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NEWS AND NOTES
-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day between Murray State and Austin Peay – CLICK HERE
-We saw another top 5 team lose to an unranked team yesterday as Louisville fell at Georgia Tech. That hasn’t been happening quite as often now that the rankings have caught up with who’s actually good, but it’s still a familiar tale for the season. It’s more of an ego bruise than anything else for the Cardinals. They’re still in solid shape to end up as a protected seed.
-Creighton got a huge, season defining win at Seton Hall yesterday. It was close the entire way, but Creighton head the lead for most of it. I often talk about how the Bluejays always taper off toward the end of the year. That does not seem to be the case this year!
-Auburn needed overtime, but held on to beat Alabama at home. Auburn has won their last five games, and four of them have been in OT.
Marquette was down big at Villanova, but came back and actually had a chance to win in the final minute, but couldn’t quite get over the top. They ended up falling 72-71.
-Butler ended Xavier’s three game winning streak . They held off a late run by the Musketeers for a 66-61 win which should keep them in the 4/5 seed range for now.
-Houston won on the road at South Florida, but it wasn’t easy. As well as they’ve been playing, it was sort of surprising that they struggled, but they held on to win 62-58.
-VCU fell at home to a George Mason team that’s been struggling and is nowhere near the NCAA Tournament. I believe this will knock VCU pretty far outside the bubble, and anything short of winning out through the regular season, which would include beating Dayton, would mean having to win the autobid.
-Rutgers is still in search of their second road win, and that is a huge problem. They fell behind big to Ohio State yesterday, and while they came back to make it close, it wasn’t enough.
-Michigan picked up their second road win of the year by curb-stomping Northwestern 79-54. I know that doesn’t seem like much, but getting that second road win does help their resume.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-WICHITA STATE AT UCF (American). Wichita State is now squarely on the bubble and has a very small margin for error the rest of the way. Losing to a non-tournament team, even if it’s on the road, falls outside that margin for error.
-MEMPHIS AT CINCINNATI (American). This is a hugely important bubblicous game for both teams. It’s a case of both of them needing the win, and neither of them being in a good position as far as the bubble goes if they were to lose. Cincinnati just dropped a close one at UConn and can’t afford to drop another game to a bubblish or lower team at home. Memphis has been sweating out some NIT-ish caliber teams, but needs a road win like this to help get them back on the right side of the bubble.
-IOWA AT INDIANA (Big Ten). This game suddenly has a pivotal feel to it for Indiana. The fans are starting to get wrestless, and they need some wins to help them lock up a spot in the field.
-COLORADO AT OREGON (Pac 12). These are both first ballot NCAA Tournament teams and this is a resume building opportunity. It’s kind of one that Oregon needs if they want to secure a protected seed since they are at home.
-WASHINGTON AT USC (Pac 12). We have USC inside the bubble, but still on the bottom half of the bracket, so they need to hold serve in home games against non-tournament teams. Washington just hasn’t been the same since they lost their starting PG.
-ARIZONA AT CALIFORNIA (Pac 12). Arizona has picked up a couple of road wins, but they need to pick up a few more, and this is about as winnable as any remaining road game they have.
-ARIZONA STATE AT STANFORD (Pac 12). This is another very bubblicious game where both teams need the win, and neither can afford the loss. We have them both squarely on the bubble right now.
-BYU AT LMU (West Coast). BYU should land safely in the tournament so long as they hold serve the rest of the way.