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NEWS AND NOTES
-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day, which features the Silent Night tradition at Taylor – CLICK HERE
-If you missed the Furman v Auburn game, you missed a great one. Furman led for most of the game, and even built up a double digit lead on multiple occasions in the second half. Auburn tightened up their defense and came back, but every time they made a run, Furman seemed to have an answer. Auburn ended up pulling it out in overtime, and you kind of hate it for Furman because as good as they are, it’s going to be difficult for them to put together an NCAA Tournament resume that reflects it. A win in a game like yesterday would have made a huge difference. It was their last really good opportunity to get a big OOC win.
-Louisiana Tech, who had been kind of flying under the radar even by UTR standards, went into Mississippi State and picked up a huge road win. It’s time to start paying serious attention to the Bulldogs.
-Oklahoma and North Texas seesawed back and forth all night, but when the time ran out Oklahoma was ahead. It was the first true road win of the season for the Sooners.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-IOWA AT MICHIGAN (Big Ten). Big Ten play gets underway tonight as Michigan looks to bounce back from their loss at Louisville. They’ve got a winnable home game an Iowa team tonight that’s decent, but still has work to do (as does pretty much everyone).
-DUKE AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC). This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for VA Tech, and it could still end up being that, but after watching them pick up a couple big wins over in Maui, the Hokies may be better than advertised. They’ve got a tall order tonight against a Duke team that totally blew out Michigan State earlier in the week.
-PROVIDENCE AT RHODE ISLAND. This is always a great game, and I don’t expect it to be any different tonight. Rhody has been a little better than expected, whereas Providence has been a bit of a disappointment, but sometimes a win in a rivalry game can really get a team’s motor started. This one isn’t really in the national consciousness, but if you tune in to it tonight you may be shocked at the intensity level in this one.
-STEPHEN F AUSTIN AT ALABAMA. SFA is on a roll, and they’ve got another winnable road game tonight against an Alabama team that’s been somewhat of a disappointment. If they can get this win, I think they should be on pace to land inside the bubble if they hold serve throughout Southland play.
-DARTMOUTH AT SOUTH FLORIDA. This game probably won’t end up on the committee’s radar, but for now Dartmouth is having a better than expected season and South Florida, while still dealing with not having their full expected roster, is starting to get a few of their pieces back.
-PITTSBURGH AT LOUISVILLE (ACC). Louisville is coming off their first real test against Michigan, and looks to keep that momentum going, pick up a conference win, and hold on to their #1 ranking.
-USC AT TCU. This is a rather important game for both teams. Both have good records, and both have been tested some, but neither has been tested a lot. This is a chance for two teams who don’t have a lot of notable wins yet to pick up a notable win.