NEWS AND NOTES
-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Loyola Chicago and Drake – CLICK HERE
-Clemson went into Virginia and got Virginia-ed. They scored just 36 points in a 61-36 loss to the red hot Hoos.
-Kansas led for pretty much the entire second half at Oklahoma and I was all prepared to sing their praises for picking up yet another massive road win, but in the final two minutes they just went ice cold. Oklahoma pulled ahead and stayed ahead for a huge win (at least as far as momentum goes) that ended a two game losing streak. Both teams are still on pace to get protected seeds and one of them could end up as a #1 seed.
-Arkansas needed two overtimes, but picked up a HUGE road win over Georgia that they really needed. Arkansas has a much better chance of making the field than not, but a loss would have dumped them to just 3-5 in league play, so it was a pivotal win.
-Alabama went into Ole Miss for what seemed to be a winnable road game….and lost. Not a good loss for the Tide. It’s not a backbreaker by any means, but it’s not good.
-I am done with Minnesota
-LSU didn’t even have to break a sweat last night against Texas A&M. I still think TAMU is in a lot of trouble.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-MARQUETTE AT XAVIER (Big East). The way Xavier has been playing they have a very good chance of ending up on one of the top two lines. Marquette is hovering around the bubble, but could catapult themselves up several lines if they’re somehow able to win a game like this.
-SOUTH CAROLINA AT FLORIDA (SEC). South Carolina is just outside our bubble, and Florida is safely in the top half of the bracket (for now), especially after their big win at Kentucky over the weekend. If the Gamecock can somehow pull this out, which is much easier said than done, it will do wonders for their resume.
-RHODE ISLAND AT FORDHAM (Atlantic Ten). It’s a conference road game, but on paper it will look very much like a buy game. A win doesn’t really help Rhody out all that much other than putting another true road win on their resume. A loss will sink them a little bit.
-GEORGIA TECH AT FLORIDA STATE (ACC). Florida State is inside the bubble, but they need to hold serve at home against teams like Georgia Tech who sometimes have a pulse, but more-times do not.
-BOSTON COLLEGE AT SYRACUSE (Big East) (ACC). Syracuse is right on the bubble and needs to hold serve at home in a game like this, especially when you consider that they are just 2-4 in league play.
-NEBRASKA AT RUTGERS (Big Ten). Nebraska looked good the other night at Ohio State, but came up short. The remainder of their schedule seems to consist of non-tournament teams, and if they want any hope at all of making The Dance they have to pretty much win all of them.
-FURMAN AT UNC-GREENSBORO (S0Con). Besides Chad’s UTR Game of the Day in the Missouri Valley, this one will also have big UTR ramifications. However, this is a battle for 2nd in the conference.
-ALBANY AT VERMONT (America East). Trae Bell-Haynes is the straw that stirs the Vermont drink, and he will look to lead Vermont in this game where they can even further solidify their lead in the America East standings. It would take an unreal collapse for them to fall out of first the way they’ve played of late.
-SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA AT SAM HOUSTON STATE (Southland). Outside of the usual suspect SFA in this conference, both the Lions and Bearkats are also competing with New Orleans for the regular season crown in the Southland.
-LOUISVILLE AT MIAMI FL (ACC). Both of these teams look like solid tournament teams, but both have resumes that have room to improve. Louisville has gotten hot all of a sudden and a win in this game would be another big true road win on their profile and get them to a very impressive 6-1 in ACC play.
-STEPHEN F AUSTIN AT CENTRAL ARKANSAS (Southland). And speaking of SFA, they will go on the road to a very dangerous Central Arkansas team that has a prolific scorer of their own in Jordan Howard.
-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT SOUTH DAKOTA (Summit). Game of the Year, Part 1 in the Summit League. If you haven’t seen the Jackrabbits’ Mike Daum play, do so tonight.
-LOYOLA CHICAGO AT DRAKE (Missouri Valley). We’ve kind of forgotten about Loyola, but they are still 16-4 on the year and they have a hugely impressive OOC win on their resume. They stumbled out of the gate in league play, but a win tonight gets them to 7-2 in the MVC.
-DEPAUL AT GEORGETOWN (Big East). This is the last cupcake Georgetown can feast on during the regular season.
-TEMPLE AT CINCINNATI (American). Temple has some good wins on their resume, but they have more bad losses. Cincinnati has cracked the top ten and can improve to 18-2 on the year with a win, but it’s important that they keep winning because they will not have a win over a protected seed by the end of the year.
-AUBURN AT MISSOURI (SEC). Auburn is still going strong and can add another nice road win to their resume. Mizzou needs this one a little more since they are right on the bubble.
-NC STATE AT PITTSBURGH (ACC). NC State continues to flirt with the bubble. They need to hold serve tonight.
-STANFORD AT USC (Pac Twelve). Stanford has been on fire lately, but is coming off what has to be an emotional loss to Arizona. If they can rebound and pick up both these wins then it may not get them inside the bubble, but it would be a huge step forward as well as be an indicator for what they’re able to accomplish the rest of the way. After kind of writing off USC, they have improved to 6-2 in conference play.
-SAN JOSE STATE AT BOISE STATE (Mountain West). Boise State is right on our bubble and must hold serve in games like this. In fact, they pretty much need to hold serve all throughout conference play.
-NEVADA AT WYOMING (Mountain West). This is a very strong Nevada team that can pick up their 8th true road win of the season tonight.