NEWS AND NOTES
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-NC State lost at home to North Carolina last night, which appears to be their second straight loss to a team that won’t even be playing in the NIT. They were on the bubble a week ago. That is not how you go about ending up on the right side of the bubble.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-VILLANOVA AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East). The Johnnies just got a big win against DePaul, but they still got a lot of work to do. Beating Villanova is a tall order even at home, but if they want to land on the right side of the bubble they need to answer some tall orders.
-TEXAS A&M AT TENNESSEE (SEC). Tennessee is on the bubble and needs to hold serve in games like this, which are home games against non-tournament teams.
-FLORIDA STATE AT VIRGINIA (ACC). Florida State needs this win to keep the #1 line within reach. Virginia needs this win to keep the bubble within reach. As much as the Hoos have struggled, they are only a few big wins away from being back inside the bubble.
-MISSISSIPPI STATE AT FLORIDA (SEC). Florida continues to linger in that area between the bubble and the top half of the bracket, which means they are inside the bubble, but can’t put the cruise control on yet. It is important that they hold serve in this one tonight.
-SMU AT CINCINNATI (American). SMU just picked up a big win against Memphis, and is suddenly looking like a tournament caliber team. A win today would further their case even more. Cincinnati has had a rough year, but they have been playing better lately and are entering a stretch of their schedule where they face decent competition, so if they can continue to string together wins then they can play their way inside the bubble.
-RICHMOND AT VCU (Atlantic Ten). It’s a rivalry game between two teams that look more like NIT teams than NCAA teams, but who can still get inside the bubble if they can finish strong.
-SYRACUSE AT CLEMSON (ACC). Syracuse has won five in a row and continues to build up their resume. Another road win would polish it up even more.
-MICHIGAN AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten). Michigan has not won a true road game this season, and this is perhaps their most winnable road game. They’ve also lost four in a row and really need to pull themselves out of that. If they lose this one, then they may be reaching panic mode.
-PURDUE AT RUTGERS (Big Ten). Purdue’s level of play is all over the place. Some nights they look like a top 15 team and other nights they look like a CBI team. Rutgers needs to hold serve at home in order to remain on pace to make the top half of the bracket.
-VIRGINIA TECH AT MIAMI FL (ACC). VA Tech has taken a few steps back, and needs to win this game because it’s the kind of road game that NCAA teams are expected to win. It’s not an easy win, but then again making the NCAA Tournament is not an easy thing to do.
-GEORGIA AT MISSOURI (SEC). Georgia is outside the bubble and has really digressed since the start of conference play. They need to pick this one up on the road. They’ll still have more work to do after this, but a win tonight would at least be a start.
-PITTSBURGH AT DUKE (ACC). Duke remains in contention for the #1 line and needs to hold serve at home. Pitt is outside the bubble, but they’re still much improved from a year ago. This is probably too tall of an order to fill, but if they were to win it then they’d certainly be in the conversation for a bid.
-BUTLER AT GEORGETOWN (Big East). Butler ended a three game losing streak with a big overtime win against Marquette, but like every Big East game they have another big challenge on the road tonight. Georgetown is still within reach of the bubble, but they really need to string together some big wins to make it happen.
-AUBURN AT OLE MISS (SEC). Auburn’s best win of the season has probably been at Mississippi State. If they can beat Ole Miss tonight, it will give them just their second true road win against an NIT caliber team, and that would probably help their resume out some.