NEWS AND NOTES
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-Texas still can’t seem to get their motor started this season, and it is beginning to look like they never will. They fell at home to Kent State yesterday.
-Michigan State, after falling behind early and appearing to be helpless, came roaring back on the road against Minnesota and picked up what was hands down their biggest win of the year. It’s big for several reasons. It was a conference game, it was a road game, and it came at a time when they were spiraling out of control and needed some momentum. Will this turn their season around? We shall see, but it was a fantastic start.
-It was pretty much chalk outside of that with Northwestern, Maryland, and Wisconsin easily winning their conference openers, and SMU getting a nice win at Memphis.
SPOTLIGHT GAMES
-UNC WILMINGTON AT CLEMSON. Clemson just picked up a huge road win at South Carolina, which really strengthened their profile and seems to indicate that they are good enough to make the NCAA Tournament. UNCW comes in with just one loss, and if they can pick up this road win, which would be their fifth road win of the season, then I think it will show that they are also an NCAA Tournament caliber team and should be in good shape for a bid so long as they hold serve in conference
-VIRGINIA AT LOUISVILLE (ACC). Both teams are likely protected seeds, and both are looking to pick up the kind of win that can solidify them as a protected seed. It should be a tough defensive battle.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-UMASS AT GEORGIA STATE. UMass has a bloated record, but doesn’t really have any strong wins on their profile just yet. This would be their second true road win, and it would come against a fairly decent Georgia State team, if they’re able to pull it off.
-HOUSTON AT UCONN (American). Houston can play their way into the tournament picture with a strong showing in conference, but they have a lot of work to do to make that happen. They don’t have a true road win yet, and they need to at least be able to beat a UConn team that’s just 5-6 on the year.
-WAKE FOREST AT FLORIDA STATE (ACC). Wake has a fairly decent record and is a tournament hopeful. Picking up a road win in a game like this would really boost their profile.
-NEBRASKA AT INDIANA (Big Ten). Indiana is likely a protected seed, and Nebraska will be lucky to even make the NIT.
-DEPAUL AT VILLANOVA (Big East). This is not a buy game, but it is perhaps just as winnable for Nova as most buy games would be.
-UMBC AT VIRGINIA TECH. This is a buy game, and likely a big mismatch, but we will go ahead and highlight it given the huge turnaround season UMBC is having, and how they could make quite a bit of noise in their conference. VA Tech has also turned their program around and played their way into the rankings.
-MONMOUTH AT NORTH CAROLINA. We’ve been speculating all year long whether or not Monmouth will have enough on their profile to land inside the bubble. Well, if they can win this game, that will end the speculation. They’re really swinging over their heads in this one, and a loss won’t be the least bit damaging, but a win would be hugely helpful.
-WICHITA STATE AT INDIANA STATE (Missouri Valley). This appears to be a mismatch, but Wichita has only played one true road game up to this point (which they won), and Indiana State has been tough to beat at home. They’ve lost just one home game, and have a win over Butler, so this is anything but a sure win for Wichita.
-PROVIDENCE AT XAVIER (Big East). We had been surprised at how well Providence had played coming into this week, and still are, but they’re coming off a somewhat surprising loss to Boston College. They have yet to win a true road game, and Xavier will not be an easy place to pick up their first win.
-UCF AT TULANE (American). UCF can land in the NCAA Tournament, but they need to avoid bad losses in games like this. They also need to pick up some big wins in league play against the likes of SMU, Cincinnati, and Memphis.
-SETON HALL AT CREIGHTON (Big East). There will be a lot of great Big East match-ups this year, and this game certainly falls into that category. Creighton is high in the rankings, and although Seton Hall is not, they probably should be. If the Pirates could pull this one off it would be a huge statement win for them.
-IOWA AT PURDUE (Big Ten). This is definitely a conference game Purdue should win. They’re at home against an Iowa team that has been playing better, but will still struggle just to make it to the NIT.
-GEORGETOWN AT MARQUETTE (Big East). By our rankings, both teams are on the outside looking in right now, but having said that both will have multiple opportunities to play their way in. A win today would be a great start.
-UCLA AT OREGON (Pac Twelve). UCLA has been one of the biggest surprises. They are unbeaten and are very deserving of their #2 ranking. Oregon has held serve at best, but hasn’t been nearly as impressive as we were expecting up to this point. Having said that, they are back at full strength, and have not been easy to beat at home. It should be a fun game to watch. It’s a tough road test for a UCLA team that’s fighting for a #1 seed, and it’s a chance for an Oregon team to turn their season around with a huge momentum boost.
-CINCINNATI AT TEMPLE (American). Cincinnati appears to be a solid tournament team. They’ll face a rather schizophrenic Temple team who has the kinds of wins they need to put them solidly in the field, but also has the kinds of losses to knock them solidly out of the field.
-AIR FORCE AT WYOMING (Mountain West, Front Range). Wyoming had a great showing against USC in their last game. They lost in overtime, which was a shame because had they won it they’d be the only Mountain West team entering conference play with a solid resume. I still think they have a chance to play their way inside the bubble, but they will have to dominate this league in order to do it. The league is full of NIT teams at best, and if Wyoming wants to show they’re an NCAA team, these are the kinds of games they cannot lose.
-USC AT OREGON STATE (Pac Twelve). Oregon State’s struggles have been extreme. USC is unbeaten and will likely remain that way.
BUY GAMES
-Columbia @ Miami FL
-Rider @ NC State
-Marshall @ Pittsburgh
-Saint Peter’s @ Notre Dame
-Hartford @ Davidson
-Chicago State @ Valparaiso