Conference play is now in full swing!! All the games all season matter!! All the games all season mean a lot!! But some games mean more “a lot” than others!!
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-SAVANNAH STATE AT COPPIN STATE (MEAC). THE TEAM OF THE PEOPLE!!! THE CONFERENCE OPENER!!! GET PUMPED!!! It’s a winnable road game, and a chance to move into first place, where we hope they stay throughout the entire year!!!
-MICHIGAN STATE AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten). Both teams have big wins on the season, and both are ranked in the top 15. This could be a match-up between two protected seed, and whoever pulls it off will have a really nice win on their resume.
-BOSTON COLLEGE AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC). BC has an impressive record and I want to say that they’re improving, but when you consider that two of their three losses were home buy games you don’t want to make the declaration just yet. VA Tech is having a big year and should be able to hold serve in games like this.
-NORTH CAROLINA AT PITTSBURGH (ACC). Pitt is much improved! But, they’re still not looking like a tournament team. UNC seems like a protected seed, but if they are then these are the kinds of true road games that you would expect them to be able to win.
-CREIGHTON AT BUTLER (Big East). Butler has really hit a tailspin and needs a win to pull themselves out of it. Creighton is getting better, but still has work to do in order to feel safe.
-SYRACUSE AND NOTRE DAME (ACC). This is a team that still has work to do playing against another team that still has work to do. Syracuse does have some nice road wins, but has been kind of inconsistent this year.
-UCF AT UCONN (American). UConn is coming off a loss at South Florida, and while they’re a lot better they still may be a year away. UCF is an impressive 11-2, but still doesn’t have a whole lot of meat on their resume and could use this road win.
-KENTUCKY AT ALABAMA (SEC). Kentucky has gone from looking like a bubble team to looking like a protected seed in the matter of just one week. They’ll have another tough road test against an Alabama team who is looking for a signature win for their resume.
-CINCINNATI AT EAST CAROLINA (American). This is the kind of road game that tournament caliber teams should be expected to win.
-SAINT JOHN’S AT GEORGETOWN (Big East). I am now a believer in the Johnnies! They’re coming off a huge win against Marquette, and a great road performance against Seton Hall. This is a winnable road game against a pretty good Georgetown team that also picked up a nice road win at Butler.
-KANSAS STATE AT TEXAS TECH (Big 12). K State had big expectations coming into the year, and they could still reach them, but at no point have they looked like anything other than a mediocre team so far. Texas Tech is one of the bigger surprises of the year (again) and should be able to pick this one up at home.
-OKLAHOMA STATE AT OKLAHOMA (Big 12). BEDLAM!!!!! Well, sort of. I love this rivalry, but it’s such a mismatch this year that it may turn out to be more of a massacre than anything else. Oklahoma is coming off a loss to Kansas, but at no point in that game did they not look like a top 25 team. They should cruise today.
-VCU AT FORDHAM (Atlantic Ten). VCU has a scattershot resume, but they’re pretty much the only team in the A10 with anything good on their resume. If they can blow through the league and avoid losses to sub-NIT teams, which pretty much means avoiding losses to anyone, then they should be inside the bubble come March.
-UTAH AT ARIZONA (Pac Twelve). Utah is coming off a nice win at Arizona State, but it may be too little too late even though conference play is getting underway. Arizona did good enough to where if they blow through the conference they should be on the right side of the bubble, but they don’t have that many strikes left.
-MARYLAND AT RUTGERS (Big Ten). Maryland is off to a good start and is coming off a nice home win against Nebraska, but needs to pick up some road wins in order to round out their resume. This is perhaps the most winnable road game on their schedule, so they need to take care of business.
-VILLANOVA AT PROVIDENCE (Big East). Nova is in decent shape and Providence has work to do (as do a lot of teams right now), but both have room to move up. This is a resume building game for both teams.
-FLORIDA STATE AT VIRGINIA (ACC). Both teams are ranked in the top ten, but neither has a win like this on their resume. This is the kind of game that could solidify a team as a protected seed, especially for Florida State since they are on the road.
-GEORGIA AT TENNESSEE (SEC). Tennessee is on pace to get a #1 seed and shouldn’t have too much trouble holding serve at home in this one.
-BAYLOR AT TCU (Big 12). I haven’t been as big on TCU as I was coming into the year, but they only have one loss and have been getting better and better as the season has progressed. They have some momentum going into conference play and should end up in the top half of the bracket.
-KANSAS AT IOWA STATE (Big 12). All road games in the Big 12 are tough, but Kansas has certainly been tested and certainly shown they can win away from home. They’ll be tested in a big way today.
-ARKANSAS AT TEXAS A&M (SEC). Arkansas is hovering around the bubble and needs to show they can beat non-tournament teams away from home.
-SOUTH FLORIDA AT TULSA (American). The best way to sum up this game is that it’s two teams with bloated records, but for the most part they’ve played weak schedules (although Tulsa does have a couple good wins) and still have a lot of work to do.
-COLORADO AT ARIZONA STATE (Pac Twelve). Arizona State has looked less than good in four of their last five games, and is coming off a home loss to Utah. They do have the win against Kansas, but they still have a margin for error and cannot afford to lose at home to NIT (or worse) caliber teams.
-DUQUESNE AT DAVIDSON (Atlantic Ten). If Davidson is going to have any hope at all for landing inside the bubble, they basically need to run away from the league. Duquesne is having a good year by their standards, and their program is going in the right direction, but they’ve still got a ways to go.
-SOUTH CAROLINA AT FLORIDA (SEC). Florida is a modest 8-4 against a modest schedule. They need to put together a long string of wins in order to end up on the right side of the fence come March.
-CLEMSON AT DUKE (ACC). Duke is in play for a #1 seed, and perhaps the overall #1 seed. Clemson has been a little disappointing this year, but also seems to be hitting their stride. They’ve certainly got a tall order today.
-NEVADA AT NEW MEXICO (Mountain West). Nevada is good enough to win out, and if they do they should easily be a protected seed, and perhaps on the #1 or #2 lines.
-SAN FRANCISCO AT PEPPERDINE (West Coast). San Francisco slipped up just before the start of conference play, but still has a really strong team and still has a shot at landing on the right side of the bubble come March.
-OREGON STATE AT OREGON (Pac 12). Both teams look like NIT teams so far, which is a huge improvement for Oregon State and a huge disappointment for Oregon. Again, for anyone from this league to get into the NCAAs, they’re gonna have to blow through the conference.
-OLE MISS AT VANDERBILT (SEC). Ole Miss was our pick to finish last in the SEC, but they’ve looked good so far with just two losses and it will be interesting to see what they do in conference play. Vandy has looked good as well, but they’ve also battled injuries and it will be a struggle for them to continue to pick up the wins they need to make the field.
-SANTA CLARA AT GONZAGA (West Coast). This is a conference game that’s gonna end up looking a lot like a buy game.
-WEST VIRGINIA AT TEXAS (Big 12). West Virginia has been disappointing this year and needs to string together several wins just to get caught back up to the pack. Texas has been hot and cold throughout OOC play, but I believe the hot outweighs the cold and that they’ll be in good shape at the end.
-AIR FORCE AT UTAH STATE (Mountain West). If anyone from the MWC other than Nevada is going to land inside the bubble, it’s probably Utah State, but they need to blow through league play in order to end up there.
-COLORADO STATE AT FRESNO STATE (Mountain West). Fresno has shown some signs of life this year, but like Utah State they’re going to have to blow through league play in order to end up on the right side of the bubble.
-WASHINGTON STATE AT WASHINGTON (Pac Twelve). Washington has been somewhat disappointing in OOC play, but still have a better than 50/50 shot of ending up inside the bubble if they can finish in first place, which they should be good enough to do.
UNDER THE RADAR
-STONY BROOK AT UMASS LOWELL (America East) – Stony Brook going after their 8th true road win of the season
-LA TECH AT RICE (Conference USA). An impressive showing by LA Tech after falling behind by 17 early at North Texas. They didn’t get the win, but still appear to be one of the better team sin the league
-THE CITADEL AT FURMAN (SoCon). The Citadel may be coming down to Earth after a great run through the OOC, and that may be true for Furman as well. Both are looking to bounce back after blowout losses
-LONGWOOD AT RADFORD (Big South). Longwood has had a nice OOC run, and they open up league play on the road against what is perhaps the best team in the conference
-GEORGIA STATE AT TEXAS STATE (Sun Belt). These might be the two best teams in the SBC
-PENN AT PRINCETON (Ivy League). One of the best rivalries in college sports. Penn has had a rough week and could use a nice bounce back. Princeton just won at Arizona State
-SOUTHERN MISS AT NORTH TEXAS (Conference USA). Southern Miss’s program is improving, and North Texas is off to an incredible start this season, and just beat a very good LA Tech team in their opener
-TENNESSEE TECH AT BELMONT (Ohio Valley). Belmont really blew it earlier in the week and is looking to rebound today and break a two game losing streak
-LIPSCOMB AT JACKSONVILLE (Atlantic Sun). Lipscomb is good enough to run the table in the ASun, and if they do they should be inside the bubble
-WESTERN KENTUCKY AT OLD DOMINION (Conference USA). It’s the most talented team (and in some ways the most disappointing team) in the conference on the road against the team with the best resume in the conference
-BOWLING GREEN AT KENT STATE (MAC). Keep an eye on this Kent State team. This league has three really good teams in it with them, Buffalo, and Toledo
-LIBERTY AT FGCU (Atlantic Sun). This league is a three horse race, and Liberty is one of the horses
-SEATTLE AT GRAND CANYON (WAC). Seattle had a rather surprising loss in their conference opener the other night, and is looking to rebound from that against a pretty good GCU team
-EASTERN KENTUCKY AT MURRAY STATE (Ohio Valley). This conference is a two horse race, and Murray State is one of those horses.