-MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE @ PRARIE VIEW (SWAC). Mississippi Valley State will be eliminated with a loss.
-ATLANTIC SUN – If Central Arkansas wins at North Alabama or West Georgia loses at home to Queens, Central Arkansas will get the last spot in the ASun Tournament
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NEWS AND NOTES:
-Indiana, who hasn’t looked good for much of the year, is suddenly starting to look good, and their profile is starting to look stronger, and it suddenly looks like they actually have a path to making the NCAA Tournament. They handled Purdue yesterday 73-58 after totally dominating the second half.
-Xavier continued their recent trend of a somewhat slow start, a fantastic 20 minutes in between, and an awful final 10 minutes where they managed to hang on for dear life in a win over Seton Hall. The Musketeers nearly blew a 21-point lead completely and avoided what would have been a fatal wound to their bubble chances. They now have a week to rest before an extremely pivotal home matchup with Creighton.
-UCLA held off Ohio State 69-61, and Ohio State continues to put together one of the most scattershot profiles that you’ll ever see. There are definitely reasons to select them, but there are a lot of reasons to leave them out as well.
-Drake needed overtime, which came after a foul on a last second shot, but they picked up a big road win against rivals Northern Iowa 64-58. If they the Bulldogs can win out until the conference tournament I think the committee should (and will) take them whether they win it or not. (Note from Stalica – I would strongly advise not losing their Arch Madness opener, but I otherwise concur with Griggs.)
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-NORTH CAROLINA AT FLORIDA STATE (ACC). North Carolina is so far away from the bubble that their only hope is to probably win out and beat Duke in the process, and even then they may still have some work to do in the ACC Tournament.
-MICHIGAN AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten). Michigan is looking like a solid protected seed and Nebraska is squarely on the bubble. This is another chance for the Huskers to add a notable win to their resume and help get them closer to the NCAA Tournament. Michigan is trying to earn a protected seed and bounce from a loss to rival Michigan State.
-HOUSTON AT TEXAS TECH (Big 12). Houston is unbeaten in true road games and still has a chance at ending up as a #1 seed. This is probably the toughest remaining game they will play until the NCAA Tournament, and it would be a huge win for the top of their resume. As for Texas Tech, they won the first meeting between these two, and completing the sweep would be a big deal.
-KANSAS AT COLORADO (Big 12). Kansas has been so poor on the road that any road win would help make their resume look a little better.