NEWS AND NOTES:
-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE
-Villanova didn’t get the win at UConn, but they were right in there for most of the game in the 74-66 loss and it wasn’t until the last couple of minutes that UConn got complete control of the game. After a 2-5 start, Nova has looked much better, and given that this was probably their hardest remaining game of the year, they’re playing well enough to get the wins they need to get between now and the end to land inside the bubble. Their record is just 7-6, but I’m betting that by the end of the year their resume will be just fine.
-Tennessee picked up their first road win of the season in a 63-59 battle at Ole Miss.
-Alabama picked up yet another really good road win as they held knocked off Mississippi State 78-67 in a game where they pretty much led the whole way. The Tide haven’t been perfect this season, but when you look at the quality of their wins they’re of as high a quality as anyone else in the nation right now.
-LSU improved to 12-1 after knocking off a really strong Arkansas team at home 60-57. LSU’s schedule had been a little weak, but after picking this one up they should be getting quite a bit more attention.
-Missouri is also now 12-1 after beating Kentucky rather handily 89-75. They seemed to sustain a double digit lead for the entire game, and considering they’ve now blown out Illinois and didn’t even really sweat Kentucky it’s probably time to start ranking Missouri higher than…well…not ranking them at all.
-Xavier is good this year. They picked up a very nice road win at Saint John’s 84-79 and were actually in control for pretty much the entire game. At 11-3 with their only losses being close games to Duke, Indiana and Gonzaga, Xavier has shown that they may be good enough to earn a protected seed. They will face UConn on New Years Even in a game that should be completely off the hook.
-Fordham, who appeared to be having a dream season after a 12-1 start, came back down to Earth a little bit last night. They really weren’t ever in the game against Davidson last night despite being at home, and only scored 14pts in the first half before losing 57-43.
-UNLV suffered their second lost of the year as they fell to San Jose State 75-72 in overtime. San Jose State probably won’t land inside the bubble, but at 10-4 on the year with some fairly nice wins they are much improved. This was one of the worst non UTR programs prior to Tim Miles taking over as head coach.
-Boise State lost a close and exciting one at Nevada 74-72. Both teams are good, and both could have really used this win. At 11-3 on the season Nevada is starting to make some noise and deserves some attention.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-PROVIDENCE AT BUTLER (Big East). Providence appears to be within reach of the bubble, but to get safely inside it this is the kind of road game they need to be able to win. Butler is 6-1 at home, but they’re nowhere near the bubble and right now the chances of them even making the NIT don’t seem that good.
-RICE AT WESTERN KENTUCKY (Conference USA). Both teams come in 9-3, and while the margin for error is small both appear to be good enough to possibly make a run at the bubble. But, both would have to basically really blow through the conference, and that would mean getting a win tonight.
-IOWA AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten). Iowa went on Christmas Break a little early and needs to bounce back from what was a historically bad loss against Eastern Illinois. This is a road game they should be able to pick up.
-LOUISIANA AT COASTAL CAROLINA (Sun Belt). Louisiana is an impressive 10-2, but they need to hold serve in road games like this one if they want any shot at all at landing inside the bubble.
-APPALACHIAN STATE AT MARSHALL (Sun Belt). At 11-2, Marshall hasn’t always looked perfect, but they’ve looked good enough to where they’ll stay on the radar until they give us a reason to take them off of it. They need to hold serve in games like this one, which is actually the story for nearly all of their remaining games.
-FLORIDA ATLANTIC AT NORTH TEXAS (Conference USA). This is a HUGELY important game between two teams with bloated records who both look like they could land inside the bubble, but who both also need notable wins and have limited opportunities the rest of the way. That’s what makes this one so important.
-SAN FRANCISCO AT SANTA CLARA (West Coast). I like how both teams have played so far, and think it’s possible for both of them to land inside the bubble with a strong showing in conference. This is a big opportunity and an important game for both of them tonight.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES/BUY GAMES:
-Brown @ Northwestern
-Delaware State @ Penn State
-Alabama A&M @ Ohio State
-Florida A&M @ Purdue
-Central Michigan @ Michigan
-UMBC @ Maryland
-Hampton @ Charleston (Colonial)
-UTEP @ UAB (Conference USA) – UAB is building a resume that will get them a serious look so long if they can continue to hold serve.
-South Florida @ Memphis (American) – I like how Memphis is playing and think they appear to be a solid tourney caliber team
-Sam Houston @ Tarleton (WAC) – this is a chance for Sam Houston to pick up yet another true road win and improve to 11-2 overall
-Troy @ Southern Miss (Sun Belt) – Southern Miss is having an incredible year and they have a chance to land inside the bubble if they keep playing the way they have been
-Bethune Cookman @ Illinois
-Tulane @ Cincinnati (American) – both teams have work to do just to get back into the discussion
-Valpo @ Drake (Missouri Valley) – Drake is pretty much out of strikes, but they are talented enough to blow through the MVC and get on the committee’s radar
-San Diego @ Saint Mary’s (West Coast) – SMC should be able to hold serve in this one
-Utah @ California (Pac 12) – This is some low hanging fruit for Utah. It is about as winnable as conference road games will ever be for them