NEWS, NOTES, AND LINKS:
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-Alabama added another big win to their already long lost of big wins as they knocked off Mississippi State on the road 88-84. This is Alabama’s 5th win away from home against a team that could potentially end up as a protected seed, and three of those were true road wins. That is simply a remarkable season!
-Houston sprinted out to a big lead against West Virginia, then played with their food for a little bit, but still held on to win 63-49. Houston has a back-loaded schedule and is now starting to pick up the really high caliber wins that can land them on the 1 or 2 line come March.
-Wisconsin, who needed a big road win to help boost up their resume, couldn’t get it done last night at Maryland as the Terps won 76-68. Maryland is on a bit of a run. Prior to this win last night they had knocked off Indiana and Illinois on the road.
-UConn slept through their alarm last night, and actually trailed DePaul at home for much of the game, but finally woke up and held on to win 72-61.
-Start paying attention to Drake. They are now 19-2 and beat a pretty good Northern Iowa team rather handily last night. I think this is a team that, if they can keep this up, can make the NCAA Tournament without winning the conference tournament. Them and UC Irvine (who plays tonight) are both inside our bubble right now.
-Bradley was another team we were watching closely, but they were blown out, at home, by UIC. That’s gonna leave a mark! And it probably means that if Bradley loses any game between now and the conference tournament final that they’ll need to win that last conference tournament game in order to make it.
-Creighton continues to string together wins as they held off a Xavier team that doesn’t have the best overall profile, but who had been playing well lately. The Jays prevailed 86-77.
-Saint Mary’s game at Santa Clara was just nuts. SMC was down 24-22, then went on a 30-0 run to seem to blow the game completely open. Santa Clara did come back to make it respectable, but SMC got the win on the road 67-54.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-OHIO STATE AT PENN STATE (Big Ten). Ohio State is right on the bubble, but their resume is really flimsy. This is the kind of road game they need to be able to win. Penn State has shown signs of being good, but has lost six of their last seven. What makes them potentially dangerous is that many of those were close games against really good teams.
-ILLINOIS AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten). Nebraska has completely skidded off the road. While Illinois has been inconsistent, they’ve also looked like a Final Four caliber team on certain nights. They should be able to pick up a road win tonight.
-MEMPHIS AT TULANE (American). Tulane has come on strong in conference play and they’ve improved throughout the year. This is still a game that Memphis should absolutely win, but Tulane does get to play a showcase game at home and their fans should be up for it.
-UC IRVINE AT LONG BEACH STATE (Big West). This is the Black and Blue Rivalry!!! Having said that, while you can’t completely dismiss the rivalry factor, UC Irvine is clearly the better team and should roll through this one. If the Eaters win out they should end up inside the bubble.
-OREGON AT UCLA (Big Ten). These two are long-time conference foes! They’re short time Big Ten foes, but long time conference foes!! Ever since Mick Cronin had his little meltdown, UCLA has been undeniably better. They’re at home tonight against an Oregon team that appears to be on track for a protected seed and has played very well on the road, so I’m kind of anxious to see how this one comes out.