This week’s feature conference is the Sun Belt, where we’ve seen Arkansas State have a big year so far with some big OOC wins, but South Alabama has also come on strong and is sitting at the top of the standings. The other unique thing about this league is how much parity exists within it. As of now, just one game separates 4th place from 12th place, and given the crazy conference tournament format that should make for a compelling rest of the season.
After that we run through the other 21 OOC conferences and discuss what a surprise Maine has been this year and their big game coming up against UMass Lowell tomorrow, the overall strength of the Big South and how UNC Asheville is in 1st place, UC Irvine looks like they have a path to landing inside the bubble if they can continue to dominate the Big West, Drake and Bradley are having really big years in the Missouri Valley, and McNeese is starting to come on strong out of the Southland. We discuss all that, and more! And, as we do every week, we close with this week’s UTR Top Ten.
And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…
Longwood (14-6, 3-2) at Radford (13-7, 3-2) – 7:00 PM ET (ESPN+)
Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day heads to Radford, Virginia as the host Highlanders meet the Longwood Lancers in a Big South showdown. Radford had been tied with UNC-Asheville for the conference lead on the heels of a 3-game winning streak, but they fell a game behind after a surprising loss against Charleston Southern in their last outing. Jarvis Moss averages 13.7 points a game for Radford.
Longwood rebounded from a dismal performance against Winthrop (in the famed Winwood Cup) by beating High Point 82-80 at home to knock out the Panthers from first place as well. With 3 wins in their last four games (including a win against Asheville), Longwood is shaping up as a contender for the Big South title this year. Elijah Tucker led Longwood with 16 points in the aforementioned win against High Point.
-Iowa State must’ve been angry after their loss at West Virginia. They absolutely clobbered UCF 108-83 and they still look very much like a #1 seed caliber team.
-Alabama dominated Vanderbilt 103-87 and is also looking very much like a #1 seed caliber team.
-Tennessee bounced back from their road loss at Vanderbilt and easily beat Mississippi State 68-56, and for most of the game the score was a lot more lopsided than what the final ended up being.
-Ohio State managed a BIIG upset win at Purdue!! Ohio State’s resume is flimsy, but they now have wins against Kentucky on a neutral floor and Purdue on the road, which are two of the better wins that any team has. Furthermore, it was a high water moment for Ohio State athletics!! It had been a long time since that school had been in the spotlight for this kind of an athletic feat!!!
-UCLA, who had been in a tailspin, had a big 85-83 home win against Wisconsin yesterday. This was their second straight win after dropping four straight prior to that, so the Bruins appear to be back on track. Or, at the very least, not quite as far off track.
-UConn needed overtime to sweat out an 80-78 win against…(checks notes)…Butler?? Yes, Butler! And the Bulldogs actually had a chance to win at the buzzer, but a three-pointer missed and UConn escaped. Not exactly a decisive win against a solid team, but a win nonetheless.
-Missouri, who I was praising on our last two podcasts, of course weny on the road to Texas and fell 61-53.
-West Virginia, who we had all been praising for a week, of course lost at home 65-57 to an Arizona State team that appeared to be in a complete tailspin prior to last night.
-Louisville went to SMU and absolutely blew up the building. It was a 98-73 blowout road win. I know SMU isn’t all that good, and perhaps people are reacting a little too much to this, but there is no doubt about Louisville being a top 25 caliber team, and this follows two seasons where they were among the worst in all of D1. So, it is a pretty cool story.
-Wake Forest held on to beat North Carolina 67-66. North Carolina hit a 3 as time expired, but the game was in hand before that. The last 30 second of this game took over 12 minutes to play, and that is just absurd. It was replay after replay after replay when it really wasn’t necessary, and it was taking way longer than it should to make a decision. 12 minutes for 30 seconds of play is going to make people get up and leave. No one wants to watch nothing, and for 11 mins and 30 seconds of that 12 minute stretch that is exactly what was happening.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-UTAH AT HOUSTON (Big 12). Houston picked up their 10th straight win after barely surviving at UCF, and they should be able to keep that streak going tonight against a Utah team that’s not near the bubble.
-FLORIDA AT SOUTH CAROLINA (SEC). It’s not easy to win on the road, but this should still be a winnable road game for the Gators against a South Carolina team that’s still winless in SEC play.
-KANSAS AT TCU (Big 12). Again, it’s never easy to win on the road, but this should be a winnable road game for the Jayhawks.
-XAVIER AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East). This is a big game for both teams. Xavier was having a sluggish season, but just picked up a huge win at Marquette which completely turned htings around for them, and they now seem to have a path to land inside the bubble. Saint John’s has a really good record, but right now they don’t have any real key wins at the top of their profile, so you get the sense that they almost need to avoid losing this one at home.
-SYRACUSE AT CLEMSON (ACC). This is a straight up “Hold-Serve” game for Clemson. They should be able to win home games against non-tournament teams.
-INDIANA AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten). At best both teams are on the bubble right now, and perhaps they aren’t even positioned that well. Both really need this win and a bunch of other wins between now and the end if they want to make the field.
-VALPARAISO AT DRAKE (Missouri Valley). At 16-2 overall, I still think Drake has a path to landing inside the bubble if they can keep blowing through the MVC.
-TEMPLE AT NORTH TEXAS (American). North Texas is a legit good team, but they have virtually zero margin for error if they want to land on the committee’s board and be considered for an at-large bid. They basically can’t lose to anyone other than Memphis, and they may even need to manage to beat Memphis.
-TEXAS A&M AT OLE MISS (SEC). Both teams are solidly in the rankings, both have managed big wins this season, and both are within reach of earning a protected seed. That makes this game a big resume-building opportunity.
-KANSAS STATE AT BAYLOR (Big 12). Baylor is in the field, but there is certainly room for them to improve and move up the seedlist. They need to hold serve at home tonight to avoid having their resume take a hit.
-NEVADA AT UTAH STATE (Mountain West). Despite a recent surprise loss Utah State is still in really good shape and will remain in the top half of our brackets so long as they keep holding serve and stringing together wins.
-USC AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten). It feels like Nebraska is on the bubble right now, so every game has a sense of urgency to it. They can’t afford to lose a home game to a team that’s nowhere near the field right now.
-GEORGIA AT ARKASNAS (SEC). Georgia is a solid team who has lost two straight, but both were to top ten teams and they came very close to upsetting Auburn in their last game. This should be a winnable road game for them, which is a big deal because it would only be their second true road win of the season. Arkansas is a talented team, but they’ve done very little with that talent and are still winless in the SEC.
-AIR FORCE AT SAN DIEGO STATE (Mountain West). AFA can be a tricky team to play against, but San Diego State should be able to take care of them at home and remain securely inside our bracket.
-VANDERBILT AT ALABAMA (SEC). Vanderbilt is a solid tournament caliber team that’s coming off a big upset win against Tennessee, but Alabama is a team that looks like they’re on pace to end up with a #1 seed and who seems next to impossible to beat at home.
-MISSISSIPPI STATE AT TENNESSEE (SEC). Both teams are ranked in the top 15 and Tennessee is still within reach of a #1 seed. Mississippi State just had a big win against their rivals Ole Miss, but beating Tennessee on the road (who is looking to bounce back from a loss themselves) is a very tall order.
-BUTLER AT UCONN (Big East). UConn has slipped down the seedlist a little bit and needs to hold serve and get the win in this one.
-TEXAS TECH AT CINCINNATI (Big 12). Cincinnati has looked a little better recently with two straight wins, but still has a lot of work to do. Texas Tech is inside the bubble and has won four of their last five. Another road win will their profile look even stronger.
-VCU AT RHODE ISLAND (Atlantic 10). The A10 is really weak this year, and if VCU wants any shot at landing inside the bubble they pretty much need to blow through it.
-OHIO STATE AT PURDUE (Big Ten). Ohio State’s overall profile has a lot of weaknesses, and while a win tonight would go a long way toward turning things around, it’s far easier said than done. Purdue should be able to hold serve in this one and keep themselves within the group of likely protected seeds.
-BRADLEY AT BELMONT (Missouri Valley). We say this about them every game, but Bradley should be able to reach the bubble if they can continue to blow through the MVC.
-MISSOURI AT TEXAS (SEC). Missouri is playing really well lately and can continue to make their resume look better if they can pick up yet another road win tonight. Texas seems very bubblicious, and needs to approach this game with a sense of urgency.
-ARIZONA AT OKLAHOMA STATE (Big 12). Overall Arizona has looked better than they did in the first part of the season, but their resume still isn’t stable to the point of them being able to mail it in. It’s a road game, but it’s a road game against an Oklahoma State team that’s nowhere near the NCAA Tournament, and therefore one that Arizona should be able to win.
-NORTH CAROLINA AT WAKE FOREST (ACC). Wake has been on a rampage recently, but while they’ve won a lot of games in that stretch none have been against super high caliber opponents. North Carolina has been slipping and is sort of going in the opposite direction. They could really use a road win like this to stabilize themselves.
-CREIGHTON AT DEPAUL (Big East). The top of Creighton’s resume is really solid, but they still need to hold serve in games like this in order to remain safely inside the bubble.
-WISCONSIN AT UCLA (Big Ten). UCLA finally snapped a four game losing streak with a blowout win against Iowa, but tonight is a much bigger test. Wisconsin is in the rankings with an impressive 15-3 overall record, and just won rather easily against USC. This would be the third true road win of the season for the Badgers if they can pull it off.
-WASHINGTON AT OREGON (Big Ten). It’s a rivalry game, but it’s one that Oregon shouldn’t have too much trouble winning at home and staying within the group of likely protected seeds.
We once again start off in the SEC where Auburn retains the overall #1 ranking, Alabama, and Kentucky, and Tennessee, and Florida are all still high in the rankings, and it looks like there are as many as 11 or 12 teams that could make the NCAA Tournament. We also recap a crazy week that saw Vanderbilt upset Tennessee, Gonzaga lose two games, North Carolina is struggling, UNLV pull two upsets against Utah State and San Diego State, and 18 teams in the top 25 suffer a loss this past week. We discuss all that and more as we run through all of the power conferences.
And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…
Jackson State (4-13, 4-0) at Texas Southern (6-11, 3-1) – 4:00 PM ET (YouTube TV)
Today’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to Houston, Texas in advance of a rare snowfall event expected to take place tomorrow. The Jackson State Tigers visit town with wins in their first four games in league play; today is the second leg of their Texas trip coming off of a 79-70 win at Prairie View on Saturday. Daeshun Ruffin had 26 points in the victory over the Panthers.
Texas Southern opened up league play with a 9-point loss at home to Southern, but have since won three straight games to remain within a game of first-place Jackson State. On Saturday, Zaire Hayes led TSU with 16 points in a 66-57 victory against Alcorn State.
OTHER NEWS, NOTES, AND GAMES FROM DAVID GRIGGS:
-Check out our latest Hoops HD Bracket Rundown Video Podcast – CLICK HERE
-Michigan State edged out Illinois in an 80-78 thriller to keep their winning streak alive. The Spartans have not lost since the Maui Invitational, which was before Thanksgiving.
-Baylor, who had some head scratching losses coming into yesterday, now has another one. They lost at home to a decent TCU team 74-71. All the credit to TCU for winning a tough road game, but this is the kind of game that Baylor really needs to routinely win if they want to land in the top half of the bracket.
-Nebraska lost a tight one at Maryland 69-66, and now the Huskers are starting to sweat a little bit as they fall to just 2-5 in Big Ten play.
-GEORGETOWN AT VILLANOVA (Big East). Nova is within reach of the bubble, but they need to keep stringing together wins in order to get there, and that certainly means holding serve at home against teams like Georgetown.
-RUTRGERS AT PENN STATE (Big Ten). Both teams are outside the bubble, but both may be good enough to reach it. They need to start winning games to make that happen.
-COLUMBIA AT PRINCETON (Ivy League). Columbia had a nice OOC run, but is still looking for their first Ivy League win. Princeton may be the best team in the conference, but they had to sweat out their last game and don’t want to overlook the Lions today
