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SURVIVAL BOARD UPDATES (click here to view)
-Mount St Mary’s OUT with a loss to FDU OR wins by both LIU-Brooklyn (over CCSU) AND Bryant (over SFBK)
-Central Connecticut OUT with a loss to LIU-Brooklyn
-Tennessee Tech OUT with a loss to SIUE OR a win by UT-Martin (over Belmont) OR a win by E Kentucky (over Austin Peay)
-SEMO OUT with a loss to Tennessee State AND a win by one of SIUE, UT-Martin and/or E Kentucky
-Denver OUT with a loss to Western Illinois
NEWS AND NOTES (courtesy of David G. Puppet)
-Tennessee won in a thriller at Ole Miss in a game that went back and forth. Tennessee had lost two of three (both on the road to highly ranked teams), so it does sort of get them back on the right path. It’s not a loss that will damage Ole Miss that much. They were on a safe pace to make the field before the game, and still are. The game came down to a charge call right in the final seconds, and the fans were not too happy. They showered the court with plastic cups and T-shirts (despite pleas from Kermit Davis to stop) as the players were shaking hands.
-Villanova got a big win against Marquette in a game that also went back and forth. This was as important for Nova’s mental health as it was their resume. They’d lost four out of five, two of which were non-tournament teams, and needed a stabilizing win like this.
-Texas Tech, after blowing out Kansas at home, needed overtime to get by Oklahoma State at home last night. Lot’s to unpack there. Just how bad is Kansas on the road? And Just how inconsistent is Texas Tech?
-Maryland went in to Penn State (sort of) and was blown out. They fell down early, and stayed down by double digits for the entire game. The 78-61 score isn’t indicative of just how badly Penn State beat them.
-Cincinnati REALLY had to sweat, but they picked up yet another road win against SMU and remain on pace to land safely in the top half of the bracket.
-Texas had what appeared to be a safe lead at Baylor, but the Bears came back, forced overtime, and even then when it looked like Texas was safe they turned it over and Baylor escaped. The loss didn’t hurt Texas in and of itself, but what hurt was that they needed a win like this to stabilize their resume. At just 15-13 on the year it is looking kind of flimsy despite some of the really good wins that they have. They finish the regular season with home games against Iowa State and TCU with a road game at Iowa State sandwiched in between. They MIGHT end up 15-16 going into the Big 12 Tournament, which would put them in Indiana-esque territory.
-Auburn BARELY won at Georgia. Had they lost that then they may have been in real trouble.
-Louisville did not win at Boston College, which hurts. A segment of the Louisville fanbase had been riding the team pretty hard, which struck me as absurd considering how low the expectations were at the start of the year, and that most of their losses had been in close games to highly ranked teams. Well, BC is not a highly ranked team. I can understand the fans being grumpy about this one.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-XAVIER AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East). The Johnnies look to be safely in the field barring a total crash in their final few games. They could use some stability though. Xavier is playing like an NCAA Tournament team, so this may not be the easiest game in the world for the Johnnies to win. Xavier’s problem is that they started playing like an NCAA Tournament team about 12 weeks too late. (Another problem for the Musketeers is Elias Harden being suspended by the coaches for an undisclosed violation of team rules. It is uncertain when he will return.)
-NEBRASKA AT MICHIGAN (Big Ten). Michigan is still on pace to land on one of the top two lines. They should be able to bounce back from their loss to Michigan State, hold serve, and pick this one up at home.
-WOFFORD AT CHATTANOOGA (SoCon). Wofford has two games remaining before the conference tournament. I think they’d have to lose both of them and then lose their first tournament game to end up outside the bubble.
-MINNESOTA AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten). Minnesota has just one true road win on the year, and they DESPERATELY need to get at least one more. If they can’t win this one tonight then they may be in serious trouble. I don’t believe any team has ever gotten an at-large with just one true road win.
-ARIZONA AT OREGON STATE (Pac-12). I keep saying this, but Oregon State is good enough to win out, and if they do I think the committee will take a serious look at them.
-GONZAGA AT PACIFIC (West Coast). Gonzaga is ranked #1 and should be able to win out and coast to a #1 seed in the NCAAs.
-WASHINGTON AT CALIFORNIA (Pac-12). This is perhaps the most winnable Pac Twelve road game that Washington has ever played as a member of the Pac 8/10/12. They need to hold serve and win it.
UNDER THE RADAR
-HOFSTRA AT DREXEL (Colonial). Hofstra has a one game lead with two games to go. They can clinch at least a share of it tonight (along with the #1 seed in the CAA Tournament).
-NEW MEXICO STATE AT UMKC (WAC). New Mexico State has already clinched the #1 seed and can clinch an outright first place finish with a win tonight.
-TEXAS STATE AT TROY (Sun Belt). Texas State is trying to hold on to a one game lead in the SBC.
-ARKANSAS STATE AT GEORGIA STATE (Sun Belt). Georgia State is just a game behind Texas State, and can make quite a bit of noise in the SBC Tourney.
-MURRAY STATE AT MOREHEAD STATE (Ohio Valley). With two games remaining, Murray State is in a tie for first place and has a one game lead over Austin Peay and Jax State. They can come very close to locking up a bye into the OVC semis with a win tonight.
-WRIGHT STATE AT GREEN BAY (Horizon League). Wright State can clinch a share of first place with a win tonight.
-NORTHERN KENTUCKY AT MILWAUKEE (Horizon League). NKU is just a game back of Wright State with two games to go.
-OLD DOMINION AT UT-SAN ANTONIO (Conference USA). Old Dominion can clinch an outright first place finish with a win tonight, and is potentially a dangerous NCAA Tournament team if they can win the conference tourney.
-BELMONT AT UT MARTIN (Ohio Valley). I believe Belmont clinches a bye into the semis with a win tonight, and if they can avoid losses in their last two games and win their first conference tournament game, they may be inside the bubble even if they lose in the OVC Championship game.
-UC IRVINE AT UC DAVIS (Big West). UC Irvine clinches at least a share of first place with a win tonight, and since they’ve swept Cal State Fullerton they lock up the #1 seed in the Big West Tourney as well.