NEWS AND NOTES:
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-Kansas picked up a quality road win at West Virginia. On the surface this may not have looked like much, but to win a true road game against what appears to be a solid tournament team without really even having to sweat is a HUGE statement. Kansas is atop our seedlist, which is where they belong.
-Washington State is deceivingly dangerous. They won’t make the NCAA Tournament (at least I don’t think), but there are some really good teams that have really struggled with them over the past several weeks. Utah needed overtime to beat them, UNLV barely escaped, Baylor barely escaped, UCLA won by just a single point, USC LOST to them, and Arizona State had to sweat them out at home. Yesterday Arizona, the #5 team in the nation who we all thought had a chance to get a #1 seed, did more than just struggle. They lost rather handily. At home! The final score was 84-71 and while Arizona did make some runs, at no point was Wazzu not in control of this game. We will be discussing this phenomenon that is this Wazzu team tomorrow on the Hoops HD Report! Hopefully our good friend and Hoops HD regular Rocco Miller from bracketeer.org is able join us
-Prior to the season starting, my pick to win it all was Kentucky. I know this is almost impossible to believe, but I may not have been correct in making that pick. It’s not that losing at Alabama is bad. Alabama is a legit top ten team that beat Houston on the road. But losing at Alabama in a game that resembled a buy game is objectively bad. And having no wins of note is objectively bad. We put Kentucky into our bracket on the Thursday night BRACKET RUNDOWN podcast. I don’t know why (I was unable to join when it started), and if I’m able to join this week I will strongly argue against selecting them at all. At no point his season has Kentucky looked like a top 40 team.
-Gonzaga once again had to sweat it out on the road, but once again held on for an 81-76 win at Santa Clara. Santa Clara is a decent team, and while a top ten team should go on the road and win there, it’s more difficult to do than what most casual observers may realize. Santa Clara is now 9-3 at home, and has a good chance of winning all the rest of their home games.
-Auburn needed a big win, and got one over a really good Arkansas team 72-59. It was a home game for the Tigers, but it still gives their resume a nice boost, which they kind of needed.
-Duke almost lost at Boston College, but held on to win 65-64 after BC missed what would have been a game winning layup at the buzzer. Duke has not been impressive this year. They held on to win this one, but it hardly leaves you with that “WOW! THIS TEAM IS GOOD!” feeling.
-Iowa State picked up a huge 69-67 road win at TCU in a battle of top 25 teams. That’s back to back road wins for the Cyclones, so their resume is looking much better than it was a week ago. This was also their first win against a team that’s currently ranked, and since it came on the road that’s even bigger.
-Xavier just keeps winning and just keeps moving up the rankings and up our seedlist. They picked up another nice road win against Villanova yesterday 88-80 and are looking more and more like a team that could end up as a protected seed.
-Kansas State finished off a huge week with yet another road win against a ranked team. They knocked off Baylor in an overtime thriller 97-95. K State was criticized for a somewhat weak out of conference schedule. When you win two road games against ranked teams in a single week, you’ve had a hell of a week!! Kansas State is now 14-1 on the year with some really high caliber wins on their profile, and perhaps it’s time to start taking seriously about them being in the hunt for a protected seed.
-UNLV picked up a really impressive road win at New Mexico 84-77. New Mexico has now lost two in a row after a 14-0 start, and it may be time to start questioning whether nor not the 14-0 record was a bit of mirage. This conference has a lot of teams that are floating around the bubble, and so far New Mexico really hasn’t shown out when they’ve faced any of them.
-I’ve been big on Kent State all season long, and yesterday they didn’t almost shoot themselves in the foot, but they nearly blew their entire face off. They hung on to beat Miami OH 69-66 in a game that had they lost, their chances of landing inside the bubble may have been totally gone.
-Clemson and Pittsburgh was an awesome game between two teams that are better than expected and probably deserve more attention than what they were getting. Believe it or not both were 4-0 in ACC play and the winner of this game was to be atop the standings. Clemson picked up the win on the road in a 75-74 thriller in a game that was a bigger deal than what most were giving it credit for. Clemson is now 13-3 on the season with a couple of decent wins, and one really good win, on their resume.
-Many were big on Utah State because of their bloated record, and they definitely deserved some attention, and while we were certainly giving them attention we weren’t ready to give them a ton of praise just yet. And, after yesterday, we still aren’t. Boise State (another team that deserves more attention than what they’re getting) absolutely blew Utah State out of the gym 82-59 and is now 12-4 overall with a chance of making a run at the bubble if they can keep playing like that throughout conference play.
-Every time I make up my mind that Utah is a solid team, they lose to a non-tournament team. Yesterday they lost at home to Oregon 70-60, and once again we are questioning whether or not they belong in. I guess they have a thing for bubbles or something.
-UAB lost a close game at Florida Atlantic earlier in the week, which was a missed opportunity at a much needed big win. Yesterday they lost at Florida International, which is a very damaging setback. As talented as UAB is, and as good as they are, their resume just doesn’t show out like it needs to. Unless they run the table, it’s looking more and more than one of the games they’ll need tow in is that last Conference USA Tournament game.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-NORTHWESTERN AT INDIANA (Big Ten). Northwestern has a fairly decent resume and is well within reach of the bubble. This would be their biggest win of the year so far if they were able to pull it off, and would almost assuredly move them inside the bubble. Indiana is having a good year and is looking to bounce back from a loss at Iowa earlier in the week.
-IOWA AT RUTGERS (Big Ten). Rutgers is playing out of their minds all of a sudden and has another winnable game at home today. Iowa has gone over a cliff, but they did win their last game at home against Indiana so perhaps they’re starting to snap out of the funk they’re in, but this is a very tall order today.
-OHIO STATE AT MARYLAND (Big Ten). Both teams (so far) have looked like tournament teams, and any win against a tournament team looks good on the resume, so this is an opportunity for both of them. Ohio State nearly knocked off Purdue in their last game, and is looking for what would just be their second true road win of the season.
-HOUSTON AT CINCINNATI (American). Houston is on pace to earn a #1 seed. If they win out, they’re almost assured of it, and they are certainly good enough to win out. They may be challenged a little bit today, but it’s not likely.
-WASHINGTON AT ARIZONA STATE (Pac 12). Arizona State is well within reach of making the NCAA Tournament, but despite the 12-3 record it still seems like they have a lot of work to do when you look at their resume, so this is a game where they need to hold serve.
-PURDUE AT PENN STATE (Big Ten). Penn State is having a good year, but we still have them a little bit outside our bubble. Having said that, I think it goes without saying that a win today on the road at Purdue would certainly move them INSIDE of our bubble. In fact, very safely inside. Purdue, despite the loss to Rutgers, is still in a position to get a #1 seed.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-SMU @UCF (American) – I like this UCF team and still think there is at least a decent change that they can play their way inside the bubble, but they need to hold serve in games like this one to have any chance of doing that
-Iona @ Quinnipiac (MAAC) – Iona has a very slim chance of landing inside the bubble, but they basically need to win out in order to do it, and this might be one of their tougher remaining games of the season
-UMass Lowell @ Albany (America East) – A win for Lowell gets them to 15-2 on the year