Hoops HD Daily Rundown – Sunday, Feb 5th

NEWS AND NOTES:

It was another busy Saturday of college hoops!

-Top ranked Purdue fell at Indiana, which was a big win for the Hoosiers, and a bit of a setback for the Boilers, but only a bit of one.  Considering how Purdue was totally dominated in the first half it was actually kind of impressive how they came back in the second half and put themselves in a position to win the game, but ended up coming up short 79-74.  Purdue will still be very high in the rankings and is still our overall #1 seed, but this would have been their most impressive win of the season on paper considering they don’t have any true road wins against anyone who’s ranked as high as Indiana.

-Tennessee and Auburn were both in the top 25!  So that means the game should have been great!!  But…it wasn’t.  Yesterday’s game was an absolute rock fight with Tennessee holding on to win 46-43.  Auburn had a 3pt shot at the end of regulation to tie it and force overtime, and the shooter was clearly fouled on the play, but there was no whistle.  My theory is that the game was such a rock fight that the referees had seen enough and didn’t want to run the risk of giving Auburn three freethrows and extending the game for five more minutes.  It would have been a HUGE road win for Auburn, and probably moved them up several seed lines had they been able to pull off the upset.

-Virginia fell on the road to their rivals Virginia Tech 74-68, which is a bit of a setback for the Hoos, but not a huge one.  It was a nice win for Virginia Tech, but their biggest problem is how much they’ve stunk on the road.  Their next true road win will be their first, and if they don’t get a few I’ll be shocked if the committee selects them even though they have some decent wins at home.

-Texas got a HUGE win at Kansas State in another great game between two Big 12 teams that are looking like solid protected seeds.  Whenever a team gets a road win against a probable protected seed, the value of their resume skyrockets.  Texas is now 8-2 in the Big 12, which is the strongest conference in the country, and they have some big time wins on their resume, and now they have a massive road win on it as well.

-Iowa State beat Kansas rather handily 68-53.  They maintained a lead for the whole game, and at no point in the second half did it ever look like they weren’t in control.

-Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s was a bit of a slug fest for the first half, and Gonzaga appeared to be in control, but in the second half SMC started making big plays to pull closer and closer, then drew even, and then forced overtime.  They controlled the overtime and got a huge win over their rivals, which now gives them a two game lead in the WCC standings.  Gonzaga did way more out of conference than SMC did and still looks to have the stronger profile despite being two whole games (and a head to head tiebreaker) behind them in the standings, but SMC has looked like the better team since conference play began.

-Oklahoma State keeps getting closer and closer to landing inside the bubble, and took another huge step forward with a 79-73 home win over TCU yesterday.  The Pokes are now 5-5 in league play and have won five of their last six.  If they win five of their next six, they won’t only be inside the bubble, but they’ll be closer to a protected seed than they will to the bubble.

-Miami FL got a big road win at Clemson 78-74, which will help strengthen their resume.  Clemson has had a good year.  They’re in the ACC, they’re near the top of the standings, and they’re in the rankings.  If you say that a team is doing all that you’d probably assume they were a protected seed.  But in the case of this year’s Clemson team, their resume is still a little flimsy and I feel they need a strong finish in order to remain inside the bubble.

-Memphis was (and still is squarely on our bubble).  Teams that are on the bubble can really hurt themselves when they lose games to teams that are nowhere near the bubble.  They hurt themselves even more if this happens at home.  Yesterday Memphis lost at home to Tulane in overtime 90-89.  That is NOT good!!

-Iowa and Illinois gave us some great theater with Ticket Gate!!  They gave us a great game too, with Iowa holding on for a big and much needed 81-79 win.

-Arkansas picked up their first road win of the season as they knocked off South Carolina 65-63.  Even though they won the game, South Carolina is so weak that people are finally starting to loudly question whether Arkansas belongs in the field at all.

-Mississippi State knocked off Missouri at home 63-52, which isn’t that big of a win considering they were at home and Mizzou isn’t exactly a road warrior, but at the very least Mississippi State is still treading water and hasn’t drowned yet.

-North Carolina and Duke, the rivalry that so many people still insist on gushing over, actually had a rather unique storyline yesterday in that both teams really needed the win to help build up their resume instead of it being a showcase rivalry game between two highly ranked teams.  UNC played well in a place that’s very tough to win, but came up just short 73-67.  North Carolina’s best win on the season is Ohio State.  People continue to project them into the field.  WHY!!????  Had they won yesterday, then yes, I’d say they belonged, especially when you consider that Duke is unbeaten at home.  But, they didn’t!  and they haven’t won a single game all year that’s on the level of what an NCAA Tournament caliber team should be able to win.

-Kentucky jumped out ahead of Florida, and while the Gators made a run late in the game Kentucky held on to win.  Both teams are playing at a solid level right now, but both still have a lot of ground to make up after a somewhat sluggish start to the season.

-One of the bigger upsets of the day was perhaps one you missed.  Cal State Northridge, who is having an absolutely atrocious year and was just 5-18, beat UC Santa Barbara, who was having a fantastic year with an 18-4 record and while their schedule wasn’t strong enough to get them big time consideration for an at-large bid, I thought the committee would at least look at them if they won out.  Well…the Gouchos lost to an AWFUL CSUN team yesterday 72-67.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-DEPAUL AT SETON HALL (Big East).  Seton Hall can reach the bubble if they finish strong and keep winning at the clip they’ve been winning at.  They’ve won six of their last seven, and if they keep that up in the Big East they’ll make the field.

-OHIO STATE AT MICHIGAN (Big Ten).  Neither team is near the field and it would take a complete transformation for either of them to make it.  I highlight this game simply to point that out.

-PENN STATE AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten).  Penn State is still just outside our bubble and needs to hold serve in their winnable games in order to stay within reach of it.

-HOUSTON AT TEMPLE (American).  This should be a winnable road game for a Houston team that’s still up on our #1 line, but Temple did win the first meeting between these two.

-NORTHWESTERN AT WISCONSIN (Big Ten).  This is perhaps the most important game of the day.  Right now Teitel has both of these teams in his First Four, and as good as he is at guessing the committee I think it’s safe to say that both of them are just barely inside the bubble, and both need wins to help strengthen their resumes.  The fact that they’re playing each other tonight gives this game an extremely pivotal feel.