-Friday night was a rather chalky night. Monmouth fell at Saint Peter’s, which pretty much ends any faint hopes they had for getting an at-large come March. Davidson also got a big scare at Richmond in a game that was close all throughout, but they escaped with an 87-84 win.
-NORTHWESTERN AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten). Northwestern is outside the bubble and Michigan State is within reach of a #1 seed if they can keep winning at the clip they have been.
-CREIGHTON AT XAVIER (Big East). Xavier is coming off a loss to Villanova, but they are still having a really big year and will remain in good shape if they can hold serve at home. Creighton has a solid profile, but they can make it look a lot better if they can pick up a road win in a game like this.
-TEXAS TECH AT KANSAS STATE (Big 12). Texas Tech is suddenly one of the hottest teams in the nation having knocked off Kansas and Baylor. This should be a winnable road game for the Red Raiders, which will allow them to continue to build on what is already a solid resume.
-SETON HALL AT MARQUETTE (Big East). We have both teams in our field right now, but both also have room to improve and a win today for either team would add another quality win to their resume.
-KENTUCKY AT TENNESSEE (SEC). Kentucky’s resume is lacking when it comes to big wins, so this is a big opportunity for them. It’s also a nice opportunity for Tennessee to pick up a high quality road win.
-FLORIDA AT SOUTH CAROLINA (SEC). Florida’s resume is a little flimsy, and although they don’t appear to be in any danger of missing the tournament, this is a winnable road game that could help shore things up for the Gators.
-NC STATE AT DUKE (ACC). Duke still has a very good shot at a #1 seed, but in order to get it they obviously need to be able to hold serve in games like this.
-WEST VIRGINIA AT KANSAS (Big 12). West Virginia looks to be a solid tournament caliber team, but winning at Kansas is probably swinging way over their heads. The Jayhawks are likely to land on one of the top two lines if they keep winning at the clip they have been.
-ARKANSAS AT LSU (SEC). LSU is having an outstanding year with just one loss on the season. They’re continuing to climb the rankings and should be able to hold serve at home in this one.
-TEXAS AT IOWA STATE (Big 12). Texas’s resume still needs some work, and a road win in a game like this will make it look a lot better. Iowa State is coming off a game where they nearly upset Kansas on the road, and while it wasn’t a setback it certainly would have been a season defining win had they picked it up. They’ve got a chance to bounce back from that with a good win at home today.
-FORDHAM AT SAINT LOUIS (Atlantic Ten). Fordham is having a much better year than what we’re used to seeing, but being able to win this one is probably beyond them. SLU is outside the bubble, but if they can continue to string together wins they can absolutely get on the committee’s radar.
-FLORIDA STATE AT SYRACUSE (ACC). The Noles still have a ton of work to do, but they’ve won three out of their last four, and if they can build on that by getting this one on the road they may finally be on the track that we thought they would be back at the start of the season.
-TEXAS A&M AT MISSOURI (SEC). We are starting to like this TAMU tea, and they have a winnable road game today that can get them to 15-2 overall.
-BOISE STATE AT NEW MEXICO (Mountain West). Boise State is another team that’s right on our bubble. This is a winnable road game for them that they need to pick up.
-GONZAGA AT SANTA CLARA (West Coast). Santa Clara isn’t easy to beat at home, but Gonzaga is almost impossible to beat anywhere. The Zags are on pace to end up as a #1 seed and they should be able to pick up another road win today.
-MEMPHIS AT EAST CAROLINA (American). Memphis is flipping further and further away from the bubble. If they lose a game like this one against an ECU team that’s having a pretty decent year at 10-5 then it will be hard to think of them as a team that even has a realistic shot at making the tournament based on how they’ve been playing.
-OKLAHOMA AT TCU (Big 12). I think these are both potential tournament teams, but both could use some notable wins to help shore up their resumes, which makes this an important game today.
-WAKE FOREST AT VIRGINIA (ACC). Virginia has won three out of four and is starting to play better, but as of right now I still think they are on the wrong side of the bubble. At least the Hoos look to be moving in the right direction, though. Wake Forest is squarely on the bubble, so both teams could really use this one.
-OKLAHOMA STATE AT BAYLOR (Big 12). Baylor is coming off their first loss in forever, but I expect they’ll bounce back at home today in a big way.
-MURRAY STATE AT BELMONT (Ohio Valley). You DO NOT want to miss this game!! Both are NCAA Tournament caliber teams, and both have legit shots at ending up inside the bubble and making the field. Both have a very small margin for error, though, which is what makes this game today so important for both of them.
-ALABAMA AT MISSISSIPPI STATE (SEC). Alabama is coming off a loss to Auburn, but they’re still in pretty good shape overall. A road win in a game like this would be a great way to bounce back, and pretty much any SEC road win looks good on an NCAA Tournament resume.
-STANFORD AT WASHINGTON (Pac 12). Stanford is playing really well, they are squarely on our bubble, and they are coming off a nice road win against Washington State. Picking up another road win today would help strengthen their case even more.
-COLORADO STATE AT SAN JOSE STATE (Mountain West). Colorado State is still looking like they’ll end up in the top half of the bracket, and this is yet another winnable road game for them. San Jose State has a long way to go before they can be considered good, but they seem to be getting noticeably better, especially at home, so Colorado State doesn’t want to just overlook them.
-UCF AT SOUTH FLORIDA (American). UCF is outside the bubble, but they have a good team that is capable of stringing together some wins and getting themselves into the picture.
-LOYOLA CHICAGO AT INDIANA STATE (Missouri Valley). Loyola Chicago looks to be the dominant team in this conference, but while they’ve continued to win their last two games have been struggles. They should get this one, but they can’t just overlook the Sycamores.
-UTAH AT ARIZONA (Pac 12). Arizona is on an absolute roll, they actually have an argument for a #1 seed, and they should be able to hold serve at home in this one.
-HOUSTON AT TULSA (American). Houston has had some setbacks, but it hasn’t effected their play on the court. They’ve continued to string together wins and they have another winnable road game today.
-GEORGIA TECH AT NORTH CAROLINA (ACC). At this point in time I don’t think UNC’s profile is all that strong. They need to be able to hold serve in home games against non-tournament caliber teams if they don’t want it to get any weaker.
-AUBURN AT OLE MISS (SEC). Auburn is looking like one of the best teams in the country, and they actually got a #1 seed in our last staff bracket. They should be able to pick this one up on the road.
-WYOMING AT UTAH STATE (Mountain West). Wyoming is squarely on our bubble and they’ve got a tough test on the road tonight. It is not easy to win at Utah State, and if the Cowboys can pull it off it will be another nice win on their resume.
-COLORADO AT ARIZONA STATE (Pac 12). Colorado still has a lot of work to do, but they are at least within reach of the bubble and can get there if they can string together some wins.
-OREGON STATE AT UCLA (Pac 12). This should be an easy road win for a UCLA team that’s good enough to end up on the #1 line.
-OREGON AT USC (Pac 12). Oregon had been rather disappointing this season, but they picked up a huge win at UCLA earlier this week, and if they can follow that up with a win at USC then we can probably safely declare them as the most improved team in college basketball over the course of one week this season.
-BYU AT SAN FRANCISCO (West Coast). I’m really looking forward to this one! Both appear to be NCAA Tournament caliber teams, and this is a chance for both of them to add a quality win to their resumes.
