We’ve got another jam packed day of college hoops!! With Hawaii’s game tipping off at 1am, est, that actually gives us 15 straight hours basketball!! It is one of the longest days of the year, and we have all of the highlighted games listed below…
-TENNESSEE AT KENTUCKY (SEC) (***Spotlight Game***). You gotta love it when we got top five match-ups!! Tennessee is ranked #1, is on pace to get a #1 seed, and could even end up as the overall #1 seed, especially if they’re able to win a true road game like this one. Kentucky is looking to bounce back from a tough and somewhat controversial ending, but with two games remaining against Tennessee, as well as the other opponents they’ll face I still think they have a path to a #1 seed. They’ll need to win today, and they’ll pretty much need to win out, but the opportunity is there.
-MARYLAND AT MICHIGAN (Big Ten). Michigan will be looking to bounce back from a crazy loss at Penn State earlier in the week. They host a Maryland team that’s been playing well and has some good wins, but none as good as this one would be.
-NORTH CAROLINA AT WAKE FOREST (ACC). This is a winnable road game for the Tarheels who are on pace to land on one of the top two lines.
-CLEMSON AT LOUISVILLE (ACC). Interesting storyline for both these teams coming into this one. Clemson is on the bubble and is looking for a big road win to boost up their tournament resume. Louisville has lost two straight games where they appeared to be in command late and blew it. They need a win simply to stabilize their mental health.
-OKLAHOMA AT TCU (Big 12). Oklahoma is six games below .500, but still has a path to the NCAA Tournament if they can string together some wins. TCU is on the bubble and will likely make it in, but they can’t put it on cruise control just yet.
-AUBURN AT VANDERBILT (SEC). To Auburn’s credit, they’ve pretty much won all their games against non-tournament teams. The problem is they haven’t won any against teams that are solidly in the field. That means they need to continue to take care of business in games like this.
-OKLAHOMA STATE AT TEXAS (Big 12). It’s been the same story with Texas for a while. They’re in relatively good shape, but have had a schizophrenic season and could use some stability on their resume.
-NOTRE DAME AT VIRGINIA (ACC). Virginia is on pace to get a #1 seed and just needs to hold serve in games like this.
-BAYLOR AT TEXAS TECH (Big 12). This is a big game for both teams. Baylor has been playing like an NCAA team since conference play started, but still has some work to do and could use a huge quality road win like this on their resume. Texas Tech is trying to grow their profile as well and contend for a protected seed.
-FLORIDA STATE AT GEORGIA TECH (ACC). Florida State is looking for their seventh straight win, as well as their fourth true road win. I’d say they’re in good shape.
-INDIANA AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten). Minney is inside the bubble and will likely end up in the field, but they can’t just start to skate just yet. Indiana is in serious trouble, and although our committee took them last night I’m not so sure the real one would. They need more wins. This would certainly help.
-FLORIDA AT ALABAMA (SEC). Alabama is on our bubble, and needs to win at home against teams that are outside of the bubble.
-MISSOURI AT OLE MISS (SEC). Ole Miss is looking more and more like a first ballot team and just needs to continue to hold serve in games like this. They’ve been a fun story all year long.
-PENN STATE AT PURDUE (Big Ten). Purdue is inching closer and closer to locking up a protected seed. They shouldn’t have too much trouble today.
-WEST VIRGINIA AT KANSAS (Big 12). West Virginia actually won the first meeting. Kansas is in relatively good shape, especially after a huge road win earlier in the week, and they just need to avoid a slip up against a WVU team where everything has fallen apart.
-IOWA STATE AT KANSAS STATE (Big 12). I like both these teams, and I apparently like them more than the committee does. I think both could end up as protected seeds, and that whoever wins this game will take a huge step toward getting there.
-VCU AT DAYTON (Atlantic Ten). If any A10 team is able to finish inside the bubble, it’s VCU. If they win out then they should be okay regardless of what happens in the conference tournament. Dayton isn’t the easiest place to win. They’re 11-2 at home this year.
-UTAH STATE AT AIR FORCE (Mountain West). Utah State has an unimpressive profile, but it’s also an unimpressive bubble and I kind of like their chances because they are at least winning their games, and winning on the road. If they win out, which would mean winning at home against Nevada, I think they’re in regardless of the conference tourney.
-VIRGINIA TECH AT PITTSBURGH (ACC). This is a winnable road game for Uncle Buzz and CO. They should cruise into the top half of the bracket, and if they get hot between now and then end, who knows how good their seed could end up being.
-NC STATE AT DUKE (ACC). Duke has a path to earning the overall #1 seed, and NC State just needs some wins to land safely inside the bubble. This particular loss won’t hurt them much at all, but a win would certainly help.
-LSU AT GEORGIA (SEC). LSU is coming off their biggest win of the year, and perhaps their biggest win in years period, and has a pathway to a protected seed.
-IOWA AT RUTGERS (Big Ten). This is a winnable road game for an Iowa team that seems to be cruising toward the top half of the bracket and will be wearing white in the Round of 64.
-MEMPHIS AT UCF (American). Every game that UCF plays for the rest of the year has a sense of urgency to it. They are right on the bubble, and they have limited chances to beat really good teams, so they better beat all the teams that they are playing.
-TEMPLE AT SOUTH FLORIDA (American). Temple, who is also a bubble team, needs to basically approach every remaining game like it’s a must win game.
-UNC GREENSBORO AT WOFFORD (SoCon). I’m not putting this with the other UTR games because I think Wofford is an at-large caliber team with a current at-large caliber resume, and while UNCG is outside the bubble could get the committee to at least look at them if they’re able to pull off a win like this and finish strong the rest of the way.
-WASHINGTON AT WASHINGTON STATE (Pac Twelve). Washington has been the best team in the Pac Twelve by a long shot so far, but it’s a dangerous stretch between now and the end simply because not all these games are easy to win, and in every single case a loss would cause more harm than a win would cause for good. That’s certainly true tonight on the road against their rivals.
-MISSISSIPPI STATE AT ARKANSAS (SEC). This is a winnable, but not necessarily easy, road game for Mississippi State who’s in good shape as far as making the Dance goes.
-GONZAGA AT SAN DIEGO (West Coast). It’s a showcase game for San Diego, and I know LMU made it interesting the other night, but Gonzaga is so superior that they will likely be able to sleepwalk and still win.
-NEVADA AT WYOMING (Mountain West). Nevada continues to plow through the conference and their season. They should end up as a protected seed if they keep it up.
-ARIZONA STATE AT UTAH (Pac Twelve). It is tough to ever know exactly what Arizona State is going to do, and because of that they’ve built a resume that is very tough to evaluate. They need some stabilization if they want to feel safe on Selection Sunday.
UNDER THE RADAR
-BUCKNELL AT HOLY CROSS (Patriot League). Bucknell has a two game lead with five games remaining. They can inch closer to locking up home court for the conference tourney
-STONY BROOK AT NEW HAMPSHIRE (America East). Stony Brook is a game behind Vermont and trying to keep pace.
-ARMY AT NAVY (Patriot League). Highlighted primarily because it’s fun, and in this case it may play a role in whether or not these teams get to host a quarterfinal game.
-UAB AT WESTERN KENTUCKY (Conference USA). As much as we crapped on WKU for being so disappointing, they’ve won eight out of nine and are just a game back of first place. They have the talent to make someone miserable in the Round of 64 if they were to get there.
-TEXAS STATE AT LITTLE ROCK (Sun Belt). Texas State is atop the SBC standings and looks to be the best team in the league.
-LIBERTY AT NORTH ALABAMA (Atlantic Sun). Liberty is now tied with Lipscomb for first place and should be favored in the rest of their games.
-VMI AT FURMAN (SoCon). Furman is a long shot at best, but if they win out I think the committee will at least look at them for a bid. And, I like how they’re playing now and think they can do some damage in the SoCon Tourney
-LIPSCOMB AT KENNESAW STATE (Atlantic Sun). Lipscomb is coming off a loss that hurt them, but I still like their chances of getting a bid if they win out and at least tie for first place.
-AUSTIN PEAY AT MOREHEAD STATE (Ohio Valley). Austin Peay is just a game out of first, and it’s basically a four team race for the top two spots and two byes into the semis of the conference tournament.
-VERMONT AT HARTFORD (Atlantic Sun). Vermont has a one game lead in the standings and is trying to hold on to clinch home court in the conference tourney.
-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT NORTH DAKOTA STATE (Summit League). South Dakota State is coming off a loss at the buzzer to Omaha, but is still in a tie for first place and still looks to be the best team in the league.
-NORTHERN COLORADO AT EASTERN WASHINGTON (Big Sky). Northern Colorado is just a half game out of first place, and EWU has gotten hot fall of a sudden.
-RADFORD AT CHARLESTON SOUTHERN (Big South). Radford has a two game lead with seven games to go. They can inch closer to a first place finish and the right to host the conference tournament.
-HOFSTRA AT UNC WILMINGTON (Colonial). Hofstra looked really strong the other night, and seems to be on pace to a first place finish in the CAA.
-YALE AT CORNELL (Ivy League). Yale is the first place team in the Ivy and has the clearest path to winning the league.
-MURRAY STATE AT EASTERN KENTUCKY (Ohio Valley). Murray State picked up a close win the other night to keep pace to finish in the top two and earn a double bye.
-TENNESSEE STATE AT JACKSONVILLE STATE (Ohio Valley). Jax State is still just a game out of first and currently owns the head to head against Murray State and Belmont.
-FLORIDA A&M AT SAVANNAH STATE (MEAC). Savannah State is going after their fifth straight win!!
-BELMONT AT TENNESSEE TECH (Ohio Valley). If Belmont wins out through the regular season then they have a strong case to make the NCAAs regardless of what happens in the conference tournament.
-SEATTLE AT NEW MEXICO STATE (WAC). I like this NMSU team now. They’re on pace to run the table all the way through the conference tournament.
-MONTANA AT IDAHO STATE (Big Sky). Montana is trying to hold on to first place in the conference standings.
-UC SANTA BARBARA AT UC IRVINE (Big West). These are two of the better teams in the Big West. If UCI wins this game I’m expecting them to win out.
