NEWS AND NOTES
-Someone pointed out yesterday that they thought that Gonzaga had a C- game at Saint Mary’s, but that they still won rather easily. That’s the best way to describe it. Even when they don’t play anywhere close to their best game, they can still easily beat decent teams on the road.
-Baylor really got a fight from Texas Tech, which was not a surprise, but ended up picking up the huge road win. Baylor was already a #1 caliber seed, but whenever you pick up road wins against protected seeds it is worth pointing out.
-Minnesota continues to look like the Harlem Globetrotters at home and the Washington Generals on the road. They handed Michigan their first loss of the season in a 75-57 blowout.
-Creighton, who looked like a solid top ten team, went on the road and fell to Butler in overtime. It is a bit of a surprising result and setback for the Bluejays, but only a bit of one. They’re still a solid team that just had a blah day.
-What Virginia did to Clemson is probably illegal. I believe it was 23-1 at one point, and it never really got any closer. Clemson had just 3 points halfway through the first half. It was a huge statement win against a ranked team for the Hoos.
-Illinois dropped another game as they fell at home to Ohio State. I think Illinois is good, but they haven’t done much at all this season to indicate that they are a protected seed caliber team or that they belong in the top 15. I think a lot of people are overvaluing them.
-Louisville had a bit of an inexplicable loss on the road against Miami FL team that had really be reeling. The Canes pretty much led from tip to buzzer and were in control the whole way. It is a bit of a head scratching loss for a Louisville team that had been looking pretty good.
-Pitt continues to distance themselves from the really bad season opening loss and look more and more like a tournament team. They blew Syracuse off the court yesterday. Syracuse isn’t particularly good, but the are at least decent, and Pitt just boat-raced them.
-San Diego State fell for the second game in a row to Utah State, which is a big win for the Aggies as they improve to 11-3 on the year and put two really good wins on their resume, but also a setback for a San Diego State team that’s suddenly not looking anything like a protected seed.
-Kentucky fell on the road to Auburn and is now 4-8 on the season. I think you can forget about all the things I said about how they appeared to be improving.
-Alabama blew out Arkansas and continues to look as good as anyone in the SEC. If they aren’t in the rankings when they come out tomorrow then we’ll need to get all new voters.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-IOWA AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten). Northwestern is in a tailspin, and being able to pull out of it today against a top five Iowa team is a super tall order. Iowa is still within reach of the #1 line, whereas Northwestern is trying to stay inside the bubble.
-PENN STATE AT PURDUE (Big Ten). Purdue has won their last two and is looking more and more like a solid tournament team. They need to hold serve at home today.
-UCF AT HOUSTON (American). UCF has looked good at times, but not enough of the time to call them a solid tournament team. Houston should be able to hold serve and cruise toward a protected seed.
-WESTERN KENTUCKY AT MARSHALL (Conference USA). WKU has slumped a little bit since conference play began, but they still look like the most talented team in the league and are still good enough to win out and play their way inside the bubble. They won at Marshall the other night, and if they can repeat that tonight they should be running down hill most of the rest of the way.
-MEMPHIS AT TULSA (American). Tulsa has put together some big wins, but has also suffered some setbacks. This is the kind of game they need to hold serve in if they want to be inside the bubble at the end.
-SANTA CLARA AT SAN DIEGO (West Coast). Santa Clara’s margin for error is extremely small (unless they beat Gonzaga, of course) but I still think they have a path (albeit narrow) to landing inside the bubble.
-NORTHERN IOWA AT LOYOLA CHICAGO (Missouri Valley). If Loyola Chicago can finish strong and collect some wins against the likes of Drake and Missouri State, then they may be in the discussion for a bid come March.
-VIRGINIA TECH AT WAKE FOREST (ACC). I kinda keep waiting for Virginia Tech to begin to taper off, but it hasn’t happened yet, which makes me now think that it’s not going ot happen. They’re coming off of a win against Duke and have another winnable road game tonight.