NEWS AND NOTES:
-North Carolina, after suffering a loss earlier in the week to Clemson, nearly made it two in a row as they went on the road to face a Miami FL team that was in a complete tailspin. The Tarheels did manage to escape 75-72, and while they may have fallen off the #1 seedline for now, they are still in position to get it.
-Baylor came up with yet another great effort on the road, but fell just short at Kansas 64-61. Baylor’s last four losses have all been by 4pts or less or in overtime, and all have come against really strong teams. Baylor is still in great shape and could still end up as a protected seed, but we are just a few plays away from saying they should be a #1 seed.
-Tennessee decided to just take the night off, I guess. It’s not easy to win at Texas A&M, and the Aggies deserve a lot of credit for how they played, but it was a little surprising to see them just absolutely run Tennessee off the floor pretty much from start to finish. The final score was 85-69, but the margin felt like more than that.
-Jon Teitel has Arizona on his #1 line, and while he is a legit Arizona fan, this projection is not homerism. They had a great week with road wins at Utah and Colorado, which is very hard to do, and they absolutely blasted Colorado 99-79 last night. Those two wins, along with the rest of their resume, has me thinking they should be a #1 seed right now.
-Michigan State continues to be a home court hero! They knocked off a very good Illinois team 88-80 last night, which certainly helps stabilize a very unstable resume. The one thing they still badly need is road wins, though.
-Creighton had been on a brief 2-game losing streak with losses against Butler (at home) and at Providence, but they returned to their winning ways with a win at Xavier on Saturday. Even with their outside shooting off the mark, Ryan Kalkbrenner abused the Xavier frontcourt on both ends of the floor. Xavier is running out of chances for their at-large NCAA hopes.
-Remember a week or so ago when we all thought Wisconsin may sneak up to the #1 line?? Well, they lost at Rutgers yesterday. Badly. They’ve now dropped four straight games, and two straight to teams that are nowhere near making the field.
-Auburn, who had been on a roll, kind of got their noses bloodied at Florida last night with a 81-65 loss. To be fair, Florida is a good team, and it is not easy to win there, but it was still a bit of a surprise to see them run Auburn over like that. (Note from Stalica – while it was a surprise to Griggs, this was actually Florida’s 15th straight win at home against Auburn.)
-Gonzaga had no quad 1 wins prior to yesterday, and had not played like a top 40 team at any point of the season. Well, yesterday, they did play like a good team and got that big quad 1 win that we were all saying they needed as they knocked off Kentucky 89-85. It’s Kentucky’s third straight home loss, and while all those losses came against strong teams, they’ve gone from looking like a solid protected seed to looking like a team that’s in a tailspin. But, the real story is how big of a win this was for the Zags. It puts them from being pretty far outside the bubble to at worst being squarely on it. Kentucky had not lost 3 straight home games since the late 1960s when Adolph Rupp was still coaching.
-Utah State bounced back from having lost two straight and blew out a pretty good Boise State team 80-61 at home.
-New Mexico, who I was praising a few weeks ago as being the best looking team in the Mountain West, has not looked anything like the best team since I made that statement. Last night they lost at home to a very so-so UNLV team 80-77. The Rebels have now swept New Mexico this season. Ouch.
-Clemson continues to rack up wins, and got a very solid road win at Syracuse yesterday 77-68. Most of their remaining games are winnable, and with a real strong finish they may be in the discussion for a protected seed. Some of their wins are fantastic.
-Appalachian State needed a couple of overtimes, but they were able to hold off Toledo 109-104 and keep their at-large hopes barely flickering.
-It was a battle, but Butler held on for a 75-72 win at home against Providence. This is a Butler team that I think should be getting a lot more love than what they’re getting. I’m not saying they belong in the top half of the bracket, but I think they should at least be rather safely inside the bubble at this point.
-The Ivy League has three pretty good teams in it this year, but it’s looking very much like a one bid league. Cornell @ Yale was a great game yesterday, and Yale came back in the second half to win at home 80-78. Had Cornell won this one and won out they may have gotten a serious look had they lost in the Ivy League Tournament.
-Wake Forest continues to string together wins and climb the ACC standings. They held on to beat NC State at home yesterday 83-79. They’ve now won three in a row and are an impressive 8-4 in ACC play. They are about to be tested in a major way with 2 games coming up against Duke in the next couple of weeks.
-Washington State picked up another big win yesterday as they knocked off Oregon on the road 62-56. That’s two straight road wins for Wazzu, and they are looking more and more like a tournament team as we get closer and closer to March.
-Utah, who we’ve had in our Tournament Projections for most of the season, is looking more and more flimsy as the season goes on. Last night they lost at home to Arizona State 85-77. It’s never good to lose at home to teams that are nowhere near making the field.
-Virginia continues to string together wins, and they got another one on the road yesterday as they held off Florida State 80-76. That’s NINE straight wins for the Hoos, and four in a row on the road, including a win at Clemson in that stretch. I mean…LOOK OUT!!
-Mississippi State FINALLY got their first road win of the season as they blew Missouri off the floor 75-51. I think they need more than just this one, but it was a much needed win and a great step forward for the Bulldogs.
.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-FLORIDA ATLANTIC AT WICHITA STATE (American). FAU has been very schizophrenic this year. They’ve shown a definite ability to play up to their competition, but have also shown an ability to play down to it. They’re coming off a road loss to UAB and are looking to bounce back. It should be a routine win despite the fact that it’s on the road, but with FAU you just never know.
-SETON HALL AT VILLANOVA (Big East). Seton Hall is squarely on the bubble despite some big wins, and needs some more wins like this to strengthen up their resume. Villanova is on the outside looking in and needs a strong finish just to get into the picture.
-PENN STATE AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten). Northwestern is inside the bubble and should stay there so long as they can hold serve in games like this the rest of the way. Still, Penn State has been a bit of a spoiler in the league and not a team Northwestern can afford to overlook.
-TULANE AT MEMPHIS (American). Memphis is now outside our bubble, and will need a strong finish just to get back to a place to where they can be considered.
-MINNESOTA AT IOWA (Big Ten). Minnesota still has a ton of work to do, but they have won three straight and have some big opportunities coming up, including this game today, which is a winnable road game. They can land inside the bubble if they can finish strong. But frankly, if you’re an Iowa fan, we’ll forgive you if you’re busy watching Caitlin Clark potentially break the all-time NCAA scoring mark instead.
