Tonight’s feature conference is the Sun Belt, where the top six teams are separated by just one game and the top eight by just two games. This has added importance for the rest of the regular season because of the extension format that they use for the conference tournament. Troy appeared to be the best team a few weeks ago, but they’ve hit a skid and lost their lead. Marshall is looking good, James Madison is coming on strong, Appalachian State is in first place, and South Alabama is potentially dangerous. It should be a fun rest of the season!
From there we run through the other 22 UTR conferences. Liberty and Navy are on the verge of clinching 1st place in their conferences. Stephen F Austin is a potentially dangerous team that is just two wins away from clinching the Southland. The OVC is also logjammed with six teams that can still end up in 1st place. Belmont is looking really strong out of the Missouri Valley. We discuss all that, and more! And, as we do every week, we close with this week’s UTR Top Ten.
-Houston had a 10pt lead over Iowa State in the second half, but Iowa State finished the game on a strong run and made some big defensive plays down the stretch to escape with a huge 70-67 win. This was a game between two heavyweights. Both are likely protected seeds and both are likely to go deep into the tournament, so it was more of a litmus test for both teams than it was a must-win.
.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-MICHIGAN AT PURDUE (Big Ten). Michigan is back at #1 in the rankings and they have one of their toughest tests of the year coming up tonight at Purdue. The Boilers are a top ten team that could still reach the 1-line depending on how the rest of the season plays out, but they’ll need a win tonight. It should be a wild atmosphere and a fun game.
-NORTH CAROLINA AT NC STATE (ACC). This is a tough road game against a rival for the Tarheels, but they’ve managed road wins against Kentucky and Virginia and they’re certainly capable of winning this one. NC State is probably a tournament team and up until about a week ago they’d looked really solid, but they’ve now lost two straight and need to bounce back from that. A win tonight would be a huge momentum win for them both on and off paper.
-TCU AT UCF (Big 12). This is not the biggest showcase of the night, but it is one of the most important games. TCU is right on the bubble and this is a hugely pivotal game for them. A win probably puts them on the right side of it (at least for now). UCF has hit a bit of a skid and needs to pull themselves out of it, so the game has a pivotal feel for them as well.
-VIRGINIA TECH AT MIAMI FL (ACC). This is another big game as VA Tech is fighting to get on the right side of the bubble and Miami is looking to secure themselves a spot in the field. The Canes have won three in a row and two of those came against NC State and North Carolina, so they’re trending up right now.
-WISCONSIN AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten). Wisconsin is suddenly one of the hottest teams in the country with wins over Illinois and Michigan State last week. They go on the road today to face an Ohio State team that needs some big wins between now and the end of the season in order to make the field.
-NEBRASKA AT IOWA (Big Ten). Nebraska appears to be a solid protected seed. This is not an easy game to win, but it’s the kind of game that a protected seed caliber team can win. Iowa is pretty much in the middle of our brackets right now. This would be one of their better wins of the year and it would boost the value of their resume if they’re able to pull it off.
-GEORGIA AT KENTUCKY (SEC). Georgia is going in the complete wrong direction and needs a win to get things turned back around. Winning tonight won’t be easy. Kentucky is a solid team that’s looking to bounce back from a loss at Florida over the weekend.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Villanova @ Xavier (Big East) – Xavier has played well at times and Nova doesn’t want to just overlook them, but it’s still the kind of game that Nova should win
-South Carolina @ Florida (SEC) – The Gators should be able to hold serve at home in this one
-Miami OH @ UMass (MAC) – the first meeting between these two was a battle and now Miami has to go on the road, but the Red Hawks have been playing better in their last few games and may have an easier time tonight
-George Washington @ VCU (Atlantic 10) – VCU should be able to hold serve in this one and stay within reach of the bubble
-SEMO @ UT Martin (Ohio Valley) – UT Martin is still in 1st place, but barely. They face one of the better teams in the league tonight in a game that should really impact the standings
-Air Force @ New Mexico (Mountain West) – New Mexico needs a strong finish to the season in order to get selected.
-LSU @ Texas (SEC) – Texas has been playing well lately and needs to hold serve at home
-Grand Canyon @ San Diego State (Mountain West) – San Diego State can get inside the bubble, but they need to pretty much win out in order to do it
-Texas Tech @ Arizona State (Big 12) – Texas Tech is coming off one of the biggest wins of the year and should be able to take care of business on the road tonight
It was a wild week of college basketball and the Hoops HD panel recaps all of the action. Texas Tech got a massive win at Arizona, which was their third win over a team ranked in the top 4 of the NET. Michigan is now the top ranked team in the country, and Purdue and Illinois continue to look really impressive in the Big Ten. Duke continues to roll through the ACC, Gonzaga had a big win at Santa Clara and is close to locking up a protected seed, Saint Louis just keeps winning games, and three teams are still battling in the Mountain West. We also have some big games coming up this week, particularly Duke v Michigan, and we look ahead to those as well.
And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…
-Yesterday was rather non-cataclysmic. Illinois handled Indiana no problem 71-51, and Belmont overcame a 17pt second half deficit to win by 17 at Murray State 87-70.
.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-HOUSTON AT IOWA STATE (Big 12). Both teams are ranked in the top five, and while neither was on our 1-line in our latest Bracket Rundown, both are still in a position to reach it. This will be one of Houston’s toughest tests of the year as Iowa State is one of the toughest road environments to play in.
-Syracuse @ Duke (ACC) – Duke is solidly on the 1-line (for now) and Syracuse is outside the bubble. Duke should roll
-Wagner @ Long Island (Northeast Conference) – Long Island suffered a loss over the weekend, but is still in 1st place in the NEC
-Morgan State @ NC Central (MEAC) – both teams are within reach of finishing in 1st place
-Stephen F Austin @ TAMUCC (Southland) – SFA should be able to hold on to their two game lead in the Southland
A full Hoops HD panel have all submitted their own individual seedlists. They were then cross country scored by Chad to form a master seedlist, and it is revealed to the panel Selection Sunday style team by team and line by line. They discuss, assess, and debate each team as they are revealed. See who the #1 seeds are, who the rest of the protected seeds are, who is on the bubble, and who just missed it.
Below is the final bracket, but don’t look at it until you’ve watched the show!!
And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…
We are 4 weeks away from Selection Sunday as we continue to make our NCAA tourney predictions. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel correctly picked 66 of the 68 teams that made the 2025 tourney: 62 of his 66 were within 1 spot of their actual seed and 52 were right on the money. He will spend the upcoming weeks predicting which 68 teams will hear their names called on March 15th. See below for his list of who would make the cut if they picked the field today and if you agree or disagree then feel free to tweet us. To see how he stacks up with other websites (ranked 7th out of 186 bracket veterans over the past 5 years), check out: www.bracketmatrix.com
SEED: TEAM (CONFERENCE) 1: Michigan (Big 10) 1: Duke (ACC) 1: Arizona (Big 12) 1: Connecticut (Big East)
