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NEWS AND NOTES
-Southern Illinois remains unbeaten after picking up a road win at Butler. They actually controlled most of the game, but Butler went on a furious late run to get themselves back in it and actually had a chance to win it, but couldn’t quite get over the hump. the Salukis have our attention now!
-Penny Hardaway received a five year extension from Memphis yesterday, and celebrated that with a home loss to Frank Haith and Tulsa.
-Boise State handed New Mexico their first loss of the year, and didn’t mess around while doing It. They blew out the Lobos 77-53. The more I see Boise State, the more I think they are a solid tournament team.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-MERCER AT KENNESAW STATE. It’s a winnable road game for Mercer, which would be their third of the year and they’d improve to 7-1 overall.
-OHIO U AT AKRON (MAC). Ohio has looked really good this year, but didn’t pick up any wins that would define them as an NCAA Tournament team yet. That gives them a small margin of error for the MAC, so they’ll need to pretty much come close to running the table if they want to be inside the bubble.
-CHATTANOOGA AT TENNESSEE STATE. Chattanooga is 8-0 and will go after their 5th true road win today.
-TULANE AT EAST CAROLINA (American). Both teams suffered their first loss of the season their last time out and are looking to bounce back. I don’t think either one of them will be inside the bubble come March, but both programs are improving and, at least for now, are worth paying attention to.
-COLORADO STATE AT SANTA CLARA. Colorado State finally has a few games under their belts, but the rust has still been there and they’re looking for their first notable win. Santa Clara is unbeaten, but also untested, and this is probably their biggest game of the season up to this point.
-CINCINNATI AT UCF (American). UCF is coming off a big win against Florida State. they weren’t a team we were particularly excited about coming into the season, but it’s kind of hard to not sit up and take notice after that. Cincinnati was run off the floor by Georgia in their last game and is looking to wash that taste out of their mouths.
-ABILENE CHRISTIAN AT ARKANSAS. This would normally be a buy game, but with ACU being one of the better UTR teams out there and their only loss coming in a close game at Texas Tech, and with Arkansas being unbeaten but untested, this is actually one of the more intriguing games of the day.
-NEBRASKA AT WISCONSIN. Wisky might be one of the best teams in the Big Ten this year, and Nebraska is perhaps the worst.
-BRADLEY AT MISSOURI. Another game that would normally be a buy game, but with Bradley out to an impressive 6-2 start with one loss being by just 1 point to Xavier, and with Missouri suddenly ranked in the top 15, it’s a game with quite a bit of intrigue.
-TEXAS TECH AT OKLAHOMA (Big 12). Texas Tech looked really good in their last game against Kansas, but as of now their resume is lacking any real notable wins. That’s what makes this game tonight so important. It’s a big game for Oklahoma as well because while they only have one loss, a win against a ranked team would really give their resume a boost.
-NORTH CAROLINA AT NC STATE (ACC). This is a rivalry game that both teams kinda need to win. NC State is 4-1, but is lacking statement wins. UNC has wins against Stanford and Kentucky that sound good, but right now aren’t actually looking that good, so to get this one on the road would help them as well.
-WICHITA STATE AT SOUTH FLORIDA. South Florida is off to a 5-2 start and beat Cincinnati in their first conference game. With another win tonight they could have the early makings of being a surprise team in the American.
-VANDERBILT AT DAVIDSON. Both teams are on the outside looking in, and if I had to guess I’d say both will remain on the outside all the way up until March, but both have also shown some promise and really need this win tonight if they want to build some hope for the season.
-LOUISVILLE AT PITTSBURGH (ACC). Louisville was blown out by Wisconsin over the weekend and is looking to bounce back from that. Pitt has won five straight since that awful loss in their season opener and has actually been looking really good. A win tonight would make the Panthers look even better.
-LA SALLE AT MARYLAND. Not a buy game, but still a game that Maryland should be expected to win if they want to demonstrate that they’re an NCAA Tournament team. The better way of putting this is that losing this would demonstrate that they are NOT a tournament team.
-TEMPLE AT HOUSTON (American). Temple has just been able to play one game this year, whereas Houston is 5-0 with some really nice wins and ranked 6th in the nation.
-WEST VIRGINIA AT KANSAS. Just another top ten match-up out of the Big 12. We are going to be seeing a lot of those this year. Both teams have only one loss, and it’s to the same team (Gonzaga). Both are contenders for #1 seeds, and winning a game like this is how you get a seed like that.
-PURDUE AT IOWA (Big Ten). Iowa is coming off their first loss of the season (to Gonzaga), but they are still ranked really high and are still one of the better teams in the Big Ten. Purdue has a couple of losses, but has also looked really good in their last few games with wins over Ohio State and Notre Dame. A win tonight would really be a huge boost for the Boilers.
-SAINT MARY’S AT SAN DIEGO STATE. San Diego State fell out of the rankings after their loss to BYU, but I still think they’re one of the 25 best teams in the country and will have no trouble getting into the top half of the bracket come March. Saint Mary’s has been a bit of a surprise team this year with an 8-1 record and some decent wins. If they can pick up the win tonight then they will have really made a statement.
-COLORADO VS GRAND CANYON (Las Vegas, NV). Colorado’s only loss is to Tennessee and they’ve looked really good all season long. Grand Canyon has lost their last two games by a combined total of 4 points to two pretty good teams, so a win tonight would help take some of the sting out of those losses.
BUY GAMES (or games that might as well be)
-Alcorn State @ Liberty
-William & Mary @ Virginia
-Hofstra @ Richmond
-James Madison @ VCU
-UT Maritn @ Ole Miss
-UNC Asheville @ Marshall
-North Dakota @ Drake – Drake looking to stay unbeaten
-Montana @ Arizona
-Tennessee Tech @ Western Kentucky
-Northeastern @ Georgia
-East Tennessee State @ Alabama
-Northwestern State @ Gonzaga
-North Dakota State @ TCU