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NEWS AND NOTES

-It was a busy Saturday!  Let’s start with one of the most unbelievable games that you’ll ever see.  Colorado State, who we thought was good but also knew was untested, fell behind on the road 28-4 to a San Diego State who we knew was good and who had been tested.  If you changed the channel at this point, that’s understandable.  But, Colorado State kept chipping away, and chipping away, and had pulled even in the second half, and then ended up getting a 70-67 win in a game that came down to the final play.  This is a massive win for Colorado State and makes a huge statement that they belong inside the bubble.  It’s also kind of a kick in the teeth to San Diego State, but they should be fine so long as they hold serve the rest of the year.

-Texas shocked us all yesterday.  We probably weren’t expecting them to win at Kansas, but also believed it was possible.  What we didn’t think was possible was for them to blow Kansas off their own floor, but that’s basically what they did.  Texas played a great first half and had a decent lead at the half.  They played an unreal second half and blew Kansas off the floor.  What a HUGE statement from the Longhorns!

-Alabama picked up a huge scalp yesterday as they knocked off 7th ranked Tennessee on the road.  This is the kind of win that makes the difference between being on the bubble and safely inside the bubble.  One of the biggest wins for the Tide (on the hardwood) in a long time.

-West Virginia was another top ten team that fell yesterday (albeit not at home like Kansas and Tennessee) as Oklahoma picked up a huge statement win.  This is clearly the standout win on the Sooners’ resume at the moment.

-Iowa almost became the 4th top 10 team to lose yesterday as they seesawed back and forth with Rutgers in a game that came down to the final possession before they got the 77-75 win.  It is actually a really solid road win for the Hawkeyes given how high Rutgers is in the rankings, and how the Knights will still likely contend for a protected seed.

-Oklahoma State got a huge win at Texas Tech.  If the Pokes can get their waiver, they will be inside the bubble and in the field.

-Florida picked up a big home win against LSU in an 83-79 battle, which gets them to 2-0 in SEC play after being off for close to three weeks.

-Furman knocked off Mercer for the second time in two days, and now appears to be the class of the SoCon.  If they can run the table there may be some room for them inside the bubble, but not getting a really big OOC win is going to hurt them.

-Saint Bonaventure picked up a huge statement win at Richmond yesterday.  The game also means a ton on paper.  The Bonnies haven’t had the chance to play very many games, and you’re hoping they can still find a way to get some decent OOC games on the schedule, but as of now they’re 3-1 on the year and have a road win against a Richmond team that appeared to be among the best (if not THE best) in the Atlantic Ten.

-UCF fell at South Florida.  They have some big wins, but also have some head scratching losses to offset those.  At just 3-3 they are really going to have to hit the gas between now and the end of the season.

-UCLA picked up another big win as they knocked off Colorado at home and improved to 7-2 on the year.  The Bruins appear to be in good shape early.

-Arizona needed two overtimes to hand Washington State their first loss of the season.  Wazzu hadn’t beaten any good teams, and had quite frankly struggled against some really weak teams, so we weren’t paying too much attention to their undefeated record, but given how well they played yesterday we may need to start giving them a little more love.

-Charlotte punched a huge hole into Western Kentucky’s hopes of ending up inside the bubble as they picked up the 75-71 overtime win.  Charlotte hasn’t had that great of a season overall, but they do have home wins against Davidson and WKU, so if good teams overlook them they can beat them.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-OHIO STATE AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten).  It looks as though it’s as tough to win at Minnesota as it Is anywhere in the country, and Ohio State could use some more wins away from home to build up the quality of their resume.  Having said that, both teams are in the rankings, but teams are in good shape overall, and both have the chance to add another good win to their profiles.

-DRAKE AT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (Missouri Valley).  Really good game tonight between two of the better teams in the MVC that are out to great starts.  Southern Illinois is coming off their first loss of the season and looking to bounce back, whereas Drake is still unbeaten.  It’s a good test for both of these two.

-WAKE FOREST AT GEORGIA TECH (ACC).  Not much was expected of Wake, and they have had trouble getting games in, but they are 3-0.  Georgia Tech comes in with a decent resume at 5-3 overall with wins over Kentucky and North Carolina and are looking to keep some of that momentum going.

-HOUSTON AT SMU (American).  Houston is trying to bounce back from their first loss of the season, and they’e got one of their toughest remaining games of the season tonight against unbeaten SMU on the road.  SMU hasn’t gotten that much national attention, but that’ll change if they can win this one tonight.

-NORTHWESTERN AT MICHIGAN (Big Ten).  Michigan is unbeaten, but this is probably their biggest test of the year up to this point.  Northwestern is trying to bounce back from a loss to Iowa and keep themselves in the top 25.

-WISCONSIN AT PENN STATE (Big Ten).  Wisky is a top ten team, an apparent conference frontrunner, and a likely protected seed.  Penn State is kind of hanging on and trying to build up the type of resume that will get them inside the bubble.  Beating a team like Wisconsin would be a huge help in that regard.

NEWS AND NOTES

-HAPPY NEW YEAR!!  (We hope).  Due to travel plans, I’ve written up today’s and tomorrow’s games in the same post.

-Wisconsin bounced back from their loss against Maryland and picked up a decisive win over rival Minnesota yesterday.

-Colorado picked up what was probably their biggest win of the year to date with a win at USC after maintaining a lead throughout the entire game.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES: FRIDAY, JAN 1ST

-LIBERTY AT LIPSCOMB (Atlantic Sun).  Liberty has a few decent wins and may find themselves on the bubble if they’re able to blow through the ASun, but anything short of that and they’ll need the automatic bid.  Also play Saturday

-WESTERN KENTUCKY AT CHARLOTTE (Conference USA).  WKU is good enough to be inside the bubble on Selection Sunday, but they’ll need to run away from C-USA, which is easier said than done with having to win back to back road games.  Charlotte has a win over Davidson, so WKU better not overlook them.  Also play Saturday

-GEORGIA STATE AT COASTAL CAROLINA (Sun Belt).  Both teams are 6-1, but Georgia State is clearly the more tested team.  If they can blow through the Sun Belt they have a good chance of ending up inside the bubble.

-KENT STATE AT AKRON (MAC).  Both teams are off to modest 3-1 starts and have shown some promise this year.

-WRIGHT STATE AT OAKLAND (Horizon League).  Oakland is probably better than their 2-9 record given some of the teams they’ve played, but Wright State appears to be the class of the league and should be able to run away from the conference.

-MARSHALL AT LOUISIANA TECH (Conference USA).  Both of these teams have looked good so far, especially Marshall, and it will be interesting to see what they do against each other in the CUSA opener.  Also play Saturday

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES: SATURDAY, JAN 2ND

-TEXAS AT KANSAS (Big 12).  Both teams are in the top ten.  Texas has looked like a protected seed and Kansas has looked like a #1 seed.  This would be a huge resume building win, and for that matter a #1 seed caliber win, for whoever pulls it off.

-CREIGHTON AT PROVIDENCE (Big East).  This would be a nice road win for a Creighton team that already has a pretty good resume.  Providence could really increase the value of their resume if with a win today as well.

-MISSOURI AT ARKANSAS (SEC).  Missouri is looking to bounce back from the pasting they received from Tennessee in their last game.  Arkansas in unbeaten, but also mostly untested, so this is a chance for us to learn something about them.

-LOUISVILLE AT BOSTON COLLEGE (ACC).  This should be a winnable road game for the Cardinals, which would get them to 7-1 on the year.

-BAYLOR AT IOWA STATE (Big 12).  Iowa State is usually a tough place to play, but not this year.  The Bears are a better team and Hilton Magic just won’t be the same without a packed house.

-IOWA AT RUTGERS (Big Ten).  Rutgers has battled injuries, but is still managing to beat teams.  Beating Iowa will be a somewhat taller order, though.  Both teams are top 15 teams and both could end up as protected seeds, so this is a resume building game.

-VIRGINIA TECH AT VIRGINIA (ACC).  It’s a rivalry game between two teams who’s resumes have room for improvement, especially Virginia’s.  So, quite a bit at stake.

-EAST CAROLINA AT TULANE (American).  I don’t think East Carolina will be there at the end, but this is a winnable road game, which would get them to 8-1 on the year.

-CLEMSON AT MIAMI FL (ACC).  Miami has dealt with injuries, but they are really good when they are healthy.  Clemson is coming off another nice win against Florida State and continues to build a really good resume.  They should be back in the top 25 next week if they can win this one today.

-LSU AT FLORIDA (SEC).  I think both of these teams are good, but both also have a lot of work to do, so this is a big opportunity for both teams, who should both have some sense of urgency coming into this game.

-TCU AT KANSAS STATE (Big 12).  TCU has looked good at times, but it is very important that they hold serve in games like this.  This is the kind of road game tournament teams need to be able to win.

-MERCER AT FURMAN (SoCon).  These appear to be the two best teams in the SoCon.  Both have an outside shot at landing inside the bubble, but they’ll need to blow through the conference to do it.  Mercer lost their last time out, so they’ll be looking to rebound from that.

-DAVIDSON AT VCU (Atlantic Ten).  Davidson has looked really good at times this season, but not enough of the time for me to declare them a likely tournament team (at least not yet).  VCU has looked good and will get to 9-2 if they can win this one today.

-GEORGIA STATE AT COASTAL CAROLINA (Sun Belt).  Both teams have just one loss, but Georgia State has clearly been tested more and they might be able to make some noise this March.  This is probably the first real test for Coastal so it’ll be interesting to see what they can do.

-WEST VIRGINIA AT OKLAHOMA (Big 12).  Oklahoma is probably NCAA Tournament good, and West Virginia is probably protected seed good.  A win for either team would certainly help their resumes.

-OKLAHOMA STATE AT TEXAS TECH (Big 12).  As good as Texas Tech has looked they don’t really have any big time wins yet.  This would increase the value of their resume if they’re able to pull it off.  It’d be a huge statement win for Oklahoma State as well, and would help their NCAA Tournament chances (pending the results of their waiver).

-UTAH AT USC (Pac 12).  I like what I’ve seen out of this USC team so far and think they deserve a little more love than what they’re getting.  This should be a winnable home game against a decent Utah team.

-NOTRE DAME AT NORTH CAROLINA (ACC).  North Carolina once again looks to be on the outside looking in and needs to win this game to keep from falling further down a steeper slope.

-COLORADO STATE AT SAN DIEGO STATE (Mountain West).  San Diego State has looked really strong this year, and while they’re currently not in the rankings they probably should be.  Colorado State has looked good as well, but this is their first really big test, so this one is definitely worth watching.

-BUTLER AT SETON HALL (Big East).  Seton Hall just throttled Xavier on the road and really looks to be playing well right now having won six of their last seven.  They should keep that streak going today.

-SAINT BONAVENTURE AT RICHMOND (Atlantic Ten).  We think the Bonnies are good, but they haven’t played enough games yet.  We like this Richmond team, but while their resume is decent it still needs some work.  In short, this is important for both teams.

-BELMONT AT UT MARTIN (Ohio Valley).  If anyone from the OVC has any chance at all of landing inside the bubble, it’s Belmont.  A win gets them to 10-1 on the season, but even with that they’ll likely need to run the table in conference.

-ALABAMA AT TENNESSEE (SEC).  Alabama is probably good enough to make the NCAA Tournament, but they’re really swinging over their heads tonight.  Tennessee has looked good enough to potentially contend for a #1 seed.  A win tonight will get them to 8-0 on the year.

-PURDUE AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten).  Big things were expected from Illinois this year, and while they’ve lost three games and haven’t delivered quite as much as some were expecting yet, the key word to that is YET.  They could still have a big year.  Purdue has tournament hopes of their own, and a win tonight would be a big plus for them.

-KENTUCKY AT MISSISSIPPI STATE (SEC).  Mississippi State is a modest 6-3, but they’ve still got a lot of work to do to make it inside the bubble.  Kentucky probably has even more work to do.  They are running out of time to get things turned around.

-WICHITA STATE AT OLE MISS.  Both teams appear to be on the outside looking in, but both are still in the race.  A win today would certainly help.

-ARIZONA STATE AT WASHINGTON (Pac 12).  Arizona State is finally able to get back onto the court.  A win today doesn’t really help them as much as a loss would break their legs.

-UCF AT SOUTH FLORIDA (American).  This UCF team has been on a bit of a roll and they should be able to keep it up with another road win tonight against a conference rival.

-MARQUETTE AT GEORGETOWN (Big East).  Marquette has been up and down this year, but their ups have been such high ups (wins over Wisconsin and Creighton) that I still think their resume is shaping up to be good enough.  Having said that, they don’t want a loss like this on there, nor do they want to fall to 5-6.

-MICHIGAN STATE AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten).  Sparty has really looked rough in their last few games.  They kinda need this one to get some of their confidence back and to stop the bleeding a little bit.

-DUKE AT FLORIDA STATE (ACC).  Both teams are ranked, but both also have a lot of question marks and both are in need of some good wins on their resume.

-COLORADO AT UCLA (Pac 12).  I really like both these teams and think we could see both of them dancing, but both still have work to do.

-BYU AT SAN DIEGO (West Coast).  BYU had some really big OOC wins and appear to be in good shape.  They shouldn’t have too much picking up this conference road win tonight.

-BOISE STATE AT SAN JOSE STATE (Mountain West).  I like this Boise State team and think they’ll make the NCAA Tournament.  Tonight’s win will probably feel like a buy game even though they’re on the road.

-SAN FRANCISCO AT GONZAGA (West Coast).  San Francisco has a big win against Virginia this year, but they’ve also struggled against some teams that you would have expected them to beat easily.  Gonzaga has been beating everyone easily and is clearly the best team in the country.

-STANFORD AT OREGON (Pac 12).  A lot was expected of Stanford this year and while they haven’t delivered any massive wins yet, I still think they’re good enough to make it to the dance.  A win tonight would certainly help, but it’s much easier said than done.

-ARIZONA AT WASHINGTON STATE (Pac 12).  Arizona comes in at 7-1, but that doesn’t seem to matter much since they gave themselves a postseason ban.  Wazzu is unbeaten, but has played a pitiful schedule and had to sweat out some wins against pitiful teams.  If they can win this one they’ll have our attention, though.