NEWS AND NOTES:
-For the latest UNDER THE RADAR Video Podcast, where we run through all of the non-major conferences – CLICK HERE
-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day, which is a BIG one between Louisiana and Southern Miss and may not just be the Under the Radar Game of the Day, but the Game of the Day PERIOD – CLICK HERE
-For Jon Teitel’s interview with Charles McClelland, who is the SWAC Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner of this year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Selection Committee – CLICK HERE
-Tennessee struggled throughout the entire game at Vanderbilt, but appeared to have it won in the final seconds…until they didn’t. Up 65-63 and with the ball, the Vols passed up what would have been a wide open dunk, which would have given them a 4pt lead, in order to force Vandy to foul. This is simply NOT thinking through how a 4pt lead is a two possession lead. I think by now you all know how this one ended. A couple fouls later, Tennessee misses the freethrow and Vandy hits a game winning 3 to pull off the huge 66-65 upset.
-I had been saying for over a week I like how Florida has been playing, and I was half expecting them to be very competitive at Alabama last night. They were not. WOW!! Bama blew them off the floor 97-69, and that score probably understates just how dominant Bama was.
-West Virginia desperately needs wins, and given the strength of their remaining schedule they are going to be extremely hard to come by, but they got a BIG one last night knocking off Iowa State 76-71. Iowa State now in a bit of a slump having lost three of their last four, but are in absolutely no danger at all. The one game they did win in that stretch was a blowout win over Kansas.
-Creighton went on the road and got a huge 75-62 win against a Seton Hall team that had been playing really well. This is actually probably a better win than what it looks like on paper because Seton Hall is in the middle of a stretch where they’ve been looking really good, and for Creighton to go on the road and win in the fashion that they did is really impressive.
-San Diego State held on for a nice 63-61 road win at Utah State. They had a commanding lead at the half, but almost gave it up. The game was exceptionally heated, and in the first half exceptionally poorly played and overly officiated. Several technicals and even ejections were issued, and after what seemed to be a 15 minute pause for replay the game finally resumed, but the flow was completely gone. Nevertheless, it is a nice road win for the Aztecs and they remain safely inside the bubble.
-Wisconsin and Penn State both really needed the win last night when the two faced each other, and Wisconsin got it. A 79-74 road win will hopefully (for their sake) help the Badgers start to turn things around.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-IOWA AT PURDUE (Big Ten). Purdue is still the top overall #1 seed in most peoples’ fields, including our own, and they will remain there if they can hold serve tonight. Iowa is relatively safe despite having some holes in their resume, but they could REALLY boost the value of their profile if they could somehow pull off the upset tonight. That is much easier said than done, though.
-RICE AT FLORIDA ATLANTIC (Conference USA). FAU is safely inside the bubble and will likely go into the field on the first ballot if they can win out through the regular season, which they are good enough to do.
-NORTHWESTERN AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten). Northwestern continues to hover around the bubble, but right now I think they are inside of it. They need this win on the road in order to stay inside it. It’s not easy winning on the road, but this is still the kind of game that a tournament caliber team should be expected to win.
-UCLA AT OREGON STATE (Pac 12). UCLA is will within the range of a protected seed and should be able to hold serve tonight.
-SAN FRANCISCO AT GONZAGA (West Coast). Gonzaga is hovering around the 4/5 seed range in our brackets and should stay there so long as they hold serve the rest of the way
-SAINT MARY’S AT LMU (West Coast). Saint Mary’s is now in sole possession of first place in the WCC and could even end up with a protected seed if they can finish running the table.
-ARIZONA STATE AT STANFORD (Pac 12). Arizona State is outside the bubble and needs to string together some wins down the stretch just to reach the field.
-ARIZONA AT CALIFORNIA (Pac 12). Even though this is a road game it should still be a cakewalk for Arizona, who still has an outside shot at a #1 seed if they can win out.
-USC AT OREGON (Pac 12). This could be a tough road game for a USC team that has been playing better and who has also played their way inside our bubble, but who would also be much more safer if they’re able to pick up a win like this one.