Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES:

We’ve got some brutal winter weather hitting a lot of the country right now, and it could end up impacting some of the games over the weekend. Portland State’s game against Weber State will go ahead as scheduled, but no fans will be in attendance due to hazardous winter weather in the area.

For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE

-The big result from last night was Boise State’s 64-56 win at Nevada. We liked Boise State coming into the year, and while they were a little slow to get going they’ve now won 8 of their last 9 and have beaten Colorado State and Nevada in their last two games. On the floor they’re looking as good as anyone in the Mountain West right now.

-Nebraska followed up their big win over Purdue with a blowout road loss at Iowa.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-TENNESSEE AT GEORGIA (SEC). Tennessee looks like a solid protected seed who could make a case that they deserve a #1 seed. Georgia is a team that has shown some signs of life, but who still needs to build up their profile. A win today, even though it’s at home, would go a long way.

-SYRACUSE AT NORTH CAROLINA (ACC). Syracuse is trying to play their way inside the bubble, and North Carolina is trying to play their way onto the #1 line. It’s probably too tall of an order for the Orange, but if they were to win this they’d certainly get everyone’s attention.

-NORTHWESTERN AT WISCONSIN (Big Ten). This is a good Northwestern team going on the road to face a great Wisconsin team. Northwestern appears to be inside the bubble and could really climb the seedlist if they somehow manage to knock off a Wisconsin team that’s looking more and more like a solid protected seed.

-SETON HALL AT BUTLER (Big East). Butler is coming off their biggest win of the year with their road win at Marquette, and is now right on our bubble. If they can keep stringing together wins their resume will keep getting stronger. Seton Hall has been on a hell of a streak and has yet another big test today.

-SAINT JOHN’S AT CREIGHTON (Big East). The Johnnies have now won four in a row and beaten some quality opponents in that stretch. This is probably their biggest test out of that stretch of four, though. They’re on the road against a Creighton team that’s in the rankings and that is very hard to beat at home. It’s a big resume building opportunity for Saint John’s.

-OKLAHOMA AT KANSAS (Big 12). As much as I like Oklahoma, I don’t think of them as being a solid protected seed. Having said that, my mind will completely change if they’re able to win this. Kansas is coming off a tough road loss and looking to bounce back, so they’re definitely not going to overlook the Sooners.

-KENTUCKY AT TEXAS A&M (SEC). Kentucky has won six straight and has looked really strong throughout that stretch. They’ll be tested again on the road today against a pretty good TAMU team that will be amped way up for this one. Despite being just 9-6 and having lost their last two games, TAMU’s resume still looks pretty good, but this would be a massive win for them in terms of making it look even better and shifting the momentum of their season back their way.

-SAN DIEGO STATE AT NEW MEXICO (Mountain West). As hard as it is for teams to win at The Pit, I think San Diego State is clearly the better team and can get another big road win on their resume today. New Mexico has a bloated record, but they don’t have much at all in the way of good wins, so they should have an sense of urgency coming into this one despite being 13-3.

-VIRGINIA AT WAKE FOREST (ACC). Both teams are on the outside looking in, both have work to do, and both could really use this one today.

-XAVIER AT PROVIDENCE (Big East). Providence, despite all the things that seem to be going against them, is still playing solid basketball and nearly pulled off a huge win against Saint John’s in their last game despite all their setbacks. Having said that, they have lost three straight and Xavier, despite being just 7-8 on the year, has been getting better as the season has gone along.

-UTAH STATE AT UNLV (Mountain West). Utah State is 15-1 and ranked 20th in the nation, but this will be a tough road game against a UNLV team that seems to be getting better. They’re 4-1 in their last five games with the only loss being on the road to San Diego State, and beat New Mexico at home rather handily earlier in the week.

-SOUTH CAROLINA AT MISSOURI (SEC). I like this South Carolina team, but I learned on our Bracket Rundown Show earlier in the week that I don’t like them quite as much as everyone else. That being said, this should be a winnable road game for them (which would be just their second of the year) against a Missouri team that’s been kind of disappointing this year.

-BYU AT UCF (Big 12). BYU has lost their first two Big 12 games, and will be challenged again today against a UCF team that’s coming off a big home win against Kansas, and has been playing better, and should be jacked way up again for this one. I don’t want to overreact and call this a must-win for the Cougars, but an 0-3 start to Big 12 play would put them in a bit of a tailspin.

-KANSAS STATE AT TEXAS TECH (Big 12). These are two good teams with two good records, but with so-so resumes. They need quality wins, and this is a big resume building opportunity for both of them.

-APPALACHIAN STATE AT JAMES MADISON (Sun Belt). These are the two best teams in the SBC, and it’s a chance for App State to REALLY make a case that they belong inside the bubble along with JMU. Appalachian State does have a really nice home win against Auburn, but this would probably be even bigger. James Madison had some of their toughest conference games early in the schedule, and has another challenging one today.

-HOUSTON AT TCU (Big 12). After playing almost no good teams out of conference, TCU has been playing quite well against the good teams they’ve played against in conference. Today, they’re at home agianst one of the best teams in the country, and a win would really give their resume something it really needs. As good as Houston is, one could argue that this would actually be one of their better wins of the season so far if they’re able to pull it off. They’re also trying to bounce back from a road loss at Iowa State.

-MIAMI FL AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC). Both of these teams have work to do. Miami is coming off a very damaging loss at home to Louisville, and while VA Tech has shown occasional signs of being good, they haven’t done it consistently enough to land themselves inside the bubble yet.

-SAINT MARY’S AT SANTA CLARA (West Coast). I think there may be room for one of these teams inside the bubble so long as they can blow through the WCC. Santa Clara is coming off a big home win against Gonzaga, and both teams are undefeated in league play, so the winner of this game will be in the driver’s seat in regards to the conference standings.

-CINCINNATI AT BAYLOR (Big 12). Cincinnati is a team that is just inside our bubble and who could really shoot up the seedlist with a win today. Baylor looks to be a solid protected seed and will stay there so long as they keep holding serve.

-DRAKE AT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (Missouri Valley). These are two of the better teams in the MVC, and Drake has an outside shot of landing inside the bubble, but they pretty much need to win out in order to do it.

-ALABAMA AT MISSISSIPPI STATE (SEC). Both teams are likely tournament teams, and both are probably going to end up with resumes that look better than what they currently look like. Having said that, this is a big game for both teams because it’s a resume building opportunity for a couple of teams who still need to do some building.

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:

-Vanderbilt @ Ole Miss (SEC) – Ole Miss should be able to hold serve in this one and get to a very impressive 15-1 on the year
-Davidson @ George Washington (Atlantic 10) – a win for GW gets them to 13-3
-Western Carolina @ Mercer (SoCon) – WCU keeps winning, and can get to 15-2 on the year with a win today
-Penn State @ Purdue (Big Ten) – this should be a rather routine bounce-back game for the Boilermakers after losing to Nebraska earlier in the week
-Boston College @ Clemson (ACC) – Clemson has lost three straight and really doesn’t need to make it four straight by losing at home to BC
-SMU @ East Carolina (American) – SMU needs to put together a long string of wins in order to reach the bubble
-Arkansas @ Florida (SEC) – both teams have potential, but both need to do much better than what they’ve done so far
-Loyola Chicago @ Saint Joseph’s (Atlantic 10) – Saint Joe’s has a path to the bubble, but it is getting more and more narrow. They basically need to win out
-Georgia Tech @ Duke (ACC) – GA Tech won the first meeting between these two, but Duke hasn’t lost since and to win at Duke would be a HUGE surprise
-Arizona @ Washington State (Pac 12) – this isn’t the easiest game in the world for Arizona to win, but it’s the kind of road game they can win and should win
-Oklahoma State @ Iowa State (Big 12) – Iowa State has their heads in the clouds after their big win against Houston, and now they’ve got to get their feet back on the ground and hold serve in this one
-George Mason @ Richmond (Atlantic 10) – Mason has a very small margin for error and they’re coming off a loss, but they should at least get looked at if they can blow through the A10
-VMI @ Samford (SoCon) – BUCKY BALL!!!!!! A win for Samford gets them to an incredible 15-2 on the year and keeps them unbeaten in the SoCon
-Weber State @ Portland State (Big Sky) – both teams made some noise early on and Weber is starting to play really well now
-California @ Oregon (Pac 12) – this should be a virtual home buy game for the Ducks
-Tarlton State @ Grand Canyon (WAC) – the Lopes are inside our bubble and will almost assuredly stay there so long as they keep winning
-USC @ Colorado (Pac 12) – Colorado has lost three straight and hasn’t lookd all that good in any of those games, and can’t afford another loss to a non-tournament caliber team
-Portland @ San Francisco (West Coast) – a win for the Dons gets them to 14-4 on the year and keeps them unbeaten in the WCC

NEWS AND NOTES:

For the latest UNDER THE RADAR Video Podcast – CLICK HERE

-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE

-On Tuesday we saw the top two teams lose to unranked opponents. Last night we saw two more top five opponents lose to unranked opponents.

-Kansas had played with their food in several games. They had to sweat out Indiana, sweat out TCU, and even against a team like Eastern Illinois they didn’t bury them. Well, last night the food totally fell into their laps as they blew an 8pt halftime lead and were anemic on offense in the second half. UCF picked up a really big 65-60 win and suddenly they are worth paying attention to. UCF’s defense was amazing in the second half and disrupted everything Kansas wanted to do.

-5th ranked Tennessee had a sloppy first half at Mississippi State and then just couldn’t catch all the way back up in the second half. They fell 77-72. Mississippi State is a team we know is good, but they had fallen out of the rankings. I believe they will be back in them next week after this win.

-UConn was the one top 5 team that did win their road game, but it was close and Xavier actually had a lead well into the second half. The Huskies held on 80-75.

-North Carolina got another nice road win as they knocked off NC State 67-54. UNC’s resume just keeps looking better and better. This win may not jump out at you on the surface, but NC State is a potential tournament team and they were unbeaten at home prior to this.

-TCU, who nearly won at Kansas over the weekend, held off 9th ranked Oklahoma 80-71. Two things to take away from this is that while Oklahoma is good, they’re not top-ten-good, and while TCU did nothing out of conference, they’re capable of playing well against, and beating, good teams.

-The biggest win of the night may belong to Butler. They went into Marquette and got a massive 69-62 road win, which catapults them onto the committee’s radar. This ended a three game losing streak for Butler, and we had been saying all along that while Butler’s resume wasn’t a tournament caliber resume we thought they were good enough to pick up those wins before the end of the year. Well, last night they proved it. They host Seton Hall this Saturday, which is another team that is red hot right now.

-Wisconsin picked up another nice win on the road as they knocked off a pretty good Ohio State team 71-60. Wisconsin has a history of being really good, but for some reason always being a little overlooked. Well, this year they are really good, but still aren’t being talked about all that much. Other than Purdue they may be the best team in the Big Ten. After all, they’ve actually won all their conference road games.

-Clemson, who was looking like a protected seed just a few weeks ago, has now lost three in a row. They were actually beaten rather handily by Virginia Tech last night 87-72, and you have to wonder when they are going to come out of that tailspin.

-Northwestern had to battle, but they did get a nice 76-72 road win at Penn State, which adds another road win to an already impressive resume. They’re ahead of Purdue in the standings and have beaten them head to head.

-Providence is dealing with injuries, but they just keep battling. They fell behind against Saint John’s, but despite being shorthanded, and despite being on the road, they came back and nearly won the game. They fell 75-73, and Saint John’s continues to string together notable wins, but NEVER count out Providence!!!

-Miami FL, who is a team that I was praising about a week ago and arguing that they were underrated, is no longer a team that I believe to be underrated or under-appreciated. They lost at home to Louisville last night 80-71. Anyways, moving on…

-Saint Joseph’s was a team I was big on, and that I even had in my personal bracket that I did earlier this week. Last night they lost on the road to a Saint Louis team that is about a hundred miles from the NIT bubble. I am no longer big on Saint Joe’s. Anyways, moving on…

-Indiana State needed last night’s win against Drake because it was one of their few remaining chances to pump up their tournament resume. With about ten minutes to go Drake took complete control and ended up with an 89-78 win. I still think Indiana State is potentially dangerous, and Drake could be a tough out in the Round of 64 as well, but minus one of them winning out they’ll probably both need the auto-bid to get there.

-Georgia is now 12-3 on the year after their 76-66 win over an Arkansas team that we all actually thought would be good this year, but to date we have all been completely wrong about. The Bulldogs, on the other hand, are a team to start paying attention to.

-Ole Miss beat a pretty good Florida team rather handily last night 103-85. The Rebels were at home, but still. It was one of their toughest games of the year given how weak their OOC schedule was, and they won it going away.

-Colorado stepped on a landmine last night as they lost at California 82-78. Simply put, this is both a surprising loss and a bad loss that will damage their tournament resume.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-FLORIDA ATLANTIC AT TULANE (American). FAU’s season has been totally scattershot. Their resume tops out with a win at Arizona, and it bottoms out with a home loss to Bryant, and they’ve done everything else in between. This is a road game they should win. They’ve shown they can win a game like this. But, it’s also not easy as Tulane is improving as a program and has been strong at home this year.

-UNC GREENSBORO AT SAMFORD (SoCon). These are probably the two best teams in the SoCon, and the winner will sprint out to an early lead. Landing on the bubble for either team is a long shot, but if one of them can blow through the league, then….maybe?

-MICHIGAN STATE AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten). Michigan State is dealing with some issues after a decisive loss to Northwestern in their last game. Still, I think they have good pieces and I keep waiting for them to snap out of it. Illinois is dealing with some issues of their own and are without a key player. They’re ranked in the top ten because of what they’ve done up to this point, but are they the same team?

-UCLA AT UTAH (Pac 12). UCLA has been an absolute mess and it could get even messier tonight. Winning at Utah is no easy task and the Bruins’ tailspin may continue.

-GONZAGA AT SANTA CLARA (West Coast). A lot of people are down on the Zags right now, and understandably so, but I think the committee will still select them so long as they blow through the WCC, which they should be able to do.

-ARIZONA STATE AT WASHINGTON (Pac 12). This is a very big week for Washington. I still think they can get within reach of the bubble before the season is over, but they have to start stringing together wins.

-Abilene Christian @ Grand Canyon (WAC) – The Lopes should roll