NEWS AND NOTES
-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Stony Brook and Vermont – CLICK HERE
-The NCAA Selection Committee released their current protected seeds yesterday. We will look at that closely on tomorrow’s Hoops HD Report, but to of my initial takeaways are that there isn’t too much of a recency bias, and that the top of the resume is more important than the bottom of it (particularly with Houston).
-Villanova was bulldozed by Creighton yesterday. They hit a string of late threes to “cut it” to 86-70 and make the game look slightly closer than what it was, but Creighton couldn’t miss and their defense shut down Nova.
-Virginia suffocated another opponent as they held off a North Carolina team that had been playing better, but that still could have used the big win.
-Arkansas needed overtime, but they got a huge win at Missouri 86-81. I had been critical of Arkansas, particularly for not having any big wins. Well, that has now changed! This was almost a season defining win for the Razorbacks.
-Oklahoma needed a couple of overtimes, but got another huge win as they knocked off West Virginia 91-90. The Sooners didn’t start the season off at 100mph, but they are certainly going 100mph now and seem to be continuing to pick up speed as we head toward the end of the season
-I’ve been picking on Iowa this year, but they BLASTED Michigan State yesterday. The Spartans had been struggling, but they also still have a lot of talent and really needed the win yesterday and Iowa just totally dump-trucked them 88-58.
-Tennessee, who got a protected seed from the committee yesterday, didn’t play like a protected seed at LSU, and really hasn’t looked like one for a while. LSU has been hovering around our bubble and they got a big win yesterday 78-65.
-Loyola Chicago blasted Drake yesterday in a showcase game for the Missouri Valley that turned out to be a clunker. I’m much more impressed with Loyola Chicago than I am disappointed in Drake. This Ramblers team is for real!
-UConn has also been hovering around the bubble, and they got a big road win at Xavier yesterday, who had been on a long pause due to COVID protocol. Xavier is still in good shape, and they should improve as they get their routine back, but UConn certainly needed the win more.
-Oregon has been struggling for most of the year, but they got a big (and much needed) road win against Arizona yesterday 63-61. That should help shore things up on their resume a little bit.
-Belmont is an Under the Radar team that continues to compete for the committee’s attention. They beat Morehead State rather handily yesterday to improve to 22-1 on the season.
-Keep an eye on Ole Miss. They are playing really well right now, and picked up another road win yesterday as they held off South Carolina 81-74.
-UCLA got the win at Washington…but BARELY!! The Bruins had been in the rankings, but over the past week or so haven’t even looked like a top 50 team.
-Colorado continues to shoot themselves in the foot by dropping games to weak teams that they should win. Their resume took another hit yesterday as they fell at California 71-62. It was not a knockout punch, but it was certainly yet another setback for the Buffs.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-MICHIGAN AT WISCONSIN (Big Ten). Michigan is back after having to pause. They’re still on a path to ending up as a #1 seed and have a tough test on the road against a really good Wisconsin team who is looking to bolster up their resume as well.
-LOYOLA CHICAGO AT DRAKE (Missouri Valley). Loyola Chicago won in a landslide yesterday and will likely be safely inside the bubble if they’re able to win today. Well, safely inside so long as they’re able to hold serve the rest of the way. Drake probably needs this one a little more. They could really use a big win on their resume.
-MARQUETTE AT SETON HALL (Big Ten). Seton Hall has a solid resume, but they aren’t in a position to start skating yet. They need to keep holding serve against teams that are outside the bubble, especially at home.
-NEBRASKA AT PENN STATE (Big Ten). Some are saying that in order for Penn State to make the field they at least need to get to .500, and they may not be wrong. If that’s the case they obviously need to pick at the low hanging fruit when they have the chance and get this win today.
-PITTSBURGH AT GEORGIA TECH (ACC). Both have a chance to land inside the bubble, but both teams’ paths are getting steeper and steeper.
-MINNESOTA AT MARYLAND (Big Ten). It is very important that Minnesota picks up a couple of road wins to help round out their resume, and it’s very important that Maryland picks up wins of any kind to get above .500 and n0t be 5 games below .500 in conference play.