Hoops HD

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-Michigan State handed Nebraska their first home loss in a rather impressive showing. They are definitely playing like a #2 seed because those are the types of games that are not easy to win.

-In UTR news, Belmont lost to Jacksonville State for the second time this season.  With two conferences losses, the chances of Belmont catching Murray State are pretty much zero.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-VIRGINIA AT DUKE (ACC) (***Spotlight Game***).  It’s rare that you see two teams that are ranked #1 going at it.  To be fair, Duke isn’t likely to be ranked #1 next week after losing at home to Syracuse, but as of now each of them is #1 in either the coaches or AP poll.  Both are also on pace to get a #1 seed, and this is the kind of win that can help cement a team onto the #! line.  It should be fun!!

-MARYLAND AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten) (Friday).  Maryland has been playing extremely well lately, whereas Ohio State has been playing decently well.  This is a win that would help

-EASTERN MICHIGAN AT BUFFALO (MAC) (Friday).  Buffalo shouldn’t have too much trouble winning this one, staying in the rankings, and staying unbeaten in MAC play.

-SAINT JOSEPH’S AT SAINT LOUIS (Atlantic Ten) (Friday).  SLU is unbeaten in A10 play and has a shot at an at-large if they can avoid stubbing their toes against non-tournament claliber teams, which is basically everyone in the conference

-XAVIER AT VILLANOVA (Big East) (Friday).  Nova seems to have turned the corner since conference play starts, and a win gets them to 5-0 and keeps them on track to earn a really good seed.  Xavier is pretty far behind the pack, but they can get caught back up if they can string together some wins

-MICHIGAN AT WISCONSIN (Big Ten).  This is a tough road test for Michigan, but they’ve certainly taken and passed tough tests before.  It would also be a huge signature upset win for Wisconsin if they’re able to pull it off.

-NORTH CAROLINA AT MIAMI FL (ACC).  This is a winnable road game for a UNC team that’s not necessarily in a tailspin, but also not flying all that high at the moment either.

-TULSA AT UCF (American).  Despite the bloated record, UCF’s schedule is very flimsy right now and they need to hold serve at home.

-FLORIDA AT GEORGIA (SEC).  Florida needs to string together quite a few wins in order to get within range of the bubble.

-ARKANSAS AT OLE MISS (SEC).  Arkansas has a few decent things on their resume, but they’ve still got quite a bit of catching up to do.  Ole Miss has been one of the bigger surprises of the season and will remain in solid shape if they can continue to hold serve.

-ALABAMA AT TENNESSEE (SEC).  Right now we have Alabama as a team that’s inside the bubble, and Tennessee as a team that’s on the #1 line.  With the Vols playing at home they shouldn’t have too much trouble remaining on pace for a #1 seed.

-KANSAS AT WEST VIRGINIA (Big 12).  In most years this is a very tough road game to win, and a win that looks really good on a team’s resume.  This year, it’s a winnable road game that would almost look bad on a resume if they weren’t able to win it, especially if Kansas is gunning for the #1 line.

-NC STATE AT NOTRE DAME (ACC).  NC State has looked really good at home against non-tournament teams (and Auburn).  I think they’re good, but I don’t think their resume is nearly as good at their ranking at the moment.  They’ll get their chances.  Notre Dame isn’t a great team, but it would at least be a road win for the Wolfpack.

-INDIANA AT PURDUE (Big Ten).  We’ve got two teams that will probably land in the top half of the bracket, and it’s a rivalry, and it’s two teams who have room for improvement on their resumes.  Quite a bit at stake here!  Should be fun!

-PITTSBURGH AT SYRACUSE (ACC).  Pitt is squarely on our bubble at the moment, and a road win like this would to a ton to push them in the right direction.  Syracuse is by far this year’s most schizophrenic teams.  They’ve lost at home to Old Dominion, and they’ve won at Duke (albeit while Duke was battling injuries).  You just never know what’s going to happen.

-CINCINNATI AT WICHITA STATE (American).  Wichita is having a rough year, but it’s still not the easiest thing in the world to go into the Round House and win.  Cincinnati has a bloated record, but it isn’t stock full of big time wins, so their margin for error is not huge.

-WAKE FOREST AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC).  VA Tech has a very winnable home game and should be able to bounce back after getting creamed by Virginia earlier in the week.

-KENTUCKY AT AUBURN (SEC).  For weeks I’ve been railing on Auburn for barely having any decent wins, let alone good ones.  They’re at home today against a Kentucky team that looks like a protected seed, and can completely remedy that if they’re able to pull off the win.

-TCU AT KANSAS STATE (Big 12).  K State has flipped the switch and gone from looking like an NIT team to looking like a protected seed.  TCU doesn’t have any bad losses, but has yet to pick up any really good wins yet.  That can change with a road win today.

-LOUISVILLE AT GEORGIA TECH (ACC).  This should be a winnable road game for Louisville that they can add to a resume that’s already pretty good and is continuing to get better.

-SAINT JOHN’S AT BUTLER (Big East).  The Johnnies look decently strong, but they still have some work to do, and any games they’re able to win on the road will help.  Butler is on the outside looking in right now, and needs to string together some wins to get back on the right side of the bubble.

-CALIFORNIA AT WASHINGTON (Pac Twelve).  Washington should be able to land inside the bubble if they continue to dominate the Pac Twelve and hold serve in the games they’re supposed to win.  At this point, that’s pretty much all of them.

-PENN AT TEMPLE (Big Five).  The last time Penn played a Big Five game, they knocked off Villanova, and had a very strong looking resume!!  Since then, THEY’VE SUCKED!!  Temple has been getting better and better (seemingly rather quietly) and is in good shape to be in a position to get an at-large bid.

-TEXAS TECH AT BAYLOR (Big 12).  This is a winnable road game for a Texas Tech team that’s looking to bounce back from a loss to Iowa State.

-NORFOLK STATE AT SAVANNAH STATE (MEAC).  The Team of the People!!!  They try to even out their MEAC record at 2-2.

-OKLAHOMA STATE AT IOWA STATE (Big 12).  Iowa State is looking more and more like a protected seed, especially after their big road win at Texas Tech.  They should be able to hold serve at home in this one before heading to Kansas.

-SOUTH CAROLINA AT LSU (SEC).  South Carolina was horrendous out of conference, but since league play began they’ve looked fantastic.  They’ve still got a long way to go, but they are hardly a team you can take for granted.  LSU is also unbeaten in SEC play and will be looking to hold them off at home.

-UMASS AT VCU (Atlantic Ten).  VCU is almost out of strikes, but not entirely.  They need to blow through this league, which they are good enough to do, in order to be in position to get an at-large bid.

-OREGON STATE AT ARIZONA (Pac Twelve).  Both teams are on the outside looking in right now, and they both have at on of work to do to get caught back up with the pack when trying to earn an at-large.

-FURMAN AT WOFFORD (SoCon).  This game is a little bigger than normal UTR games.  Furman has the best win out of any team in the SoCon with the road win at Villanova, but they’ve already lost two league games.  Wofford is probably the best team in the SoCon.  If Furman loses this one and falls three games behind Wofford I do not think they will catch up, and without a first place finish I do not think they can earn an at-large bid.  Wofford doesn’t have a big win, but they still might be able to play their way onto the bubble, or even inside of it, if they can run away from the rest of the league.

-OKLAHOMA AT TEXAS (Big 12).  This is a conference rivalry game between two likely NCAA Tournament teams that both have room to improve.  Texas is another very schizophrenic team who has some big wins, but also some questionable losses, and a win like this could really stabilize their resume.  Oklahoma has a lot of decent wins on their resume, but this would be one of their better ones if they’re able to pull it off.

-HOUSTON AT SOUTH FLORIDA (American).  This won’t be the easiest road game for Houston to win, but it’s still a game they should be able to pull off without too much trouble, and improve to 4-1 in true road games.

-DEPAUL AT SETON HALL (Big East).  Seton Hall is solidly in the field for now, but they aren’t so far in that they can afford to go into an absolute tailspin.  It’s important that they hold serve at home against a very much improved, but still not very good DePaul team.

-MISSISSIPPI STATE AT VANDERBILT (SEC).  Mississippi State has a very slimsy resume, and haven’t beaten anyone that’s solidly in the tournament.  That will still be the case even if they win against Vandy, but it will at least give them another true road win. Right now they only have one.

-PENN STATE AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten).  Minnesota just got blasted by a horrendously bad Illinois team earlier in the week.  It’s important that they do not lose to Penn State at home.  That would be two losses in a row to teams that will probably not even be in the NIT.

-COLORADO STATE AT UTAH STATE (Mountain West).  I should just give up on Utah State, but I suppose if they win out or come close to it the committee will at least take a strong look at them.

-OREGON AT ARIZONA STATE (Pac Twelve).  It’s hard to feel good about anyone in the Pac Twelve.  They all still have work to do, but both of these teams have shown that they are perhaps good enough to blow through the league and earn a bid.  That being said, winning today is rather essential for both teams.

-BYU AT SAN FRANCISCO (West Coast Conference).  San Francisco is a good team with a resume that just doesn’t measure up, and may not ever measure up if they’re not able to beat Gonzaga.  If they’re unable to win on the road against the Zags, which is probably the case, then they at least need to win all the rest of their games.

UNDER THE RADAR

-STONY BROOK AT MAINE (America East).  Stony Brook has more true road wins than any team in the country.  They have a chance of getting another one today and staying on top of the conference

-BINGHAMTON AT VERMONT (American East).  Vermont needs to keep winning to keep pace with Stony Brook

-GEORGIA STATE AT TROY (Sun Belt).  It hasn’t always been pretty, but GA State is unbeaten in SBC play and has a pretty decent resume overall

-SOUTHERN MISS AT OLD DOMINION (Conference USA).  If Old Dominion can win out (much easier said than done) then there may be room for them inside the bubble.

-UNC GREENSBORO AT EAST TENNESSEE STATE (SoCon).  There are four really good teams in the SoCon, and these are two of them.

-UC IRVINE AT CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE (Big West).  Ivrine’s home loss to Long Beach State was a bit of a backbreaker, but they still look to be one of the better teams in the league and should end up with a manageable seed in the NCAA Tournament if they can blow through the rest of league play and win the auto-bid

-RICE AT NORTH TEXAS (Conference USA).  UNT is trying to improve to 17-2 on the year.

-NORTH FLORIDA AT LIBERTY (Atlantic Sun).  Liberty is trying to keep pace with Lipscomb and earn home court advantage in the ASun Tourney.

-MURRAY STATE AT SIUE (Ohio Valley).  Murray State should blow through this game, and really blow through the rest of their schedule

-NEW MEXICO STATE AT UTAH VALLEY (WAC).  I think New Mexico State can continue to run through the league, get a manageable seed in the NCAA Tournament, and make someone’s life hell in the Round of 64

NEWS AND NOTES

CLICK HERE for or latest Under the Radar Video Podcast

For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day, which is a good one out of the OVC – CLICK HERE

-Iowa State picked up their biggest and most impressive win of the year by knocking off Texas State.  Eight days ago, no top 15 teams had lost at home.  Now NC State (who is no longer in the top 15), Texas Tech, Duke, and North Carolina all have home losses.

-K State went on the road and blew out Oklahoma.  They looked so much better than they have at any point this season that I’m not even sure what the proper adjective is to described just how much better they looked.  Whatever was wrong with them before was not wrong with them last night.

-Something is suddenly very wrong with Minnesota.  They went up against a very weak Illinois team, and were blown off the court.  They trailed by more than 20 for seemingly the majority of the game.

-UCF fell on the road to Wichita State, which doesn’t help a resume that was in need of some work.

-South Carolina picked up a road win at Vanderbilt last night.  They have now won five straight, are 4-0 in the SEC, which is the 3rd ranked overall conference in the NET, are tied for first for Tennessee who is a potential #1 seed……and they are still about a hundred miles from making the NIT.  Next up for them is LSU, Auburn, Oklahoma State, and Tennessee.  If they win three out of those four, they’ll still have work to do, but I think they will have demonstrated that they are capable of getting that work done by the end of the year and landing in the NCAA Tournament.

-Perhaps the most amusing moment of the night was in the UConn v Tulsa game, where both Dan Hurley and Frank Haith were ejected at the same time.  I’ve never seen that before.  After watching the video, it was clear that both coaches needed to cool it, but it had not gotten anywhere close to escalating to the point of where you’d think either one of them would be ejected.  They shook hands with each other as they left the court.  There are a lot of coaches in the American getting ejected this week, which raises the question of whether or not it’s the coaches that are the problem

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-MICHIGAN STATE AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten).  Michigan State is ranked in the top ten and has a path to a #1 seed if they can win out.  Nebraska looks to be a solid tournament team and is coming off one of their nicest wins in years.  They’re also very tough to beat at home so while they’re nowhere near Michigan State in terms of profile, they will be jacked for this one and it won’t be an easy game for Sparty.

-LMU AT GONZAGA (West Coast).  LMU started off with some promise, but is now just 1-2 in league play.  They’ve got a seemingly impossible order tonight against a Gonzaga team that’s gunning for the #1 line.

-STANFORD AT WASHINGTON (Pac Twelve).  As bad as the Pac Twelve has been this year, I still think there’s room in the bubble for a team like Washington if they can continue to win at the clip that they have been.  This is a winnable home game where they need to hold serve.

-SAN FRANCISCO AT PACIFIC (West Coast).  If San Francisco can close to all their remaining games, I think they’ll get a serious look from the committee, and may even be selected.  The problem is that they just don’t have any wins against NIT caliber teams, much less NCAA teams, but there have been times where teams with bloated records and no real wins have gotten in before.

-OREGON AT ARIZONA (Pac Twelve).  Arizona still has a lot of work to do, but in our current bracket they’re hovering around our bubble and should be okay this March so long as they continue to hold serve, and in this conference that pretty much means beating everyone.

-OREGON STATE AT ARIZONA STATE (Pac Twelve).  Arizona State is in a bit of a tailspin and they need to pull themselves out of it.  Oregon State is much improved, and may be a dark horse in this conference, so ASU better not overlook them.

UNDER THE RADAR

-LOUISIANA TECH AT OLD DOMINION (Conference USA).  Both had really good OOC runs, but both have already lost two conference games.  Both could potentially be dangerous in March, but they gotta get there first.

-CHARLESTON AT NORTHEASTERN (Colonial).  After a fantastic 13-2 start to the season that included a win at VCU, Charleston had a terrible week where they lost two straight.  They need to win out to have any shot at all.

-UNC GREENSBORO AT WESTERN CAROLINA (SoCon).  It will be fun watching UNCG, Wofford, Furman, and ETSU battle throughout SoCon play.  There may be room for more than one bid.

-MURRAY STATE AT EASTERN ILLINOIS (Ohio Valley).  If Murray State wins out, the committee will have an interesting decision to make.

-GEORGIA STATE AT SOUTH ALABAMA (Sun Belt).  GA State has had some close calls, but I still feel they’re the best team in the SBC and it’ll be interesting to see what their resume looks like at the end of the year if they win out or come close to it.

-BELMONT AT JACKSONVILLE STATE (Ohio Valley).  This is the game of the week in the OVC.  It’s a somewhat tough road test for Belmont against a Jax State team that’s unbeaten in conference, and who beat them at home earlier this season.

-NEW MEXICO STATE AT SEATTLE (WAC).  NMSU has been somewhat disappointing even though they only have one league loss.  They had to really sweat out their other two.  Seattle has not been somewhat disappointing.  They’ve been totally disappointing after a strong OOC run.  I still think NMSU can dominate this league and give someone fits in the Round of 64.