NEWS AND NOTES:
-So down goes #1! At home! Texas Tech, who I had recently said needed some more wins of note on their resume, now has a really nice win of note on their resume! They actually trailed Baylor for most of the game, but it was always close, and they battled defensively in the final few minutes to get the lead and hold the lead. They beat the top ranked team on the road. When it comes to the caliber of a win, it doesn’t get any higher than that!!
-Miami FL won at Duke over the weekend, and at the time that was the biggest singular win of the year. Not only was that topped by Texas Tech’s win at Baylor, Miami followed that up with a very disappointing road loss to rival Florida State 65-64.
-Auburn also picked up a really nice true road win as they knocked off Alabama in front of a hostile crowd. Auburn is beginning to make a case that they belong on the #1 line.
-USC suffered their first loss as they fell at Stanford 75-69. It was a really big win for the Cardinal, and while USC didn’t have the monster wins that teams like Baylor had, it was still a bit of a surprise.
-Iowa State nearly upset Kansas, in a game that saw multiple lead changes in the final minute. Iowa State had the last possession and had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but the shot just didn’t go in. Still it, was an AMAZING effort by the Cyclones. They’ll get some big road wins in conference play if they can continue to play like that.
-Texas got a nice win at home over Oklahoma 66-52, which should give their resume a bit of a nudge even though it was a home win.
-Iona had to sweat it out at Fairfield, but held on for an 80-76 win, which should keep them inside the bubble (for now).
-Saint Bonaventure needed overtime to get past LaSalle. It was their first game in a while, but it once again has us asking the question “are the Bonnies really any good?”
-Dayton won the Arch Baron Cup over Saint Louis 68-63!! After all the hysteria had died down, it was a missed opportunity on what would have been a huge road win for the Billikins.
-Ohio U improved to 13-2 on the year after holding off Bowling Green 85-78. If Ohio U can hold it to just one loss the rest of the way for the regular season, I think they’ll be inside the bubble.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-VILLANOVA AT XAVIER (Big East). Both teams are ranked in the top 20, and both have a chance at a really big win tonight. Villanova has seemed to have gotten better in recent weeks, but Xavier is really tough to beat at home, so it should be a fun one.
-DUKE AT WAKE FOREST (ACC). Duke is looking to bounce back after their home loss to Miami, but they have a tough test tonight. Wake is a fringe bubble team who will be really jacked up for this one, so it’s a game that Duke can certainly win, but it’s hardly a cakewalk.
-MINNESOTA AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten). Michigan State is looking more and more like they could end up as a #1 seed if they keep stringing together wins. Minnesota is tough, but I don’t know if they’re tough enough to win at Michigan State.
-LSU AT FLORIDA (SEC). We really like how LSU has been playing, but also feel they could really boost up their resume if they pick up some notable road wins. They have a chance to do that tonight.
-MEMPHIS AT UCF (American). Both teams have some good things on their resumes, both have a lot of potential, but both also have a lot of work to do and both should be feeling a sense of urgency tonight.
-CLEMSON AT NOTRE DAME (ACC). Both teams would need to string together a lot of wins just to get themselves into the conversation, but it isn’t outside the realm of possibility.
-UTAH STATE AT COLORADO STATE (Mountain West). Colorado State had their doors blown off by San Diego State their last time out. They return home to face a decent Utah State game, in what should be a nice chance at a bounce back game for them.
-SOUTH FLORIDA AT SMU (American). I’m not quite done with SMU yet, but they need to bounce back from their loss to Cincinnati and keep winning.
-SAINT JOHN’S AT UCONN (Big East). Saint John’s is trying to solidify themselves as a tournament team, and a road win like this would certainly help. UConn is tryin to solidify themselves as a protected seed caliber team, and holding serve in home games like this would certainly help.
-NC STATE AT LOUISVILLE (ACC). Louisville has so much work to do that I almost didn’t even mention this one, but they do have a conference record of 4-1, and while they may not be capable of navigating a path to the NCAA Tournament, they do at least have one.
-VIRGINIA TECH AT VIRGINIA (ACC). VA Tech is still looking for their first ACC win, which is not a good sign considering how down the ACC is. Virginia is playing better, but they still have a long way to go.
-TCU AT KANSAS STATE (Big 12). This is a winnable road game for TCU, and since that is a very rare thing in this conference it is hugely important that they take care of business.
-BOISE STATE AT NEVADA (Mountain West). Boise State is on the fringe of our bubble and needs to hold serve in road games like this.