NEWS AND NOTES
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-It was a pretty crazy night with two top ten teams losing to opponents who are nowhere near the bubble, and Baylor trailing for most of the game against Iowa State before finally getting control of it in the final minute of play.
-Illinois wasn’t as lucky. Just the other night we were talking about how well they were playing and discussing how we thought they could end up on the #1 line. Then they go out and pretty much get handled by a Michigan State team that almost no one thinks is in the field right now. It wasn’t a backbreaking loss by any means, and there is a good chance they still end up on the #2 line, but it was a bit of a surprise. Sparty may have opened a path for themselves to make the field, but they’ve still got a ton of work to do between now and the end.
-Oklahoma had an even more inexplicable loss. They fell 62-57 to a Kansas State team that hasn’t looked any good at all at any point this season. Like Illinois, Oklahoma was really playing well. Again, it’s much more of a surprise than a setback. The Sooners will still likely end up as a protected seed and will have multiple chances to make up for it.
-Virginia Tech was another ranked team that went down in a bit of a surprising result. Georgia Tech just walked all over the Hokies last night 69-53. Georgia Tech has looked really good at times, and they still may have a path to the NCAA Tournament, but they will really need to finish strong and play well in the conference tournament in order to get there.
-Texas picked up a big win over Kansas in what was probably the game of the night. IT was close all throughout and it actually went into overtime. Kansas had gone through a slump back in January, but they had totally pulled out of it and were playing really well heading into this one. Texas was coming off a close loss to a very good West Virginia in a game that was equally as exciting. They ended up on the right side of it last night. Both teams will likely end up as protected seeds.
-Ole Miss bounced back from their loss to Mississippi State to pick up another big win last night, and take another big step toward making the NCAA Tournament. They went on the road and knocked off Missouri (who has hit a bit of a tailspin themselves) 60-53.
-LSU, who had been playing really well and appeared to be making a case that they were a solid tournament team, did not play really well yesterday. They fell to a Georgia team that nearly everyone was expecting them to beat 91-78
-Richmond and VCU, two bubble teams in the Atlantic Ten, picked up wins yesterday as well.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-CLEMSON AT WAKE FOREST (ACC). Clemson is in really good shape right now, since they only have one true road win on the season a win today could help improve their resume even though it doesn’t seem like it would be that big of a win on paper. Doubling their total number of road wins is at least something.
-SAINT BONAVENTURE AT DAVIDSON (Atlantic Ten). Every remaining game will feel like a big game for the Bonnies because they may have a smaller margin for error when it comes to proving themselves because they played in fewer games.
-NC STATE AT VIRGINIA (ACC). Virginia has lost two straight and needs this one more as a bounce back win than they do anything else. So long as they don’t go into a complete tailspin they should end up as a protected seed.
-MARQUETTE AT NORTH CAROLINA (ACC). North Carolina is coming off a blowout win against Louisville and is in a stretch where they’re playing better now than they have all season. This is another winnable home game for them.
-SETON HALL AT BUTLER (Big East). Seton Hall continues to hover around our bubble, and around a lot of other people’s bubbles as well. They need to hold serve in games like this in order to stay on the right side of it.
-INDIANA AT RUTGERS (Big Ten). It’s getting close to panic time for Indiana. They’ve got four tough games remaining in the regular season and they probably need to win at least two of them to feel completely safe. Rutgers is in better shape, but they could still use a few wins themselves, so both teams have quite a bit to play for tonight.
-FLORIDA STATE AT MIAMI FL (ACC). Florida State seems to be playing as well as anyone in the ACC, and this game should be a layup win for them, but it is a road game and it is against a rival, so they better not completely overlook them.
-ALABAMA AT ARKANSAS (SEC). This should be the game of the night. Both teams are in a stretch where they are playing great basketball. Alabama has already established themselves as a top ten team, and while Arkansas didn’t really get rolling until the last week or two, they can show that they are capable of beating highly ranked teams tonight,w which would give their resume a huge boost.
-DEPAUL AT CREIGHTON (Big East). If Creighton can finish strong they’ll have a strong case for a protected seed. They are pretty much a lock for the NCAA Tournament no matter what happens, but they could certainly slide down the seedlist if they go into a tailspin.
-TENNESSEE AT VANDERBILT (SEC). Tennessee is slumping. They’re in no danger of missing the field, but they’ve lost two of their last three and just haven’t looked like a solid protected seed ont he court for a while now. Perhaps a road win against a rival will get their motor started again.
-XAVIER AT PROVIDENCE (Big East). Xavier is right on the bubble, so every game feels like a big game. Their record is solid, but they could still use a little more meet on their profile. Another road win would certainly help.