It’s another HUGE Saturday of college basketball!! After two days of very little activity, we are back with a full slate of games today!
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-VILLANOVA AT KANSAS. This is a Final Four rematch from a year ago, but so far Nova hasn’t looked anywhere close to being on the same caliber. Still, this is the kind of win that could completely turn their season around and create a top ten resume. Kansas already has a couple of big wins, and this would be another one if they’re able to pull it off.
-TENNESSEE AT MEMPHIS. Tennessee is cruising! They just knocked off Gonzaga and right now are playing like a #1 seed. Memphis isn’t the easiest place to play, and they should be way up for this one, but even though they’re at home they’re probably overmatched. Having said that, this is Tennessee’s first true road game of the year, so it is going to have a different feel to it.
-SMU AT GEORGETOWN. Right now it feels like both teams are on the outside looking in and could really use this win.
-NOTRE DAME VS PURDUE (Crossroads Classic). Both teams have good records, but both really need big wins. This is by no means either team’s last shot at a notable win, but it is a bit of a rivalry game, and the sooner either one of them can start stringing up quality wins the better off they will be.
-SOUTHERN ILLINOIS AT BUFFALO. This is the second game of the season between these two with Buffalo winning the first. I’d be a lot more excited about this one had the Salukis not just gotten pasted by Murray State in their last game.
-RUTGERS AT SETON HALL. Rutgers has shown some signs of life this year, but they’ve still shown far more signs of having a long way to go. Seton Hall has looked really good for the most part, and is coming off a big win last week against Kentucky. The fans should be juiced for this one.
-NC STATE VS PENN STATE (Hall of Fame Boardwalk Classic). Penn State has been disappointing this year, but I still think their ceiling is higher than what they’ve played up to so far and there is still plenty of time for them to turn it around. NC State has a good record, but for the most part has been untested. This would be one of the better wins on their resume up to this point if they pull it off.
-EAST TENNESSEE STATE AT ILLINOIS. We are highlighting this not because of Illinois, but because of East Tennessee State. The Illini better be on high alert.
-RADFORD AT CLEMSON. Clemson is one of those teams we really liked coming into the year that just hasn’t looked the part yet. They better be on high upset alert today because Radford already has some impressive road wins on the year and is putting together quite a strong resume for a UTR team.
-BUTLER VS INDIANA (Crossroads Classic). Indiana has some nice wins this year and has played in several really exciting games winning their last three by a combined total of just 5 points. Butler has helped themselves out with a win over Florida they still have a lot of work to do.
-KENT STATE AT LOUISVILLE. I will say this for Louisville this year. They have scheduled some really good UTR teams in buy games, and have another test today against a Kent State team that has just one loss. Buffalo has gotten most of the recognition this season out of the MAC, but if Kent State can pull off this win they’ll be right there with them.
-CHARLESTON AT VCU. This is one of the more intriguing games of the day. After writing off VCU based on how they had to sweat out some pretty weak teams, they have now gone on a tear where they’ve won at Texas and taken Virginia to the wall. They’re hosting a very good Charleston team that appears to be among the best in the Colonial, so they better not overlook CofC.
-DAVIDSON AT TEMPLE. As weak as the Atlantic Ten has been, Davidson comes in with just one loss and is one of the few teams (along with VCU and SLU) that may be showing signs of life. A win at Temple would be HUGE. The Owls are a good team, but they could also use a little more muscle on their resume, so there is something to be gained here by both teams.
-DRAKE VS IOWA STATE (Hy-Vee Classic). This game probably doesn’t have too many people excited, but Drake comes into this with just one loss, and Iowa State, while good, has also shown that they can be vulnerable.
-UTAH AT KENTUCKY. People have been down on Kentucky, and while they may not be as good as they’re used to being, they still have just two losses, one of which was to Duke, and the other of which was in overtime to Seton Hall. They shouldn’t have too much trouble today with a Utah team that just isn’t quite there this year.
-BELMONT AT UCLA. We’ve been big on Belmont all year long. This is their chance to pick up a quality road win and get the attention of the selection committee. They have just one loss, and have beaten a pretty good Lipscomb team twice, so the Bruins will not want to overlook them.
-ARIZONA STATE AT GEORGIA. Georgia doesn’t appear to be all that strong this year, but they are 4-0 at home, and this is the first true road game for Arizona State.
-GRAND CANYON AT TEXAS. The Lopes have had some close losses to good teams this year, but haven’t quite gotten over the hump. Texas has had their ups and downs as well, and if they overlook this GCU team they may find themselves with another loss.
-GONZAGA AT NORTH CAROLINA. This is only the second true road game of the year for the Zags, but they have certainly been tested. But, this is still a VERY tough test. They’re playing a likely protected seed in a true road game. You don’t see many teams get wins like that, and the ones that do are the ones that end up with #1 seeds. It should be a great game and a great test for both these teams.
-ABILENE CHRISTIAN AT TEXAS TECH. I know this is a buy game, and I know it may end up looking like a buy game, but given how well Abilene Christian has played this year, and how we think they are the best team in the Southland, we are going to go ahead and highlight it. It will be interesting to see what they can do against a really good Texas Tech team.
-VIRGINIA TECH VS WASHINGTON (Hall of Fame Boardwalk Classic). Washington has had their ups and downs this year, but if they can play the way they did against Gonzaga, they’ll have way more ups for the rest of the year. This is a chance to put a much needed quality win on their resume, which will go a long way toward cementing them as an NCAA Tournament team. It would be a good win for VA Tech as well. This one should be a really fun game.
-IOWA VS NORTHERN IOWA (Hy-Vee Classic). Iowa is still in the rankings, and shouldn’t get much of a challenge from a Northern Iowa team that is still in rebuilding mode.
AUBURN VS UAB. This game is in Birmingham, but it’s not on campus, so the crowd should be pretty evenly split, if not favoring Auburn. Auburn is looking to improve on the year and maintain their top ten ranking.
-GEORGIA STATE AT KANSAS STATE. K State has been somewhat disappointing this year whenever they’ve left home, but they’re at home tonight. Still, they better not overlook a Georgia State team that already has some fairly decent wins.
-LOUISIANA TECH AT LOUISIANA. These are two pretty good UTR teams. LA Tech is the more tested team, but Louisiana has the home court advantage. Both teams are playing for bragging rights, as well as a decent win on paper.
-CINCINNATI AT MISSISSIPPI STATE. Cincinnati has won nine straight, but this would by far be their best win in that stretch considering that it’s on the road against a ranked team. Both teams are likely tournament teams, so this is a resume building opportunity.
-BYU VS UNLV (Neon Hoops Showcase). BYU has won three straight and appears to be a whole new team since getting healthy. The game is in Vegas, not it’s not on campus.
-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT NEVADA. South Dakota State is off to a somewhat impressive 9-3 start, but they’re still looking for their first true road win. Getting it against a top ten team like Nevada won’t be easy. Nevada can remain unbeaten and on pace to earn a protected seed with a win.
-USC AT OKLAHOMA. The Sooners have been one of the more surprising teams of the season. The can improve to 9-1 with a win in this one.
-BOISE STATE AT OREGON. Oregon is a modest 6-3 right now and really needs to hold serve in games like this because their margin for error is rather small.
-NORTHERN COLORADO AT SAN DIEGO. Northern Colorado hasn’t played that tough of a schedule, but they do come into this game with just one loss. If they’re able to pick this one up, then we’ll all have to sit up and take notice. San Diego is 8-3 with a few decent wins this season, and will likely make some noise in the West Coast this year.
-TEXAS A&M VS OREGON STATE (Game in Portland, OR). Oregon State may not be good enough to rise to the level of a tournament team, but they are 6-2 and have another winnable game tonight.
-BAYLOR AT ARIZONA. Baylor has been rather underwhelming this year. Arizona has been decent, but not great. They’ll need to hold serve in this one.
-LSU VS SAINT MARY’S (Neon Hoops Classic, Las Vegas, NV). LSU looks to be the superior team, and it’s a chance for them to add another decent win away from home to their resume.
BUY GAMES (and other games worth mentioning, but not highlighting)
-Bucknell @ Ohio State
-Old Dominion @ Syracuse
-Appalachian State @ South Florida – USF can improve to 7-2
-Western Michigan @ Michigan
-UMES @ Pittsburgh
-Kentucky Christian (nondiv1) @ Liberty
-UNC Asheville @ Wofford
-NJIT @ Fairleigh Dickinson – NJIT can improve to 11-2 on the year and win their 6th road game
-UTSA @ Arkansas
-Eastern Kentucky @ Xavier
-Manhattan @ UConn
-Eastern Illinois @ Bradley – Bradley can improve to 8-3
-Jackson State @ Murray State – Murray can improve to a rather impressive 7-1
-Alabama State @ Utah State
-Denver @ UC Irvine
-LMU @ Portland State – LMU can get to 10-1 and win their 3rd road game