NEWS AND NOTES:
-It was a night of absolutely insane finishes!!!
-Dayton and UNLV (if I counted correctly) had five lead changes in the final two minutes, and two in the final 30 seconds, where UNLV had a shot at the buzzer that would have given them the huge upset win on the road, but couldn’t get it to go down. The Flyers barely held on to win an absolute thriller 66-65. The loss may have knocked the Flyers out of the rankings next week, so it was big that they held serve.
-Clemson and South Carolina was another crazy one. Every time it looked like South Carolina was about to get control late in the game, Clemson would come back. They hit a crazy 3 at the buzzer that banked in to force overtime, and they almost did it again in the overtime, but South Carolina ultimately held on 91-88. Clemson didn’t absolutely need this one, but it would have been nice. They were coming off a loss, South Carolina likely isn’t going to end up inside the bubble, and it was a winnable road game against a big rival.
-Drake remains unbeaten after beating Kansas State in overtime 73-70. K State had a good look to win it at the end of regulation, and another that would have forced a second overtime, but Drake, who also played a great game in front of a very pro K State crowd, came out with a big win. It’s hard to believe that many of Drake’s key players weren’t playing D1 basketball a year ago. What a fantastic story!
-Florida got up big on North Carolina, then North Carolina came back and got a lead, then Florida somehow recovered and held on for an exciting 90-84 win. The Gators remain unbeaten and North Carolina falls to 6-5. UNC has played some really good teams really close, so I still think that once they get into ACC play they look to be better than pretty much everyone else other than Duke and will be just fine, but I can also understand the grumblings of how they’re only 6-5.
-Saint John’s blasted DePaul 89-61. It was a night where DePaul looked very much like DePaul, and Saint John’s looked a lot like Saint John’s.
-Saint Bonaventure is a team that almost no one is talking about, but they are now 11-1 on the season with four true road wins. I know winning at Siena is hardly praiseworthy, but they won handily and have looked good all season long.
-UC San Diego got a BIG win at Utah State 75-73 in another game that was exciting right down to the end. UCSD is now 10-2 on the season, and 3-1 in true road games. One of their losses was at San Diego State on opening night in a game that came down to the final few seconds. I’m starting to think the committee better be watching them along with UC Irvine out in the Big West. Utah State may not be a top ten team, but very rarely do they lose at home, so that was a MASSIVE win for UCSD!!
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-CREIGHTON AT GEORGETOWN (Big East). Georgtetown is coming off a nice road win against Syracuse, and if they can somehow win this one at home they’ll have more momentum built up than they’ve had at any time in recent memory. Creighton, despite injuries, was very competitive on the road at Alabama in their last game, and getting a conference road win like this one would be big for them.
-XAVIER AT UCONN (Big East). Xavier seems to be going down another spiral with injuries, whereas UConn seems to be climbing the rankings and looking like one of the better teams in the Big East (again) and a protected-seed-caliber team (again).
-MEMPHIS AT VIRGINIA. Memphis is in the rankings and has already shown they can win big games away from home. Virginia feels like they need to string together some wins just to reach the bubble and be in the conversation. They are at home in this one, and that should give them an advantage, but Memphis is road tested.
-SAN FRANCISCO AT BRADLEY. Much of the attention is now on Drake, but Bradley is a very impressive 8-2 on the year and gets a shot at a really good San Francisco team today that’s. coming off a big win against Loyola Chicago. Both these teams are good, but both have limited opportunities at signature wins, so tonight is big.
-BUTLER AT MARQUETTE (Big East). Butler has had moments where they’ve looked like a tournament team, but only moments. A win tonight would suddenly change the entire complexion of their season and profile, but it will be much easier said than done. Marquette is a legit top ten team that’s coming off a tough loss and will look to bounce back at home in their conference opener.
-OKLAHOMA VS MICHIGAN (game in Charlotte NC). I’ve been very impressed with both these teams. Oklahoma is unbeaten and Michigan, while 8-2, has managed some really big wins early in the season. This is a resume-building opportunity between two teams that seem to be cruising toward the top half of the bracket.
-VCU AT NEW MEXICO. Both these teams have good records, and both have shown they have the potential to have big years in conference play and make a run at the NCAA Tournament, but both still have work to do and both could really use this win tonight.
-WASHINGTON STATE AT WASHINGTON. I’ve been really impressed with Wazzu this year and think they deserve a lot more credit than what most have given them credit for. Washington is a respectable 7-3, and this would be a big one for the Huskies both on and off paper if they can somehow pull it off against their rivals.
BUY GAMES (and other games of note):
-Montreat (nonD1) @ Furman
-Toledo @ Houston
-The Citadel @ Vanderbilt
-Tarlton State @ Oklahoma State
-Canisius @ Loyola Chicago
-Alabama vs North Dakota (game in Grand Forks ND)
-Nicholls @ Gonzaga
-Samford @ Arizona – Arizona has got to start stringing together wins
-Cal State Northridge @ USC