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NEWS, NOTES, AND HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-We normally don’t discuss it here outside of Joby’s rankings, but I do like college football. There are a lot of things I dislike about it like how the College Football “Playoff” is an invitational that systematically excludes over half of the membership, and I don’t think teams should play more than four games without a bye week to help keep players healthy and teams closer to full strength, and I’m not particularly a fan of Alabama’s team. But…they did win another championship, and we kind of are witnessing a historically good program that we haven’t seen probably since the days of Nebraska in the 1990s. So, a Hoops HD congrats and a tip of the cap to them.
Now, back to hoops!!
-UConn held on to win against a DePaul team that gave them all kinds of fits, but that also fell apart in the latter part of the game.
-WISCONSIN AT MICHIGAN (Big Ten). These are two Big Ten heavyweights that are ranked in the top ten and in strong contention for protected seeds. Michigan comes into the game unbeaten, but this may be their biggest test of the year so far despite the fact that they’re at home.
-TENNESSEE AT VANDERBILT (SEC). The Vols are ranked in the top ten, are cruising, and shouldn’t have too much trouble with their in-state foes tonight.
-DUKE AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC). Interesting match-up. VA Tech has a really good profile, but people aren’t entirely sold on them yet. Duke has a pitiful profile, but they’re still getting ranked in the top 25 and people still seem to like them. Something’s gotta give!!
-OLE MISS AT FLORIDA (SEC). You get the sense that both these teams still need to do some heavy lifting in order to be in the discussion come March.
-TCU AT OKLAHOMA (Big 12). TCU is off to a good enough start to where you don’t want to overlook them, but Oklahoma is off to a slightly better start and is probably being under-appreciated right now.
-KANSAS AT OK.LAHOMA STATE (Big 12). Kansas is fighting for a spot on the #1 line, and although this isn’t an easy road game to win, it’s one you need to be able to win if you want a #1 seed. Oklahoma State looks like a solid tournament caliber team, but again they’ll need to get a waiver first.
-SYRACUSE AT NORTH CAROLINA (ACC). I get the feeling that both teams need to have a sense of urgency about this game. Neither team is in trouble, but both of them still have work to do and could use a win tonight.
-PROVIDENCE AT MARQUETTE (Big East). Providence has looked good on the court this season, but a series of crazy heartbreaking losses has kept their profile from looking as good as it could be. Marquette is the nation’s most schizophrenic team. You don’t know if they’re going to beat a top ten team, which they’ve done twice, or lose to a team that most likely won’t be anywhere near the NCAA Tournament. They need some stability and a win tonight could help with that.
-ALABAMA AT KENTUCKY (SEC). Alabama has had a hell of a year and probably belongs in the top 25. Kentucky got off to an anemic start, but played their best game of the season by far against Florida their last time out, and if they win tonight they’ll have the momentum going their way.
-UC RIVERSIDE AT USC. This is a buy game, but UCR has an really good story for this season on how much improved they are, and USC is an almost assured tournament team that also probably belongs in the top 25.