NEWS AND NOTES
-For Chad Sherwood’s Under the Radar Game of the Day between UAB and Middle Tennessee – CLICK HERE
-Texas A&M beat Kentucky in overtime in a rather bizarre manner. Kentucky came up with a big defensive stop toward the end of the game with a one point lead, where Kentucky’s Isaac Humphries was immediately fouled after coming up with the ball after the stop. The problem was that Humphries was so excited that he slammed the ball down on the ground in celebration. The referees assessed a technical foul, which was his fifth foul, AND which awarded TAMU two freethrows, AND which fouled him out so someone else had to shoot the freethrows for Kentucky. TAMU made both technical freethrows. Kentucky made one of two so the game was tied and TAMU had the ball. They scored at the buzzer after Kentucky appeared to have come up with another defensive stop, but the loose ball landed right under TAMU’s basket for a layup. On paper, the loss will help TAMU, but won’t hurt Kentucky too much.
-Oklahoma picked up another road win against a top ten team with a somewhat decisive 76-62 win at West Virginia. The game actually had a pivotal feel to it because if Oklahoma wins then it is a great win that demonstrates they are definitely a #1 seed, a loss would have been their fourth loss in their last five games.
-North Carolina blasted Miami FL yesterday. North Carolina winning wasn’t too shocking. North Carolina leading by over 30 in the second half was somewhat shocking.
-Dayton lost their second straight game when they fell at home to Saint Bonaventure. The Bonnies took a massive step back earlier in the week when they went to La Salle and lost, but they followed up an awful loss with a fantastic win yesterday. I think they’re on the bubble, but also think they’d be inside it had they just not lost to La Salle. It’s not always not winning big games that keeps teams out. It’s also not winning the small ones.
-Baylor got a huge road win at Texas in a game that they pretty much dominated. I had been big on Texas, so I think this is clearly Baylor’s most impressive win of the year.
-Pittsburgh got a much needed road win against a solid Syracuse team, which helps pull them out of a tailspin that they were in.
-Alabama suffered a surprising setback with a home loss to a Mississippi State team that doesn’t appear to be anywhere close to making any sort of postseason tournament. I wouldn’t say that Bama shot themselves in the face, but they probably did shoot themselves in the foot.
-Florida State has shot themselves in the face. They lost yet another game to a non tournament team when they fell to Virginia Tech.
-Chattanooga shot themselves in both the foot and the face yesterday. They didn’t just lose at home to UNC Greensboro, who isn’t any good even by SoCon standards. They were absolutely run off of their own home floor. I still think this Chattanooga team is potentially dangerous, but they’ll have to win the SoCon Tournament to make the NCAAs.
-LSU shot themselves in the foot. Again. They fell on the road to a Tennessee team that’s played well at home, but is still nowhere near the NCAA Tournament. LSU really wasn’t even competitive, as Tennessee won comfortably.
-Cincinnati got a much needed win over UConn yesterday. They’re squarely on the bubble, so every game has a pivotal feel to it.
-Saint Mary’s got a much needed road win at Gonzaga yesterday. I haven’t been that big on Saint Mary’s at any point this season, and I’m really still not, but now they at least have something on their profile that can be argued as a legitimate reason for consideration. They had less trouble winning at Gonzaga than they did winning at Pacific or at Portland.
-Hawaii got a big road win at UC Irvine to improve to 22-3 on the season. I know Irvine is not a tournament caliber team, but they are at least decent and Hawaii does deserve some credit for winning there. If the Bows win out, I think they’ll be in the discussion.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-SETON HALL AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East). Seton Hall should be in the field so long as they hold serve between now and the end, and that means avoiding losses to non tournament teams. The Johnnies are definitely in that category.
-LA SALLE AT GEORGE WASHINGTON (Atlantic Ten). GW is outside of our bubble and a home loss to a weak team would be crushing.
-MICHIGAN AT MARYLAND (Big Ten). Maryland is coming off a damaging loss to Minnesota, but they will still likely end up as a protected seed. Michigan appears to be solidly in the field for now, and a win today would really boost their profile and their seed.
-TULSA AT UCF (American). Tulsa’s margin for error is razor thin, but they still have a chance to play their way into the picture.
-MONMOUTH AT SAINT PETER’S (MAAC). Monmouth is probably right on the bubble, and it’s actually a tough case for the committee because they have a lot of really good wins, but also have some really bad losses. Nevertheless, they need to win out through the regular season.
-DETROIT AT VALPARAISO (Horizon League). Valpo will likely get a serious look if they win out, but even with that they’ll probably still need to win the conference tournament.
-SAN DIEGO STATE AT SAN JOSE STATE (Mountain West). San Diego State should be on the bubble if they win out until the conference tournament. Anything short of that likely won’t be enough, and there’s no guarantee they get in without the automatic bid even if they do win out.
-WICHITA STATE AT INDIANA STATE (Missouri Valley). I think Wichita is close to the bubble, but I still think they’ll be okay for a bid if they win out and avoid an early loss in the MVC Tourney.
-UTAH AT USC (Pac Twelve). Both teams are likely in the field on the initial ballot, and both are looking to add another notable win to their profiles.
-TEMPLE AT HOUSTON (American). Temple is right on the bubble, and although Houston is nowhere near it, this is still the kind of a road win that would look good for Temple.
-ILLINOIS AT WISCONSIN (Big Ten). Wiscy has played their way inside the bubble, and they should remain there so long as they hold serve, which means avoiding home losses to non tournament teams.
-CALIFORNIA AT WASHINGTON STATE (Pac Twelve). Cal picked up a much needed road win against Washington earlier in the week. Road wins are the one thing that Cal is really lacking, so this win would really help them out even though Wazzu is terrible. At the very least, Cal needs to demonstrate that they can at least beat bad teams on the road.
News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Sunday, Feb 21st
NEWS AND NOTES
-For Chad Sherwood’s Under the Radar Game of the Day between UAB and Middle Tennessee – CLICK HERE
-Texas A&M beat Kentucky in overtime in a rather bizarre manner. Kentucky came up with a big defensive stop toward the end of the game with a one point lead, where Kentucky’s Isaac Humphries was immediately fouled after coming up with the ball after the stop. The problem was that Humphries was so excited that he slammed the ball down on the ground in celebration. The referees assessed a technical foul, which was his fifth foul, AND which awarded TAMU two freethrows, AND which fouled him out so someone else had to shoot the freethrows for Kentucky. TAMU made both technical freethrows. Kentucky made one of two so the game was tied and TAMU had the ball. They scored at the buzzer after Kentucky appeared to have come up with another defensive stop, but the loose ball landed right under TAMU’s basket for a layup. On paper, the loss will help TAMU, but won’t hurt Kentucky too much.
-Oklahoma picked up another road win against a top ten team with a somewhat decisive 76-62 win at West Virginia. The game actually had a pivotal feel to it because if Oklahoma wins then it is a great win that demonstrates they are definitely a #1 seed, a loss would have been their fourth loss in their last five games.
-North Carolina blasted Miami FL yesterday. North Carolina winning wasn’t too shocking. North Carolina leading by over 30 in the second half was somewhat shocking.
-Dayton lost their second straight game when they fell at home to Saint Bonaventure. The Bonnies took a massive step back earlier in the week when they went to La Salle and lost, but they followed up an awful loss with a fantastic win yesterday. I think they’re on the bubble, but also think they’d be inside it had they just not lost to La Salle. It’s not always not winning big games that keeps teams out. It’s also not winning the small ones.
-Baylor got a huge road win at Texas in a game that they pretty much dominated. I had been big on Texas, so I think this is clearly Baylor’s most impressive win of the year.
-Pittsburgh got a much needed road win against a solid Syracuse team, which helps pull them out of a tailspin that they were in.
-Alabama suffered a surprising setback with a home loss to a Mississippi State team that doesn’t appear to be anywhere close to making any sort of postseason tournament. I wouldn’t say that Bama shot themselves in the face, but they probably did shoot themselves in the foot.
-Florida State has shot themselves in the face. They lost yet another game to a non tournament team when they fell to Virginia Tech.
-Chattanooga shot themselves in both the foot and the face yesterday. They didn’t just lose at home to UNC Greensboro, who isn’t any good even by SoCon standards. They were absolutely run off of their own home floor. I still think this Chattanooga team is potentially dangerous, but they’ll have to win the SoCon Tournament to make the NCAAs.
-LSU shot themselves in the foot. Again. They fell on the road to a Tennessee team that’s played well at home, but is still nowhere near the NCAA Tournament. LSU really wasn’t even competitive, as Tennessee won comfortably.
-Cincinnati got a much needed win over UConn yesterday. They’re squarely on the bubble, so every game has a pivotal feel to it.
-Saint Mary’s got a much needed road win at Gonzaga yesterday. I haven’t been that big on Saint Mary’s at any point this season, and I’m really still not, but now they at least have something on their profile that can be argued as a legitimate reason for consideration. They had less trouble winning at Gonzaga than they did winning at Pacific or at Portland.
-Hawaii got a big road win at UC Irvine to improve to 22-3 on the season. I know Irvine is not a tournament caliber team, but they are at least decent and Hawaii does deserve some credit for winning there. If the Bows win out, I think they’ll be in the discussion.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-SETON HALL AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East). Seton Hall should be in the field so long as they hold serve between now and the end, and that means avoiding losses to non tournament teams. The Johnnies are definitely in that category.
-LA SALLE AT GEORGE WASHINGTON (Atlantic Ten). GW is outside of our bubble and a home loss to a weak team would be crushing.
-MICHIGAN AT MARYLAND (Big Ten). Maryland is coming off a damaging loss to Minnesota, but they will still likely end up as a protected seed. Michigan appears to be solidly in the field for now, and a win today would really boost their profile and their seed.
-TULSA AT UCF (American). Tulsa’s margin for error is razor thin, but they still have a chance to play their way into the picture.
-MONMOUTH AT SAINT PETER’S (MAAC). Monmouth is probably right on the bubble, and it’s actually a tough case for the committee because they have a lot of really good wins, but also have some really bad losses. Nevertheless, they need to win out through the regular season.
-DETROIT AT VALPARAISO (Horizon League). Valpo will likely get a serious look if they win out, but even with that they’ll probably still need to win the conference tournament.
-SAN DIEGO STATE AT SAN JOSE STATE (Mountain West). San Diego State should be on the bubble if they win out until the conference tournament. Anything short of that likely won’t be enough, and there’s no guarantee they get in without the automatic bid even if they do win out.
-WICHITA STATE AT INDIANA STATE (Missouri Valley). I think Wichita is close to the bubble, but I still think they’ll be okay for a bid if they win out and avoid an early loss in the MVC Tourney.
-UTAH AT USC (Pac Twelve). Both teams are likely in the field on the initial ballot, and both are looking to add another notable win to their profiles.
-TEMPLE AT HOUSTON (American). Temple is right on the bubble, and although Houston is nowhere near it, this is still the kind of a road win that would look good for Temple.
-ILLINOIS AT WISCONSIN (Big Ten). Wiscy has played their way inside the bubble, and they should remain there so long as they hold serve, which means avoiding home losses to non tournament teams.
-CALIFORNIA AT WASHINGTON STATE (Pac Twelve). Cal picked up a much needed road win against Washington earlier in the week. Road wins are the one thing that Cal is really lacking, so this win would really help them out even though Wazzu is terrible. At the very least, Cal needs to demonstrate that they can at least beat bad teams on the road.