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NEWS AND NOTES:
-Kansas was pretty good for the first half of the season. Since they’re loss at West Virginia on Jan 10th, they’ve gone from being pretty good to being outstanding. They followed up a big win against BYU over the weekend with a 64-61 road win at Texas Tech last night, which may be their best of the season to date. Texas Tech has now dropped two straight and needs to rebound if they want to end up as a protected seed.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-NC STATE AT SMU (ACC). Both of these teams are good, and NC State in particular has been playing a lot better these past couple of weeks, but both still have work to do and both could use this win tonight. For NC State it’s a quality conference road win that would elevate their profile. For SMU it’s a notable win that could help keep them inside the bubble.
-INDIANA AT USC (Big Ten). Indiana is coming off a strong week where they’ve really been able to add some big wins to their profile and they’ve got a chance to pick up another big one tonight against USC. The Trojans could really use this one as well. In short, both teams are fighting to get into the NCAA Tournament and a win tonight would be helpful.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Miami OH @ Buffalo (MAC) – Miami needed overtime to win the first meeting between these two and they’re on the road tonight. Having said that, Buffalo has been struggling having lost six of their last seven, but they should be way up for this one
-Xavier @ Connecticut (Big East) – UConn is good enough to win out and if they do they should be on the #1 line
-Boston College @ Duke (ACC) – this might as well be a buy game
-Ole Miss @ Tennessee (SEC) – Tennessee has won four of their last five, including two big road games, and is playing better now than they have at any point in the season. They should be able to hold serve tonight
-VCU @ Fordham (Atlantic 10) – people have kind of forgotten about VCU, but they have strung together quite a few wins and may have a path to the bubble
-South Carolina @ Texas (SEC) – Texas is right on the bubble and cannot afford to lose these types of games.
-Saint John’s @ DePaul – The Johnnies are really rolling and have lost just one game since Dec 20th and are keeping pace with UConn in the Big East standings. They should be able to win this one
-Pittsburgh @ Virginia (ACC) – Virginia is still within reach of a protected seed. They should be able to hold serve tonight
-Saint Louis @ Davidson (Atlantic 10) – SLU is good enough to win out and if they do they may be flirting with a protected seed
-Drake @ Belmont (Missouri Valley) – I will keep banging this drum! Belmont should be inside the bubble and if they win out until the end of the regular season they should be in the field regardless of what happens in the conference tournament!!
-Rutgers @ UCLA (Big Ten) – UCLA is just outside our bubble and needs to hold serve in games like this where they’re playing teams nowhere near the field at home
Wyoming @ San Diego State – San Diego State is coming off a rough loss to Utah State and needs to bounce back tonight to keep themselves within reach of making the field
UNDER THE RADAR WATCH:
-Stephen F Austin now has a two game lead over McNeese in the Southland standings after a solid 67-60 win against the Cowboys last night. Unfortunately, all that really means is that they’d get to wear white jerseys on McNeese’s floor since McNeese is hosting the conference tournament, but up to this point SFA has looked like the better team.
-Bethune Cookman won handily at Alabama A&M 80-62 and remains on top of the SWAC standings
-Portland State had no trouble with Idaho State and is still in control of the Big Sky
-Little Rock @ UT Martin (Ohio Valley) – UT Martin is alone in 1st place and appears to be the best team in what has been a very competitive OVC this year
