News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Thursday, Dec 29th

NEWS AND NOTES

-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE

-NEBRASKA WINS!!!  Tim Miles has done what all the Tim Miles believers always knew he would do, and that’s pick up one of the most impressive road wins in college basketball this season!!  Indiana, who appeared to have the profile of a potential #1 seed, went down at home to Nebraska.  The Hoosiers have played great against all the ranked teams they’ve played this year.  It’s the sub-NIT teams that seem to be giving them fits.

-Villanova survived a surprising scare from DePaul at home in their conference opener.  DePaul had a lead late in the game, and actually had a chance to tie it with a last second shot.

-UCLA suffered their first loss on the road at Oregon, but there is no reason for the Bruins to be concerned.  If anything, they went into a hostile environment against a team that really needed a notable win, and almost pulled if off.  And, perhaps should have pulled it off.  After the winning shot for Oregon went in with less than a second to go, the fans stormed onto the court.  The problem was the game wasn’t over yet.  The referees, who did not call a technical foul (which is understandable) would have been perfectly within their rights had they called a T, and perhaps should have.  I love a good court storming, but not before the game is over.

-Louisville dominated the last eight minutes of the game against Virginia!!  And…ended up only losing by 8!!  They had been down by as much as 22 late in the second half.  UVA’s defense is tough.  Just in case you didn’t know.

-Clemson took care of a really good UNC Wilmington team at home.  I know UNCW isn’t a brand name, but they are a good team and it was impressive at how well Clemson played against them.  No one is excited about them yet, but they could be a force in the ACC.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-GEORGIA AT AUBURN (SEC).  I get the sense that both these teams could possibly reach the NCAA Tournament, but I also get the sense that they need to play a lot better than they have up to this point, and that they need to win games like this in order to do it.

-TENNESSEE AT TEXAS A&M (SEC).  TAMU is off to a pretty solid start, and while Tennessee has struggled they’re still looking better than what we were expecting up to this point.  TAMU should win, but they better not overlook them.

-WESTERN ILLINOIS AT FORT WAYNE (Summit League).  IPFW’s at-large hopes are barely flickering.  Anything short of running the table will most likely mean needing the automatic bid, but they have looked like the best team and may be able to run the table in league play.

-BUTLER AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East).  I want to say this will be an easy road win for Butler, but the Johnnies have shown signs of life maybe.  By signs of life I mean not entirely sucking, but it’s only Butler’s third true road game.

-OLE MISS AT KENTUCKY (SEC).  Kentucky, as good as they’ve been, is still looking for their first true road win, albeit they came very close in their only road game, which was against Louisville earlier on.  Ole Miss is an impressive 7-1 at home and they should be up for this one.  Kentucky should win, but it won’t be easy.

-FLORIDA AT ARKANSAS (SEC).  Both teams have looked good, but not great, up to this point.  Both still have work to do (as does pretty much every0one), and both could really use the win today.

-VANDERBILT AT LSU (SEC).  LSU is 8-3, but is lacking in big wins and needs a strong showing in conference play.

-SANTA CLARA AT BYU (West Coast).  BYU is 9-4, but really needs to avoid losses to anyone that isn’t Saint Mary’s or Gonzaga, as well as pick up a win or two against those two teams, in order to give themselves a real chance.

-PEPPERDINE AT GONZAGA (West Coast).  It’s not a buy game, but it’s an easier game to win than most of what Gonzaga has played up to this point.

-SAN DIEGO AT SAN FRANCISCO (West Coast).  San Francisco has an outside shot at landing inside the bubble, but their margin for error is razor thin, and they’ll have to avoid bad losses and pick up a win against one of the heavyweights in conference play in order to do it.

-SAINT MARY’S AT LMU (West Coast).  It’s the conference opener for SMC, but it’s a winnable road game as well.

-UMKC AT MISSISSIPPI STATE.  Buy game