NEWS AND NOTES
-Ohio State lost their second straight game as Wisconsin went into Columbus and pulled off a huge upset. It was a game that Wisky really needed, and it makes you wonder what took them so long to play such a good game.
-Rutgers picked up their first road win of the year as they had no trouble with Nebraska. Rutgers is now 11-3, and 2-1 in the Big Ten.
-Georgetown was blown out for the second straight game as Seton Hall pretty much ran over them. Georgetown probably needs to be a little worried. They overcame a lot when they lost so many key players and were able to keep winning, but they’ve had their doors blown off in their first two Big East games.
-Temple, who is a team I was kind of big on, was blown out of the gym by what looks to be a very average (at best) Tulsa team.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-CREIGHTON AT BUTLER (Big East). These have been two of the bigger surprise teams in the Big East, especially with Butler playing their way into the top ten. Creighton has a good record, but a win like this would give them at protected seed caliber resume (at least for now).
-INDIANA AT MARYLAND (Big Ten). Indiana could use a big road win to help solidify them as a tournament caliber team. Maryland is 11-2 and high in the rankings, but still needs to hold serve in games like this if they want to end up as a protected seed.
-OKLAHOMA STATE AT TEXAS TECH (Big 12). Texas Tech is continuing to improve as the season goes along. Oklahoma State still has a ton of potential, but they don’t have any wins that really jump out at you just yet. A win today would certainly change that.
-LSU AT TENNESSEE (SEC). It’s early, but this game still has a very bubblicious feel to it, especially for Tennessee now that they are dealing with injuries. Both teams could really use this one.
-WAKE FOREST AT PITTSBURGH (ACC). Pitt still has a ton of work to do, but a win today gets them to 11-3.
-NC STATE AT CLEMSON (ACC). NC State is off to a pretty good start, and this is a winnable conference road game, and road wins on the resume are a good thing.
-GEORGIA AT MEMPHIS. Memphis is looking good enough to end up as a protected seed despite the loss of Wiseman. Georgia is having a much better year than expected and this would be a huge road win for the Bulldogs if they’re able to pull it off.
-WYOMING AT COLORADO STATE (Mountain West) (Front Range). We at Hoops HD Love the Front Range!!!
-KANSAS STATE AT OKLAHOMA (Big 12). K State has been somewhat disappointing this year, but could still turn things around in a hurry if they’re able to string together some wins. The Sooners are off to a pretty good 9-3 start and are looking to hold serve in their conference opener.
-FLORIDA STATE AT LOUISVILLE (ACC). Both teams have had good OOC runs, but both could really use this win today in order to help make a solid case that they are protected seed caliber teams. For Louisville, they’re coming off an overtime road loss to rival Kentucky, so a conference win over a ranked team is a good way to move on from that.
-VILLANOVA AT MARQUETTE (Big East). Marquette is off to a decent start, and Nova is off to a much better start, especially in their last few games. Nova only has one true road win right now, so a win today would help fill out their resume a little bit.
-MISSOURI AT KENTUCKY (SEC). A winnable conference home game for a Kentucky team that seems to have things turned around.
-VIRGINIA TECH AT VIRGINIA (ACC). It’s a rivalry game, and it features a Virginia Tech team that’s looked a lot better than expected, and a Virginia team that hasn’t looked quite as good. Having said that, UVA still appears to be the superior team.
-IOWA AT PENN STATE (Big Ten). A conference game between two ranked teams, and a huge resume building opportunity. Both of these teams have done much better than expected this season and it’s been fun watching both of them improve as the season has gone along, so this will be an interesting one today.
-PROVODENCE AT DEPAUL (Big East). Providence got off to a rough start, but has been on a tear in their last two games and should have a ton of momentum coming into this one. DePaul had a fantastic OOC run, but lost their conference opener to Seton Hall and really needs a win today. Starting off 0-2 in Big East play with both losses coming at home does kind of put them behind the 8 ball a little bit.
-WEST VIRGINIA AT KANSAS (Big 12). A huge conference opener between two ranked teams. West Virginia just knocked off a really tough Ohio State team in Cleveland, and if they can win this one today they should really shoot up the rankings. It’s possible that both teams end up as protected seeds, and Kansas is gunning for a #1 seed.
-OLE MISS AT WICHITA STATE. Wichita State is in the rankings, and has just one loss, and is looking to hold serve against a decent Ole Miss team. As for the Rebels, a win like this would really boost their resume and they’d suddenly look like a solid tournament caliber team.
-CINCINNATI AT TULANE (American). Cincinnati is playing a lot better, and they are coming off a decisive home win against UConn. They need this one on the road against Tulane because they need to continue to string together wins.
-EAST TENNESSEE STATE AT FURMAN (SoCon). Both of these teams are really good, and both have a shot at landing inside the bubble and earning an at-large bid if they can run away from the SoCon. With ETSU being the road team, it would be a particularly big win for them.
-AUBURN AT MISSISSIPPI STATE (SEC). Auburn is unbeaten and they’ve beaten a lot of decent teams, but no really good ones. Mississippi State isn’t exactly “really good” but it is a quality road test for the Tigers.
-OREGON AT UTAH (Pac 12). Oregon is coming off a road loss to Colorado and has another tough assignment tonight against a Utah team that doesn’t always play well, but is certainly capable of playing well in big games.
-SAN DIEGO AT SANTA CLARA (West Coast). Santa Clara’s schedule has been a pastry cart, so they still have a ton to prove, but this is another winnable game which will get them to 14-2.
-ALABAMA AT FLORIDA (SEC). Alabama has won five of their last six games, and is playing a lot better than what most people realize. As big as people were on Florida at the beginning of the year, if the Tide can go on the road and win this one they’ll have a better overall resume than Florida at this point.
-GEORGIA TECH AT NORTH CAROLINA (ACC). UNC is still dealing with injuries, but they have to take care of business in this one, which is a winnable game despite the injuries.
-IOWA STATE AT TCU (Big 12). Iowa State needs to wash the taste out of their mouths from that huge upset loss to FAMU, and a conference road win is a good way to do it. It’s much easier said than done, though. Most were picking TCU to be toward the bottom of the conference, but they are 9-3 and are coming off a blowout win against what appeared to be a pretty good George Mason team.
-TEXAS A&M AT ARKANSAS (SEC). A win for Arkansas gets them to 12-1 on the season. A lot of their OOC schedule was weak, but they just got a big win at Indiana and are definitely worth paying attention to.
-UNC GREENSBORO AT WOFFORD (SoCon). UNCG is one of the three teams that we think has a chance of landing inside the bubble come March. Of course, in order to do it, they need to be able to win on the road at Wofford, which is much easier said than done.
-STEPHEN F AUSTIN AT NEW ORLEANS (Southland). If SFA wins out, I think they will be inside the bubble regardless of what happens in the Southland Tournament.
-DUKE AT MIAMI FL (ACC). Duke is ranked #2, and is arguably the best team in the country, but they’ll have a tough road test against a Miami team that’s been playing really well and should be way up for this one.
-TEXAS AT BAYLOR (Big 12). People are down on this Texas team, and I know their blowout loss to Providence was a bit of a head-scratcher, but they’ve only lost one other game. Baylor has been fantastic this year, but if Texas can go on the road and win this one it should land them in the top 25.
-BRADLEY AT NORTHERN IOWA (Missouri Valley). Northern Iowa was fantastic OOC, and probably earned themselves a mulligan or two as they headed in to conference play. Well, they’ve already used one of those mulligans, and need to bounce back from their loss to Illinois State earlier this week.
-LMU AT BYU (West Coast. BYU’s resume is looking pretty good, but they still need to hold serve at home tonight.
-SMU AT VANDERBILT. SMU is an impressive 10-2 on the season, but they don’t have a lot of huge wins that jump out at you, so they really need to pick up this road win against a Vanderbilt team that appears to be below NIT caliber.
-ARIZONA STATE AT ARIZONA (Pac 12). It’s the first edition of this heated rivalry, and both teams could really use this win. While both have played decently well, they still have a lot of room to improve their resumes, so this game means as much on paper as it does off paper.
-PEPPERDINE AT GONZAGA (West Coast). Gonzaga is ranked #1, and will likely stay that way after today.
-SAN DIEGO STATE AT UTAH STATE (Mountain West). An argument could be made that this is San Diego State’s toughest remaining game, and if they win this one they have a somewhat realistic shot of running the table. Utah State is coming off a really bad looking loss to UNLV and needs to rebound, so they should enter this game with a huge sense of urgency. They need a good win on their resume, and they’re running out of opportunities.
-SAINT MARY’S AT PACIFIC (West Coast). This is a winnable road game for an SMC team that should land inside the bubble.
