News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Sunday, Feb 13

NEWS AND NOTES:

-At some point yesterday I thought we were going to tab the day as ‘Setback Saturday.’  A lot of teams that needed good things to happen did not have good things happen.

-Houston, who had looked like a Final Four team a week ago, followed up their upset loss to SMU (which was a little surprising but also understandable) with a 69-59 home loss to Memphis yesterday (which made no sense at all).  The Cougars are in no danger of missing the field, and will probably still end up as a protected seed, but it was a heads-scratching setback.

-Wisconsin, who I thought was building the kind of resume that could even get them in a discussion for a #1 seed had they been able to finish strong, did not look strong at all yesterday.  They lost at home to Rutgers 73-65.  Rutgers is a team with one of the more interesting resumes I’ve ever seen.  The good is outstanding (including, but not limited to the win at Wisky yesterday), but the bad is atrocious.  Still, they are going to get a serious look from the committee if they can finish strong.

-Marquette, who was showing all the signs of being a solid protected seed, went on the road to Butler and lost.  I’m still at a loss as to how that happened.

-West Virginia appeared to have things turned around and appeared to have a winnable road game at Oklahoma State to keep the momentum shift going.  They were blown off the floor 81-58.  The Mountaineer’s NCAA Tournament hopes are on life support.

-Iowa State was just 3-8 in Big 12 play, but their schedule had been extremely front-loaded, and what was left of it was far more manageable.  Yesterday they had Kansas State at home.  That’s a winnable game, and a chance for them to start stringing together some Big 12 wins.  They lost 75-69.  They are also on life support.

-Oregon appeared to be playing well and climbing the seedlist.  They lost at home to Cal yesterday 78-64, and at no point were they really ever in the game.

-New Mexico State was a team that I thought could sneak onto the bubble.  They went to Utah Valley and lost 72-68.

-Washington State, who we thought might at least get onto the board because of their high NET, and with a strong finish had an outside shot at making the field, lost at home to Arizona State 58-55.

We could have also tabbed it ‘Close-Call Saturday.’

-Kansas trailed to an Oklahoma team that is barely in the bubble for much of the game, but held on to win 71-69.  This win would have been a gold strike for Oklahoma had they been able to pull it off, but instead they will continue to hover around the bubble for now.

-Providence was at home against DePaul and needed overtime to squeak by the Blue Demons 76-73.  I think they are trying to set some sort of record for most wins every by 5pts or less.

-Villanova trialed Seton Hall at home for much of the game, but held on for a 73-67 win.

-LSU, who had been in a tailspin, had to sweat out Mississippi State at home yesterday.  Mississippi State hasn’t won on the road all year, and the Tigers barely escaped 69-65.

-BYU barely avoided a disastrous loss (again) as they held on to beat Pepperdine 91-85.

There was some normalcy yesterday as well…

-Baylor has bounced back and pretty much dominated Texas yesterday in their 80-63 win.

-USC, who had been severely lacking in notable wins, picked one up yesterday as they knocked off rival UCLA 67-64.  They pretty much had a lead for the entire way, but almost gave it away in the final seconds when a turnover gave UCLA a chance to hit what would have been a game-tying shot at the buzzer.

-Murray State, who just cracked the rankings, trailed at Morehead for about 38 minutes and had a rough night offensively, but managed to hold on and win 57-53.

-Alabama and Arkansas was a battle with Alabama getting the win at home 68-67.  It was still an impressive showing for an Arkansas team that is much better now than they were at the start of conference play.  They got a big home win against Auburn and then went into Tuscaloosa and took Alabama to the wire.

-Miami FL picked up a really nice road win against Wake Forest 76-72.  We have Wake hovering around our bubble, and a win yesterday would have really helped.  We had Miami FL a little bit further inside the bubble, but only a little.  This win is a big deal for them.

-San Francisco, who’s resume was looking a little flimsy when it comes to notable wins, got a huge one at Santa Clara yesterday 80-66.  Not only does this really help them out on paper, the Dons looked really good on the court as well.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-UCONN AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East).  UConn is looking to bounce back after a loss at Xavier, and has what should be a winnable road game at Saint John’s today.  I still think UConn has a shot at a protected seed if they can finish strong.

-MARYLAND AT PURDUE (Big Ten).  Purdue was blasted into the sun in their last game against Michigan.  This is a good bounce back game for them against a team they should win against rather easily at home.

-MONMOUTH AT IONA (Metro Atlantic).  Iona will be on the board and in serious contention for a bid if they win out, but even that may not be enough.  Still, they have to win out to give themselves that chance.

-NORTHWESTERN AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten).  Illinois is very tough to beat at home and they should be able to win this one without having to sweat too much.

-UAB AT OLD DOMINION (Conference USA).  UAB has a shot at landing on the bubble if they can win out.  Anything short of that and they’ll need the auto-bid, and even if they do win out that still may not be enough.

-NEBRASKA AT IOWA (Big Ten).  Iowa appears to be inside the bubble and should be able to hold serve in this one without too much trouble.

-COLORADO STATE A BOISE STATE (Mountain West).  This is a huge game between a Boise State team that looks good enough to easily go in on the first ballot and end up in the top half of the bracket, and a Colorado State that’s inside the bubble, but could be much safer if they can win a game like this.

-NORTHERN IOWA AT LOYOLA CHICAGO (Missouri Valley).  Loyola Chicago is running out of strikes.  They still have a path to land inside the bubble and make the field without winning the conference tournament, but they’ll probably need to win out through the regular season to ensure that happens.