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NEWS AND NOTES:

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-Iowa State survived an absolute rock fight against Texas Tech.  It was a defensive battle where the Cyclones jumped out to an early lead, but Texas Tech fought back and had a chance to win in the final minutes, but just couldn’t hold on.  Iowa State picks up another big win on paper to improve to 13-1 on the year.  It’s crazy how good they are this year.

-Alabama got a solid road win at Florida 83-70.  It’s not an easy place to go and win, and the fact that the Tide did it shows (again) that they can beat tournament caliber teams on the road.

-Tennessee needed overtime at home to get by Ole Miss, but did manage to hold on and win.

-Villanova blew Creighton into the sun.  It was 75-41.  Whatever issues we thought Villanova was having, they’re not having anymore.  They look like a team that’s good enough to win it all, which is what we expected at the beginning of the year.

-UCF had been looking really strong recently, but not last night.  They lost at home to Temple 66-62, and to call that a damaging loss is an understatement.

-North Carolina could not get the road win at Notre Dame.  Notre Dame probably isn’t a tournament team, but they are good enough to where they are really tough to beat at home.  It would have been a nice win for the Tarheels, and they’re in a position to where they could have really used a nice win, but the loss isn’t going to hurt them too much.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-At the time I’m writing this, 15 games have been either cancelled or postponed

-SAN FRANCISCO VS LOYOLA CHICAGO (Game in Salt Lake City, UT).  I’m looking forward to this one!  Both teams are inside the bubble, and both were able to work this out after having games cancelled.  It’s a resume building opportunity for both teams, and it wouldn’t shock me if we saw both of them in the top half of the bracket.

-OHIO STATE AT INDIANA (Big Ten).  Ohio State is continuing to look like a solid protected seed caliber team. This should be a winnable road game for them.  It won’t be a cakewalk, but it should be winnable.

-MARYLAND AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten).  Illinois has really kicked it into gear and is looking like the team we thought they’d be prior to the start of the season.  They should be able to hold serve at home in this one.

-LONG BEACH STATE AT UCLA.  Buy game.

-SEMO AT BELMONT (Ohio Valley).  Belmont should land inside the bubble so long as they don’t lose to anyone other than Murray State the rest of the way.

-UAB AT NORTH TEXAS (Conference USA).  These are two of the better teams in CUSA, and both are good enough to end up on the bubble.  A win tonight would be huge for whoever can pull it off.

-IOWA AT WISCONSIN (Big Ten).  Wisconsin is coming off one of the biggest wins of the year at Purdue.  They should be tested a little bit tonight by an Iowa team that’s pretty good and it will be interesting to see how they respond after such a big wins.  But, they’re at home and they look to be the better team, so they should be able to hold serve.

-WASHINGTON STATE AT COLORADO (Pac 12).  Colorado is on the outside looking in and needs to string some wins together.

-PACIFIC AT BYU (West Coast).  BYU shouldn’t have too much trouble holding serve in this one.

-SMU AT CINCINNATI (American).  Cincinnati has had their ups and downs this year, but right now it doesn’t look like they’ve had enough ups to be considered a tournament caliber team.  SMU has some work to do, but they can get there.  A road win tonight would certainly help them.

-USC AT CALIFORNIA (Pac 12).  USC is finally back on the court.  Cal is better this year than what they have been, but I don’t think they’ve got it in them to really step up on a top ten caliber team, even if they are at home.  But, with all the pauses and shutdowns and everything else, who knows??

NEWS AND NOTES:

-Baylor got a little bit of a challenge from Oklahoma, but hung on to win.  I say this because if the Sooners play like that the rest of the way, they’ll win a lot of games.

-Texas needed a notable road win and got one against Kansas State.  Their resume needed some boosting because a lot of it was against low caliber teams, but they are starting to build it up to match their ranking.

-Kentucky had a second half lead over LSU, but went cold down the stretch.  They still had a chance to win in the final few seconds, but after an ending that was worthy of the Keystone Cops LSU held on and got a major 65-60 win for them.

-I had been singing the praises of Providence for the past week or so!  Yesterday, that had a chance to pick up another big road win at Marquette!  And…they lost by 30.  They came back down to Earth, and suddenly now some of those wins are lookin questionable because not all of them came against teams at full strength, and Marquette just absolutely blew their doors off.

-Colorado State had to sweat against conference and Front Range rival Air Force (who was actually shorthanded), but held on to get the win and remains unbeaten.

-Ohio U is now 11-2 after picking up a nice road win at Akron.  This isn’t the kind of win that screams protected seed, but it may scream bubble.  It’s not easy to win at Akron.

-Wake Forest totally blasted Florida State last night, and is once again looking like they are at least a tournament caliber team.

-Michigan continues the tailspin they are in, and is showing little to no signs of every coming out of it.  They fell at Rutgers last night 75-67.  It’s not easy to win at Rutgers, but Michigan is now in a stretch where they’ve lost three out of four and other than San Diego State has no real notable wins on the year.

-It’s not easy to win at Minnesota either, but Illinois did last night.  HOLY CRAP!!  It was a 76-53 route in a very impressive showing by the Illini.

-Vanderbilt won at Arkansas 75-74.  Arkansas just isn’t as good as we thought they were a few weeks ago.  Plain and simple.

-Memphis held on to beat Tulsa at home 67-64.  They won, but they showed no signs of actually being any good, which is a recurring problem for them.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-At the time I’m writing this, 17 games have been either cancelled or postponed.

-DEPAUL AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East).  This game has a sense of urgency to it for both teams. Neither team needs to panic yet, but both still have work to do and both could really use this one today.

-NEBRASKA AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten).  Michigan State is one of the hottest teams in the country and shouldn’t have too much trouble holding serve in this one.

-HOUSTON AT SOUTH FLORIDA (American).  The loss of two key players to injury has definitely impacted Houston, but this is still a winnable road game for them.

-ALABAMA AT FLORIDA (SEC).  Alabama had hit a bit of a skid (at least by to 15 standards), but their last win against Tennessee should get them going back in the right direction.  Florida is a team that has underperformed this year, so a win like this could really get them going.

-OLE MISS AT TENNESSEE (SEC).  This should be a winnable bounce back game for the Vols after falling at Alabama their last time out.

-TEMPLE AT UCF (American).  UCF has put together a pretty decent resume and should be able to hold serve at home in this one.

-PITTSBURGH AT LOUISIVILLE (ACC).  Louisville has been playing better, but they need to keep it up.  A home loss in a game like this would undo a lot of what they’ve been able to do in the last week or so.

-VCU AT DAYTON (Atlantic Ten).  VCU may have a path to landing inside the bubble, but it’s a steep one.  Winning tonight won’t be easy as Dayton has proven to be a tough team to beat at home.

-DAVIDSON AT SAINT JOSEPH’S (Atlantic Ten).  This Davidson team looks to be the only A10 team that is solidly inside the bubble right now.  They need to be able to hold serve tonight.

-CHATTANOOGA AT WOFFORD (SoCon).  Chattanooga could end up on the board, but they will basically need to win out to get there.

-SYRACUSE AT MIAMI FL (ACC).  It feels strange to say this about this match-up, but Miami FL is in good shape and needs to hold serve against a Syracuse team that is way outside the bubble right now.

-CREIGHTON AT VILLANOVA (Big East).  Nova is starting to look more and more like a solid protected seed.  Creighton looks like a solid tournament team, but winning on the road against a protected seed caliber team is a very tall order.

-TEXAS TECH AT IOWA STATE (Big 12).  A big match-up between two ranked teams.  Iowa State has lifted a little more weight than Texas Tech up to this point, but a road win in a game like this would give Texas Tech’s resume a HUGE boost.

-NORTH CAROLINA AT NOTRE DAME (ACC).  This is a winnable, but not necessarily easy, road game for the Tarheels, and it’s one that they kind of need because it’s one that tournament caliber teams are expected to be able to win.

-PENN STATE AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten).  I believe Northwestern is outside the bubble, but they are close enough to it to reach it.  They need to hold serve in this one.

NEWS AND NOTES:

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-Wisconsin picked up what is arguably the singular best NCAA Tournament Resume win of the season yesterday when they won at Purdue.  Alabama’s win over Gonzaga in Seattle is in the running, but the difference is that this was on Purdue’s home court.  The atmosphere in Seattle was definitely with the Zags, but the familiarity of the home venue was with Purdue as well as the atmosphere last night.  With that win, you have to start looking at Wisconsin as a protected seed caliber team, at least for now.  Top five teams don’t lost at home.  They just don’t.  I mean if they did, they wouldn’t be ranked in the top five, so…  You can usually easily count the number of combined home losses on one hand in any given season.  So, that win was HUGE!

-Iowa had to sweat out Maryland, but held on for the win.

-An Under the Radar note, Southern held off Texas Southern 63-50 in the SWAC opener for both teams.  We mention this because we believe these are the two best teams in the SWAC, and it was interesting to see them go at it in the conference opener.  The two will face each other one more time during the regular season (COVID permitting) and perhaps a third time in the SWAC Tournament.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-At the time I’m writing this, eight games have been either cancelled or postpoined.

-OHIO U AT AKRON (MAC).  Ohio would pretty much have to run the table in order to be solidly on the board, but they are really good and it’s not a complete impossibility.  This is a tough road game for them, though.

-AUBURN AT SOUTH CAROLINA (SEC).  Based on how Auburn has been playing they may make a push for a #1 seed.  South Carolina has had a better than expected season and comes into this one at 9-3.  A win tonight could help push them onto the national scene.

-OKLAHOMA AT BAYLOR (Big 12).  Oklahoma is good.  They look to be a Tournament caliber team.  And…based on how Baylor has been playing the Sooners seemingly have no shot.  Baylor seems to be putting together one of the strongest resumes of all time.

-TEXAS AT KANSAS STATE (Big 12).  Texas needs more notable wins on their resume, and a conference road win against a decent K State team will go a long way.  K State is a good team that’s in a fantastic conference, so any wins at all are going to be hard to come by.

-KENTUCKY AT LSU (SEC).  Both teams are good, both have had big wins, but both also have room to elevate their resumes and both are good enough to do so.  This is a resume boosting opportunity for both these teams.

-FLORIDA STATE AT WAKE FOREST (ACC).  This game has a real bubblicious feel to it seeing as how right now both teams seem to be right on the bubble and both have work to do.  That should give this game a sense of urgency for both teams.

-NC STATE AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC).  VA Tech needs to string together some wins if they want to be solidly in the NCAA Tournament conversation.

-TEXAS A&M AT GEORGIA (SEC).  TAMU is off to a good 11-2 start, but their resume could still use some bolstering.  A conference road win would help them out.

-MICHIGAN AT RUTGERS (Big Ten).  Michigan has been disappointing this year and needs to start stringing together some wins just to establish themselves as belonging in the tournament at all.  Winning at Rutgers won’t be easy.  They are tough to beat at home.

-ILLINOIS AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten).  Both teams look like solid NCAA Tournament teams.  Minnesota has been a bit of a surprise this year, but comes into this one at 10-1 with a few nice wins.  This would be another one if they’re able to pull it off.

-SETON HALL AT BUTLER (Big East).  Seton Hall is still in good shape on paper, but after two straight losses and an 0-2 start in conference a road win like this could help them bounce back mentally and get some of their momentum back.

-VANDERBILT AT ARKANSAS (SEC).  Arkansas is outside the bubble and has a lot of work to do just to get back in the discussion.  They really need to hold serve tonight.

-GEORGIA TECH AT DUKE (ACC).  Duke should blow through the ACC, and if they do they should end up seeded no worse than the #2 line.

-KANSAS AT OKLHAOMA STATE (Big 12).  Kansas has a path to a #1 seed, but that includes winning road games like this one.

-PROVIDENCE AT MARQUETTE (Big East).  I love this Providence team and actually think they are putting together the kind of resume that should be considered for a #1 seed.  Now, a lot of their big wins came against shorthanded teams, so if they wanted to be put in that company they need to keep winning games like the one they’ll play tonight.  This team is for real, though!

-AIR FORCE AT COLORADO STATE (Mountain West) (Front Range).  We at Hoops HD Love the Front Range!!!  Colorado State looks to remain unbeaten on the year and stay solidly in the rankings.

-TULSA AT MEMPHIS (American).  Memphis has been hot and cold this year.  They still have some work to do and they need to be able to hold serve in games like this.

-VIRGINIA AT CLEMSON (ACC).  Neither team is inside the bubble right now, and both have a lot of work to do.  Winning tonight would be a nice start.