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NEWS AND NOTES

-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE

-Virginia appeared to be in control of Virginia Tech for about 30 minutes, but totally came apart down the stretch as VA Tech outscored them 44-22 in the second half for an impressive (and important) 65-51 win.

-Alabama’s streak came to an end as they fell at Oklahoma 66-61.  It isn’t so much an Alabama letdown as it a very impressive run by an Oklahoma team that was kind of near the bubble a week or so ago, and is now suddenly looking like a protected seed.

-LSU appeared to have Texas Tech put away, and was about to pick up a much needed season defining win that would give their resume a huge boost, but Tech clawed back in the final couple of minutes and really didn’t get control of the game until the final seconds.  They held on fo ra 76-71 win once all the freethrow shooting was over.

-The Gators are back!  They got a HUGE win at West Virginia, which totally changes the complexion of their resume and likely puts them solidly in the top half of the bracket (for now).

-TCU appeared to have Missouri put away, but the Tigers came back to force overtime, and even then TCU had a chance to win in the final minute, but Mizzou escaped with a 102-98 win in a thriller.  It would have been a huge win on TCU’s resume had they been able to pull it out.  As of now they still appear to be rather distant from the bubble.

-Not sure what happened to Wisconsin.  Penn State hung around in the first half, and then took control in the second half putting up 50pts in that half against what is normally a really tough Wisky defense.  Penn State ended up with the 81-71 win.

-It’s time to start asking what the hell is wrong with Kansas.  They’ve now lost four of their last five, and it isn’t so much that losing at Tennessee is a bad loss, but they absolutely got their doors blown off.  The Vols, up until yesterday, had been going through a stretch where they looked kind of down.

-Georgia Tech scored an upset win against a Florida State team that, up until yesterday, had been looking as good (and perhaps better) as everyone else in the ACC.  The Yellowjackets can still play their way in.

-Minnesota’s road struggles continue.  When Minnesota plays at home, they don’t just win!  They blow teams out!  When Minnesota plays on the road, they don’t just lose, they get blown out!  Purdue blew them out 81-62.

-Speaking of blowouts, it keeps happening to Clemson.  They did get a win against Louisville earlier in the week, but for the third time in four games they were absolutely blown off the floor. Duke, who hadn’t looked anything like a tournament team for most of the year, got the 79-53 win.

-Colorado fell at home to a Utah team that isn’t bad, but isn’t exactly a tournament caliber team either.  It’s definitely a game that you’d expect Colorado to win.  The 77-74 loss is another setback for the Buffs.

-Oklahoma State really had to sweat, but they held on to beat an Arkansas team that I didn’t think they’d have a problem with.  Some others have been big on Arkansas.  I have not been, but I admit I was impressed with how they played yesterday despite the loss.

-Stanford, a team that I was starting to warm up to, has given me a reason to be highly skeptical.  They fell 79-75 to an Arizona State team that has not looked good at all this season.  Stanford continues to straddle the fence of the bubble.

-A bit of an Under the Radar note, Belmont had to overcome a double digit second half deficit at Murray State to hold on for a 72-71 win after coming up with a big defensive stop on the final possession of the game.  Belmont is now 16-1 on the year, and while they may not make it inside the bubble even if they run the table (unless they can schedule a big OOC game), they should at least be in the discussion and are potentially dangerous if they are the team that wins the auto-bid.

-After falling to Pepperdine earlier in the week, BYU needed double overtime to get past Pacific.  They did get the win, but it’s been a less than stellar week for the Cougars.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-SMU AT HOUSTON (American).  SMU is hovering around outside the bubble  A win in a game like this could make the difference of whether or not they make the field.  It’s obviously easier said than done.  Houston is a top ten team that’s playing at home.

-MICHIGAN STATE AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten).  Michigan State did not look good at all in their last game against Rutgers, which was their first after being shut down.  They have a long way to go just to land inside the bubble.  Ohio State, on the other hand, is looking more and more like a protected seed.

-ILLINOIS STATE AT DRAKE (Missouri Valley).  Drake continues to win, and if they win this game they may crack the top 25 tomorrow.  Even if they don’t, I think they should be safely inside the bubble at this point.  Now, it’ll only take a couple of losses to knock them outside of it, but this is a legit Drake team.

-SAINT JOHN’S AT MARQUETTE (Big East).  Still not sure of what to make of Marquette, but they need to hold serve in games against sub-tournament caliber teams in order to get on the right side of the bubble.

-NC STATE AT SYRACUSE (ACC).  Both of these teams have work to do, and both should be coming in with a sense of urgency because both could really use this win.

-RUTGERS AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten).  Rutgers still looks to be inside the bubble, but this is the kind of game that an NCAA Tournament team should be expected to win.  It’s not so much that it’d be a big win, but it would be an expected win.

As was widely reported yesterday, longtime Temple coach and overall college basketball coaching legend John Chaney passed away yesterday.  Here is an interview that our own Jon Teitel did with him – CLICK HERE

NEWS AND NOTES

-The game of the night was Illinois v Iowa, and it lived up to the billing.  It was close all throughout with momentum swinging back and forth, but Illinois got control late in the second half and held on for the 80-75 win.  It was perhaps the biggest win of the season for Illinois up to this point.  As for Iowa, a road loss to a team like Illinois certainly doesn’t hurt, but they are still lacking a big win of the caliber that this would have been, and they’re going to need to pick up one or two prior to the end of the season if they want to end up as a #1 or #2 seed.

-Winthrop also suffered their first loss of the season.  After barely scraping by UNC Asheville on Thursday night, they weren’t able to get past them on Friday.  Like the game on Thursday it was close all throughout, and Winthrop had a chance to win in the final seconds, but just couldn’t get over the top.  Unless they can schedule some big OOC games between now and the end, I believe this pretty much ends any at-large hopes Winthrop has despite it being their only loss.

-Boise State continues to look strong as they knocked off Colorado State on the road 85-77.  Boise State is now 14-2 overall with some pretty nice wins on their resume.  They definitely look like a tournament caliber team.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-ALABAMA AT OKLAHOMA (SEC/Big 12 Challenge).  Alabama is looking like a #2 seed and may be the best overall team in the SEC.  They also seem to be getting better as the year progresses.  Oklahoma’s resume was rather flimsy about a week ago, but with two straight huge wins they are quickly climbing the rankings and the seedlist.  If they can get this one today then we may need to start talking about them as a protected seed.

-PROVIDENCE AT GEORGETOWN (Big East).  Providence has lost a lot of close games and is right on our bubble.  They can’t afford to not hold serve in this one.

-CLEMSON AT DUKE (ACC).  Clemson ended a three game skid with a big win against Louisville their last time out.  This is another winnable game for them against a Duke team that we have outside the bubble and who needs to string together some of wins just to get into the discussion.

-LA SALLE AT VCU (Atlantic Ten).  VCU is on the outside looking in and can’t afford losses in games like this.

-TEXAS TECH AT LSU (SEC/Big 12 Challenge).  I really like this Texas Tech team and while their resume still has room to improve it wouldn’t shock me at all if they ended up as a protected seed.  LSU has been a bit of a disappointment this year, but a win today could really help turn things around.  It would be their biggest win of the season on paper so far.

-FLORIDA AT WEST VIRGINIA (SEC/Big 12 Challenge).  It’s been a rather tumultuous year for Florida, but they have been looking better lately and could really give their resume a big boost today.  WVU continues to hover right around protected seed range, and will stay there if they can hold serve today.

-TCU AT MISSOURI (SEC/Big 12 Challenge).  TCU is looking very NIT-ish, and Mizzou is looking very top 15-ish.  It shouldn’t be too much of a struggle for the Tigers today.

-VILLANOVA AT SETON HALL (Big East).  Villanova continues to stand firm on the #1 line, and Seton Hall is hovering right around the bubble.  The Hall has had a lot of close losses that could have completely turned the tide of their season.  They’re better than their record indicates and if they can get a big win it should make them feel a lot more safe.

-WISCONSIN AT PENN STATE (Big Ten).  Penn State has proven to not be easy to beat, but they’re still the kind of team that a potential protected seed like Wisconsin should beat.

-AUBURN AT BAYLOR (SEC/Big 12 Challenge).  Games like this make me wish they wouldn’t pare the teams up before the start of the season.  Baylor playing Alabama or Tennessee would have made more sense.  This probably won’t be much of a “challenge,” although to be fair, Auburn has been playing a little better.

-FLORIDA STATE AT GEORGIA TECH (ACC).  Florida State is looking like one of the better teams in the ACC, and that they could end up repeating as the first place team.  GA Tech has also been better than expected, and if they can string together some wins they could end up making the field, but it won’t be easy.  Still, the Yellowjackets have proven to be a fun team to watch!

-UCF AT WICHITA STATE (American).  Wichita State is on the outside looking, and although the path is narrow, I still think they have at least a chance of ending up inside the bubble if they can hold serve against…well…everyone but Houston.

-ARKANSAS AT OKLAHOMA STATE (SEC/Big 12 Challenge).  Arkansas’s paper isn’t up to par yet, but if they could win this one on the road it certainly would be.  I’m really big on this Oklahoma State team and think they should be in the conversation for a protected seed despite their low NET ranking.  They have some fantastic wins.

-OREGON AT USC (Pac 12).   Both these teams are rather safely inside the bubble (for now), but both also have a lot of room to improve and could really benefit from a win today.

-XAVIER AT BUTLER (Big East).  Xavier has been shut down for a couple of weeks and many have kind of forgotten about them, but they are 10-2 and while they might be rusty this is still a winnable conference road game for them.

-VIRGINIA AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC).  Both teams are in the rankings, and both are potential protected seeds, so this would be a huge statement win to the committee for whoever ends up pulling it out.  Oh yeah, and this is a rather big rivalry game as well!

-KANSAS AT TENNESSEE (SEC/Big 12 Challenge).  Both of these teams are having great seasons, but both have also struggled in the past week or so and could use a win in a game like this to pull them out of their tailspin.  I still expect that both will end up as protected seeds, but both are in a bit of a slump right now.

-PACIFIC AT BYU (West Coast).  BYU is coming off a somewhat surprising loss to Pepperdine and will be looking to bounce back tonight.  They’re still in solid shape but can’t afford too many of those.

-OREGON STATE AT UCLA (Pac 12).  UCLA continues to be among the best teams in the Pac 12 and is safely in the top half of the bracket.  The Beavers have improved, but UCLA should still be able to take care of them at home.

-MINNESOTA AT PURDUE (Big Ten).  Minney needs some road wins.  They have a good overall profile, and they’ll be in great shape once they get some road wins, but as of now they don’t have any.  So, a win tonight would check a huge box for them.  It won’t be easy, though.  Purdue has been playing much better, their resume is looking better, and they are good enough to get this win and keep that momentum going.

-GONZAGA AT PEPPERDINE (West Coast).  Like nearly every conference game for the Zags, this will probably end up looking like a buy game by the time it’s over, even though it’s a road game.

-TEXAS AT KENTUCKY (SEC/Big 12 Challenge).  Kentucky has been getting better, and played Alabama tough the last time out, but they need to win about 7 of their next 8 to even be in the conversation for an NCAA Tournament bid, and playing against a Texas team that is good enough to be a #1 seed won’t be easy.

-CREIGHTON AT DEPAUL (Big East).  Creighton continues to look impressive and look like a potential protected seed.  They shouldn’t have too much trouble picking this one up on the road tonight.

-NOTRE DAME AT PITTSBURGH (ACC).  Pitt has fallen outside the bubble and needs to hold serve just to get back into it.  That shouldn’t be too tough against a Notre Dame team that has struggled this year.

-BELMONT AT MURRAY STATE (Ohio Valley).  With just one loss on the year, Belmont should at least be in the discussion for being inside the bubble if they are able to win out.

-UTAH AT COLORADO (Pac 12).  Colorado has been up and down this season, but mostly up.  They look to be safely inside the bubble and will remain that way so long as they’re able to hold serve in games like this.

-STANFORD AT ARIZONA STATE (Pac 12).  Stanford picked up a really nice win against Arizona the other night, which really helps out their resume.  This should be another winnable conference road game for them.

-WYOMING AT SAN DIEGO STATE (Mountain West).  San Diego State is straddling the bubble and they need to hold serve in games like this and finish strong down the stretch.