NEWS AND NOTES
-For Jon Teitel’s latest bracket projections – CLICK HERE
-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE
-Gonzaga beat Saint Mary’s at Saint Mary’s yesterday, and led by double digits for pretty much the entire game. They’re good. They should win out, end the season ranked #1, and earn the #1 seed in the West.
-Notre Dame picked up a nice home win against Florida State, which will help them turn things around after they’d had a string of losses. Florida State is still in really good shape and should still end up as a protected seed.
-Seton Hall is a bubble team that didn’t need to lose to Saint John’s. Seton Hall lost to Saint John’s. Seton Hall is now in trouble.
-Syracuse fell at Pittsburgh which will set them back a little bit, but I still think there is more good than bad on the Orange profile and that for now they’re safe for a bid.
-Tennessee also fell at home to Georgia, which was a game they really needed to win. They’re in some trouble now after losing yet another winnable game and really need a strong finish.
-Kansas picked up a road win at Texas Tech, but it wasn’t easy. Texas Tech is a bubble team that could have really used it. Villanova, Louisville, Oregon, Baylor, Arizona, West Virginia, Kentucky, Florida, Duke, South Carolina, Maryland, and Creighton are all teams that are likely to end up on the top half of the bracket that picked up wins.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-MICHIGAN AT INDIANA (Big Ten). Both teams really need this win. Michigan has some nice wins, but they still don’t have a true road win and won’t make the tournament unless they pick up a couple. Indiana is falling backwards toward the bubble as well and needs a win just to stabilize their profile.
-CINCINNATI AT SMU (American). Both teams are in the rankings and both are headed toward the NCAA so long as they hold serve. This is really the only chance that either one of them has to pick up a quality win, so it’s an important opportunity because it’s a somewhat rare opportunity.
-WICHITA STATE AT LOYOLA CHICAGO (Missouri Valley). Wichita State will likely land inside the bubble so long as they win out.
-OREGON STATE AT UCLA (Pac Twelve). UCLA is coming off a huge win against Oregon and is on pace to get a protected seed. Today is a conference game, but it may end up looking a lot like a buy game.
-NORTHWESTERN AT WISCONSIN (Big Ten). Wisconsin has a great record, but lacks big wins on their profile, which is why the selection committee didn’t place them in the top sixteen yesterday, but I still think they’ll end up there so long as they run away from the Big Ten. Northwestern is still inside the bubble, but they are in a bit of a tailspin. A win like this would clearly be the biggest win of the season.
-VIRGINIA AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC). It’s a rivalry game between a Virginia team that is easily a protected seed and could still end up as a #1 seed if they finish strong, and a Virginia Tech team that is safely inside the bubble but still has room for improvement.