NEWS AND NOTES:
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-Ohio State needed two overtimes, and a really boneheaded foul by Minnesota at the end of the first overtime, to hold on and escape with an 89-88 road win. Minnesota was up 2 and without the ball, and fouled Ohio State on purpose in the backcourt with less than 5 seconds to go. Ohio State then hit both freetrows to tie it and force a second overtime. I guess they thought they were up 3?
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-SAINT JOHN’S AT XAVIER (Big East). The Johnnies are hovering around the bubble right now. This should be a winnable road game for them, but Xavier is a little bit better than their resume currently indicates. They’re only 1-3 in Big East play, but were fairly competitive against UConn and Marquette in that stretch, so the Johnnies better not just overlook them.
-TENNESSEE AT FLORIDA (SEC). This is big road game for Tennessee as they face a Florida team that’s ranked in the top ten, but is also coming off their first loss of the season and looking to bounce back. Both teams are likely protected seeds, and as good as Tennessee’s resume right now this would probably still be their most impressive win to date.
-PITTSBURGH AT DUKE (ACC). Duke absolutely blasted SMU in their last game, and while Pitt is good and a likely tournament team, facing Duke on the road is probably too tall of an order.
-KENTUCKY AT GEORGIA (SEC). Kentucky is coming off a big win against Florida and they have a ton of momentum built up, but something they haven’t done yet is win a true road game. This is just their second road game of the year. Their only other one was a loss at Clemson. Having said that, Kentucky is battle tested and is certainly capable of picking up this win. Georgia is having a pretty good year themselves. They’re 12-2 overall and this would be a big win for their resume, so both teams have something to gain from this.’
-ARIZONA AT WEST VIRGINIA (Big 12). Arizona is a modest 8-5 and while they’re 2-0 in the conference and just picked up a nice win against Cincinnati, they still have a lot of work to do. West Virginia has a couple of really big wins and has cracked the top 25. They can keep that momentum going with a win today.
-CLEMSON AT LOUISVILLE (ACC). Louisville has had to battle a ton of injuries, but they somehow keep winning games. They’ve now won five of their last six and are coming off a blowout road win at Virginia. Clemson will have their work cut out for them in this one, and it would be one of their better wins of the season if they can pull it off.
-UTAH AT IOWA STATE (Big 12). Iowa State continues to win impressively and they should be able to hold serve at home in this one.
-GEORGETOWN AT MARQUETTE (Big East). Georgetown is much improved and is off to a 3-0 start in Big East play. They’re probably way overmatched in this one considering that Marquette is ranked in the top ten, but if they could somehow get a win in a game like this you’d have to start thinking of them as a possible tournament team.
-CINCINNATI AT BAYLOR (Big 12). Both teams should have a big sense of urgency coming into this one. Cincinnati has lost their last two and the rest of their schedule is getting harder instead of easier. Baylor is a modest 8-4, but needs to string together some more wins in conference in order to secure themselves with a solid bid.
-NEBRASKA AT IOWA (Big Ten). Nebraska is having a great year at 12-2 overall and is coming off a really nice win against UCLA. A road win against Iowa would be another good addition to their resume. Iowa could really use this win themselves. They were just blown out by Wisconsin and don’t really have any notable wins yet.
-AUBURN AT TEXAS (SEC). Auburn is one of the best teams in the country, and while it’s not easy to win at Texas, it’s still a game that I would expect Auburn to win. Texas is coming off a blowout loss to rivals Texas A&M and their resume seems a little flimsy right now. A win today would certainly stabilize it, but that’s far easier said than done.
-MISSISSIPPI STATE AT VANDERBILT (SEC). Vandy is a very impressive 13-1 and while they haven’t beaten a whole lot of teams that are high in the rankings, they do have a nice share of decent wins. This would be a big one considering Mississippi State is in the rankings and considering that seemingly every win the SEC will be a big win.
-TEXAS TECH AT BYU (Big 12). Texas Tech is starting to play well and this would be a really nice road win on their resume. It won’t be easy, though. BYU is one of the toughest places in the country to play.
-SMU AT NORTH CAROLINA (ACC). Both teams are kind of falling behind the pack and both could really use this win today. I do think North Carolina will start to string together wins now that conference play has started, but they kinda need to start doing that tonight. SMU could use a little meat on their resume as well.
-LSU AT MISSOURI (SEC). Both teams appear to be solid, but you get the sense that this is a really big game because of just how many tough games each of them have remaining after this.
-MICHIGAN AT UCLA (Big Ten). I really like how Michigan has been playing lately, and while this is a very tough road test against a UCLA team that’s in the rankings and who has proven they can win big games, it’s still one the Wolverines can win.
-UTAH STATE AT SAN JOSE STATE (Mountain West). Utah State has cracked the rankings and has another winnable conference road game tonight.
-NEW MEXICO AT WYOMING (Mountain West). New Mexico has some pretty good wins and can improve to 5-0 in MWC play if they can hold serve and win this one.
-UNLV AT BOISE STATE (Mountain West). It just feels like Boise State is going to end up on the bubble, and that means they need to hold serve in games like this. Any home loss to a team that’s nowhere near the NCAA Tournament will be damaging.
-LMU AT SAINT MARY’S (West Coast). Saint Mary’s continues to string together wins and will easily make the NCAA Tournament if they can keep it up.