SURVIVAL BOARD/CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK
-Big Ten, Ohio Valley, and Northeast Conference Tournaments kick off today. For a rundown of all the action check out our CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK VIDEO NOTEBOOK
-MCNEESE STATE AT TEXAS A&M CORPUS CHRISTI (Southland). A loss will mathematically eliminate TAMUCC. This is also Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day
NEWS AND NOTES
-For Jon Teitel’s All Conference Awards – CLICK HERE
-The Miami Hurricanes picked up what easily their biggest and perhaps most dramatic win of the year. After leading North Carolina by 17 in the second half, the Tarheels came back and actually hit a three in the final seconds to tie the game. After what was a joyoous and chaotic scene for a few whole seconds in Chapel Hill, the Canes then hit a shot from just over half court at the buzzer to win the game. It probably doesn’t knock UNC off the #2 line but it certainly changes the entire complexion of Miami’s resume.
-The shocker of the evening, and maybe for the entire year, was what happened to Saint Joseph’s at home against Rhode Island. They lost by 30. At one point they trailed by nearly 40. Rhode Island is in the rankings, and deservedly so. I don’t remember the last time a solid tournament team that was clearly in the top half of the bracket lost a home game to a team that was a hundred miles outside the NIT the way Rhody lost last night. It was preposterous.
-Arkansas, who I’ve been critical of for most of the season, has really been playing well lately and got a big win over an Auburn team last night that is somewhat slumping.
-Some were talking about Mississippi State playing their way onto the bubble. They lost at home to Tennessee last night by 22. I don’t think they’re anywhere close to the bubble.
-Florida picked up a huge and impressive win on the road against Alabama. We still have Bama inside our bubble, but their overall 17-13 record has us shaking a little bit. They say that doesn’t matter, but it’s kind of hard to not at least subconsciously think about that. Nevertheless, it would serve Alabama well to pick up a couple more wins either in their final regular season game or in the SEC Tournament.
-Oklahoma was blown out. Again. They are now 3-10 in their last 13 games. While we need to be critical and question Oklahoma, we also need to praise Baylor who played really well last night and for the most part has played really well these past few weeks.
-TCU = Lock. They had a nice win at home against K State last night.
-And last but not least, Saint Bonaventure, who is right on the bubble, took care of business last night against Davidson! In overtime. Actually, three overtimes. It was an exciting game for sure, and Davidson has been tough throughout Atlantic Ten play, but they are also a borderline NIT team at best. So when you step away from it, it’s really a situation of the Bonnies avoiding what would have been a critical loss than it is them picking up a key win.
-Boise State will need the auto bid. They lost last night at San Diego State, who isn’t even an NIT team.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-PROVIDENCE AT XAVIER (Big East). Providence won the first match-up between these two, but winning at Xavier is an entirely different ordeal. Xavier can clinch at least a share of first place in the Big East with a win, and get one step closer to earning a #1 seed.
-LSU AT SOUTH CAROLINA (SEC). Both of these teams are outside the bubble and if either one of them is going to make a move then they need to start winning and follow that up with a run in the SEC Tourney.
-OLE MISS AT KENTUCKY (SEC). Kentucky is now a virtual lock for the NCAAs and is simply playing for seeding.
-VILLANOVA AT SETON HALL (Big East). When Nova is at their best, which is seemingly whenever they play against Xavier, then it is almost impossible to beat them. But, they don’t always play up to their ceiling, and there are times their injuries have exposed them. They’re coming off of a loss at Creighton and have another tough game tonight against a good Seton Hall team that could still, in theory, play their way into a protected seed if they get hot and pick up several wins in the Big East Tournaent.
-TEXAS A&M AT GEORGIA (SEC). We still have TAMU inside our bubble, but I get the sense that this is one they have to win. Georgia looks to be headed to the NIT, and in order to be safe bubble teams can’t be losing to NIT teams, even if it is a road game.
-FLORIDA STATE AT CLEMSON (ACC). Clemson is a lock and despite being on a bit of a slide still looks like they’re heading for a protected seed. Florida State is a virtual lock, a win in a game like this could really improve their seed.
-HOUSTON AT SMU (American). Houston is trying to rebound from a somewhat surprising loss. They’ll easily make the NCAA Tournament so long as they hold serve, which shouldn’t be hard.
-SYRACUSE AT BOSTON COLLEGE (ACC). Syracuse is squarely on the bubble, so every game the rest of the way will have a pivotal feel to it.
-BUTLER AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East). Butler may not be a complete lock, but they are virtual lock and we may lock them in tonight if they pick up this win. The Johnnies have played really well at times, but not consistently enough to have any shot at the field without the automatic bid.
-AIR FORCE AT WYOMING (Mountain West, Front Range). We at Hoops HD LOVE the Front Range!! Other than that there is really no reason to watch this game.
-NEVADA AT UNLV (Mountain West). Nevada should cruise into the NCAA Tournament even if they drop another game or two, which is a good thing because this one may not be so easy. It’s a rivalry game against a UNLV team that has shown at times that they can play well at home.