NEWS AND NOTES:
-Let me begin by saying the best games of the night last night were all the conference tournament games. Even though they were early round games and involved teams that aren’t expected to do much of anything, they were all playing to keep their seasons alive, and the action was incredible!! CLICK HERE for our CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK VIDEO NOTEBOOK where we recap all of last night’s action and preview all of tonight’s.
-Purdue got a big 77-71 win at Illinois, which demonstrates why they are a #1 seed and why they are a team that can win it all. As good as their season has been, yesterday was actually their first true road win against another protected seed, so their resume is somehow now even better.
-Alabama was blown off the floor by a Florida team who was probably exercising a lot of frustration after losing such a close game on the road to the Tide earlier this season, and who was also coming off another close road loss at South Carolina. The Gators didn’t have all their pistons firing right out of the gate, but they are all firing now and this is looking like a team that can make it to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
-We’ve been saying this for a while. UNLV does not have an NCAA Tournament caliber profile and likely won’t be selected for an at-large because of how long it took them to get up to speed, but on the court they are definitely an NCAA Tournament caliber team and have been for the last several weeks. Last night, they showed it again as they knocked off San Diego State 62-58. The Runnin’ Rebels are now 10-1 in their last 11 games, and have wins at New Mexico, vs Colorado State, and vs San Diego State in that stretch. This will be a very dangerous team in the MWC Tournament that might end up winning the auto-bid!
-Syracuse had been playing better and had a big opportunity at Clemson last night to pull themselves really close to the bubble, but they came up short 90-75. Clemson seemed refocused after a rather inexplicable loss at Notre Dame over the weekend.
-Oklahoma needed overtime, but they got the 74-71 win (albeit barely) against Cincinnati and perhaps kept themselves inside the bubble with that win. I still think the Sooners have some more work to do, though.
-Texas Tech has not been that strong on the road this year, but they looked really good last night at Oklahoma State. Even though the Pokes are nowhere near the field, I still think it strengthen’s Texas Tech’s profile because it gives them a 4h true road win.
-This is my assessment of Wake Forest. All year long they’ve been a decent team, but not quite an NCAA Tournament team. Like a lot of decent teams that aren’t NCAA Tournament teams (UCF, Cincinnati, Butler, etc) they’ve had one or two really big moment. And… that pretty much ends my assessment. The home win against Duke was great, but it wasn’t so great that it puts them all the way inside the bubble. They need to do more than just that, and they haven’t. In fact they’re 0-3 since then. They’ve lost 5 of their last 7, and the last three of those were to teams that are nowhere near the field. WAKE IS NOT A TOURNAMENT TEAM!!! THEY NEVER WERE!!!
-Nevada IS a tournament team with a lot of good wins, and they got another one last night on the road against a Boise State team who had been looking as good as anyone in the conference. I’m starting to really believe in this Wolfpack team.
-North Carolina, Auburn, Kansas, South Florida, Dayton, Providence, and Saint John’s all held serve against weaker opponents.
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SURVIVAL BOARD WATCH (Click Here to see the whole board)
SOUTHLAND:
–Incarnate Word: out with a loss or a Houston Christian win or a New Orleans win
–Houston Christian: out with a loss or if New Orleans and Texas A&M-Commerce both win
–New Orleans: out with a loss and a win by either Houston Christian or Incarnate Word
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-VILLANOVA AT SETON HALL (Big East). It seems like this is a constant storyline in the Big East, but this is yet another bubblicious game where the outcome could determine whether each of these teams makes or misses the NCAA Tournament. Nova has been playing better lately, and Seton Hall has some good wins on their resume and should be able to make it if they can pick up another big win. The stakes are VERY high in this one.
-HOUSTON AT UCF (Big 12). Houston has all but locked up a #1 seed, and while this isn’t the easiest game to win on the road, it’s one that they are certainly capable of winning.
-TENNESSEE AT SOUTH CAROLINA (SEC). Tennessee is within reach of a #1 seed and they have some really big road wins already. This would certainly be another one if they’re able to pull it off. South Carolina has had an amazing season and been one of the bigger surprises in all of college hoops. They can actually pull even with Tennessee atop the conference standings if they can get the win and have a strong case that they deserve a protected seed. The crowd should be absolutely nuts for this one and it should be a great one!
-TCU AT WEST VIRGINIA (Big 12). This is a winnable late season conference road win opportunity for TCU. who has a strong resume overall but who has also lost three of three of their last four and could use a good bounce-back game.
-NORTHWESTERN AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten). Both teams look to be safely inside the bubble, but both teams’ resumes have room to improve and tonight is an opportunity for that to happen. For Northwestern it would be a really nice road win, and for Michigan State it would end a three game losing streak and help pull themselves out of the tailspin they appear to be in.
-SAINT JOSEPH’S AT RICHMOND (Atlantic 10). Richmond is the 1st place team in the A10 and is squarely on our bubble. They need to hold serve and avoid an early loss in the A10 Tournament in order to end up in the field.
-XAVIER AT BUTLER (Big East). Butler may still have a path to getting an at-large bid, but barely. The path is certainly steep and narrow and they’d pretty much need to win out to do it.
-FLORIDA ATLANTIC AT NORTH TEXAS (American). This will likely be a bit of a road test for FAU, but it’s one they should win. They are inside our bubble right now and will remain there so long as they hold serve.
-MCNEESE AT NEW ORLEANS (Southland). McNeese should at least be on the bubble if they win out through the regular season.
-CONNECTICUT AT MARQUETTE (Big East). Both teams are solid protected seeds, and UConn is likely a #1 seed whether they are able to win this game or not. If UConn were to pull it off it would virtually lock up a #1 seed. As good as a lot of their wins have been this would probably be the best of the season up to this point.
-BYU AT IOWA STATE (Big 12). BYU hasn’t been the best road team this year, but they are coming off a recent road win at Kansas and still have a really good profile that they could make even better if they’re somehow able to pull this off. Iowa State is looking like they’ll end up as a protected seed and land somewhere between the 2 and 3 lines.
-VANDERBILT AT KENTUCKY (SEC). Kentucky has turned into a fast-paced offensive scoring machine that is a lot of fun to watch. They shouldn’t have too much trouble holding serve against Vanderbilt tonight.
-MISSISSIPPI STATE AT TEXAS A&M (SEC). Mississippi State has not been strong on the road this year, but outside of that their resume looks pretty good. TAMU is outside the bubble, but they have had a lot of big wins and if Mississippi State can win this then they would deserve a lot of credit for it and I think it would really strengthen their resume.
-FRESNO STATE AT NEW MEXICO (Mountain West). New Mexico has been sliding backward and can’t afford to slip up at home tonight and lose another game to a team that’s nowhere near the bubble.