News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Thursday, Feb 16th

NEWS AND NOTES

-For our latest Under the Radar Video Podcast – CLICK HERE

-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between UTEP and North Texas, which I’m sure he had his reasons for picking – CLICK HERE

-Duke picked up what is probably their biggest win of the year (at least on paper) with the win at Virginia.  Virginia has now lost four out of six, but since it’s been against such strong competition they still appear to be safe for a protected seed.  Just not a #1 seed like I had previously thought.

-SMU was so excited about beating Cincinnati that they forgot to show up for the first half for their game against Tulane last night.  They trailed by 15 at the break.  They completely dominated the second half and ended up winning by 5, but that was a close call.

-Seton Hall picked up a home win over Creighton that they desperately needed.  They’re close to the bubble as it is, and are now 6-7 in league play, which is a lot more palatable than 5-8 even though it’s just a one game difference.  Creighton is still safe, but their slow backwards slide is continuing.

-Arkansas got a big win at South Carolina.  I have not been on the Razorbacks’s bandwagon at any point this season, but with the bubble being what it is and with them picking up such a big road win I can’t help but think that they’ve currently played their way inside the bubble.

-Maryland picked up a really nice road win against Northwestern.  Had Northwestern not picked up such a huge win at Wisconsin, we’d be talking about how they’re losing their grip and falling toward the bubble.  They’ve lost three out of their last four, and the one game they didn’t lose was by far the hardest game out of those four to win.  Their next two are at home against Rutgers and Indiana.  They need to win both of those, or to be more accurate they really need to avoid losing both of those.

-Xavier fell at Providence.  Xavier continues to hold serve, but do little else other than that.

-Oklahoma State picked up another nice road win at TCU, and the complexion of their profile continues to improve.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-WISCONSIN AT MICHIGAN (Big Ten).  Wiscy is coming off a rather surprising loss to Northwestern, but is still in great shape to finish atop the Big Ten and likely earn a protected seed.  This would be another nice road win.  As for Michigan, a win makes their place inside the bubble a little more safe.

-UNC WILMINGTON AT NORTHEASTERN (Colonial).  UNCW’s chances of landing inside the bubble and getting in if they lose in the conference tournament are bad at best, but they are not completely gone.  If they lose another game they probably will be, though.

-ARIZONA AT WASHINGTON STATE (Pac Twelve).  Arizona has just one conference loss and could end up as high as the #2 line.  They can add another road win to their profile tonight.

-UTAH AT OREGON (Pac Twelve).  Utah is outside the bubble and this is the win that could go a long way toward helping them land on the right side of it.  Oregon appears to be a solid protected seed and will land there if they hold serve.

-SAN FRANCISCO AT GONZAGA (West Coast).  San Francisco is actually one of the better teams in the WCC this year, but they have little to no chance of knocking off Gonzaga at Gonzaga.

-MIDDLE TENNESSEE AT WESTERN KENTUCKY (Conference USA).  Middle Tennessee still has a chance to make the NCAA Tournament without winning the automatic bid, but it’s only a chance, and they’ll have to win out and at least avoid a loss in the quarterfinals in order to even have a chance.

-LMU AT SAINT MARY’S (West Coast).  Saint Mary’s should end up in the top half of the bracket and wearing white in the Round of 64 if they hold serve the rest of the way, which in their case basically means not losing to anyone other than Gonzaga.