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NEWS AND NOTES
-Wisconsin needed a couple of overtimes, but they were able to hold off Indiana at home, which should keep them in the top ten and solidly in the discussion for a #1 seed. For the Hoosiers it was heartbreaking, but if they play like that the rest of the way they’ll get the wins they need to land inside the bubble and go dancing this March.
-Northwestern looked fantastic in the first half against Illinois!! It was a very impressive showing after getting blown out so badly their last time out!! Then the second half started, and what was a blowout lead for the Wildcats ended up being a blowout loss as Illinois outscored them 53-13 in the second half. You don’t often see a game that starts out as a blowout, and then turns into an inverse blowout.
-Colorado picked up a huge win against Oregon that is both an important win for their resume and a statement win on the court. The Buffs had looked good this season, but didn’t have too many wins of this calbier.
-SMU suffered a pretty big setback as they fell to Cincinnati at home. Cincinnati has been hot and cold this season, but mostly cold, so this one could hurt SMU in the end.
-UCLA outlasted Arizona State to add another decent win to a decent profile. It’s not a great profile, but it is decent and is probably being a little undervalued.
-Gonzaga jumped out to a 25-4 lead over BYU. I changed the channel. I don’t think anything unexpected happened after that.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-OHIO U AT TOLEDO (MAC). Ohio looked to be one of the best teams in the MAC right out of the gate, but Toledo has looked like one of the best teams in the MAC in recent weeks and is putting together quite a season.
-PURDUE AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten). Michigan State has looked rather anemic at times this season, but they are coming off a decisive win against Rutgers, which was probably their most impressive performance of the year, and may be starting to look like a solid protected seed.
-GEORGIA STATE AT TROY (Sun Belt). I think Georgia State has a path to landing inside the bubble, but they need to totally dominate the SBC in order to do it.
-AIR FORCE AT BOISE STATE (Mountain West). Boise State looks like a solid tournament caliber team who should end up inside the bubble so long as they don’t fail to hold serve in games like this.
-LOUISIANA TECH AT WESTERN KENTUCKY (Conference USA). These are two of the better CUSA teams. If WKU can pick up the sweep they may have a clear shot at winning out or coming close to it.