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NEWS AND NOTES:

-For the most part it was a pretty chalky day yesterday. Alabama, Florida, Oregon, Oklahoma, Purdue, Illinois, Ohio State, Texas, Penn State, and Northwestern all won games you would expect them to win without too much trouble.

-Georgia had to sweat South Carolina State a lot more than what many of us were expecting, but they did manage to hold on and win 79-72. South Carolina State also came very close to upsetting Xavier earlier in the year, so they’ll be a team to keep an eye on once MEAC play gets underway. Speaking of the MEAC…

-Norfolk State picked up a really nice road win at High Point yesterday 77-74. It was High Point’s first home loss of the year, and it may turn out to be their only home loss. Norfolk State will almost assuredly need the auto-bid to get into the NCAA Tournament, but they have looked good OOC so far (as has South Carolina State) and we could see them a little further up the seedlist than where we normally see the MEAC AQ team.

-Drake rolled past Belmont 65-46. It was never even a game. It may not be their most impressive win of the season on paper, but Belmont is still a pretty good team and for Drake to beat them that handily is certainly a statement. They remain unbeaten, and I guess we’ll have to wait until this afternoon to see if this was enough to put them in the top 25.

-Michigan absolutely dump-trucked Western Kentucky 112-64. This was a WKU team that had been playing fairly well coming into this game, so it is kind of impressive that Michigan beat them so badly.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-AKRON AT PRINCETON. Princeton had the big win against Rutgers their last time out and while they were a little disappointing in some of their OOC games they are still 9-4 overall. If they can blow through the rest of their schedule (which I know is a big ‘if’) they will likely at least be on the bubble at the end.

-COLUMBIA AT RUTGERS. Columbia has been one of the more intriguing stories in college basketball. They’re 11-1 on the season with 3 true road wins, but this will hands down be their toughest test so far. Rutgers is super talented, but also super young. At 7-5 overall they have underperformed, but the Big Ten will provide them with the opportunities they need to get big wins and land in the NCAA Tournament despite the slow start. Having said that, the sooner they start stringing together wins, the better.

-CINCINNATI AT KANSAS STATE (Big 12). This is not an easy road game for Cincinnati, but it is perhaps one of the more winnable road games that they’ll have the rest of the way. They are 10-1 overall and their last two wins were fairly solid, but their overall OOC schedule was not that difficult, and playing in the Big 12 will be…well…exceedingly difficult.

-HOUSTON AT OKLAHOMA STATE (Big 12). I still really like this Houston team and think they are good enough to make it to the Final Four, but they didn’t build up much of an OOC resume (at least by protected seed standards) and need to start stringing together wins in conference play. Not only is this Houston’s conference opener, it’s their first true road game of the season.

-TCU AT ARIZONA (Big 12). Arizona is just 6-5, but they’ve played a very tough OOC schedule. Having said that, they need to hold serve at home and win the winnable games like this one to keep themselves within reach of the NCAA field.

-IOWA STATE AT COLORADO (Big 12). This is one of the more intriguing games of the day. Iowa State is ranked 3rd in the nation, and they go on the road in their conference opener to play a Colorado team that’s 9-2 overall with some really big wins and who has a shot at another huge showcase win tonight.

BUY GAMES (and other notable games):

-Western Michigan @ Michigan State
-Monmouth @ Auburn
-New Hampshire @ Iowa
-Presbyterian @ South Carolina
-Alabama State @ Missouri
-Oakland @ Arkansas
-Bryant @ Grand Canyon
-New Orleans @ Vanderbilt
-Bethune Cookman @ Mississippi State
-Southern @ Nebraska
-LMU @ Washington State (West Coast) – Wazzu should get the win and improve to 12-3
-Portland @ Oregon State (West Coast) – a win for Oregon State gets them to 11-3 on the year
-Gonzaga @ Pepperdine (West Coast) – Gonzaga is coming off a tough loss to UCLA, but should be able to bounce back tonight in their conference opener
-UC Irvine @ Cal Baptist (Big West) – I still really like this UC Irvine team and think they have a path (albeit a narrow one) to landing inside the bubble. They need to hold serve in games like this
-Santa Clara @ San Francisco (West Coast) – a Bay Area rivalry. Santa Clara has shown some signs of life, but San Francisco has shown more. A win gets them to 12-3

NEWS AND NOTES:

-Gonzaga and UCLA came down to the last shot of the game, as they seem to commonly do whenever they play each other. With 8 secs to go, the Zags hit a layup and got an and-1 with a chance to tie the game, but missed the freethrow, and then missed a heave in the final seconds after two made UCLA freethrows, and the Bruins picked up a massive 65-62 win. Gonzaga is now 9-4 on the season, and while they’ve had some really nice wins it’s still not quite as good as what many were expecting. Still, if you look at their losses, two have been in overtime (one of which was to Kentucky), another was to a very solid UConn team, and the fourth was yesterday. So, they still have a very high ceiling and when you look at the rest of their schedule it looks as though they’ll be favored in all their remaining games. As for UCLA, it was a huge bounce back win after their close loss to North Carolina, and considering they also have a couple nice wins against Arizona and Oregon they are very well positioned as they head into conference play.

-Utah State pulled off an exciting finish at San Diego State 67-66. They trailed by 7 with under 2 minutes to go, but finished the game on a 9-1 run which included the game winning 3 with less than 10 seconds to go. Utah State is now 12-1 on the year with wins over Iowa, Saint Bonaventure (who has just one loss), and Saint Mary’s. The win at San Diego State is probably their most impressive of the season so far, and we should see the Aggies in the Top 25 next week.

-Memphis ran away from Ole Miss 87-70. While Ole Miss did make some runs at times to keep themselves in it, at no point did it feel like Memphis was not in control of the game. The Tigers are now 10-3 with a very strong resume as they are about to begin conference play, and it looks like they’ll be favored in all of their remaining games. I think they are on track to end up with a protected seed come March.

-Louisville barely escaped Eastern Kentucky. They seemed to be in control at the half, but then a poor shooting second half allowed EKU to get back in it and actually take the lead with less than 10 seconds to go. A go-ahead basket in the final seconds (and then a foul) allowed Louisville to hold on 78-76. I don’t know if Louisville had any time off for the Holidays, but if they did I bet they don’t get any time off next year.

-New Mexico picked up their first road win of the season as they knocked off Colorado State 76-68. They are now 10-3 on the year with and have a nice win over UCLA from earlier, so the Lobos are well positioned.

-Boise State barely escaped San Jose State, but held on 73-71 for a conference road win. Boise State was the preseason conference favorite (at least among our group), but with San Diego State, Utah State, and New Mexico all looking strong they certainly have their work cut out for them.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-INDIANA STATE AT OHIO STATE. It’s a buy game, but it’s interesting enough to go ahead and highlight. After a very slow start and a lot of roster turnover, Indiana State is starting to hit their stride with five straight wins. This is a much bigger test than any of the previous five games, though, as Ohio State is coming off a very impressive win against Kentucky, which ranks up there as one of the more impressive single game performances any team has this season.

-NORTHEASTERN AT NORTHWESTERN. Again, this is a buy game, but Northeastern may be just good enough to make this one interesting. They’ll need to do better than they did against UMass, though. Northwestern has several solid wins, and of their three losses they were all against good teams by five points or less, so you don’t want to just overlook the Wildcats.

-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT ALABAMA. This is a good South Dakota State that has gotten better as the season has gone along, but they’re probably way overmatched in this one. Alabama is a probable protected seed, and while the Jackrabbits will be a force in the Summit League, beating a protected seed on their floor is probably too tall of an order.

-BELMONT AT DRAKE (Missouri Valley). Belmont is good, but Drake has just been fantastic this year and are one of the few remaining unbeaten teams. They are inching closer and closer to the top 25 and may be just a week or two away from breaking into it if they can keep winning. They will be tested today, but it’s still a game they should be able to win.

-WESTERN KENTUCKY AT MICHIGAN. This is a talented WKU team that got off to a big of a slow start, but since losing to Kentucky has won six straight. I don’t know if they’re good enough to win at Michigan, but the Wolverines (who are having a damn good year themselves) better not overlook them.

BUY GAMES (and other games of note):

-Northwestern State @ Texas
-Stetson @ Florida
-Penn @ Penn State
-Prairie View A&M @ Oklahoma
-Chicago State @ Illinois
-Norfolk State @ High Point – these look like two conference frontrunners, but High Point looks to have more talent and they are playing at home
-South Carolina State @ Georgia
-Longwood @ SMU – Longwood has a very respectable 11-3 record with 3 true road wins, but they’re probably way overmatched in this one
-Valparaiso @ Bradley (Mountain West) – a win for Bradley gets them to 11-2 on the year and keeps them unbeaten in league play
-Winthrop @ Indiana
-Weber State @ Oregon
-Toledo @ Purdue
-Mississippi Valley State @ LSU
-Campbell @ North Carolina

NEWS AND NOTES:

-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE

-Nebraska won the Diamond Head Classic, and picked up three decent wins in the process knocking off Murray State, Hawaii on their home court, and an Oregon State team that looks like they may be a bubble team themselves. The Huskers have a home buy game against Oregon State coming up, and then they host UCLA, in what should be a huge showcase home game for them.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-OLE MISS AT MEMPHIS. There have been times this season where Memphis did not play up to their ceiling, but they’ve played a tough schedule and won enough big games to where I’m convinced they are a very good team. Ole Miss is good as well, and this should be a fun one. It’s a resume building opportunity for both teams (albeit one of many).

-NEW MEXICO AT COLORADO STATE (Mountain West). This is a conference road game for a New Mexico team that needs some conference road wins. They only played one true road game OOC and lost at Saint John’s, so they need some road wins to strengthen their resume, and while this is one that won’t be easy, it is one that you would expect an NCAA Tournament caliber team to be able to get.

-UCLA VS GONZAGA (Game in Inglewood CA). Both teams are in the rankings, both have multiple big wins, and both have a ton of potential. It wouldn’t shock me at all if they both ended up as protected seeds come March.

-UTAH STATE AT SAN DIEGO STATE (Mountain West). These appear to be the two best teams in the Mountain West. I feel both teams are good enough to land in the top half of the bracket, and this is one of the bigger opportunities remaining for each team in terms of how good this win would be for each team’s resume.

BUY GAMES (and other games of note):

-Coppin State @ Georgetown
-UMES @ Maryland
-Eastern Kentucky @ Louisville
-Eastern Michigan @ Davidson
-Abilene Christian @ Texas A&M
-Nevada @ Wyoming (Mountain West) – Nevada needs to start stringing together wins if they want to reach the bubble.
-Fairfield @ Columbia – Columbia can improve to 11-1 with a win
-Boise State @ San Jose State (Montain West) – this should be a winnable conference road game for the Broncos
-Delaware @ Saint John’s
-Grand Canyon vs San Diego (Game in Inglewood CA) – if the Lopes are going to make a run at the bubble they basically need to win out
-Occidental (nonD1) @ UC San Diego
-Pacifc @ Saint Mary’s (West Coast) – It’s a conference game that may as well be a buy game
-Washigton State @ Portland (West Coast) – I really like this Wazzu team and think they’ll be inside the bubble and in the top half of the standings at the end of the year
-LMU @ San Francisco (West Coast) – The Dons need to string together some wins if they’re going to end up making the field