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-If you fell asleep last night and missed everything, you pretty much missed nothing. None of the meaningful games were all that exciting with Texas Tech, Virginia, and K State all winning easily. The four quarterfinal games in the A-Sun were also duds for the most part. Anyway, on to Day 2 of Championship Week!
-XAVIER AT BUTLER (Big East). Neither team is inside the bubble. The only reason we highlight this is because Xavier has been on a rampage, and if they keep it up they could very likely end up crashing the dance. A win today would be their 6th straight.
-WAKE FOREST AT DUKE (ACC). This is such a mismatch that it will likely resemble a buy game. Duke is a likely #1 seed and Wake Forest is not a top 100 team.
-NEBRASKA AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten). Nebraska is in a total tailspin and now seems like they’re just going through the motions until the season ends. Michigan State is coming off a somewhat surprising loss to Indiana, which snapped a five game losing streak, and is looking to bounce back from that.
-VIRGINIA TECH AT FLORIDA STATE (ACC). Both teams are in the rankings, both teams are virtual locks, and both are pretty much just playing for seeding at this point. Both still have a path to a protected seed and this would be a big step forward for whoever wins this.
-BUFFALO AT OHIO (MAC). Buffalo is cruising toward getting in on the first ballot, and should get there easily if they win out through the regular season, which they are certainly good enough to do.
-VCU AT GEORGE MASON (Atlantic Ten). George Mason has been hot and cold this year, so VCU does not want to overlook them, but they’re certainly capable of winning the game and if they win out through the regular season they should be safely in.
-NORTH CAROLINA AT BOSTON COLLEGE (ACC). UNC is now ranked #3 in the nation, and wth a regular season game against Duke and then the ACC Tournament remaining, they’ll have the chances to get up to the #1 line. That is much easier said than done, though.
-PURDUE AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten). Purdue is looking more and more like a solid protected seed, and may lock that up with just a few more wins. They face a Minnesota team that’s inside the bubble, but not so far inside that they can just coast through to the end. A win tonight would do wonders for the Gophers.
-MISSISSIPPI STATE AT TENNESSEE (SEC). Tennessee has a path to a #1 seed and I don’t see them doing any worse than a #2. Mississippi State can pretty much cement themselves into the top half of the bracket if they were somehow able to pull off the upset tonight. Both teams are really just playing for seeding at this point.
-KANSAS AT OKLAHOMA (Big 12). I have beaten up Kansas all year for not winning on the road. They’re coming off of a road win, and if they can pick up another one today I’ll relent and admit that they are not just a protected seed, but a solid protected seed. Oklahoma has been hot and cold this year and while I think they’re in, they’re just 6-10 in league play and could really use a win like this. A loss by Kansas officially ends The Streak as well.
-AUBURN AT ALABAMA (SEC). This is a high stakes games for so many reasons. Auburn is lacking wins of this quality. Alabama is squarely on the bubble and could use a big win to help nudge them to the right side of the fence. And on top of everything else, it’s a rivalry game. This has an EXTREMELY pivotal feel to it.
-UTAH STATE AT COLORADO STATE (Mountain West). Utah State is coming off a huge win against Nevada, which should land them on the right side of the bubble so long as they’er able to hold serve the rest of the way in games like this.
-NEVADA AT AIR FORCE (Mountain West). Nevada is still safely in the field and is simply looking to maintain a healthy seed. They should be just fine so long as they don’t trip up in games like this.