NEWS AND NOTES
-It was a busy Saturday! Let’s start with one of the most unbelievable games that you’ll ever see. Colorado State, who we thought was good but also knew was untested, fell behind on the road 28-4 to a San Diego State who we knew was good and who had been tested. If you changed the channel at this point, that’s understandable. But, Colorado State kept chipping away, and chipping away, and had pulled even in the second half, and then ended up getting a 70-67 win in a game that came down to the final play. This is a massive win for Colorado State and makes a huge statement that they belong inside the bubble. It’s also kind of a kick in the teeth to San Diego State, but they should be fine so long as they hold serve the rest of the year.
-Texas shocked us all yesterday. We probably weren’t expecting them to win at Kansas, but also believed it was possible. What we didn’t think was possible was for them to blow Kansas off their own floor, but that’s basically what they did. Texas played a great first half and had a decent lead at the half. They played an unreal second half and blew Kansas off the floor. What a HUGE statement from the Longhorns!
-Alabama picked up a huge scalp yesterday as they knocked off 7th ranked Tennessee on the road. This is the kind of win that makes the difference between being on the bubble and safely inside the bubble. One of the biggest wins for the Tide (on the hardwood) in a long time.
-West Virginia was another top ten team that fell yesterday (albeit not at home like Kansas and Tennessee) as Oklahoma picked up a huge statement win. This is clearly the standout win on the Sooners’ resume at the moment.
-Iowa almost became the 4th top 10 team to lose yesterday as they seesawed back and forth with Rutgers in a game that came down to the final possession before they got the 77-75 win. It is actually a really solid road win for the Hawkeyes given how high Rutgers is in the rankings, and how the Knights will still likely contend for a protected seed.
-Oklahoma State got a huge win at Texas Tech. If the Pokes can get their waiver, they will be inside the bubble and in the field.
-Florida picked up a big home win against LSU in an 83-79 battle, which gets them to 2-0 in SEC play after being off for close to three weeks.
-Furman knocked off Mercer for the second time in two days, and now appears to be the class of the SoCon. If they can run the table there may be some room for them inside the bubble, but not getting a really big OOC win is going to hurt them.
-Saint Bonaventure picked up a huge statement win at Richmond yesterday. The game also means a ton on paper. The Bonnies haven’t had the chance to play very many games, and you’re hoping they can still find a way to get some decent OOC games on the schedule, but as of now they’re 3-1 on the year and have a road win against a Richmond team that appeared to be among the best (if not THE best) in the Atlantic Ten.
-UCF fell at South Florida. They have some big wins, but also have some head scratching losses to offset those. At just 3-3 they are really going to have to hit the gas between now and the end of the season.
-UCLA picked up another big win as they knocked off Colorado at home and improved to 7-2 on the year. The Bruins appear to be in good shape early.
-Arizona needed two overtimes to hand Washington State their first loss of the season. Wazzu hadn’t beaten any good teams, and had quite frankly struggled against some really weak teams, so we weren’t paying too much attention to their undefeated record, but given how well they played yesterday we may need to start giving them a little more love.
-Charlotte punched a huge hole into Western Kentucky’s hopes of ending up inside the bubble as they picked up the 75-71 overtime win. Charlotte hasn’t had that great of a season overall, but they do have home wins against Davidson and WKU, so if good teams overlook them they can beat them.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-OHIO STATE AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten). It looks as though it’s as tough to win at Minnesota as it Is anywhere in the country, and Ohio State could use some more wins away from home to build up the quality of their resume. Having said that, both teams are in the rankings, but teams are in good shape overall, and both have the chance to add another good win to their profiles.
-DRAKE AT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (Missouri Valley). Really good game tonight between two of the better teams in the MVC that are out to great starts. Southern Illinois is coming off their first loss of the season and looking to bounce back, whereas Drake is still unbeaten. It’s a good test for both of these two.
-WAKE FOREST AT GEORGIA TECH (ACC). Not much was expected of Wake, and they have had trouble getting games in, but they are 3-0. Georgia Tech comes in with a decent resume at 5-3 overall with wins over Kentucky and North Carolina and are looking to keep some of that momentum going.
-HOUSTON AT SMU (American). Houston is trying to bounce back from their first loss of the season, and they’e got one of their toughest remaining games of the season tonight against unbeaten SMU on the road. SMU hasn’t gotten that much national attention, but that’ll change if they can win this one tonight.
-NORTHWESTERN AT MICHIGAN (Big Ten). Michigan is unbeaten, but this is probably their biggest test of the year up to this point. Northwestern is trying to bounce back from a loss to Iowa and keep themselves in the top 25.
-WISCONSIN AT PENN STATE (Big Ten). Wisky is a top ten team, an apparent conference frontrunner, and a likely protected seed. Penn State is kind of hanging on and trying to build up the type of resume that will get them inside the bubble. Beating a team like Wisconsin would be a huge help in that regard.