NEWS AND NOTES
-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day between Boston U and Army – CLICK HERE
-It seemed as though every game last night was great.
-Rutgers played great defense against Maryland and had a lead throughout most of the first half, but missed several opportunities to widen it and get control of the game. It once again came down to the final minute, but once again Rutgers came up just short of picking up a road win against a highly ranked first ballot team. Maryland improves to 18-4 and adds another notable win to their resume.
-Auburn, for the second straight week, went on the road, overcame a second half deficit in front of a very hostile crowd, and picked up an overtime win. I know they just beat Kentucky at home, but getting the win at Arkansas on the road is probably their singular most impressive win to date.
-Penn State went on the road to Michigan State and picked up another monster ‘upset’ road win. You have to start thinking of Penn State as a protected seed now, seeing as how they’re beating ranked teams on the road, and doing it in a conference where seemingly no one else can win on the road.
-Ohio State got a big road win against Michigan in a game that was close all throughout. I don’t recall either team ever having what would be described as a “comfortable lead.” Ohio State has pulled themselves out of whatever tailspin they were in and is back on the right track. I don’t think it’s time for Michigan to panic yet, but they are far from being able to sleepwalk. This game, by the way, was MUCH better than what the last several football games have been!
-Virginia Tech started the season off strong, kept going strong, and is now going down. They were blown out by Georgia Tech last night, which will most definitely knock them outside of our bubble when we do our next staff bracket tomorrow.
-There aren’t many teams that have had a better four day stretch than Xavier. Less than a week ago, they were NIT-ish at best. But on Saturday they went on the road and won decisively at Seton Hall, which is one of the better true road wins that any team has managed all season, and last night they followed it up with another decisive win at DePaul. Xavier is now all of a sudden looking like a solid tournament team, and you wonder how they were able to jack up their quality of play like the flip of a switch.
-Rhode Island got a little bit of a scare from UMass, but held on to win
-Duke trailed Boston College for most of the game, but came back to win at the end
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-VILLANOVA AT BUTLER (Big East). Like a lot of Big East games, this is a resume building opportunity for two teams that look to be first ballot caliber teams, and who both could end up as protected seeds. Butler has lost four of their last six and is in a bit of a slump, but they’ll jump right out of it if they can win tonight.
-IOWA STATE AT WEST VIRGINIA (Big 12). West Virginia looks like a protected seed and Iowa State looks like they could make it to the NIT. Maybe. The Mountaineers just need to hold serve tonight.
-IOWA AT PURDUE (Big Ten). Iowa has a good resume, but it will improve a ton if they can pick up a road win in a game like this. Purdue is still hovering around the bubble despite just being 12-10, and at times they look fantastic, but on other nights they barely look like an NIT team. Every game has a pivotal feel for them, and tonight is no different.
-CREIGHTON AT PROVIDENCE (Big East). Creighton has really been playing well lately, but they have another tough test tonight against a Providence team that’s coming off a big win against Butler and who is really tough to beat.
-DUQUESNE AT SAINT LOUIS (Atlantic Ten). SLU is outside the bubble, but if they can finish really strong they should end up getting the attention of the committee.
-CLEMSON AT VIRGINIA (ACC). Virginia has been playing much better and has another winnable game tonight. They appear to be playing at the level they need to in order to make the NCAA Tournament.
-GEORGIA AT FLORIDA (SEC). Florida continues to hover around the bubble and needs to hold serve in games like this in order to remain on the right side of it.
-SOUTH CAROLINA AT OLE MISS (SEC). South Carolina is probably still off of most peoples’ radars, but look out for Angry Frank’s Gamecocks! They’ve won five out of six, including wins against Kentucky and at Arkansas, and their next four games are winnable. If they pick up all of those they’ll be 9-3 in conference and 16-8 overall with some notable wins on their resume. That’s bubblish, if not better.
-EAST TENNESSEE STATE AT CHATTANOOGA (SoCon). I think the committee should select ETSU if they win out through the regular season even if they don’t win the SoCon Tournament. The problem is that I’m not sure that they will. Tonight is another game that is harder to win than what it looks like, but that a tournament caliber team should win. Chattanooga has just two home losses and they should be way up for this one.
-MERCER AT FURMAN (SoCon). If Furman wins out, then they should at least get a look from the committee.
-NICHOLLS AT STEPHEN F AUSTIN (Southland). These are two of the better teams in the Southland, and both have shown that they can play against big teams with SFA winning at Duke and Nicholls knocking off Pitt and nearly beating Illinois. I say this every week, but SFA should get a look from the committee if they win out, but lose in the conference tournament.
-TCU AT OKLAHOMA STATE (Big 12). If TCU is going to make any sort of run at making the field, then they have to start stringing together wins. They have a winnable road game tonight, which would be just their second of the year.
-TEMPLE AT MEMPHIS (American). Memphis is right on the bubble and has been struggling to beat NIT teams in the last couple of weeks. They can’t afford to lose at home to non-tournament level teams.
-NORTHERN IOWA AT VALPARAISO (Mountain West). I think Northern Iowa is good enough to win out, and if they do they should be inside the bubble even if they don’t win the conference tournament.
-SETON HALL AT GEORGETOWN (Big East). Seton Hall is coming off a loss and is dealing with some injuries, but they are still having a fantastic season and still look to be in the drivers seat in the Big East. Georgetown’s tournament hopes are hanging by a thread. They need a win tonight to help keep them alive.
-NC STATE AT MIAMI FL (ACC). NC State is squarely on the bubble, and after three straight losses needs a road win like this to help keep the bubble within reach.
-WAKE FOREST AT LOUISVILLE (ACC). Louisville continues to play like one of the best teams in the country, and actually has as hot at winning the ACC. They also have a shot at potentially ending up on the #1 line if they keep winning like they have been.
-LSU AT VANDERBILT (SEC). This is a winnable road game for the Tigers, which would keep them unbeaten in SEC play and on pace to contend for a protected seed.
-WISCONSIN AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten). Wisky is inside our bubble but could use some more wins like this to help stabilize their resume. Minney is outside the bubble and needs some wins like this to get on the right side of it. Oh yeah, and this is a rivalry game.
-UNLV AT UTAH STATE (Mountain West). Utah State could still end up around the bubble and get the committee to give them a serious look, but they basically need to win out all the way until the MWC final in order for that to happen.