NEWS AND NOTES
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-Iowa and Rutgers seesawed back and forth last night, but Iowa was able to pick up the 85-80 win. The Hawkeyes didn’t get control of the game until the final seconds, so it was another game to where Rutgers was close to picking up a huge road win, but came up just short.
-DePaul did not come up just short last night. Creighton pretty much blew them off the floor in an impressive road win for the Bluejays.
-Memphis did not come up just short either. They lost by 40 to Tulsa. Tulsa never showed a lot of promise, especially when they went through that stretch of losing five out of seven, but they haven’t lost since then, they just blew Memphis to the moon, and they are starting to piece together a resume that will get the attention of the committee if they keep it up.
-Penn State got a nice road win at Michigan, which puts them back on a bit of a roll. Michigan is digressing somewhat. They’ve now lost six of their last nine, so the game this Saturday against Illinois is pretty huge.
-Arkansas could have really used the road win at Mississippi State last night. It’s not that a win would have boosted their resume so much as that this is the kind of road game that you expect tournament caliber teams to be able to win, and they came up short.
-Duquesne looked pretty good in the first half at Rhode Island and I was ready to buy into the fact that the Dukes might have a case for the NCAAs. Then the second half started. By the time it was over, they had been blown off the court 77-55.
-Syracuse picked up their fourth straight win as they held on to beat Notre Dame 84-82. Three of those four wins have come on the road, so the Orange have really improved and are starting to make a case for themselves.
-Northern Iowa, which is a UTR team that we’ve been putting inside our bubble, fell on the road to Southern Illinois last night, which is a huge anvil that has fallen on their toes. They fell behind by as much as 16, cut it down to 2 and had a chance to win in the final minute, but couldn’t quite get it done. I still think they can land inside the bubble and get a bid without winning their conference tournament, but they pretty much need to win out.
-Virginia Tech needed two overtimes, but picked up the win against North Carolina after trailing for much of the game.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-MINNESOTA AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten). Minnesota is still looking for their first road win, and while there are some good things on their resume, it still needs work. Ohio State is trying to pull themselves out of a tailspin. They’ve lost five out of their last six and need to take advantage of what should be a winnable game tonight.
-LIBERTY AT NORTH FLORIDA (Atlantic Sun). Same story as always with Liberty. If they win out, they will get a look. This is probably their toughest remaining game.
-WASHINGTON AT UTAH (Pac 12). Washington has lost three out of their last four since losing their starting PG. They’ve been playing better than what the final results indicate, but it is still a struggle. Utah is an average team that’s played well on occasion, so this is a winnable road game for the Huskies and it’s one that they really need.
-MICHIGAN STATE AT INDIANA (Big Ten). Michigan State has won nine of their last ten and are once again playing like a solid protected seed. Winning at Indiana won’t be easy, though. The Hoosiers are home court heroes that could use this win to help shore up their tournament resume.
-UCONN AT HOUSTON (American). Houston keeps improving as the season goes along, and they should be able to hold serve and win this one tonight. They’re on pace to land in the top half of the bracket.
-WASHINGTON STATE AT COLORADO (Pac 12). The Bufffs are having a good year, and this is simply a winnable conference game where they need to hold serve. Wazzu has won two in a row, and is better this year than what they typically are, but Colorado should still be able to win this one.
-PEPPERDINE AT SANTA CLARA (West Coast). Santa Clara can continue to bloat out their record, but they’ll need a couple of wins over the NCAA Tournament caliber teams in the conference to get the attention of the committee. That being said, they’ll also need to hold serve tonight.
-BYU AT PACIFIC (West Coast). This is a winnable road game for the Cougars, so they should be able to hold serve and put another road in on their resume.
-SAN FRANCISCO AT SAINT MARY’S (West Coast). SMC should be able to pick this one up at home without too much trouble, but the Dons have been playing a little better lately so they don’t want to overlook them.
-USC AT OREGON (Pac 12). USC is coming off a big win against Stanford, that convinced many they were an NCAA Tournament team. Oregon has had a few stumbles, but they are still looking like a protected seed, so if USC could somehow win this one, they will pretty much convince everyone that they are a first ballot caliber team.
-UCLA AT OREGON STATE (Pac 12). Oregon State continues to hover around outside our bubble, so they need to hold serve tonight against UCLA to keep themselves within reach of making the field.