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-Michigan State handed Nebraska their first home loss in a rather impressive showing. They are definitely playing like a #2 seed because those are the types of games that are not easy to win.
-In UTR news, Belmont lost to Jacksonville State for the second time this season. With two conferences losses, the chances of Belmont catching Murray State are pretty much zero.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-VIRGINIA AT DUKE (ACC) (***Spotlight Game***). It’s rare that you see two teams that are ranked #1 going at it. To be fair, Duke isn’t likely to be ranked #1 next week after losing at home to Syracuse, but as of now each of them is #1 in either the coaches or AP poll. Both are also on pace to get a #1 seed, and this is the kind of win that can help cement a team onto the #! line. It should be fun!!
-MARYLAND AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten) (Friday). Maryland has been playing extremely well lately, whereas Ohio State has been playing decently well. This is a win that would help
-EASTERN MICHIGAN AT BUFFALO (MAC) (Friday). Buffalo shouldn’t have too much trouble winning this one, staying in the rankings, and staying unbeaten in MAC play.
-SAINT JOSEPH’S AT SAINT LOUIS (Atlantic Ten) (Friday). SLU is unbeaten in A10 play and has a shot at an at-large if they can avoid stubbing their toes against non-tournament claliber teams, which is basically everyone in the conference
-XAVIER AT VILLANOVA (Big East) (Friday). Nova seems to have turned the corner since conference play starts, and a win gets them to 5-0 and keeps them on track to earn a really good seed. Xavier is pretty far behind the pack, but they can get caught back up if they can string together some wins
-MICHIGAN AT WISCONSIN (Big Ten). This is a tough road test for Michigan, but they’ve certainly taken and passed tough tests before. It would also be a huge signature upset win for Wisconsin if they’re able to pull it off.
-NORTH CAROLINA AT MIAMI FL (ACC). This is a winnable road game for a UNC team that’s not necessarily in a tailspin, but also not flying all that high at the moment either.
-TULSA AT UCF (American). Despite the bloated record, UCF’s schedule is very flimsy right now and they need to hold serve at home.
-FLORIDA AT GEORGIA (SEC). Florida needs to string together quite a few wins in order to get within range of the bubble.
-ARKANSAS AT OLE MISS (SEC). Arkansas has a few decent things on their resume, but they’ve still got quite a bit of catching up to do. Ole Miss has been one of the bigger surprises of the season and will remain in solid shape if they can continue to hold serve.
-ALABAMA AT TENNESSEE (SEC). Right now we have Alabama as a team that’s inside the bubble, and Tennessee as a team that’s on the #1 line. With the Vols playing at home they shouldn’t have too much trouble remaining on pace for a #1 seed.
-KANSAS AT WEST VIRGINIA (Big 12). In most years this is a very tough road game to win, and a win that looks really good on a team’s resume. This year, it’s a winnable road game that would almost look bad on a resume if they weren’t able to win it, especially if Kansas is gunning for the #1 line.
-NC STATE AT NOTRE DAME (ACC). NC State has looked really good at home against non-tournament teams (and Auburn). I think they’re good, but I don’t think their resume is nearly as good at their ranking at the moment. They’ll get their chances. Notre Dame isn’t a great team, but it would at least be a road win for the Wolfpack.
-INDIANA AT PURDUE (Big Ten). We’ve got two teams that will probably land in the top half of the bracket, and it’s a rivalry, and it’s two teams who have room for improvement on their resumes. Quite a bit at stake here! Should be fun!
-PITTSBURGH AT SYRACUSE (ACC). Pitt is squarely on our bubble at the moment, and a road win like this would to a ton to push them in the right direction. Syracuse is by far this year’s most schizophrenic teams. They’ve lost at home to Old Dominion, and they’ve won at Duke (albeit while Duke was battling injuries). You just never know what’s going to happen.
-CINCINNATI AT WICHITA STATE (American). Wichita is having a rough year, but it’s still not the easiest thing in the world to go into the Round House and win. Cincinnati has a bloated record, but it isn’t stock full of big time wins, so their margin for error is not huge.
-WAKE FOREST AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC). VA Tech has a very winnable home game and should be able to bounce back after getting creamed by Virginia earlier in the week.
-KENTUCKY AT AUBURN (SEC). For weeks I’ve been railing on Auburn for barely having any decent wins, let alone good ones. They’re at home today against a Kentucky team that looks like a protected seed, and can completely remedy that if they’re able to pull off the win.
-TCU AT KANSAS STATE (Big 12). K State has flipped the switch and gone from looking like an NIT team to looking like a protected seed. TCU doesn’t have any bad losses, but has yet to pick up any really good wins yet. That can change with a road win today.
-LOUISVILLE AT GEORGIA TECH (ACC). This should be a winnable road game for Louisville that they can add to a resume that’s already pretty good and is continuing to get better.
-SAINT JOHN’S AT BUTLER (Big East). The Johnnies look decently strong, but they still have some work to do, and any games they’re able to win on the road will help. Butler is on the outside looking in right now, and needs to string together some wins to get back on the right side of the bubble.
-CALIFORNIA AT WASHINGTON (Pac Twelve). Washington should be able to land inside the bubble if they continue to dominate the Pac Twelve and hold serve in the games they’re supposed to win. At this point, that’s pretty much all of them.
-PENN AT TEMPLE (Big Five). The last time Penn played a Big Five game, they knocked off Villanova, and had a very strong looking resume!! Since then, THEY’VE SUCKED!! Temple has been getting better and better (seemingly rather quietly) and is in good shape to be in a position to get an at-large bid.
-TEXAS TECH AT BAYLOR (Big 12). This is a winnable road game for a Texas Tech team that’s looking to bounce back from a loss to Iowa State.
-NORFOLK STATE AT SAVANNAH STATE (MEAC). The Team of the People!!! They try to even out their MEAC record at 2-2.
-OKLAHOMA STATE AT IOWA STATE (Big 12). Iowa State is looking more and more like a protected seed, especially after their big road win at Texas Tech. They should be able to hold serve at home in this one before heading to Kansas.
-SOUTH CAROLINA AT LSU (SEC). South Carolina was horrendous out of conference, but since league play began they’ve looked fantastic. They’ve still got a long way to go, but they are hardly a team you can take for granted. LSU is also unbeaten in SEC play and will be looking to hold them off at home.
-UMASS AT VCU (Atlantic Ten). VCU is almost out of strikes, but not entirely. They need to blow through this league, which they are good enough to do, in order to be in position to get an at-large bid.
-OREGON STATE AT ARIZONA (Pac Twelve). Both teams are on the outside looking in right now, and they both have at on of work to do to get caught back up with the pack when trying to earn an at-large.
-FURMAN AT WOFFORD (SoCon). This game is a little bigger than normal UTR games. Furman has the best win out of any team in the SoCon with the road win at Villanova, but they’ve already lost two league games. Wofford is probably the best team in the SoCon. If Furman loses this one and falls three games behind Wofford I do not think they will catch up, and without a first place finish I do not think they can earn an at-large bid. Wofford doesn’t have a big win, but they still might be able to play their way onto the bubble, or even inside of it, if they can run away from the rest of the league.
-OKLAHOMA AT TEXAS (Big 12). This is a conference rivalry game between two likely NCAA Tournament teams that both have room to improve. Texas is another very schizophrenic team who has some big wins, but also some questionable losses, and a win like this could really stabilize their resume. Oklahoma has a lot of decent wins on their resume, but this would be one of their better ones if they’re able to pull it off.
-HOUSTON AT SOUTH FLORIDA (American). This won’t be the easiest road game for Houston to win, but it’s still a game they should be able to pull off without too much trouble, and improve to 4-1 in true road games.
-DEPAUL AT SETON HALL (Big East). Seton Hall is solidly in the field for now, but they aren’t so far in that they can afford to go into an absolute tailspin. It’s important that they hold serve at home against a very much improved, but still not very good DePaul team.
-MISSISSIPPI STATE AT VANDERBILT (SEC). Mississippi State has a very slimsy resume, and haven’t beaten anyone that’s solidly in the tournament. That will still be the case even if they win against Vandy, but it will at least give them another true road win. Right now they only have one.
-PENN STATE AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten). Minnesota just got blasted by a horrendously bad Illinois team earlier in the week. It’s important that they do not lose to Penn State at home. That would be two losses in a row to teams that will probably not even be in the NIT.
-COLORADO STATE AT UTAH STATE (Mountain West). I should just give up on Utah State, but I suppose if they win out or come close to it the committee will at least take a strong look at them.
-OREGON AT ARIZONA STATE (Pac Twelve). It’s hard to feel good about anyone in the Pac Twelve. They all still have work to do, but both of these teams have shown that they are perhaps good enough to blow through the league and earn a bid. That being said, winning today is rather essential for both teams.
-BYU AT SAN FRANCISCO (West Coast Conference). San Francisco is a good team with a resume that just doesn’t measure up, and may not ever measure up if they’re not able to beat Gonzaga. If they’re unable to win on the road against the Zags, which is probably the case, then they at least need to win all the rest of their games.
UNDER THE RADAR
-STONY BROOK AT MAINE (America East). Stony Brook has more true road wins than any team in the country. They have a chance of getting another one today and staying on top of the conference
-BINGHAMTON AT VERMONT (American East). Vermont needs to keep winning to keep pace with Stony Brook
-GEORGIA STATE AT TROY (Sun Belt). It hasn’t always been pretty, but GA State is unbeaten in SBC play and has a pretty decent resume overall
-SOUTHERN MISS AT OLD DOMINION (Conference USA). If Old Dominion can win out (much easier said than done) then there may be room for them inside the bubble.
-UNC GREENSBORO AT EAST TENNESSEE STATE (SoCon). There are four really good teams in the SoCon, and these are two of them.
-UC IRVINE AT CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE (Big West). Ivrine’s home loss to Long Beach State was a bit of a backbreaker, but they still look to be one of the better teams in the league and should end up with a manageable seed in the NCAA Tournament if they can blow through the rest of league play and win the auto-bid
-RICE AT NORTH TEXAS (Conference USA). UNT is trying to improve to 17-2 on the year.
-NORTH FLORIDA AT LIBERTY (Atlantic Sun). Liberty is trying to keep pace with Lipscomb and earn home court advantage in the ASun Tourney.
-MURRAY STATE AT SIUE (Ohio Valley). Murray State should blow through this game, and really blow through the rest of their schedule
-NEW MEXICO STATE AT UTAH VALLEY (WAC). I think New Mexico State can continue to run through the league, get a manageable seed in the NCAA Tournament, and make someone’s life hell in the Round of 64