Instead of calling this “News, Notes, and Highlighted Games” I’ve decided to rebrand this as the “Hoops HD Daily Rundown.” When you’re a puppet, you have that kind of administrative authority!!
NEWS AND NOTES:
-For John Stalica’s Under the Radar Game of the Day – CLICK HERE
-There simply aren’t very many nights that aren’t crazy. Even when you’re expecting a normal night, you almost never get it.
-Kansas held a lead at Texas Tech for most of the game, but the Red Raiders kept chipping away and chipping away, and appeared to have a chance to win it with the shot clock off, but a big defensive play by Kansas gave them a breakaway dunk to seal up the 75-72 road win, which looks really nice on the resume of a team that’s fighting for a #1 seed.
-Kansas State’s defense was AWFUL last night at Texas! But the offense was out of their minds. If you’d have told me Texas was going to score 103 points AT HOME against K State, I would have wondered just how much they blew them out by, but K State held a lead for pretty much the entire game, diced up the Texas defense (which is really good), and seemingly scored on every possession in their 116-103 road win. This will look fantastic on K State’s resume and probably vault them into the rankings.
-Pitt was down double digits to Virginia about midway through the second half, and then Virginia’s offense went through a stretch where it looked a lot like the offense of a team that was playing against Virginia. Pitt pulled even, then went ahead, and then it was close the rest of the way with Pitt making some big plays in the final minute to pick up the 68-65 win. It’s a huge win for the Panthers despite it being a home game, and it follows up another big win against North Carolina (also a home game). One thing we can say for certain is that Pitt is VERY tough to beat at home!
-New Mexico suffered their first loss of the season in a 71-67 game to a Fresno State team that is just 6-8 on the year. It was a road game, but it’s the kind of road game that a legit top 25 team should be able to win. I like New Mexico’s team and think they can finish inside the bubble, but I also wonder how much of their 14-0 record was due to their strength of schedule being in the 280s rather than them being a legit top 25 team. With teams like San Diego State, Nevada, and UNLV in their league they will be tested multiple times between now and the end.
-Marquette picked up a decent road win at Saint John’s 96-85 and improves to 4-1 in conference play and appears to be moving further and further inside the bubble.
-Kentucky had to sweat at home against LSU, but held on for the 74-71 win. It’s not a win that screams “protected seed!!” but it is arguably (and perhaps not even arguably) Kentucky’s best win of the season so far.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-AUBURN AT GEORGIA (SEC). This is a game that a protected seed should be able to win on the road, but it’s still not an easy game to win. Georgia is 10-3 and looking for some notable wins of their own, so Auburn will definitely be tested.
-DUKE AT NC STATE (ACC). Like the game previously mentioned, this is a road game that a protected seed should be able to win, but it will be a tough test against an NC State team that should be fired up for this one and who needs some notable wins of their own.
-PENN STATE AT MICHIGAN (Big Ten). Michigan has been very schizophrenic this year. One week they look like they don’t even belong in the NIT, and then they’ll go out and absolutely blitz a pretty good Maryland team. Penn State is having a good year and this would be a very good conference road win for them to get on their resume, so there is something at stake for both teams.
-UCONN AT PROVIDENCE (Big East). I really like how Providence has been playing, but if you look at their resume it’s a little light when it comes to big time wins. Tonight is a chance for them to get a big time win. Even though it’s a home game, it would still look really good. UConn is coming off a tough loss to Xavier and will be tested in a big way again tonight. They are still a solid protected seeded caliber team, and they could still even end up as a #1 seed, but to get there they need to win these types of games.
-MISSOURI AT ARKANSAS (SEC). No one expected much out of Missouri, then they racked up a big record but people questioned their strength of schedule, and then they started beating some quality opponents and now people are wondering if they can do it on the road. They keep making themselves look better and better, but this will be a HUGE test tonight against a very good Arkansas team. Both teams are in the rankings, and this win would look really good on both teams’ resumes.
-TCU AT BAYLOR (Big 12). This is a showcase game between two top 20 teams, both of whom may be better than what they’ve shown us so far this season. As good as Baylor is, they did lose their conference opener and some may even say they’ve underperformed this year. A win tonight would certainly be big for either team.
-CLEMSON AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC). Both teams are 11-3, both appear to be within reach of the bubble, but neither team seems to be making that big of a splash on the national radar, and both could really use this game tonight.
-ILLINOIS AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten). I think this Northwestern team has a lot of potential, but when they have a bad game, they certainly go all out!! they were absolutely clobbered by Ohio State a few nights ago. They’re at home tonight against a rival and this would be a great way to bounce back, but it would also be a really nice road win for Illinois. In short, it’s a rivalry game that could help out both teams’ resumes, so it should be fun.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Charleston @ NC A&T (Colonial) – Charleston should land inside the bubble so long as they hold serve the rest of the way in games like this
-Villanova @ Georgetown (Big East) – This is a winnable road game for Nova that they kind of need to not lose
-Miami FL @ Georgia Tech (ACC) – Miami appears to be good enough to earn a protected seed and should be able to get this one on the road
-UCF @ East Carolina (American) – I still think UCF is a Tournament caliber team, but their margin for error the rest of the way is incredibly small
-Texas A&M @ Florida (SEC) – both teams need to start stringing together wins to get back into the picture
-Drake @ Southern Illinois (Missouri Valley) – Drake can be good, and they’ll need to be for the rest of the year. Anything short of winning out may not be enough to get them inside the bubble