NEWS AND NOTES
-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE
-Yesterday was one of the craziest single days in college basketball history that I can remember. We saw six top ten teams lose, and of those six three were in the top five. Also of those six, three lost at home to unranked teams in Baylor, Kansas, and West Virginia. We saw two additional teams in the rankings lose at home to lower ranked teams in Maryland and Creighton. So, we have a lot of carnage to sort through.
-Earlier in the week I was emphasizing how Kansas never loses at home, so on cue they went down to an Iowa State team that is (or was) on the bubble in an overtime thriller. Iowa State played a fantastic game and definitely earned the win. When bubble teams have road wins against protected seeds then it generally means they’re not on the bubble anymore.
-Kansas State sprinted out to a big lead at Baylor, and the Bears were just not able to catch up. They had a chance to tie or win on the final possession, but couldn’t knock it down and Kansas State picked up their biggest win of the year and greatly improved the quality of their resume.
-Oklahoma State really needed a big win and got it at West Virginia. This should move them pretty far inside the bubble as well. West Virginia has had bad luck against teams from Oklahoma this year.
-Oregon beat Arizona at home, which was a nice win for the Ducks and in itself not surprising. They ran them off the floor and led by close to 30. That was astounding.
-Kentucky fell at Florida, which again isn’t too shocking due to them being the road team, but Florida absolutely ran away from them in the second half and won by a 20+ margin.
-Virginia, who I just got through saying that I thought would end up on the #1 line, went to a Syracuse team that is still fighting to make the NCAA Tournament, and lost. Jim Boeheim picked up his 1000th win according to sports-reference.com. The NCAA doesn’t recognize them so he technically does not have 1000, but he practically does.
-Purdue picked up a big road win at Maryland, which is looking like their biggest win of the year up to this point. The two are neck and neck in the Big Ten standings and seem to be heading for at least the #5 line.
-Georgia lost another close game. I don’t think they’ll land inside the bubble, but they are the kind of team that’s capable of beating tournament caliber teams in the SEC and jamming up their resumes.
-Xavier picked up what is easily their biggest win of the year in a thriller at Creighton. Until now Xavier had not beaten a team that was solidly in the field and they’d been weak on the road, so this win completely changes the complexion of their profile.
-I thought Akron had an outside shot of landing inside the bubble, but after yesterday’s loss at Ohio U they’ll need to win the automatic bid.
-Valparaiso, another team that we thought had an outside shot at the bubble, was run of the floor at Green Bay and will now have to fight just to finish in first place of the Horizon League.
-Middle Tennessee, who was the Under the Radar team we all felt was the furthest inside the bubble, fell at UTEP yesterday after failing to tie the game on their final possession. This definitely hurts them, although if this is their only loss I still think they have a better than 50/50 chance of landing inside the bubble.
-Seton Hall picked up a win they desperately needed as they knocked off a Georgetown team that appeared to be playing its way toward the bubble.
-Miami FL picked up a win at NC State in another game that featured two bubble teams. It was a win they desperately needed.
-Wake Forest picked up one of their better wins of the year when they knocked off Georgia Tech, but they still have work to do.
-Tennessee, who we had inside our bubble and who I thought had really been playing well, lost on the road to Mississippi State which will knock them back a bit.
-Arkansas, who I was starting to come around on as an NCAA Tournament team after being the only detractor on the Hoops HD staff, suffered a huge setback when they lost at Missouri yesterday.
-And last but not least, VCU won at Saint Bonaventure in a game they desperately needed. It’s important to note that they won in overtime. It’s also important to note that the game went into overtime after Saint Bonaventure hit what appeared to be a game winning shot at the end of regulation. There was complete commotion as fans and players ran onto the court, someone who appeared to be on the event staff picked up the ball and started walking off with it, and a one shot technical was assessed to Saint Bonaventure which allowed VCU to tie it and force overtime. The Bonnies are claiming they didn’t storm the court until time expired, and they may be right in the sense that the clock said zero, but the refs were whistling for play to stop so they could review it even though the clock ran anyway. It’s too much to explain. Decide for yourself. HERE IS THE VIDEO
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-CLEMSON AT FLORIDA STATE (ACC). Florida State is in a bit of a tailspin, but they still appear to be safely within the protected seed range. Clemson has manage to string together some wins, but they still have work to do if they want to feel safe on Selection Sunday. Picking up a big road win like this would certainly help.
-INDIANA AT WISCONSIN (Big Ten). Wisconsin is atop the Big Ten standings, and I think they’ll ultimately end up as a protected seed. Indiana has been schizophrenic this year looking really good at times, and abysmal at other times. They really have a tall order today.
-NOTRE DAME AT NORTH CAROLINA (ACC). This game was originally scheduled for yesterday and has been moved to Greensboro due to a water main break in Chapel Hill. Notre Dame is on a bit of a downward spiral, but is still in a position to end up as a protected seed if they can pull themselves out of it. Winning this game would certainly constitute pulling themselves out of it. North Carolina is coming off of a stretch where they lost to Miami and barely beat Pitt, so they could use the win as well.
-COLORADO AT CALIFORNIA (Pac Twelve). California is right on the fringe of the bubble so it’s important that they hold serve in games like this.