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NEWS, NOTES, AND LINKS:

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-Alabama added another big win to their already long lost of big wins as they knocked off Mississippi State on the road 88-84. This is Alabama’s 5th win away from home against a team that could potentially end up as a protected seed, and three of those were true road wins. That is simply a remarkable season!

-Houston sprinted out to a big lead against West Virginia, then played with their food for a little bit, but still held on to win 63-49. Houston has a back-loaded schedule and is now starting to pick up the really high caliber wins that can land them on the 1 or 2 line come March.

-Wisconsin, who needed a big road win to help boost up their resume, couldn’t get it done last night at Maryland as the Terps won 76-68. Maryland is on a bit of a run. Prior to this win last night they had knocked off Indiana and Illinois on the road.

-UConn slept through their alarm last night, and actually trailed DePaul at home for much of the game, but finally woke up and held on to win 72-61.

-Start paying attention to Drake. They are now 19-2 and beat a pretty good Northern Iowa team rather handily last night. I think this is a team that, if they can keep this up, can make the NCAA Tournament without winning the conference tournament. Them and UC Irvine (who plays tonight) are both inside our bubble right now.

-Bradley was another team we were watching closely, but they were blown out, at home, by UIC. That’s gonna leave a mark! And it probably means that if Bradley loses any game between now and the conference tournament final that they’ll need to win that last conference tournament game in order to make it.

-Creighton continues to string together wins as they held off a Xavier team that doesn’t have the best overall profile, but who had been playing well lately. The Jays prevailed 86-77.

-Saint Mary’s game at Santa Clara was just nuts. SMC was down 24-22, then went on a 30-0 run to seem to blow the game completely open. Santa Clara did come back to make it respectable, but SMC got the win on the road 67-54.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-OHIO STATE AT PENN STATE (Big Ten). Ohio State is right on the bubble, but their resume is really flimsy. This is the kind of road game they need to be able to win. Penn State has shown signs of being good, but has lost six of their last seven. What makes them potentially dangerous is that many of those were close games against really good teams.

-ILLINOIS AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten). Nebraska has completely skidded off the road. While Illinois has been inconsistent, they’ve also looked like a Final Four caliber team on certain nights. They should be able to pick up a road win tonight.

-MEMPHIS AT TULANE (American). Tulane has come on strong in conference play and they’ve improved throughout the year. This is still a game that Memphis should absolutely win, but Tulane does get to play a showcase game at home and their fans should be up for it.

-UC IRVINE AT LONG BEACH STATE (Big West). This is the Black and Blue Rivalry!!! Having said that, while you can’t completely dismiss the rivalry factor, UC Irvine is clearly the better team and should roll through this one. If the Eaters win out they should end up inside the bubble.

-OREGON AT UCLA (Big Ten). These two are long-time conference foes! They’re short time Big Ten foes, but long time conference foes!! Ever since Mick Cronin had his little meltdown, UCLA has been undeniably better. They’re at home tonight against an Oregon team that appears to be on track for a protected seed and has played very well on the road, so I’m kind of anxious to see how this one comes out.

NEWS AND NOTES:

-Kentucky, who only had one true road win coming into yesterday, got another massive one yesterday as they knocked off Tennessee in Knoxville 78-73. Kentucky has a fantastic profile, but this is probably their most impressive single win of the year, and certainly the biggest statement of the year. The Vols have now suddenly lost two straight, albeit both games were to really strong teams.

-Kansas trailed for a good portion of the game against UCF and never really got control of it until the final seconds, but they did escape with a 91-87 win. UCF has now lost close games to both Houston and at Kansas. Either one of those wins (much less both of them) would have changed the entire complexion of UCF’s season and their tournament resume. If they can keep playing like that they should pick up the wins they need between now and the end to land safely inside the bubble, but as of now they still have work to do.

-Louisville ran away from Wake Forest for another impressive showing. The final score was 72-59, but for much of the game Louisville had an even more commanding lead than that.

-VCU and Dayton, the two teams from the Atlantic 10 who we were saying needed to win out in order to have any sort of a chance, both lost yesterday. VCU fell to Saint Louis and Dayton was blown off the court by Saint Bonaventure.

-Arizona State escaped with a tough fought, and much needed, road win at Colorado 70-68. That should at least help stabilize their resume for now.

-Baylor, who could have really used the road win at BYU yesterday, fell in overtime 93-89.

-North Carolina is right on the bubble, and a road win at Pitt would have helped them out a ton. Unfortunately, they did not get a road win at Pitt. The Panthers got control of the game in the final minute and picked up a 73-65 win, which helps stabilize their own profile.

-San Diego State got a big scare from San Jose State, but escaped 71-68 and just avoided what would have been a very damaging loss.

-Gonzaga beating Oregon State at home doesn’t move the needle that much, but the Zags absolutely blew them out of the gym in what was perhaps one of their most impressive on-court performances of the year so far. The final score was 98-60.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-SAMFORD AT FURMAN (SoCon). This game won’t impact the bracket, but Samford is having another fantastic year and this is a big road test for them against a Furman team that’s looked good in a lot of games, but also failed to win several games that they probably should have.

-AUBURN AT LSU (SEC). It’s another road test for Auburn, but they’ve passed virtually ever test they’ve taken this year and should roll in this one as well.

-HOUSTON AT WEST VIRGINIA (Big 12). Houston just picked up their first really big protected seed level win at Kansas this past weekend, and have a chance to pick up what would probably be their second biggest win of the season if they can win at WVU tonight. It will be a battle, but Houston is as strong as anyone in the country and this is a road game they can win. As for WVU, a win for them would really boost their resume even though they’re at home.

-WISCONSIN AT MARYLAND (Big Ten). I think both these teams are good, but also have room to improve. I’ve been critical of Wisky on the shows and in the write-ups lately, but if they can go on the road and win this one, which I think would be their biggest win of the year so far, then I’ll start to come around to them more. Maryland had two big road wins this week at Illinois and Indiana, which really strengthened their resume, and can strengthen it again with a win tonight.

-TCU AT TEXAS TECH (Big 12). TCU is 15-4 overall, having a really strong year, and can get to a very impressive 7-2 in Big 12 play if they win this one tonight.

-NORTHERN IOWA AT DRAKE (Missouri Valley). This is a rivalry game between a Drake team that I still think has a path to landing inside the bubble (albeit a narrow one), and a Northern Iowa team that hasn’t always played up to their potential, but is also potentially very dangerous when they do. This should be a fun one!

-NORTH TEXAS AT WICHITA STATE (American). We say this every game, but if North Texas can run the table, which they are good enough to do, the committee should give them a serious look.

-DEPAUL AT CONNECTICUT (Big East). This should be some low hanging fruit for a UConn team that needs a win. They’ve lost three out of five and they have a really tough stretch of games coming up after this.

-UIC AT BRADLEY (Missouri Valley). Bradley needs to win out to get a serious look from the committee, and they’ve got a UIC team that’s red hot right now and that they do not want to overlook.

-XAVIER AT CREIGHTON (Big East). This is a hugely important game for a Xavier team that is suddenly playing a lot better than they had for most of the season, and can perhaps play their way inside the bubble if they keep it up. A win today against a Creighton team that is also playing really well right now would go a very long way. Both teams are trending up and both have something to gain from this one.

-ALABAMA AT MISSISSIPPI STATE (SEC). This is going to be a fun one!! Alabama is on pace to earn a #1 seed, and Mississippi State appears to be on pace to earn a protected seed, especially if they can get a win tonight.

-TEXAS AT OLE MISS (SEC). Texas got a big win over the weekend, but on paper this would be a lot bigger considering it’s a true road game against a probable protected seed. It would also get Texas to 4-4 in the SEC, which puts them well on pace for going safely into the field.

-SAINT MARY’S AT SANTA CLARA (West Coast). I really like this Saint Mary’s team and they are about to begin a rough stretch in their schedule. If they can get this one on the road and continue to pick up some wins against the better teams in the conference after this we may be thinking about them as a protected seed.

-UNLV AT UTAH STATE (Mountain West). UNLV beat Utah State just two weeks ago, but has lost two games since then and beating them on the road is a much tougher ordeal. Utah State should land in the top half of the bracket, and is a very good team that has a chance to win out.