NEWS AND NOTES
-Dayton needed overtime last night, but pulled off a thrilling win at the buzzer against Saint Louis in the latest edition of the Arch-Baron Cup. It is a rivalry that belongs to all of America!
-Michigan is now 0-5 in true road games. They seesawed back and forth with Iowa for most of the game, but were unable to pick up the win.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-BAYLOR AT OKLAHOMA STATE (Big 12). Baylor is probably the team with the best profile right now, and they are looking to maintain that status with a road win today. Oklahoma State still has work to do, and a win today would go a long way toward helping them even if they are at home.
-UCONN AT VILLANOVA. Next year this will be a conference game. As for now, it’s an OOC game between a Nova team that’s looking to get a protected seed and a UConn team that sometimes looks like an NIT team, and sometimes looks like a team that’s outside even the NIT.
-SETON HALL AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East). They had a few stumbles early, but Seton Hall now looks like they’re the best team in the Big East. The Johnnies have just one conference win and need to start picking up a few if they want to remain in reach of the making the field.
-OHIO STATE AT PENN STATE (Big Ten). Both teams are good, and it is a resume building opportunity for both. Both have also had stretches where they’ve lost a few games and could use a win today to pull them out of it.
-NORTH CAROLINA AT PITTSBURGH (ACC). Pitt is still outside the bubble and needs to string together some wins in order to reach it. UNC is even further outside the bubble and needs to string together some wins just to reach the NIT.
-SYRACUSE AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC). VA Tech is having a much better than expected season and is actually projected into our current field. Syracuse has been playing better, but the Hokies should be able to hold serve today.
-BUTLER AT DEPAUL (Big East). Butler is coming off just their second loss of the season and is looking to bounce back. DePaul has lost all four of their Big East games. They were all close, and they did a lot out of conference so they can still make the field, but they REALLY need a win.
-FLORIDA STATE AT MIAMI FL (ACC). Florida State is looking more and more like a solid protected seed and should be able to pick this one up on the road.
-AUBURN AT FLORIDA (SEC). Auburn is coming off a rather decisive loss to Alabama and has what could be another tough road test tonight. Florida has been somewhat disappointing this year, but a win in a game like this could finally get their motor started.
-KANSAS AT TEXAS (Big 12). Kansas remains one of the six teams that appear to be in solid contention for the #1 line, and is going on the road to take on a bubblish Texas team that could really use the win.
-WEST VIRGINIA AT KANSAS STATE (Big 12). West Virginia is looking more and more like a solid protected seed, and this should be a winnable road game for them.
-PURDUE AT MARYLAND (Big Ten). Purdue has been inconsistent, but that’s far better than being consistently bad. When they’ve looked good, they’ve looked REALLY good. Maryland has been digressing some. They went from being ranked in the top five to now being ranked in the teens, and that’s about right. They could still end up as a protected seed, and a win at home could help them out.
-TOLEDO AT AKRON (MAC). I like this Akron team, and think they can play their way onto the bubble if they keep winning. Their margin for error is small, but they do have a path to landing inside the bubble.
-SAINT BONAVENTURE AT VCU (Atlantic Ten). VCU has a team that could be good enough to make the NCAAs if they finish strong, but they really don’t have much room for error. The Bonnies got off to a somewhat slow start this season, but are playing much better now and could end up making quite a bit of noise in the conference.
-TCU AT OKLAHOMA (Big 12). TCU needs to win a game like this to really get the attention of the committee. Oklahoma is in decent shape, but certainly has room to improve so it is important that they hold serve.
-MARQUETTE AT GEORGETOWN (Big East). Both teams look like tournament teams, but both also have room to improve. This is a resume building game. It should be a fun one as both are coming off really nice wins.
-CLEMSON AT NC STATE (ACC). NC State is very bubblicious right now, so they need to be able to hold serve in home games against teams outside the bubble. Having said that, Clemson is coming off of back to back wins against North Carolina and Duke, so their confidence has got to be at an all time high.
-COLORADO AT ARIZONA (Pac 12). I really like how both of these teams are playing right now. We’ve got both of them in our field, and given how each of them are playing I think both will improve their resumes between now and the end. Today is a chance for whoever wins to do that.
-RICHMOND AT GEORGE MASON (Atlantic Ten). Richmond has a path to landing inside the bubble, but it is becoming rather rocky. They really need to win games like this the rest of the way.
-MISSOURI AT ALABAMA (SEC). Alabama still has a ways to go, but they’ve come pretty far pretty fast. They are 7-3 in their last ten games, and have a blowout win over Auburn in that stretch.
-OREGON AT WASHINGTON (Pac 12). This is a huge rivalry in the Pac 12, and today’s edition is very important. Oregon is trying to rebound from a road loss to Wazzu, and Washington is trying to pull themselves out of a tailspin. They just had a fairly decent win against Oregon State, so they should have some momentum built up coming into this one.
-KENTUCKY AT ARKANSAS (SEC). This one is going to be fun. Arkansas has a bloated record, but they’ve also got a lot of empty calories. They do have some decent wins, but this would really elevate the level of their resume. Kentucky has been playing better, but is coming off a somewhat surprising loss to South Carolina and could use a big road win to bounce back.
-HOUSTON AT WICHITA STATE (American). Wichita State is coming off a road loss to Temple, but could still end up as a protected seed if they’re able dominate the conference the rest of the way. Houston is a bubblicious team that has played really well at times, but up until now it hasn’t always been consistent. Having said that, if they’re able to win this one, they will shoot way up our next seedlist and be safely inside the bubble.
-IOWA STATE AT TEXAS TECH (Big 12). Texas Tech is in our field, but their resume is a little flimsy, so it’s important that they hold serve in home games against non-tournament caliber teams.
-OREGON STATE AT WASHINGTON STATE (Pac 12). Oregon State is hovering around the bubble, and therefore every game right now has a pivotal feel to it. A conference road win in a game like this would certainly help.
-SAINT MARY’S AT PEPPERDINE (West Coast). This is a winnable road game for a Saint Mary’s team that, quite frankly, would be in quite a bit of trouble if they ended up losing it.
-COLORADO STATE AT AIR FORCE (Mountain West) (Front Range). Neither team is really any good, but we at Hoops HD love the Front Range!!
-PROVIDENCE AT CREIGHTON (Big East). Both teams have really been playing well, and although Providence still has a ways to go before they would be considered to be inside the bubble, they are playing like a solid tournament caliber team right now, and a road win today would be another huge step forward. Creighton is looking to bounce back from a close loss to Georgetown.
-NORTHWESTERN AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten). Illinois is in the rankings and moving up our seedlist. They should be able to win today and hold serve.
-INCARNATE WORD AT STEPHEN F AUSTIN (Southland). If SFA wins out, then they should be right on the bubble, and perhaps even inside of it.
UNDER THE RADAR
-HOFSTRA AT CHARLESTON (Colonial). These are two of the better teams in the CAA, so it should be a fun one.
-LOUISVILLE AT DUKE (ACC). Louisville has a solid resume by first ballot standards, but a rather flimsy one when it comes to protected seed standards. That all changes if they can win this game today, though. Duke, despite losing their last game, is still in contention for a #1 seed and this would be another nice win on their resume if they’re able to hold serve.
-NORTHERN IOWA AT BRADLEY (Missouri Valley). Northern Iowa has been winning, but they havent been dominant wins. They basically need to win out to end up inside the bubble, and they’ve got a tough road game today (by MVC standards) against a Bradley team that’s 9-0 at home.
-TENNESSEE AT VANDERBILT (SEC). Tennessee is continuing to slide, but they can still get back in the conversation if they can pull themselves out of their tailspin and string together some wins.
-STANFORD AT USC (Pac 12). We have Stanford in our field, but they really need more quality wins in order to shore up their resume, and a road win against a bubblish USC team would certainly help. On the flip side, USC is on the bubble, so this game has a pivotal feel to it for them.
-EAST TENNESSEE STATE AT WESTERN CAROLINA (SoCon). ETSU still has a shot at landing inside the bubble, but they pretty much need to win out in order to do it. This will be a bit of a challenge against a Western Carolina team that has yet to lose at home.
-LIPSCOMB AT LIBERTY (Atlantic Sun). If Liberty wins out, which they should, then they will likely be inside the bubble.
-INDIANA AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten). Indiana doesn’t have much in the way of road wins, so they really need to take advantage of this one since it is probably their most winnable remaining road game.
-NEVADA AT SAN DIEGO STATE (Mountain West). San Diego State is on our #1 line, and they will likely stay there if they win out, which they are certainly good enough to do.
-LSU AT OLE MISS (SEC). LSU is in our field and will remain there if they keep holding serve. This is a winnable road game against an NIT-ish Ole Miss team that LSU should be able to win.
-VIRGINIA AT GEORGIA TECH (ACC). The Hoos have lost three straight, and while a four point loss at Florida State isn’t damaging, losses to Syracuse and Boston College are. They really cannot afford to lose yet another game to a sub-tournament caliber team even if it is a road game.
-TEMPLE AT SMU (American). Neither team is in our field, but both are on the board. They both have work to do and therefore could really use this win tonight.
-GEORGIA AT MISSISSIPPI STATE (SEC). This is a Georgia team that’s hovering around the bubble. They do have a really nice road win at Memphis, but they need to do a little more than that and could really use this road win tonight.
-UTAH AT ARIZONA STATE (Pac 12). Both teams have a ton of work to do if they want to land inside the bubble come March.
-PACIFIC AT SANTA CLARA (West Coast). Santa Clara just got blasted by Gonzaga, but they still should be in the discussion if they can win the rest of their conference games.
-BYU AT GONZAGA (West Coast). Gonzaga is on our #1 line, and BYU is hovering around our #10 line, so this is the kind of game that you may see in the Round of 32. Obviously, if BYU can get the win, the quality of their resume goes through the roof.
-UC-RIVERSIDE AT UC-IRVINE (Big West). We shift gears from the Arch-Baron Cup to the fabled RiverVine Cup between a pair of rivals in the UC system! But seriously, these are two of the better programs in the league this season and a game that Irvine cannot take for granted in their race to return to the NCAA Tournament.
