NEWS AND NOTES
-The biggest result from Saturday, by far, was Baylor’s first ever win at Kansas. Not only was It historic, but it catapults the Bears into the discussion for a #1 seed, and perhaps even the overall #1 seed. Of all the other teams that we are looking at for the #1 line, they probably have the best overall win, and maybe even the least damaging loss. I know Washington is really slipping now, but they were a different team when the two played earlier in the season.
-Ohio State shouldn’t be in panic mode, but their mode should not be one of contentment either. They fell on the road at Indiana yesterday, which was their fourth straight loss, and while none of those losses are bad as individual losses, a protected seed caliber team would have been expected to win at least a couple of them.
-West Virginia continues to look impressive as they knocked off a Texas Tech 66-54. Texas Tech has lost two in a row, but one was to Baylor and the other was to West Virginia. No need to panic, but they do need some more quality wins on their resume.
-As for Virginia, it may be time to panic. They lost their second straight game as they fell to Syracuse at home yesterday 63-55. Neither Syracuse or Boston College are within a hundred miles of making the NCAA Tournament right now, so it was not a good week for the Hoos.
-Wisconsin bounced back in a huge way with a big time road win at Penn State. They do stumble at times, but Wisky is starting to become more consistently good.
-Rutgers could not pick up the road win at Illinois yesterday. It was a low scoring game that seesawed back and forth, but the Illini ended up pulling it out 54-51.
-DePaul remains winless in the Big East as they fell to Saint John’s 74-67. In most years there is nothing surprising at all about DePaul being winless in the Big East, but after the great start they got off to at the beginning of the season we were expecting a little more from them this year.
-Tulane continues to improve as they picked up another really nice win at Temple 65-51. As for Tulane, they are tons better, but still a long ways off from the bubble. As for Temple, I’m ready to stop thinking about them as a tournament caliber team.
-TCU knocked off Oklahoma State to improve to 3-0 in the Big 12. I’m not too big on that yet since they haven’t played any of the heavyweights, but at the very least it does not appear that TCU will be the worst team in the conference.
-SMU, who had really been rolling, lost at East Carolina yesterday. Now their 12-3 record looks more like it had to do with their schedule being bad than it did them being good.
-Creighton got a really nice road win at Xavier yesterday, which goes a long way toward shoring up their NCAA Tournament resume. Xavier’s struggles continue, and their resume needs a ton of work if they want to be inside the bubble come March.
-Saint Louis got a really nice road win at Richmond, which is probably their biggest win of the year up to this point. At 14-3 it’s probably time to sit up and pay attention to the Billikens.
-California held on to beat Washington in a 61-58 thriller. This is just not a good sign for Washington.
-Oklahoma was completely run over by an Iowa State team who had looked absolutely pitiful over the last couple of weeks. A nice win for the Cyclones, and a sign that they may be turning things around.
-Santa Clara, who had a bloated record but who had also played nothing but a pastry cart, got a big road win at Saint Mary’s yesterday. I think this is a pivotal result for both teams. It’s a sign that SMC might be in trouble, and that Santa Clara might be for real.
-Mississippi State looked like they might finally get their first win in conference play at LSU – things were looking good after hitting a runner with under 5 seconds remaining in the game. Skylar Mays had other ideas – he hit a shot at the buzzer just inside of the 3-point line to give the Tigers a 1-point win. LSU would appear to be on the good side of the fence right now – Mississippi State, not so much.
-Florida lost at Missouri. Missouri really has not looked good all year. And when you break it down, neither has Florida. Right now I’d say Florida would not even be in the NCAA Tournament conversation if today were Selection Sunday.
-Last, but not least, Clemson won at North Carolina for the first time ever!! I figured that some day it would eventually happen!! Well, that is now the case!! I also figured that when it did happen, the game would have quite a bit of meaning on paper. Well, that is definitely NOT the case. Neither team looks to be anywhere close to the bubble right now.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-MICHIGAN STATE AT PURDUE (Big Ten). Purdue has been up and down this year, and has lost their last two games. One of them was a pitiful blowout loss to Illinois, and most recently it was a spectacular double overtime effort on the road at Michigan, so one never knows what they are going to do. Michigan State is playing better and better as the season goes on and can pick up their ninth straight win today.
-WICHITA STATE AT UCONN. Wichita State continues to look impressive, and in my opinion continues to look like a protected seed. A win today will get them to 15- one on the season.
-MICHIGAN AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten). Michigan is still looking for their first true road win of the season, which is something they’ll need to be able to do multiple times if they want to end up as a protected seed. Today won’t be easy either. Minney has had their struggles, but they are a very strong 7-1 at home.
-MEMPHIS AT SOUTH FLORIDA (American). Memphis has been on a bit of a tailspin, but should be able to bounce out of it today with what is a winnable conference road game.
-UTAH AT COLORADO (Pac 12). These are two teams who’s resumes are decent, but that could be a lot better. That makes this a big game because it’s a resume building opportunity.
-PITTSBURGH AT MIAMI FL (ACC). Both teams are on the outside looking in right now, and both need to start stringing together wins if they want to be in the conversation come March.
-ARIZONA AT OREGON STATE (Pac 12). Arizona is coming off an impressive effort against Oregon where they fell in overtime. This wouldn’t be an earth shattering win for them today, but it would be a good one, especially when you consider Arizona has lost three of their last four and still doesn’t have a true road win.