-All Saturdays are busy Saturdays during the college basketball season, and yesterday was no exception. We run through all of the action below and take a look at today’s notable games…
NEWS AND NOTES
-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE
-Villanova went into Kansas, and although they didn’t get the win it was perhaps one of their most impressive showings of the season. They went through stretches where they didn’t shoot the ball very well, but still kept themselves in the game and made key plays in a very hostile environment. The Jayhawks remain unbeaten and will almost certainly hold on to the top ranking. If anything that margin is widening.
-Tennessee sprinted ahead of Memphis in the renewal of that rivalry, and never really looked back. The Vols are on a current pace to end up as a #1 seed, but we have a long way to go.
-North Carolina jumped ahead of Gonzaga by double digits and maintained that margin for pretty much the entire game. It was the second loss in a row for the Zags, but on paper losing at North Carolina isn’t much of a setback, especially when you consider the Zags aren’t quite at full strength yet. It was perhaps the best the Tarheels have looked this up to this point.
-Belmont is a team we’ve been HUGE on this year, and they did us proud yesterday by winning at UCLA. It was the first home loss for the Bruins of UCLA, and it was the fourth road win for the Bruins of Belmont, who are now 8-1 overall on the year.
-Notre Dame looked really impressive with Purdue, and I will now acknowledge that the Irish are much better than I thought they were, and Purdue is nowhere near as good as I though they were. At least not yesterday.
-Indiana has now won four straight games by three points or less. After trailing Butler the entire game, the Hoosiers hit a wild 3-point shot at the buzzer to win it in one of the more exciting games of the day.
-South Dakota State, who we thought was good but not as good as Nevada, really hung tough with Nevada on the road. The Wolfpack only won by 4, but remain unbeaten and on pace to end up with a protected seed. They will be favored in all remaining games.
-Auburn got a scare from UAB in Birmingham, but managed to pull it out in overtime. It was a great atmosphere. The arena was sold out, the tickets were split, and it was a close game all throughout.
-Virginia Tech didn’t have any trouble with a Washington team that’s been hot and cold all year. Washington probably needed this one more considering they have a smaller margin for error.
-Buffalo beat Southern Illinois for the second time without having to sweat. They remain unbeaten and will remain high in the rankings.
-Ohio State went through a couple of long stretches where they just couldn’t score, and Bucknell almost knocked them off. It was a great and unexpected effort from the Bison who are sort of having a rebuilding year, and the Buckeyes were lucky to escape with a win. If Bucknell plays like that the rest of the way they’ll once again finish at the top of the Patriot League.
-Cincinnati picked up their second loss of the year as Mississippi State knocked them off to improve to 9-1 on the season, and will hold on to their top 20 ranking.
-Arizona State had to come from behind on the road, but they picked up a nice road win at Georgia. It was Georgia’s first home loss, and Arizona State’s first true road win.
-Syracuse is one of the more schizophrenic teams in college basketball this year. They now have a road win at Ohio State, and a home loss to Old Dominion. As for ODU, they are now 8-3 with wins over Syracuse and VCU, so they’re suddenly making more noise than anyone else in C-USA.
-SMU picked up a much needed road win at Georgetown. Their resume needed stabilizing, and that is the kind of win that can really help.
-NC State is now an impressive 9-1 with a win over Penn State, which is one of the better wins on their resume to date. They certainly have more chances in the near future.
-College of Charleston picked up a really nice road win at VCU to improve to 9-2 on the year. If they blow through the rest of their schedule, which is easier said than done, they may end up on the bubble, and perhaps even inside of it. VCU has won at Texas, played Virginia tough on the road, and lost to Old Dominion and now CofC. ODU and CofC are good, but they’re the kinds of teams that VCU needs to beat if they want to establish themselves as being worthy of an NCAA bid.
-Davidson blew what appeared to be a comfortable 6 point lead late inn overtime in a loss to Temple. It was a win that Davidson’s profile really could have used, and that makes Temple’s profile look a lot better.
-We tried to be nice to BYU. We really tried to like them. Then they went and lost at UNLV, who is probably nowhere near the NIT, much less the NCAA Tournament.
-Oklahoma is now 9-1 on the year with another notable win on their resume after beating USC rather comfortable.
-Arizona played awful basketball. It was just bad. They lost at home to Baylor, and while they are far from dead this is certainly a rather unexpected setback.
-It wasn’t easy, but LSU picked up a nice win against Saint Mary’s.
-The Citadel is now 8-2 on the season. You read that correctly.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-RHODE ISLAND VS WEST VIRGINIA (Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase). West Virginia got off to a bit of a sluggish start, but they’ve now won five of their last six and have another very winnable game today.
-DELAWARE AT STONY BROOK. A very interesting UTR match-up between two teams with really good records, and in the case of Stony Brook they have some really good road wins on their resume as well.
-SAINT LOUIS AT HOUSTON. Houston is off to an impressive 9-0 start, and is looking to add yet another decent win on their resume. SLU looks pretty good so far at 7-2, but winning this one on the road would really give their resume a much needed boost. Their margin for error is a little smaller given how there aren’t many teams in the A10 that will give them chances at quality wins.
-DAYTON VS TULSA (Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase). Tulsa has racked up a few decent wins and a pretty good 8-3 record, but they still have a lot of work to do. Dayton is 5-4 on the year with a nice win against Butler, but they perhaps have even more work to do than Tulsa, and fewer chances against quality teams remaining to get it done.
-INDIANA STATE AT TCU. Indiana State has just two losses, one of which was a close game at Xavier. If they can some how knock off TCU on the road then we’d have to start thinking of them as being one of the better teams in the Missouri Valley. TCU comes in at 7-1 and appears to be improving as the season progresses.
-NEBRASKA VS OKLAHOMA STATE (Sioux Falls, SD). This is a winnable game for Nebraska away from home that they really need to pick up.
BUY GAMES
-Maine @ Duquesne
-Fairfield @ Boston College
-Central Connecticut @ Providence
-Troy @ Western Kentucky
-Stetson @ UCF
-Cal State Fullerton @ San Francisco
-Wagner @ Saint John’s
-Green Bay @ Michigan State
-Chattanooga @ Ole Miss
