
-Baylor lost badly a home to a Texas Tech team that doesn’t appear to be going anywhere other than the NIT. Baylor could have really done without that.
-Wichita State lost for the second straight weekend to a Northern Iowa team that only scored 15 the second half, but still won. Wichita State could have really done without that.
-Valparaiso became the fourth Under the Radar team who appeared to be inside the bubble to pick up a really damaging loss when they lost to Wright State at home after the Raiders scored the last eight points of the game. This is the second time they’ve lost to Wright State. Valpo really could have done without that.
-Washington came very close to picking up a big road win in each of their last two games, which really would have helped them out, but they fell by a point at Colorado yesterday.
-Last, and definitely not least, Yale improved to 8-0 in the Ivy League with their win yesterday at Harvard. That sets up a big game against Princeton this Friday that will have NCAA Tournament implications
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-SYRACUSE AT BOSTON COLLEGE (ACC). Syracuse seems to be getting better and better as the season progresses, and they shouldn’t have too much trouble picking up a road win against a BC team that’s winless in ACC play.
-PITTSBURGH AT NORTH CAROLINA (ACC). UNC is easily a protected seed, and Pitt is safely in the field. Pitt can really help their profile if they’re able to win this game.
-INDIANA AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten). Indiana got a huge win against Iowa earlier in the week. If they manage to pick up a road win against a likely protected seed then I think it will completely change the complexion of their resume.
-SOUTH FLORIDA AT TEMPLE (American). We are looking at Temple, but we likely won’t be anymore if they lose a game like this.
-WASHINGTON STATE AT UTAH (Pac Twelve). Utah has a solid profile and just needs to hold serve today.
-MIAMI FL AT FLORIDA STATE (ACC). Miami has yet to win a true road game against a team that’s likely to make the field, so today is a chance to add something to their profile that they don’t have. It’s also a chance to beat a rival on the road. Florida State is inside our bubble, but they’d be much safer if they can get another notable win or two.
-MINNESOTA AT IOWA (Big Ten). Iowa is coming off a loss at Indiana, so this is a good chance for them to rebound.
-USC AT ARIZONA (Pac Twelve). Both teams are safely in the field, but both teams have room for improvement. USC doesn’t have that many notable road wins, and Arizona could use a few more wins of note.
-UCLA AT ARIZONA STATE (Pac Twelve). UCLA is way outside looking in, but if they finish strong they can at least play their way into the picture.