As was widely reported yesterday, longtime Temple coach and overall college basketball coaching legend John Chaney passed away yesterday. Here is an interview that our own Jon Teitel did with him – CLICK HERE
NEWS AND NOTES
-The game of the night was Illinois v Iowa, and it lived up to the billing. It was close all throughout with momentum swinging back and forth, but Illinois got control late in the second half and held on for the 80-75 win. It was perhaps the biggest win of the season for Illinois up to this point. As for Iowa, a road loss to a team like Illinois certainly doesn’t hurt, but they are still lacking a big win of the caliber that this would have been, and they’re going to need to pick up one or two prior to the end of the season if they want to end up as a #1 or #2 seed.
-Winthrop also suffered their first loss of the season. After barely scraping by UNC Asheville on Thursday night, they weren’t able to get past them on Friday. Like the game on Thursday it was close all throughout, and Winthrop had a chance to win in the final seconds, but just couldn’t get over the top. Unless they can schedule some big OOC games between now and the end, I believe this pretty much ends any at-large hopes Winthrop has despite it being their only loss.
-Boise State continues to look strong as they knocked off Colorado State on the road 85-77. Boise State is now 14-2 overall with some pretty nice wins on their resume. They definitely look like a tournament caliber team.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-ALABAMA AT OKLAHOMA (SEC/Big 12 Challenge). Alabama is looking like a #2 seed and may be the best overall team in the SEC. They also seem to be getting better as the year progresses. Oklahoma’s resume was rather flimsy about a week ago, but with two straight huge wins they are quickly climbing the rankings and the seedlist. If they can get this one today then we may need to start talking about them as a protected seed.
-PROVIDENCE AT GEORGETOWN (Big East). Providence has lost a lot of close games and is right on our bubble. They can’t afford to not hold serve in this one.
-CLEMSON AT DUKE (ACC). Clemson ended a three game skid with a big win against Louisville their last time out. This is another winnable game for them against a Duke team that we have outside the bubble and who needs to string together some of wins just to get into the discussion.
-LA SALLE AT VCU (Atlantic Ten). VCU is on the outside looking in and can’t afford losses in games like this.
-TEXAS TECH AT LSU (SEC/Big 12 Challenge). I really like this Texas Tech team and while their resume still has room to improve it wouldn’t shock me at all if they ended up as a protected seed. LSU has been a bit of a disappointment this year, but a win today could really help turn things around. It would be their biggest win of the season on paper so far.
-FLORIDA AT WEST VIRGINIA (SEC/Big 12 Challenge). It’s been a rather tumultuous year for Florida, but they have been looking better lately and could really give their resume a big boost today. WVU continues to hover right around protected seed range, and will stay there if they can hold serve today.
-TCU AT MISSOURI (SEC/Big 12 Challenge). TCU is looking very NIT-ish, and Mizzou is looking very top 15-ish. It shouldn’t be too much of a struggle for the Tigers today.
-VILLANOVA AT SETON HALL (Big East). Villanova continues to stand firm on the #1 line, and Seton Hall is hovering right around the bubble. The Hall has had a lot of close losses that could have completely turned the tide of their season. They’re better than their record indicates and if they can get a big win it should make them feel a lot more safe.
-WISCONSIN AT PENN STATE (Big Ten). Penn State has proven to not be easy to beat, but they’re still the kind of team that a potential protected seed like Wisconsin should beat.
-AUBURN AT BAYLOR (SEC/Big 12 Challenge). Games like this make me wish they wouldn’t pare the teams up before the start of the season. Baylor playing Alabama or Tennessee would have made more sense. This probably won’t be much of a “challenge,” although to be fair, Auburn has been playing a little better.
-FLORIDA STATE AT GEORGIA TECH (ACC). Florida State is looking like one of the better teams in the ACC, and that they could end up repeating as the first place team. GA Tech has also been better than expected, and if they can string together some wins they could end up making the field, but it won’t be easy. Still, the Yellowjackets have proven to be a fun team to watch!
-UCF AT WICHITA STATE (American). Wichita State is on the outside looking, and although the path is narrow, I still think they have at least a chance of ending up inside the bubble if they can hold serve against…well…everyone but Houston.
-ARKANSAS AT OKLAHOMA STATE (SEC/Big 12 Challenge). Arkansas’s paper isn’t up to par yet, but if they could win this one on the road it certainly would be. I’m really big on this Oklahoma State team and think they should be in the conversation for a protected seed despite their low NET ranking. They have some fantastic wins.
-OREGON AT USC (Pac 12). Both these teams are rather safely inside the bubble (for now), but both also have a lot of room to improve and could really benefit from a win today.
-XAVIER AT BUTLER (Big East). Xavier has been shut down for a couple of weeks and many have kind of forgotten about them, but they are 10-2 and while they might be rusty this is still a winnable conference road game for them.
-VIRGINIA AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC). Both teams are in the rankings, and both are potential protected seeds, so this would be a huge statement win to the committee for whoever ends up pulling it out. Oh yeah, and this is a rather big rivalry game as well!
-KANSAS AT TENNESSEE (SEC/Big 12 Challenge). Both of these teams are having great seasons, but both have also struggled in the past week or so and could use a win in a game like this to pull them out of their tailspin. I still expect that both will end up as protected seeds, but both are in a bit of a slump right now.
-PACIFIC AT BYU (West Coast). BYU is coming off a somewhat surprising loss to Pepperdine and will be looking to bounce back tonight. They’re still in solid shape but can’t afford too many of those.
-OREGON STATE AT UCLA (Pac 12). UCLA continues to be among the best teams in the Pac 12 and is safely in the top half of the bracket. The Beavers have improved, but UCLA should still be able to take care of them at home.
-MINNESOTA AT PURDUE (Big Ten). Minney needs some road wins. They have a good overall profile, and they’ll be in great shape once they get some road wins, but as of now they don’t have any. So, a win tonight would check a huge box for them. It won’t be easy, though. Purdue has been playing much better, their resume is looking better, and they are good enough to get this win and keep that momentum going.
-GONZAGA AT PEPPERDINE (West Coast). Like nearly every conference game for the Zags, this will probably end up looking like a buy game by the time it’s over, even though it’s a road game.
-TEXAS AT KENTUCKY (SEC/Big 12 Challenge). Kentucky has been getting better, and played Alabama tough the last time out, but they need to win about 7 of their next 8 to even be in the conversation for an NCAA Tournament bid, and playing against a Texas team that is good enough to be a #1 seed won’t be easy.
-CREIGHTON AT DEPAUL (Big East). Creighton continues to look impressive and look like a potential protected seed. They shouldn’t have too much trouble picking this one up on the road tonight.
-NOTRE DAME AT PITTSBURGH (ACC). Pitt has fallen outside the bubble and needs to hold serve just to get back into it. That shouldn’t be too tough against a Notre Dame team that has struggled this year.
-BELMONT AT MURRAY STATE (Ohio Valley). With just one loss on the year, Belmont should at least be in the discussion for being inside the bubble if they are able to win out.
-UTAH AT COLORADO (Pac 12). Colorado has been up and down this season, but mostly up. They look to be safely inside the bubble and will remain that way so long as they’re able to hold serve in games like this.
-STANFORD AT ARIZONA STATE (Pac 12). Stanford picked up a really nice win against Arizona the other night, which really helps out their resume. This should be another winnable conference road game for them.
-WYOMING AT SAN DIEGO STATE (Mountain West). San Diego State is straddling the bubble and they need to hold serve in games like this and finish strong down the stretch.