NEWS AND NOTES
-Saint John’s blew past Marquette for what was easily their most impressive win of the year. It was a home game, but the Johnnies still beat them rather convincingly. We were skeptical of how good the Johnnies were despite the fact that they went undefeated in conference play. With a close loss at Seton Hall at the buzzer, and a blowout win against Marquette, we are no longer skeptical
-We will be recording the Hoops HD Report tonight. After this week we will be back on Monday nights for the rest of the season.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-NEBRASKA AT MARYLAND (Big Ten). Both teams have good records, and both have looked good at times, but both still have work to do. Nebraska could use some more true road wins, and Maryland could use some more big wins. It’ll be interesting to see what they do against each other.
-SETON HALL AT XAVIER (Big East). Seton Hall is coming off an exciting win against Saint John’s, and has a lot of good wins this season so far. Xavier has struggled all year, but they did look good in their road win against DePaul, and they’ve played well at home this year, so it won’t be a cakewalk for the Hall.
-TEXAS TECH AT WEST VIRGINIA (Big 12). Texas Tech has looked fantastic this year, but I don’t think their resume is as quite as good as they are yet. Picking this one up on the road should help a lot.
-TULANE AT CINCINNATI (American). This is a conference game that will end up looking a lot like a buy game.
-TEMPLE AT UCF (American). This is a bubblicious looking game for both of these teams. Both have big records, but neither have a whole lot of big wins. This is an opportunity with a sense of urgency for both these teams.
-GEORGETOWN AT BUTLER (Big East). If either of these teams are going to reach the NCAA Tournament, then these are the kinds of games that they’re gonna need to be able to win.
-TULSA AT HOUSTON (American). Tulsa is 10-3 and although they’ve been floating below the national radar, they come into this game with a ton of momentum and if they can somehow pull this off on the road it would certainly make a huge impression on the committee. Houston has also been on a roll and looking to remain unbeaten.
NORTHWESTERN AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten). Northwestern has lost to Indiana, Michigan, and Oklahoma all in close games. They don’t have any real wins of note yet, but are potentially much better than their resume. A win in a game like this would change the entire complexion of their resume. As for Michigan State, they look like a protected seeded caliber team and need to hold serve at home.
-UCONN AT SOUTH FLORIDA (American). We’ve got both teams on the outside looking in, but both are having better years than expected, and both will certainly have the opportunities they need to play their way in. IF South Florida pulls this off they’ll improve to 11-2.
-DEPAUL AT VILLANOVA (Big East). Villanova appears to have fixed most of what’s wrong, and can play their way back up to a protected seed if they’re able to blow through the Big East like they have in recent years.
-OKLAHOMA AT KANSAS (Big 12). Oklahoma has a really good record against a decent schedule, but this is by far their toughest test of the year so far, and it may be their toughest test all year by the end of the season. Kansas is once again on pace to get a #1 seed and is probably expecting to pick this one up at home.
-IOWA STATE AT OKLAHOMA STATE (Big 12). Iowa state is 10-2 on the year, and is looking to pick up their first conference win as well as their first true road win.
-TEXAS AT KANSAS STATE (Big 12). Both teams have potential, and both will likely end up in the NCAA Tournament. Texas has some big wins, but has also been kind of schizophrenic this year. K State needs some more meet on their resume and the sooner they start strengthening it the better.
-FRESNO STATE AT SAN JOSE STATE (Mountain West). Fresno State is off to a decent start, but has a very small margin for error. Losing a game like this could totally sink them.
-UTAH STATE AT NEVADA (Mountain West). These are two of the stronger teams in the MWC, but Nevada clearly appears to be the superior team and they’ve got the home court advantage. Utah State is pretty good, though, and if they did pull off the upset it would be the signature win for the season and go a long way toward putting them in the tournament.
-Harvard @ North Carolina