NEWS AND NOTES:
-Iowa State must’ve been angry after their loss at West Virginia. They absolutely clobbered UCF 108-83 and they still look very much like a #1 seed caliber team.
-Alabama dominated Vanderbilt 103-87 and is also looking very much like a #1 seed caliber team.
-Tennessee bounced back from their road loss at Vanderbilt and easily beat Mississippi State 68-56, and for most of the game the score was a lot more lopsided than what the final ended up being.
-Ohio State managed a BIIG upset win at Purdue!! Ohio State’s resume is flimsy, but they now have wins against Kentucky on a neutral floor and Purdue on the road, which are two of the better wins that any team has. Furthermore, it was a high water moment for Ohio State athletics!! It had been a long time since that school had been in the spotlight for this kind of an athletic feat!!!
-UCLA, who had been in a tailspin, had a big 85-83 home win against Wisconsin yesterday. This was their second straight win after dropping four straight prior to that, so the Bruins appear to be back on track. Or, at the very least, not quite as far off track.
-UConn needed overtime to sweat out an 80-78 win against…(checks notes)…Butler?? Yes, Butler! And the Bulldogs actually had a chance to win at the buzzer, but a three-pointer missed and UConn escaped. Not exactly a decisive win against a solid team, but a win nonetheless.
-Missouri, who I was praising on our last two podcasts, of course weny on the road to Texas and fell 61-53.
-West Virginia, who we had all been praising for a week, of course lost at home 65-57 to an Arizona State team that appeared to be in a complete tailspin prior to last night.
-Louisville went to SMU and absolutely blew up the building. It was a 98-73 blowout road win. I know SMU isn’t all that good, and perhaps people are reacting a little too much to this, but there is no doubt about Louisville being a top 25 caliber team, and this follows two seasons where they were among the worst in all of D1. So, it is a pretty cool story.
-Wake Forest held on to beat North Carolina 67-66. North Carolina hit a 3 as time expired, but the game was in hand before that. The last 30 second of this game took over 12 minutes to play, and that is just absurd. It was replay after replay after replay when it really wasn’t necessary, and it was taking way longer than it should to make a decision. 12 minutes for 30 seconds of play is going to make people get up and leave. No one wants to watch nothing, and for 11 mins and 30 seconds of that 12 minute stretch that is exactly what was happening.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-UTAH AT HOUSTON (Big 12). Houston picked up their 10th straight win after barely surviving at UCF, and they should be able to keep that streak going tonight against a Utah team that’s not near the bubble.
-FLORIDA AT SOUTH CAROLINA (SEC). It’s not easy to win on the road, but this should still be a winnable road game for the Gators against a South Carolina team that’s still winless in SEC play.
-KANSAS AT TCU (Big 12). Again, it’s never easy to win on the road, but this should be a winnable road game for the Jayhawks.
-XAVIER AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East). This is a big game for both teams. Xavier was having a sluggish season, but just picked up a huge win at Marquette which completely turned htings around for them, and they now seem to have a path to land inside the bubble. Saint John’s has a really good record, but right now they don’t have any real key wins at the top of their profile, so you get the sense that they almost need to avoid losing this one at home.
-SYRACUSE AT CLEMSON (ACC). This is a straight up “Hold-Serve” game for Clemson. They should be able to win home games against non-tournament teams.
-INDIANA AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten). At best both teams are on the bubble right now, and perhaps they aren’t even positioned that well. Both really need this win and a bunch of other wins between now and the end if they want to make the field.
-VALPARAISO AT DRAKE (Missouri Valley). At 16-2 overall, I still think Drake has a path to landing inside the bubble if they can keep blowing through the MVC.
-TEMPLE AT NORTH TEXAS (American). North Texas is a legit good team, but they have virtually zero margin for error if they want to land on the committee’s board and be considered for an at-large bid. They basically can’t lose to anyone other than Memphis, and they may even need to manage to beat Memphis.
-TEXAS A&M AT OLE MISS (SEC). Both teams are solidly in the rankings, both have managed big wins this season, and both are within reach of earning a protected seed. That makes this game a big resume-building opportunity.
-KANSAS STATE AT BAYLOR (Big 12). Baylor is in the field, but there is certainly room for them to improve and move up the seedlist. They need to hold serve at home tonight to avoid having their resume take a hit.
-NEVADA AT UTAH STATE (Mountain West). Despite a recent surprise loss Utah State is still in really good shape and will remain in the top half of our brackets so long as they keep holding serve and stringing together wins.
-USC AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten). It feels like Nebraska is on the bubble right now, so every game has a sense of urgency to it. They can’t afford to lose a home game to a team that’s nowhere near the field right now.
-GEORGIA AT ARKASNAS (SEC). Georgia is a solid team who has lost two straight, but both were to top ten teams and they came very close to upsetting Auburn in their last game. This should be a winnable road game for them, which is a big deal because it would only be their second true road win of the season. Arkansas is a talented team, but they’ve done very little with that talent and are still winless in the SEC.
-AIR FORCE AT SAN DIEGO STATE (Mountain West). AFA can be a tricky team to play against, but San Diego State should be able to take care of them at home and remain securely inside our bracket.