NEWS AND NOTES:
-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE
-I believe the score of the UConn v Xavier game was 38-7 at one point, and it just never got any closer. The final score was 99-56. Xavier had been playing better, but they didn’t play very well yesterday. Having said that, UConn looked as good as any team has looked all season yesterday. Wow!
-Memphis has now lost three in a row as they fell to UAB 97-88. I think it’s time to drop Memphis out of the top 25 and stop mentioning them as having any chance of earning a protected seed. They’re a solid NCAA Tournament team, but they are not a protected seed.
-FAU did what FAU always seems to do, and that’s play unpredictably. They were at home against a North Texas team, who had admittedly been playing really well, and needed a last second shot to beat them 66-63.
-New Mexico blew Nevada’s doors off 89-55 and continues to look like the best team in the Mountain West right now. They’re playing at a ridiculously high level, and while many of their impressive wins have come at home, they’ve blown through a few road games as well.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-DUKE AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC). This may be a tougher road test than what it appears for Duke. VA Tech is an impressive 10-1 at home and while they’re outside the bubble they’re not so far outside of it that they can’t reach it if they can put together a strong finish to the season.
-NORTHWESTERN STATE AT MCNEESE (Southland). It’s the same story with McNeese. If they can hold serve the rest of the way the committee should give them a serious look.
-HOUSTON AT TEXAS (Big 12). They are finally going to play!! And after this year, they may not play again for another thirty years. Houston is the alpha program right now, and they appear to have the better team and resume this year. The Cougars are gunning for a spot on the #1 line, whereas Texas is trying to position themselves to get in on the first ballot. The Longhorns are coming off a loss to BYU, but they had two big back-to-back wins before that and have been playing much better. This one should be a war tonight.