NEWS AND NOTES
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-It was a rock fight, but NC State picked up a desperation win at Virginia, which helps out their resume. It was a desperation game for Virginia as well, and the loss, which is now their fourth in five games, is starting to drag down their resume.
-Some Under the Radar news from last night, and that’s a big win for Winthrop at Radford in the Big South. The two teams were tied for first place, and it’s a nice road win for Winthrop. It also plays a role in them getting home court advantage during the conference tournament.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-KANSAS STATE AT KANSAS (Big 12). K State is coming off a rather surprising win against West Virginia so they should have some momentum built up coming into this game, but they’ve struggled most of the season and appear to be way overmatched tonight. Kansas still looks like a team that can land on the #1 line.
-BUTLER AT VILLANOVA (Big East). Butler has had a great season, but they’ve now suffered two straight losses and have a really tough road assignment tonight against a Villanova team that’s ranked in the top ten and who is unbeaten at home. Both teams could end up as protected seeds, so this is an opportunity for both of them to get a quality win in a showcase game.
-GEORGIA AT KENTUCKY (SEC). This is the second meeting between the two. Kentucky won the first one and is the obvious favorites to win tonight. Kentucky is coming off a big road win at Arkansas and is still on a path to end up as a protected seed. Georgia is hovering around the bubble, so if they were to pull off a win tonight it would certainly improve their resume in a big way.
-MARYLAND AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten). Maryland, like all Big Ten teams, has struggled on the road. This is probably their most winnable remaining road game of the season so they need to take care of business tonight.
-ILLINOIS AT PURDUE (Big Ten). This is a game that both of these teams could really use. Illinois could definitely benefit from a road win, and Purdue, who’s been kind of schizophrenic this year, could benefit from the quality win at home as they try to establish themselves as being safely inside the bubble.
-WICHITA STATE AT SOUTH FLORIDA (American). Wichita State has lost two straight, but they’ve still got a good team and should be able to bounce back with a winnable road game tonight.
-FLORIDA AT LSU (SEC). I keep talking about how Florida has been falling short of expectations, but they have quietly won five of their last six, and if they win tonight then one has to think that they are back on track and on pace to land very safely inside the bubble. LSU is on a roll as well. They’ve won six of their last six.
-AKRON AT MIAMI OH (MAC). Akron may have a path to landing inside the bubble, but they pretty much need to win out in order to do it.
-TEXAS TECH AT TCU (Big 12). This is an important game because while Texas Tech has some quality stuff on their resume, the majority of it is still empty calories, and a road win against a decent TCU team could really help out with that. TCU has lost two straight, but they are still positioned to make the NCAA Tournament if they can finish strong.
-MIAMI FL AT DUKE (ACC). Duke is looking to bounce back from a somewhat surprising two straight losses. They are still looking like a solid protected seed, and could still even end up on the #1 line, but they have to hold serve in games like this. Miami FL looks like an NIT team. Of course if they win tonight, that changes, but that is a very tall order.
-NEBRASKA AT WISCONSIN (Big Ten). Wisky needs to hold serve against non-Tourney teams, and in the case of Nebraska, a non-NIT team.
-SAINT JOHN’S AT MARQUETTE (Big East). Saint John’s has some big wins this season, but they’ve struggled lately and this is a bit of a desperation game for them. Marquette has really been playing well and will look to continue to keep that going.
-VCU AT SAINT JOSEPH’S (Atlantic Ten). Right now we have VCU right around the bubble. They are almost out of strikes and basically need to dominate the rest of the their schedule in order to make the field.
-WYOMING AT SAN DIEGO STATE (Mountain West). Technically this is a conference game. Practically, the committee will give it about as much attention as a buy game. SDSU can’t lose this (or pretty much any other game) if they want to land on the #1 line.