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NEWS AND NOTES:

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-Villanova is on a roll! They held on for what was perhaps a season defining win as they beat UConn 68-66. After a bit of a sluggish start they’ve now won eight of their last nine and have beaten both Cincinnati and Villanova in that stretch. They still have work to do, but they are definitely trending in the right direction.

-Texas A&M got a huge road win at Oklahoma 80-78, which is one of their better wins of the season so far. Oklahoma has now dropped two straight and while they’re still in good shape overall, they are in a bit of a tailspin after the 13-0 start.

-Ole Miss got a really nice road win at Arkansas 76-66. It was just the second true road win of the season for the Rebels and it came against a team that’s typically very tough to beat at home.

-After getting absolutely dump-trucked over the weekend by Kansas, UCF bounced back with a big 75-74 win over Colorado. Colorado has exceeded all expectations, but they still don’t have quite as strong of a profile as they need to start thinking of them as a solid tournament team. But, they’ll certainly have those chances between now and the end.

-George Washington followed up their big blowout win against Dayton with an impressive 75-67 road win at Rhode Island last night. This has sort of come out of nowhere. GW is now suddenly looking like the strongest team in the Atlantic 10.

-Dayton is NOT looking like the strongest team in the Atlantic 10. They lost at UMass 76-72 last night, and are starting to look like a team that doesn’t belong in the NCAA Tournament at all. At the end of November we were singing their praises and saying we thought they could end up as a protected seed. Now it’s looking like they may be headed to the NIT. Playing in the Atlantic 10 means that if they hit the skids and lose several games in a row their profile takes a major hit because they don’t have the opportunities to offset those losses with big time wins late in the year.

-Drake, who had dropped two straight, rebounded in a big way with a 64-57 road win at Bradley. The road to landing inside the bubble is still very narrow for Drake, but last night’s win was one they should get a lot of credit for considering how good Bradley is and that it was a road game.

-Saint Bonaventure, whose bloated record had gotten our attention, fell 73-68 at Saint Louis last night. The Atlantic 10 seems set on eating itself and becoming a one-bid league this year.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-OREGON AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten). Ohio State has been a little inconsistent this year, but when they’ve looked good, they’ve looked REALLY good. Oregon is having a great year, but in their last two games they were blown out by Illinois and barely got by Maryland. Both those games were at home, and this will be a very tough road test tonight.

-PURDUE AT RUTGERS (Big Ten). Purdue is having a great year, but to date they only have one true road win, so this would strengthen their resume a little bit if they’re able to pull this off. Rutgers has lost three of their last four and is in a bit of a tailspin.

-WASHINGTON AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten). The Spartans have been looking really strong and should be able to hold serve in this one.

-VMI AT SAMFORD (SoCon). A win for Samford gets tthem to a very impressive 13-3 on the year.

-PACIFIC AT WASHINGTON STATE (West Coast). I really like this Wazzu team and they can get to 14-3 on the year with a win tonight.

-UC IRVINE AT CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE (Big West). This will be a tough road game for UC Irvine, but they have had a great season, they have a path toward landing inside the bubble, and this is the kind of game they need to be able to win in order for that to happen.

-OREGON STATE AT SANTA CLARA (West Coast). This is a bit of a challenge for Oregon State on the road. If they can pull off the win it will get them to 13-4 on the year.

NEWS AND NOTES:

-Tennessee could not get their motor started against Florida last night, and were just 12-of-56 from the floor for the game. They suffered their first loss of the season and did not mess around doing it as the Gators won 73-43. Obviously this is a big win for Florida after their close loss at Kentucky over the weekend.

-Auburn will likely be the new #1 team as they held on to win at Texas 87-82. They led by as much as 21 in the second half, but the Longhorns came back and got as close as 3 in the final minute, but couldn’t complete the comeback. It’s another road win for Auburn, and another good win on what is an amazing resume.

-Kentucky couldn’t get it done at Georgia as the Dawgs won 82-69. Kentucky has a really strong resume, but they still don’t have a true road win on the season. They’ve lost to both Georgia and Clemson on the road this year.

-Georgetown played a fantastic game at Marquette, led for much of it, and were in it until the final minutes before Marquette held on 74-66. This was perhaps Georgetown’s toughest remaining game, and for them to play that well should be encouraging as they face the rest of the Big East schedule. If they can play like that the rest of the way they’ll string together the wins they need to make the NCAA Tournament.

-Arizona won big at West Virginia 75-56. This was a tough road game to win, and they won it pretty handily, so Arizona’s early season struggles may be coming to an end.

-Mississippi State picked up a nice 76-64 win at Vanderbilt, which was the first home loss of the season for Vandy, and just the second overall.

-Michigan jumped out to a commanding lead at UCLA, but the Bruins came back. Once that happened, Michigan jumped out again to an even more commanding lead and won 94-75, which is a very nice and impressive road win for the Wolverines.

-Saint John’s picked up a nice 82-72 road win at Xavier, and when you look at the Johnnies and see that they’re 13-3 on the year with the losses being to Baylor in OT at the last second, to Georgia by just 3, and to Creighton by just 1, you realize this team is very good and appears to be getting better.

-Louisville, despite dealing with more injuries than a MASH unit, keeps winning games. They held off a pretty good Clemson team last night 74-64 and continue to stay inside the bubble. Clemson, on the other hand, has just one road win this season and it came at Miami FL, so a win last night would have helped.

-Baylor clobbered Cincinnati 68-48. It’s very tough to win at Baylor, but the vast majority of Cincinnati’s remaining games are tough. They’ve now lost three straight and are certainly trending in the wrong direction. At this point I don’t think they look like an NCAA Tournament team.

-Texas Tech picked up a really nice 72-67 win at BYU. BYU is on the outside looking in right now, but they are still very tough to beat at home, so Texas Tech should get a fair amount of credit for this win.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-UCONN AT VILLANOVA (Big East). Villanova has won seven of their last eight, and after we had written them off back in December they are now starting to show signs of life. They can show a lot more life tonight if they’re able to pull off the win against UConn. If that happens I think we need to start thinking of Nova as a possible tournament team.

-ALABAMA AT SOUTH CAROLINA (SEC). Alabama is very good, and while winning at South Carolina isn’t easy to do, Alabama has shown they can win games that aren’t easy to win, and this is one I think they’ll end up getting.

-OLE MISS AT ARKANSAS (SEC). Arkansas is coming off a blowout loss to Tennessee, and despite still looking pretty good overall they will want to wash that bad taste out of their mouths. They’ll be challenged tonight by an Ole Miss team that’s good, and in the rankings, that’s looking for their second notable road win of the season.

-COLORADO AT UCF (Big 12). UCF was having a good year, but they were blown to smithereens by Kansas in their last game and they need to bounce back from that. Colorado has had some good wins as well, but has lost their last two and really needs a win like this to help boost their resume. This game has a bit of bubblicious feel to it. Both teams need this to help improve their resumes.

-GEORGE WASHINGTON AT RHODE ISLAND (Atlantic 10). Both teams have good records, but have both played such weak schedules that it was hard to get too excited about either one of them. Having said that, after GW blew Dayton out this past weekend, it was hard to not sit up and take notice. If they can go on the road and win this one, they’ll have our attention.

-FORDHAM AT VCU (Atlantic 10). VCU has such a small margin for error that they pretty much need to win out or come close to it to have any sort of shot at getting selected.

-DAYTON AT UMASS (Atlantic 10). Dayton still has a good profile, but the loss to GW this past weekend was a big setback. If they can’t win this one then they’ll REALLY be in trouble.

-DRAKE AT BRADLEY (Missouri Valley). These are two of the best teams in the MVC, and it’s a big game for Drake who has lost two straight after starting off 12-0 and may be in a position to where they really can’t afford to lose any more. Bradley also only has two losses on the season. If either of these teams are going to make a run at the bubble, they pretty much need to dominate the rest of the way, and that includes winning this one tonight.

-USC AT INDIANA (Big Ten). After beating up on Indiana for a lot of the season, I’m starting to come around to them. They’re a very respectable 12-3 overall and they’ve won eight of their last nine. This is another winnable game tonight.

-FURMAN AT THE CITADEL (SoCon). Furman is coming off a bad loss to UNC Greensboro, and may be out of strikes. They should be able to win this one on the road, and they may need to win them all the rest of the way if they want any shot at getting inside the bubble.

-SAINT BONAVENTURE AT SAINT LOUIS (Atlantic 10). The Bonnies are 14-1, which is impressive even though they haven’t played a very strong schedule. What is impressive is that they have five true road wins, and can make it six tonight if they’re able to pull it off.

-TEXAS A&M AT OKLAHOMA. TAMU is coming off a big win against rival Texas, whereas Oklahoma is looking to bounce back from a blowout loss to Alabama, which was their first of the year. Both are safely inside the bubble for now, but with every team in the SEC being really tough, every game has a sense of urgency to it because you know how hard it is going to be to finish .500 in the conference.

-ARIZONA STATE AT KANSAS (Big 12). Arizona State is having a very solid year, and while they’re sort of shooting at the moon tonight, a win would greatly increase the value of their resume. Kansas is still looking like a solid protected seed and just blew UCF off the planet over the weekend.

-PENN STATE AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten). Penn State is a solid team with a very good chance of making the NCAA Tournament. Illinois got a massive win against Oregon their last time out and is looking like they’re good enough to end up as a protected seed.

-AIR FORCE AT SAN DIEGO STATE (Mountain West). San Diego State should be able to hold serve and win this one without too much trouble.

NEWS AND NOTES:

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-Ohio State needed two overtimes, and a really boneheaded foul by Minnesota at the end of the first overtime, to hold on and escape with an 89-88 road win. Minnesota was up 2 and without the ball, and fouled Ohio State on purpose in the backcourt with less than 5 seconds to go. Ohio State then hit both freetrows to tie it and force a second overtime. I guess they thought they were up 3?

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-SAINT JOHN’S AT XAVIER (Big East). The Johnnies are hovering around the bubble right now. This should be a winnable road game for them, but Xavier is a little bit better than their resume currently indicates. They’re only 1-3 in Big East play, but were fairly competitive against UConn and Marquette in that stretch, so the Johnnies better not just overlook them.

-TENNESSEE AT FLORIDA (SEC). This is big road game for Tennessee as they face a Florida team that’s ranked in the top ten, but is also coming off their first loss of the season and looking to bounce back. Both teams are likely protected seeds, and as good as Tennessee’s resume right now this would probably still be their most impressive win to date.

-PITTSBURGH AT DUKE (ACC). Duke absolutely blasted SMU in their last game, and while Pitt is good and a likely tournament team, facing Duke on the road is probably too tall of an order.

-KENTUCKY AT GEORGIA (SEC). Kentucky is coming off a big win against Florida and they have a ton of momentum built up, but something they haven’t done yet is win a true road game. This is just their second road game of the year. Their only other one was a loss at Clemson. Having said that, Kentucky is battle tested and is certainly capable of picking up this win. Georgia is having a pretty good year themselves. They’re 12-2 overall and this would be a big win for their resume, so both teams have something to gain from this.’

-ARIZONA AT WEST VIRGINIA (Big 12). Arizona is a modest 8-5 and while they’re 2-0 in the conference and just picked up a nice win against Cincinnati, they still have a lot of work to do. West Virginia has a couple of really big wins and has cracked the top 25. They can keep that momentum going with a win today.

-CLEMSON AT LOUISVILLE (ACC). Louisville has had to battle a ton of injuries, but they somehow keep winning games. They’ve now won five of their last six and are coming off a blowout road win at Virginia. Clemson will have their work cut out for them in this one, and it would be one of their better wins of the season if they can pull it off.

-UTAH AT IOWA STATE (Big 12). Iowa State continues to win impressively and they should be able to hold serve at home in this one.

-GEORGETOWN AT MARQUETTE (Big East). Georgetown is much improved and is off to a 3-0 start in Big East play. They’re probably way overmatched in this one considering that Marquette is ranked in the top ten, but if they could somehow get a win in a game like this you’d have to start thinking of them as a possible tournament team.

-CINCINNATI AT BAYLOR (Big 12). Both teams should have a big sense of urgency coming into this one. Cincinnati has lost their last two and the rest of their schedule is getting harder instead of easier. Baylor is a modest 8-4, but needs to string together some more wins in conference in order to secure themselves with a solid bid.

-NEBRASKA AT IOWA (Big Ten). Nebraska is having a great year at 12-2 overall and is coming off a really nice win against UCLA. A road win against Iowa would be another good addition to their resume. Iowa could really use this win themselves. They were just blown out by Wisconsin and don’t really have any notable wins yet.

-AUBURN AT TEXAS (SEC). Auburn is one of the best teams in the country, and while it’s not easy to win at Texas, it’s still a game that I would expect Auburn to win. Texas is coming off a blowout loss to rivals Texas A&M and their resume seems a little flimsy right now. A win today would certainly stabilize it, but that’s far easier said than done.

-MISSISSIPPI STATE AT VANDERBILT (SEC). Vandy is a very impressive 13-1 and while they haven’t beaten a whole lot of teams that are high in the rankings, they do have a nice share of decent wins. This would be a big one considering Mississippi State is in the rankings and considering that seemingly every win the SEC will be a big win.

-TEXAS TECH AT BYU (Big 12). Texas Tech is starting to play well and this would be a really nice road win on their resume. It won’t be easy, though. BYU is one of the toughest places in the country to play.

-SMU AT NORTH CAROLINA (ACC). Both teams are kind of falling behind the pack and both could really use this win today. I do think North Carolina will start to string together wins now that conference play has started, but they kinda need to start doing that tonight. SMU could use a little meat on their resume as well.

-LSU AT MISSOURI (SEC). Both teams appear to be solid, but you get the sense that this is a really big game because of just how many tough games each of them have remaining after this.

-MICHIGAN AT UCLA (Big Ten). I really like how Michigan has been playing lately, and while this is a very tough road test against a UCLA team that’s in the rankings and who has proven they can win big games, it’s still one the Wolverines can win.

-UTAH STATE AT SAN JOSE STATE (Mountain West). Utah State has cracked the rankings and has another winnable conference road game tonight.

-NEW MEXICO AT WYOMING (Mountain West). New Mexico has some pretty good wins and can improve to 5-0 in MWC play if they can hold serve and win this one.

-UNLV AT BOISE STATE (Mountain West). It just feels like Boise State is going to end up on the bubble, and that means they need to hold serve in games like this. Any home loss to a team that’s nowhere near the NCAA Tournament will be damaging.

-LMU AT SAINT MARY’S (West Coast). Saint Mary’s continues to string together wins and will easily make the NCAA Tournament if they can keep it up.