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NEWS AND NOTES

-Southern Illinois remains unbeaten after picking up a road win at Butler.  They actually controlled most of the game, but Butler went on a furious late run to get themselves back in it and actually had a chance to win it, but couldn’t quite get over the hump.  the Salukis have our attention now!

-Penny Hardaway received a five year extension from Memphis yesterday, and celebrated that with a home loss to Frank Haith and Tulsa.

-Boise State handed New Mexico their first loss of the year, and didn’t mess around while doing It.  They blew out the Lobos 77-53.  The more I see Boise State, the more I think they are a solid tournament team.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-MERCER AT KENNESAW STATE.  It’s a winnable road game for Mercer, which would be their third of the year and they’d improve to 7-1 overall.

-OHIO U AT AKRON (MAC).  Ohio has looked really good this year, but didn’t pick up any wins that would define them as an NCAA Tournament team yet.  That gives them a small margin of error for the MAC, so they’ll need to pretty much come close to running the table if they want to be inside the bubble.

-CHATTANOOGA AT TENNESSEE STATE.  Chattanooga is 8-0 and will go after their 5th true road win today.

-TULANE AT EAST CAROLINA (American).  Both teams suffered their first loss of the season their last time out and are looking to bounce back.  I don’t think either one of them will be inside the bubble come March, but both programs are improving and, at least for now, are worth paying attention to.

-COLORADO STATE AT SANTA CLARA.  Colorado State finally has a few games under their belts, but the rust has still been there and they’re looking for their first notable win.  Santa Clara is unbeaten, but also untested, and this is probably their biggest game of the season up to this point.

-CINCINNATI AT UCF (American).  UCF is coming off a big win against Florida State.  they weren’t a team we were particularly excited about coming into the season, but it’s kind of hard to not sit up and take notice after that.  Cincinnati was run off the floor by Georgia in their last game and is looking to wash that taste out of their mouths.

-ABILENE CHRISTIAN AT ARKANSAS.  This would normally be a buy game, but with ACU being one of the better UTR teams out there and their only loss coming in a close game at Texas Tech, and with Arkansas being unbeaten but untested, this is actually one of the more intriguing games of the day.

-NEBRASKA AT WISCONSIN.  Wisky might be one of the best teams in the Big Ten this year, and Nebraska is perhaps the worst.

-BRADLEY AT MISSOURI.  Another game that would normally be a buy game, but with Bradley out to an impressive 6-2 start with one loss being by just 1 point to Xavier, and with Missouri suddenly ranked in the top 15, it’s a game with quite a bit of intrigue.

-TEXAS TECH AT OKLAHOMA (Big 12).  Texas Tech looked really good in their last game against Kansas, but as of now their resume is lacking any real notable wins.  That’s what makes this game tonight so important.  It’s a big game for Oklahoma as well because while they only have one loss, a win against a ranked team would really give their resume a boost.

-NORTH CAROLINA AT NC STATE (ACC).  This is a rivalry game that both teams kinda need to win.  NC State is 4-1, but is lacking statement wins.  UNC has wins against Stanford and Kentucky that sound good, but right now aren’t actually looking that good, so to get this one on the road would help them as well.

-WICHITA STATE AT SOUTH FLORIDA.  South Florida is off to a 5-2 start and beat Cincinnati in their first conference game.  With another win tonight they could have the early makings of being a surprise team in the American.

-VANDERBILT AT DAVIDSON.  Both teams are on the outside looking in, and if I had to guess I’d say both will remain on the outside all the way up until March, but both have also shown some promise and really need this win tonight if they want to build some hope for the season.

-LOUISVILLE AT PITTSBURGH (ACC).  Louisville was blown out by Wisconsin over the weekend and is looking to bounce back from that.  Pitt has won five straight since that awful loss in their season opener and has actually been looking really good.  A win tonight would make the Panthers look even better.

-LA SALLE AT MARYLAND.  Not a buy game, but still a game that Maryland should be expected to win if they want to demonstrate that they’re an NCAA Tournament team.  The better way of putting this is that losing this would demonstrate that they are NOT a tournament team.

-TEMPLE AT HOUSTON (American).  Temple has just been able to play one game this year, whereas Houston is 5-0 with some really nice wins and ranked 6th in the nation.

-WEST VIRGINIA AT KANSAS.  Just another top ten match-up out of the Big 12.  We are going to be seeing a lot of those this year.  Both teams have only one loss, and it’s to the same team (Gonzaga).  Both are contenders for #1 seeds, and winning a game like this is how you get a seed like that.

-PURDUE AT IOWA (Big Ten).  Iowa is coming off their first loss of the season (to Gonzaga), but they are still ranked really high and are still one of the better teams in the Big Ten.  Purdue has a couple of losses, but has also looked really good in their last few games with wins over Ohio State and Notre Dame.  A win tonight would really be a huge boost for the Boilers.

-SAINT MARY’S AT SAN DIEGO STATE.  San Diego State fell out of the rankings after their loss to BYU, but I still think they’re one of the 25 best teams in the country and will have no trouble getting into the top half of the bracket come March.  Saint Mary’s has been a bit of a surprise team this year with an 8-1 record and some decent wins.  If they can pick up the win tonight then they will have really made a statement.

-COLORADO VS GRAND CANYON (Las Vegas, NV).  Colorado’s only loss is to Tennessee and they’ve looked really good all season long.  Grand Canyon has lost their last two games by a combined total of 4 points to two pretty good teams, so a win tonight would help take some of the sting out of those losses.

BUY GAMES (or games that might as well be)

-Alcorn State @ Liberty
-William & Mary @ Virginia
-Hofstra @ Richmond
-James Madison @ VCU
-UT Maritn @ Ole Miss
-UNC Asheville @ Marshall
-North Dakota @ Drake – Drake looking to stay unbeaten
-Montana @ Arizona
-Tennessee Tech @ Western Kentucky
-Northeastern @ Georgia
-East Tennessee State @ Alabama
-Northwestern State @ Gonzaga
-North Dakota State @ TCU

NEWS AND NOTES

-Two big games in the Big Ten yesterday.  First Rutgers took down Illinois, which was their second notable win of the year and I think helps solidify them as a top 25 team.  In the preseason I picked Rutgers as one of my Final Four teams.  While that may have been a bit of a stretch, I really do think they are protected seeded caliber team and are capable of making a Final Four with a more experienced team that can win away from home.  They weren’t away from home yesterday, but they can play and beat top 25 teams and they can play and win away from home.

-Michigan State can win away from home, but didn’t yesterday.  Northwestern, who had looked rather unimpressive on the year coming into yesterday, pretty much had a lead from tip to buzzer and knocked off Sparty without really having to sweat to do it.  Talk about a team that has come out of nowhere, but suddenly Northwestern is 4-1 on the year with a huge conference win under their belts.

-It was an incredible day in the Big East as well with two overtime games and another that was own on a last second shot.  Xavier knocked off Marquette in a very exciting game that was close all throughout.  Adam Kunkel, who just became eligible via the NCAA’s blanket eligibility for transfers, was the hero with 22pts in just 17 minutes of play, and 3 of those points came at the buzzer after Marquette had converted a 4pt play on the previous possession to tie the game.

-Creighton needed overtime to get by UConn in another game that seesawed back and forth, but they held on for the road win.  UConn may feel liked they were just kicked in the gut, but this is clearly a tournament caliber team and I”ll be shocked if they don’t end up getting the wins they need to get to go dancing in March.

-Providence picked up a big road win against Seton Hall in overtime.  The Friars were a little disappointing in their MTE at the beginning of the season, but have been playing well lately.

-Texas held on to beat a really good Oklahoma State team 77-74.  They trailed for a good portion of the game, but were never out of it and got yet another nice win on their resume.  Texas has all the earmarks of a protected seed this year.

-Minnesota had a bloated record coming into yesterday, but they had pretty much gone to the bakery and loaded up on cupcakes in order to get it.  They looked really good against Saint Louis yesterday and got what was their biggest statement win of the year.  Minney is now 7-1 on the season.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-VERMONT AT UMASS LOWELL (America East).  This isn’t a game that we would normally highlight, but we like this Vermont team and this is their first chance to get on the court this season.

-SAINT JOSEPH’S AT TENNESSEE.  I almost put this down with the buy games.  Tennessee is a probable protected seed and Saint Joe’s is winless and would probably have some trouble even winning a home buy game this year.

-BELMONT AT EVANSVILLE.  Belmont continues to fly way under the national radar, but a win tonight will get them to 8-1 on the season and give them their third true road win.

-CHARLESTON AT GEORGIA STATE (Colonial).  Georgia State is another UTR team that’s flying below the sight line of the nation, but a win tonight gets them to 6-1 on the year.  With wins against Georgia Tech and Mercer they are worth paying attention to.

-SOUTHERN ILLINOIS AT BUTLER.  Butler has looked good at the times they’ve been on the court, but they are just 1-2 coming into this game and are in a bit of an urgent situation here.  Southern Illinois is unbeaten, but hasn’t lifted any really heavy weight yet so this is an opportunity for them to pick up a big win as well.

-TULSA AT MEMPHIS (American).  Memphis has gotten off to a slow start and needs to pick up their speed kinda quickly if they want any chance of finishing inside the bubble.

-LITTLE ROCK AT MISSOURI STATE.  An interesting UTR game between a Little Rock team that we think can be a Sun Belt frontrunner and a Missouri State who comes into this one at 2-0 and will be somewhat tested tonight.

-NEW MEXICO ST BOISE STATE (Mountain West).  Boise State certainly got our attention with their win against BYU.  They don’t look to be as good as San Diego State, but they certainly look like a tournament caliber team.  They host a New Mexico team that is coming into this one at 3-0 in what is by far their biggest test of the year up to this point.

BUY GAMES (or games that might as well be)

-Morehead State @ Clemson
-Wofford @ Texas A&M
-Bryant @ UMass – Bryant is 6-2 and has played well this year
-SC State @ Furman
-Gardner Webb @ Florida State
-Prairie View A&M @ Washington State
-Arkansas Pine Bluff @ Baylor
-Longwood @ Virginia Tech
-Northwestern State @ Gonzaga
-Texas Southern @ BYU