News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Tuesday, Feb 16th

Below is a rundown of tonight’s college hoops action

NEWS AND NOTES

-For Chad Sherwood’s Under the Radar Game of the Day between Valpo and Cleveland State – CLICK HERE

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-SOUTH CAROLINA AT MISSOURI (SEC).  South Carolina needs to rebound after getting pounded by Kentucky over the weekend.  This is probably the most winnable road game on their schedule.

-WEST VIRGINIA AT TEXAS (Big Twelve).  Texas is coming off two straight losses, but neither of them were the least bit damaging since they came on the road to protected seeds.  Having said that, it’s important that they rebound, and doing that won’t be easy against a West Virginia team that’s probably also a protected seed.

-WAKE FOREST AT PITTSBURGH (ACC).  Pitt is in good shape and should remain that way so long as they hold serve, which means not dropping home games to weak teams.

-MICHIGAN AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten).  Ohio State has, on occasion, looked like they’re halfway decent, but they’re still a mile outside the bubble right now.  Michigan looks like they’d be in the field if the season ended today, but they could use a few more big wins to help improve their profile and seed.

-NORTHWESTERN AT PURDUE (Big Ten).  Purdue is safely in the field and they could still end up as a protected seed if they finish strong.

-CREIGHTON AT BUTLER (Big East).  People are talking about Creighton crashing the dance.  I guess it’s possible, but they’ll have to really sprint to the finish, which means getting multiple wins in games such as this one.  Butler is in better shape than they were a week ago, but they still have some work to do in order to feel safe, and they’d be well advised to not drop a home game to a team that’s outside the bubble.

-BUFFALO AT AKRON (MAC).  Akron is coming off what may be a tournament killing loss over the weekend.  I still think they’ll get a serious look if they win out and don’t go out early in the conference tournament, but even then it’ll be close.

-VALPARAISO AT CLEVELAND STATE (Horizon League).  Valpo’s at-large chances are on life support, and even if they win out it may already be too late.  Any loss prior to the conference tournament pretty much kills them without the automatic bid.

-RHODE ISLAND AT VCU (Atlantic Ten).  VCU had a rough week last week, and they need to get it together and hold serve from here on out.  Otherwise they may end up watching the NCAA Tournament on television.

-FLORIDA AT GEORGIA (SEC).  Florida still has a good profile, but it certainly has room to improve.  Georgia is on the outside looking in, but they have been a tough team to beat at home, so the Gators would get some credit for this win if they’re able to pull it off.

-OLE MISS AT TEXAS A&M (SEC).  TAMU has lost five of their last six and really needs to come out of that tailspin.  A win tonight won’t help their profile necessarily, but it will be a win, and a win of any kind would be helpful at this point.

-IOWA STATE AT BAYLOR (Big Twelve).  Baylor won at Iowa State earlier this year, and really seems to have their number.  Having said that, they got blasted over the weekend by what appeared to be an anemic Texas Tech team.  Both teams are in the rankings, and both could still end up as protected seeds with strong finishes.  That seems to be the story line for nearly every Big Twelve game this year.