NEWS AND NOTES
-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day between Drake and Bradley – CLICK HERE
-It seems as though every time we want to like South Carolina, even just a little bit, they emphatically give us a reason not to. The Gamecocks lost at home to Stetson yesterday. In case you don’t follow our Under the Radar show, Stetson is not even expected to be one of the better teams in the Atlantic Sun. So…not a good loss for Angry Frank and Co.
-Yale hung tough against North Carolina, but couldn’t quite get over the top as the Tarheels picked up a win in a game that kind of had a sense of urgency to it. North Carolina has struggled this season, but this would have REALLY amplified things had they not held on to win this one.
-Seton Hall held on to beat DePaul in a thrilling game that seesawed back and forth. It was the Big East opener for both teams. It would have been a big win for DePaul, but I do think the Blue Demons are really good and can get the wins they need between now and the end to make the NCAA Tournament. It was, in turn, a very good win for Seton Hall, which isn’t oftentimes how you would describe a win a DePaul, but that is certainly the case this year.
-George Mason, who was 11-1 and a team that I thought was worth paying attention to…was not worth paying attention to last night. They were absolutely blown off the court by a TCU team that’s arguably decent (I guess), but nowhere close to being a top 25 caliber team.
-Harvard picked up an exciting overtime win at San Francisco. The Crimson probably won’t land inside the bubble unless they run the table, so they’ll still need the auto-bid to make the field, but they are finally looking like the team that we thought they’d be at the beginning of the year.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-GEORGIA TECH AT FLORIDA STATE (ACC). Florida State once again looks to be a top 20 caliber team and shouldn’t have too much trouble holding serve at home in this one today.
-TEMPLE AT UCF (American). Both teams have good records, and Temple actually has a few decent wins, but both still have a ton of work to do if they want to end up inside the bubble on Selection Sunday. A win today in a game like this would be a nice start.
-NORTHERN IOWA AT ILLINOIS STATE (Missouri Valley). This is much easier said than done, but Northern Iowa clearly looks like the best team in the Missouri Valley, and is probably good enough to run the table. If they do, then they should be in the NCAA Tournament even if they don’t win the conference tournament.
-MIAMI FL AT CLEMSON (ACC). Miami has won their last four games, and knocked off Temple and Illinois in that stretch. They seem to be improving as the season goes along, and this is a winnable conference road game for them.
-GEORETOWN AT PROVIDENCE (Big East). It’s the conference opener for both teams. Georgetown keeps stringing together wins despite having lost several key players. Providence has been disappointing for most of the season, but did look really impressive in their last game against Texas, so they will at least have some momentum coming into this one.
-BOSTON COLLEGE AT DUKE (ACC). Duke is one of the best teams in the country. Boston College…well…isn’t.
-BUTLER AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East). Saint John’s has been one of the surprise teams out of the Big East this year, and they’re currently in a stretch where they’ve won seven in a row and knocked off Arizona and West Virginia in that stretch. Butler has been one of the surprise teams on a national scale, and is now ranked in the top ten with several big wins and just one 1pt loss on the season.
BUY GAMES
-Rider @ Wisconsin
-Florida A&M @ Iowa State