NEWS AND NOTES:
-Tennessee could not get their motor started against Florida last night, and were just 12-of-56 from the floor for the game. They suffered their first loss of the season and did not mess around doing it as the Gators won 73-43. Obviously this is a big win for Florida after their close loss at Kentucky over the weekend.
-Auburn will likely be the new #1 team as they held on to win at Texas 87-82. They led by as much as 21 in the second half, but the Longhorns came back and got as close as 3 in the final minute, but couldn’t complete the comeback. It’s another road win for Auburn, and another good win on what is an amazing resume.
-Kentucky couldn’t get it done at Georgia as the Dawgs won 82-69. Kentucky has a really strong resume, but they still don’t have a true road win on the season. They’ve lost to both Georgia and Clemson on the road this year.
-Georgetown played a fantastic game at Marquette, led for much of it, and were in it until the final minutes before Marquette held on 74-66. This was perhaps Georgetown’s toughest remaining game, and for them to play that well should be encouraging as they face the rest of the Big East schedule. If they can play like that the rest of the way they’ll string together the wins they need to make the NCAA Tournament.
-Arizona won big at West Virginia 75-56. This was a tough road game to win, and they won it pretty handily, so Arizona’s early season struggles may be coming to an end.
-Mississippi State picked up a nice 76-64 win at Vanderbilt, which was the first home loss of the season for Vandy, and just the second overall.
-Michigan jumped out to a commanding lead at UCLA, but the Bruins came back. Once that happened, Michigan jumped out again to an even more commanding lead and won 94-75, which is a very nice and impressive road win for the Wolverines.
-Saint John’s picked up a nice 82-72 road win at Xavier, and when you look at the Johnnies and see that they’re 13-3 on the year with the losses being to Baylor in OT at the last second, to Georgia by just 3, and to Creighton by just 1, you realize this team is very good and appears to be getting better.
-Louisville, despite dealing with more injuries than a MASH unit, keeps winning games. They held off a pretty good Clemson team last night 74-64 and continue to stay inside the bubble. Clemson, on the other hand, has just one road win this season and it came at Miami FL, so a win last night would have helped.
-Baylor clobbered Cincinnati 68-48. It’s very tough to win at Baylor, but the vast majority of Cincinnati’s remaining games are tough. They’ve now lost three straight and are certainly trending in the wrong direction. At this point I don’t think they look like an NCAA Tournament team.
-Texas Tech picked up a really nice 72-67 win at BYU. BYU is on the outside looking in right now, but they are still very tough to beat at home, so Texas Tech should get a fair amount of credit for this win.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-UCONN AT VILLANOVA (Big East). Villanova has won seven of their last eight, and after we had written them off back in December they are now starting to show signs of life. They can show a lot more life tonight if they’re able to pull off the win against UConn. If that happens I think we need to start thinking of Nova as a possible tournament team.
-ALABAMA AT SOUTH CAROLINA (SEC). Alabama is very good, and while winning at South Carolina isn’t easy to do, Alabama has shown they can win games that aren’t easy to win, and this is one I think they’ll end up getting.
-OLE MISS AT ARKANSAS (SEC). Arkansas is coming off a blowout loss to Tennessee, and despite still looking pretty good overall they will want to wash that bad taste out of their mouths. They’ll be challenged tonight by an Ole Miss team that’s good, and in the rankings, that’s looking for their second notable road win of the season.
-COLORADO AT UCF (Big 12). UCF was having a good year, but they were blown to smithereens by Kansas in their last game and they need to bounce back from that. Colorado has had some good wins as well, but has lost their last two and really needs a win like this to help boost their resume. This game has a bit of bubblicious feel to it. Both teams need this to help improve their resumes.
-GEORGE WASHINGTON AT RHODE ISLAND (Atlantic 10). Both teams have good records, but have both played such weak schedules that it was hard to get too excited about either one of them. Having said that, after GW blew Dayton out this past weekend, it was hard to not sit up and take notice. If they can go on the road and win this one, they’ll have our attention.
-FORDHAM AT VCU (Atlantic 10). VCU has such a small margin for error that they pretty much need to win out or come close to it to have any sort of shot at getting selected.
-DAYTON AT UMASS (Atlantic 10). Dayton still has a good profile, but the loss to GW this past weekend was a big setback. If they can’t win this one then they’ll REALLY be in trouble.
-DRAKE AT BRADLEY (Missouri Valley). These are two of the best teams in the MVC, and it’s a big game for Drake who has lost two straight after starting off 12-0 and may be in a position to where they really can’t afford to lose any more. Bradley also only has two losses on the season. If either of these teams are going to make a run at the bubble, they pretty much need to dominate the rest of the way, and that includes winning this one tonight.
-USC AT INDIANA (Big Ten). After beating up on Indiana for a lot of the season, I’m starting to come around to them. They’re a very respectable 12-3 overall and they’ve won eight of their last nine. This is another winnable game tonight.
-FURMAN AT THE CITADEL (SoCon). Furman is coming off a bad loss to UNC Greensboro, and may be out of strikes. They should be able to win this one on the road, and they may need to win them all the rest of the way if they want any shot at getting inside the bubble.
-SAINT BONAVENTURE AT SAINT LOUIS (Atlantic 10). The Bonnies are 14-1, which is impressive even though they haven’t played a very strong schedule. What is impressive is that they have five true road wins, and can make it six tonight if they’re able to pull it off.
-TEXAS A&M AT OKLAHOMA. TAMU is coming off a big win against rival Texas, whereas Oklahoma is looking to bounce back from a blowout loss to Alabama, which was their first of the year. Both are safely inside the bubble for now, but with every team in the SEC being really tough, every game has a sense of urgency to it because you know how hard it is going to be to finish .500 in the conference.
-ARIZONA STATE AT KANSAS (Big 12). Arizona State is having a very solid year, and while they’re sort of shooting at the moon tonight, a win would greatly increase the value of their resume. Kansas is still looking like a solid protected seed and just blew UCF off the planet over the weekend.
-PENN STATE AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten). Penn State is a solid team with a very good chance of making the NCAA Tournament. Illinois got a massive win against Oregon their last time out and is looking like they’re good enough to end up as a protected seed.
-AIR FORCE AT SAN DIEGO STATE (Mountain West). San Diego State should be able to hold serve and win this one without too much trouble.