NEWS AND NOTES
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-A little bit of a UTR footnote, but some good news for Detroit yesterday as they won their appeal in regards to a postseason ban due to a low APR score. The Titans will be eligible to participate in the Horizon League Tournament, and the NCAA Tournament in the very unlikely chance that they win the HL Tournament. I won’t go too much into it, but I do think the NCAA absolutely made the right decision.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-OHIO STATE AT MARYLAND (Big Ten). It’s two highly ranked teams who are looking for a big resume building win. As for Ohio State, they’ve lost two straight, but a big road win like this would certainly shift the momentum back their way.
-MIAMI FL AT LOUISVILLE (ACC). Louisville has lost two straight and is looking to rebound in a home game against a decent, but beatable, Miami team.
-VIRGINIA AT BOSTON COLLEGE (ACC). This is a winnable road game for the Hoos, so they should be able to hold serve and add another road win to their resume.
-PENN STATE AT RUTGERS (Big Ten). It seems like we’re living in Bizarro World, but this really Is a big game, and a resume building opportunity, for both teams.
-FLORIDA AT SOUTH CAROLINA (SEC). Florida has been a disappointment this year, and needs to start stringing some wins together if they want to end up inside the bubble.
-PROVIDENCE AT MARQUETTE (Big East). Providence struggled in their pre-conference game, but they’ve looked fantastic in their last three and can continue to turn things around with a win tonight. Marquette is coming off a big home win against Villanova, so they’ve got a lot of momentum built up as well.
-TOLEDO AT KENT STATE (MAC). If Kent State wants any shot at all at landing inside the bubble, then they basically need to dominate the MAC.
-HOUSTON AT TEMPLE (American). Both of these teams have shown signs of life, and Houston appears to be improving as the season goes along, but both still have a ton of work to do and could really use a win in this one.
-INDIANA STATE AT NORTHERN IOWA (Missouri Valley). Northern Iowa should land inside the bubble If they can dominate this conference, which they are certainly good enough to do.
-BAYLOR AT TEXAS TECH (Big 12). This should be a fun one between two ranked teams that have improved as the season has gone along. It wouldn’t shock me if one or both of them ended up as protected seeds.
-KENTUCKY AT GEORGIA (SEC). Kentucky appears to be turning things around, but they will really be tested tonight against a Georgia team that’s been playing really well and just picked up a huge road win at Memphis.
-VILLANOVA AT CRIEGHTON (Big East). This is a resume building opportunity for two teams that have done well so far, but who also have room to make their resumes even better before the end of the season.
-VIRGINIA TECH AT SYRACUSE (ACC). This is a real pivotal game for VA Tech. If they want to demonstrate that they are a tournament caliber team, then this is the kind of road game that they need to be able to win.
-OLE MISS AT TEXAS A&M (SEC). Ole Miss still has a lot of work to do, and this is a winnable road game that they really can’t afford to lose.
-IOWA AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten). This is a winnable road game for an Iowa team that’s been playing well lately, and who is also looking to rebound from a close loss to Penn State in their last game.
-TCU AT KANSAS STATE (Big 12). This is a winnable road game for TCU, and they’re going to need it because there are some big challenges ahead.
-UTAH STATE AT AIR FORCE (Mountain West). Utah State is almost out of strikes. They need to avoid losses to non-tournament caliber teams the rest of the way, which basically means beating everyone other than San Diego State.
-FRESNO STATE AT NEW MEXICO (Mountain West). New Mexico has a bloated 13-3 record so they do have a chance, but their margin for error is very small. They need to pretty much blow through league play.