NEWS AND NOTES:
-Miami OH needed late game heroics (again) to remain unbeaten, but they got a defensive stop on Buffalo’s last possession and held on to win 63-61.
-Akron, who I believe to be as good (better) than Miami OH and is my pick to win the MAC, did not look it last night against an exceptionally weak Eastern Michigan team, but they did hold on to win 66-64 after being behind late in the second half.
-NC State got a big road win at SMU 84-83, which is one of their better wins of the season. NC State has won five straight, four of those five came on the road, and two of them were at SMU and at Clemson. The Wolfpack were a little late to the party, but they have definitely arrived at the party!
-USC got a nice 81-75 win over Indiana as the Hoosiers could not complete the LA road trip. Still, Indiana is well positioned and while this was a missed opportunity, I wouldn’t necessarily call it a setback.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-SETON HALL AT VILLANOVA (Big East). Seton Hall’s tournament chances are still very much in play, but they’ll need a win in a game like this to make it a reality. In fact this could make the difference of whether or not they end up safely inside the bubble. They’re on the road against a Villanova team that appears to be in the top half of the bracket and who should be able to hold serve at home.
-UCF AT HOUSTON (Big 12). UCF has won some big games, but beating a solid protected seed in a true road game would put them on a whole other level. This would basically fault them into the top half of the bracket. Houston is one of the toughest arenas in the country to win at. The Cougars are a solid protected seed and are perhaps still within reach of a #1 seed.
-TEXAS A&M AT ALABAMA (SEC). Bama has dropped two of their last three games and is starting to slide down the SEC standings and down the seedlist some. Texas A&M is atop the SEC, but they’ve got a backloaded schedule so their toughest games are still ahead of them and that includes this game tonight. In fact this may be their toughest game of the season so far. If TAMU can win it, they can start to argue that they are good enough to deserve a protected seed.
-UTAH STATE AT NEW MEXICO (Mountain West). This is a massively important game. For Utah State it would be their best win on paper of the season so far being that it’s a road game against a very strong opponent. For New Mexico, we have them squarely on the bubble which gives every game a pivotal feel to it. This would help strengthen their resume, which is something they need to do.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Michigan State @ Minnesota (Big Ten) – you can’t take any road win for granted, but Michigan State is clearly the superior team and should be able to rebound from their loss to Michigan
-Notre Dame @ Louisville (ACC) – the Cardinals shouldn’t have too much trouble holding serve at home
-Duquesne @ George Mason (Atlantic 10) – George Mason can still land inside the bubble, but they pretty much need to win out to do it
-Tulsa @ Florida Atlantic (American) – Tulsa is having a great year overall and can get to 20-3 on the season. They are outside our bubble right now but may be able to get there if they can win out
-Georgia Tech @ California (ACC) – Cal is right on our bubble. It is important that they hold serve at home against teams that are nowhere near the bubble
-Northwestern @ Illinois (Big Ten) – Illinois is playing as well as anyone in the country right now and they should cruise tonight
-BYU @ Oklahoma State (Big 12) – BYU has dropped two straight and while they were against big time opponents it is still important that they get things turned back around with a win tonight
-Oklahoma @ Kentucky (SEC) – Kentucky is coming off their best win of the year at Arkansas and has been playing really well these past few weeks (minus a blowout loss at Vanderbilt). They should be able to keep that going tonight
-Gonzaga @ Portland (West Coast) – it’s a conference road game, and you never want to take those for granted, but the Zags are way undermatched tonight
-Clemson @ Stanford (ACC) – Stanford just hasn’t been the same since they were hit with injuries. Clemson is solidly in the field and this is the kind of road game that isn’t easy to win, but that they should still be able to win
-San Diego @ Saint Mary’s (West Coast) – SMC should be able to hold serve at home
-Iowa @ Washington (Big Ten) – this could be a tough road game to win, but Iowa should still be good enough to win it. They could use a few more true road wins on their profile
UTR WATCH:
-Winthrop @ Radford (Big South) – Winthrop is deadlocked with High Point atop the Big South standings and will face a tough road test tonight
-Charleston Southern @ High Point (Big South) – High Point and Winthrop are neck and neck in the Big South
-Navy @ Lafayette (Patriot League) – Navy has a two game lead in the PL standings as we enter the last half of conference play
-Wright State @ Robert Morris (Horizon League) – Wright State is trying to hold on to a half-game lead over Oakland
-Furman @ East Tennessee State (SoCon) – The top of the SoCon standings are tight. ETSU has a one game lead over Furman, Wofford, and Mercer. They have the chance to put some distance between themselves and Furman tonight
-Troy @ Georgia Southern (Sun Belt) – Troy appeared to be running away from the rest of the SBC, but after two straight losses the standings are logjammed at the top. They really need to win this one on the road tonight
-Liberty @ Delaware (Conference USA) – Liberty is running away from CUSA and if they can win out, which they are good enough to do, they probably deserve to be inside the bubble
-Lipscomb @ Austin Peay (Atlantic Sun) – these are the two best teams in the ASun and this is a pivotal game that will likely determine the 1st place finisher. That’s not quite as important anymore since the tournament is no longer at campus sites, which ruins what used to be a fun regular season storyline, but it’s still a big game
