NEWS AND NOTES
-Kentucky v Kansas was close throughout, but in the final minutes of the game Kentucky surged ahead to pick up the win. Kansas is now just 1-4 in true road games, and I know that Kentucky is a likely protected seed, and has they won this game I would start to warm up to them more as a #1 seed because of how strong some of their wins are, but they have just ONE true road win up to this point, and one of those losses was at West Virginia, who just flat out stinks this year.
-Last week I had said that I thought Syracuse was getting better. Last week I also said that I felt Virginia Tech had done nothing to prove themselves. So naturally, VA Tech absolutely boat-raced Syracuse yesterday.
-Maryland decided to play a home game in New York City against Illinois, and lost. Maryland had been on an absolute tear, especially at home (albeit not at home in New York). This was perhaps the biggest surprise of the day.
-Kansas State’s loss at Texas A&M is a close second. K State had won three straight games against ranked teams, and picked up two of those wins on the road, and Texas A&M had struggled to punch their way out of a paper bag for most of the season, so it almost doesn’t make any sense at all that TAMU got the win.
-Texas Tech won again, but they had to sweat out another rather weak team, again. They held off Arkansas in a game that was much closer than it should have been if Texas Tech really is a top fifteen team.
-Mississippi State got a decent win against Auburn, which is important because they don’t have decent wins. Auburn failed to beat Mississippi State, which is important because they don’t have ANY decent wins.
-Iowa State went on the road and won handily at Ole Miss in what may have been the most impressive showing of the day. They Cyclones seem to be getting better and better as the season goes along.
-Remember two years ago when Clemson lost about eight (or was it nine?) games either in overtime or on the last possession of the game? Well, they’re back to their old ways! NC State had a three at the buzzer to pick up the 69-67 win.
-LSU trailed Missouri the entire game, and Mizzou seemed to have it in such control in the final couple of minutes that you may have changed the channel. Well, if you did you missed Mizzou completely falling apart, and LSU hanging on to win in overtime.
-Ohio State ended a four game losing streak by picking up a very nice road win at Nebraska. The Huskers have now lost three in a row and are suddenly in real trouble.
-Baylor and Alabama was another close thriller that Baylor was able to pull out. The Bears have been on a tear the last couple of weeks, and are looking more and more like a solid NCAA Tournament team.
-Texas continues to look Schizophrenic. They fell at Georgia, and now their profile looks even more scattershot than it did before. They’ve got wins against North Carolina, Purdue, and Oklahoma, but are just 11-9 overall, have just one true road win, and have losses to Radford and now Georgia. Have fun seeding that team!
-Saint Louis lost at home to Davidson. I am now convinced that the A10 will only send the tournament winner. VCU is the last chance, and I don’t know how good of a chance they have. They held on to win at Duquesne yesterday, and need to win out in order to feel safe.
-South Carolina had been on a tear, but they fell on the road to an Oklahoma State team that has struggled all season long yesterday.
-A big Under the Radar result from the America East was that Vermont didn’t just win at Stony Brook, they completely blew them out. In hindsight we probably should have seen it coming considering how much of a struggle it was for Stony Brook to get wins against teams like Albany and Maine, but I couldn’t get past how good their resume looked. Furthermore, Vermont was coming off a rather decisive loss to UMBC. Vermont just plowed them, though, to take over the driver’s seat of the America East.
-Belmont also picked up a nice win at Austin Peay, who had previously been unbeaten at home. Not a bad week for Belmont who beat both Murray State and Austin Peay on the road this week.
-Penn knocked off Saint Joe’s to finish a perfect 4-0 in Big Five play!! The problem is, they’re not doing so well in Ivy League play at the moment.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-GEORGETOWN AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East). The first meeting was an overtime thriller. Both teams have work to do if they want to make the NCAA Tournament, and this game has a very pivotal feel to it. Georgetown has lost four out of five, and the Johnnies have lost three out of four.
-DEPAUL AT PROVIDENCE (Big East). Both of these teams have a lot of ground to make up to catch back up to the pack of teams that are in contention to make the NCAA Tournament, so a win today is important.
-CINCINNATI AT TEMPLE (America East). Both teams have bloated records, but both teams are very light in regards to quality wins. Both also have limited chances to pick up quality wins, which is why this game is so important.
-MICHIGAN STATE AT PURDUE (Big Ten). Michigan State has won their last two on the road, and has another big road test today. They definitely have a road to a #1 seed, but getting there will require that they continue to win games like this.
-HOUSTON AT TULSA (American). This should be a tough road game for Houston. Tulsa is about a hundred miles away from making the NCAA Tournament, but they have been very strong at home this year.
-SETON HALL AT VILLANOVA (Big East). These are two teams that are going in completely opposite directions. Seton Hall had some big OOC wins and appeared to be on pace to basically skate into the top half of the bracket, but has not lost four of their last five games, including two to DePaul. Villanova tripped up in some OOC games, but are currently unbeaten in Big East play and looking more and more like a protected seed.
-UCF AT MEMPHIS (American). UCF is hovering around our bubble right now and has a very small margin for error. Memphis is coming off a loss to Temple, but prior to that they’d win six out of seven, so beating them on the road may not be the easiest of tasks.
-LIPSCOMB AT STETSON (Atlantic Sun). If Lipscomb can run the table then I think the committee will take a serious look at them.
-IOWA AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten). Both of these teams are probable tournament tams, but Iowa could use a road win on their resume, Minnesota could use a quality win on theirs. Both definitely have room to move up.
-FLORIDA STATE AT MIAMI FL (ACC). This is quite simply a road game that Florida State needs to win. They are in a tailspin, and it will get even worse if they lose to a team like Miami.