NEWS AND NOTES:
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-On Tuesday we saw the top two teams lose to unranked opponents. Last night we saw two more top five opponents lose to unranked opponents.
-Kansas had played with their food in several games. They had to sweat out Indiana, sweat out TCU, and even against a team like Eastern Illinois they didn’t bury them. Well, last night the food totally fell into their laps as they blew an 8pt halftime lead and were anemic on offense in the second half. UCF picked up a really big 65-60 win and suddenly they are worth paying attention to. UCF’s defense was amazing in the second half and disrupted everything Kansas wanted to do.
-5th ranked Tennessee had a sloppy first half at Mississippi State and then just couldn’t catch all the way back up in the second half. They fell 77-72. Mississippi State is a team we know is good, but they had fallen out of the rankings. I believe they will be back in them next week after this win.
-UConn was the one top 5 team that did win their road game, but it was close and Xavier actually had a lead well into the second half. The Huskies held on 80-75.
-North Carolina got another nice road win as they knocked off NC State 67-54. UNC’s resume just keeps looking better and better. This win may not jump out at you on the surface, but NC State is a potential tournament team and they were unbeaten at home prior to this.
-TCU, who nearly won at Kansas over the weekend, held off 9th ranked Oklahoma 80-71. Two things to take away from this is that while Oklahoma is good, they’re not top-ten-good, and while TCU did nothing out of conference, they’re capable of playing well against, and beating, good teams.
-The biggest win of the night may belong to Butler. They went into Marquette and got a massive 69-62 road win, which catapults them onto the committee’s radar. This ended a three game losing streak for Butler, and we had been saying all along that while Butler’s resume wasn’t a tournament caliber resume we thought they were good enough to pick up those wins before the end of the year. Well, last night they proved it. They host Seton Hall this Saturday, which is another team that is red hot right now.
-Wisconsin picked up another nice win on the road as they knocked off a pretty good Ohio State team 71-60. Wisconsin has a history of being really good, but for some reason always being a little overlooked. Well, this year they are really good, but still aren’t being talked about all that much. Other than Purdue they may be the best team in the Big Ten. After all, they’ve actually won all their conference road games.
-Clemson, who was looking like a protected seed just a few weeks ago, has now lost three in a row. They were actually beaten rather handily by Virginia Tech last night 87-72, and you have to wonder when they are going to come out of that tailspin.
-Northwestern had to battle, but they did get a nice 76-72 road win at Penn State, which adds another road win to an already impressive resume. They’re ahead of Purdue in the standings and have beaten them head to head.
-Providence is dealing with injuries, but they just keep battling. They fell behind against Saint John’s, but despite being shorthanded, and despite being on the road, they came back and nearly won the game. They fell 75-73, and Saint John’s continues to string together notable wins, but NEVER count out Providence!!!
-Miami FL, who is a team that I was praising about a week ago and arguing that they were underrated, is no longer a team that I believe to be underrated or under-appreciated. They lost at home to Louisville last night 80-71. Anyways, moving on…
-Saint Joseph’s was a team I was big on, and that I even had in my personal bracket that I did earlier this week. Last night they lost on the road to a Saint Louis team that is about a hundred miles from the NIT bubble. I am no longer big on Saint Joe’s. Anyways, moving on…
-Indiana State needed last night’s win against Drake because it was one of their few remaining chances to pump up their tournament resume. With about ten minutes to go Drake took complete control and ended up with an 89-78 win. I still think Indiana State is potentially dangerous, and Drake could be a tough out in the Round of 64 as well, but minus one of them winning out they’ll probably both need the auto-bid to get there.
-Georgia is now 12-3 on the year after their 76-66 win over an Arkansas team that we all actually thought would be good this year, but to date we have all been completely wrong about. The Bulldogs, on the other hand, are a team to start paying attention to.
-Ole Miss beat a pretty good Florida team rather handily last night 103-85. The Rebels were at home, but still. It was one of their toughest games of the year given how weak their OOC schedule was, and they won it going away.
-Colorado stepped on a landmine last night as they lost at California 82-78. Simply put, this is both a surprising loss and a bad loss that will damage their tournament resume.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-FLORIDA ATLANTIC AT TULANE (American). FAU’s season has been totally scattershot. Their resume tops out with a win at Arizona, and it bottoms out with a home loss to Bryant, and they’ve done everything else in between. This is a road game they should win. They’ve shown they can win a game like this. But, it’s also not easy as Tulane is improving as a program and has been strong at home this year.
-UNC GREENSBORO AT SAMFORD (SoCon). These are probably the two best teams in the SoCon, and the winner will sprint out to an early lead. Landing on the bubble for either team is a long shot, but if one of them can blow through the league, then….maybe?
-MICHIGAN STATE AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten). Michigan State is dealing with some issues after a decisive loss to Northwestern in their last game. Still, I think they have good pieces and I keep waiting for them to snap out of it. Illinois is dealing with some issues of their own and are without a key player. They’re ranked in the top ten because of what they’ve done up to this point, but are they the same team?
-UCLA AT UTAH (Pac 12). UCLA has been an absolute mess and it could get even messier tonight. Winning at Utah is no easy task and the Bruins’ tailspin may continue.
-GONZAGA AT SANTA CLARA (West Coast). A lot of people are down on the Zags right now, and understandably so, but I think the committee will still select them so long as they blow through the WCC, which they should be able to do.
-ARIZONA STATE AT WASHINGTON (Pac 12). This is a very big week for Washington. I still think they can get within reach of the bubble before the season is over, but they have to start stringing together wins.
-Abilene Christian @ Grand Canyon (WAC) – The Lopes should roll