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-Last night was a pretty light night. Louisville picked up a very nice road win against Virginia Tech, which is their second true road win of the year against a solid top 25 team. The list of teams that can claim that is very small, and it currently DOES NOT include Duke, Tennessee, Gonzaga, Virginia, Michigan, or Michigan State. You know what? I think Louisville is the only team on that list! But, I’m in too much of a hurry to research it any further. (In fact, Louisville is the first team this year with two road wins against Top 15 teams. – JS)
-Iowa State picked up another nice road win at Oklahoma, which makes them look more and more like a protected seed. Oklahoma suffered yet another home loss and is now just 3-7 in Big 12 play and the tailspin that they’re in is getting worse and worse.
-BOSTON COLLEGE AT DUKE (ACC). This is a home game that may end up looking a lot like a buy game. BC will probably fall short of the NIT. Duke will likely end up as a #1 seed.
-SOUTH CAROLINA AT KENTUCKY (SEC). South Carolina has looked really good since conference play began, but they still have a long way to go. Kentucky is playing like they could end up as a #2 seed and just picked up a big win this past weekend at Florida.
-MICHIGAN STATE AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten). Any conference road win is a good thing. It would be a nice way for Michigan State to bounce back after the home loss to Indiana this past weekend.
-AKRON AT TOLEDO (MAC). An intriguing match-up between two good MAC teams who can make quite a bit of noise the rest of the way and in the tournament.
-MICHIGAN AT RUTGERS (Big Ten). Michigan is clearly the better team, but they’ve also struggled some on the road (at least by protected seed team standards) and it’s not easy to win at Rutgers.
-NC STATE AT NORTH CAROLINA (ACC). This one is ALWAYS fun. We’ve been dogging NC State all year for a weak schedule and a lack of big wins. That can all change if they’re able to pull off a win in a game like this. It’s much easier said than done, and UNC is coming off a huge win against Louisville and playing their best basketball of the year right now, but the opportunity is there.
-SAINT JOHN’S AT MARQUETTE (Big East). The Johnnies blew out Marquette when the two faced off earlier this season, but it’s an entirely different ballgame when you’re playing on the road. Marquette is on pace to get a protected seed, and the Johnnies are reasonably safe when it comes to making the NCAA Tournament so long as they hold serve the rest of the way. An upset win tonight would make them far more than just “reasonably” safe.
-FLORIDA STATE AT SYRACUSE (ACC). Both of these teams are probable tournament teams, but having said that both could also use a little bit of stabilization, and a win tonight could certainly help with that.
-MISSOURI AT TENNESSEE (SEC). Tennessee is the top ranked team and shouldn’t have too much trouble holding serve at home tonight.
-DAYTON AT SAINT LOUIS (A-10, Arch Baron Cup). Even in a down year in the A-10, we still love our rivalry games, and the ABC is no exception!
-KANSAS AT KANSAS STATE (Big 12). Lots of things at play here. 1) It’s a rivalry game, 2) it’s a game between two teams fighting for protected seeds, 3) Kansas has struggled in true road games this season and could really use a high caliber road win like this to stabilize that part of their resume, 4) K State has a one game lead on Kansas and a win tonight for them could play a huge role in unseating the Jayhawk’s long reign on first place in the Big 12.
-FLORIDA AT AUBURN (SEC). Florida has been playing a lot better these past few weeks, but they still have a ton of work to do in order to catch up to the bubble and make the field. A road win tonight would be a huge step in the right direction. Auburn is a probable tournament team, but they could certainly use some more meat on their resume.
-UTAH STATE AT FRESNO STATE (Mountain West). These are the two best teams in the Mountain West other than Nevada. It would be a huge stretch for either one to make the tournament, but I suppose it’s possible. They’d need to win this game, and knock off Nevada at some point.