Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES

-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between College of Charleston and Towson – CLICK HERE

-Yesterday was another crazy busy Saturday in college hoops!

-NC State pulled off a big home upset against Duke, which was great for the fans, their resume, and their momentum.  It was NC State’s first ACC win and it came at a time that they desperately needed it.  As for Duke, it was their second true road loss to a team that isn’t just unranked, but looks to be more of an NIT team than an NCAA team.  This does not bode well for the top line.  Their only true road win came at Indiana, who is hardly an NCAA caliber team, and they had to sweat that one out.  They’ve got a really good team and have had some huge wins on neutral floors, but their lack of production in true road games is worth pointing out.

-Xavier was another top five team that lost on the road to an unranked opponent yesterday.  Providence sprinted out to an early lead and managed to hold it for the entire game in what was a huge win for them. For Xavier, it was a missed opportunity to vault themselves into the #1 line. They can still do so when they go to Villanova Wednesday night.

-St. John’s is starting to resemble more of the team that struggled mightily in the Big East two seasons ago. They were clobbered at home against DePaul and have shown very little life since conference play started.

-Seton Hall picked up the best win of the short Big East season with a comeback win at Butler yesterday. The Pirates are looking more and more like a protected-seed caliber team, but they are now in a BRUTAL stretch where 8 of their next 13 games will be played away from home.

-Oklahoma played well at West Virignia, but not well enough to get the win.  The Mountaineers have not lost since their opening game against Texas A&M and have beaten some really good teams along the way.

-Virginia wasn’t sweating much in their game against North Carolina.  By no means did they blow out the Tar Heels, but it wasn’t exactly down to the wire either.

-Kansas, who oddly enough has struggled in home and quasi-home games, won a huge one at TCU last night.  They led for most of the way, but TCU was certainly making it exciting down the stretch.

-Texas A&M lost their third straight game at home to LSU, and they did so in the most spectacular fashion possible.  They blew a five point lead in the final seconds as LSU, in Reggie Miller vs the Knicks style, hit a three, stole the ball, and hit another three.

-Colorado had quite a week as they knocked off Arizona yesterday.  It was the Wildcats’ first loss since the Battle 4 Atlantis.  Granted, the wins came at home for the Buffs and they’ll need to win some games on the road, but it was a HUGE turnaround for Colorado.

-Tennessee held of Kentucky at home for the second straight year and gave the Wildcats their first conference loss.  The Vols have the second-toughest schedule in the country to date, but it was nice to finally get a W to add to their profile. Still, the loss isn’t all that damaging for Kentucky, and I still think their team is continuing to improve so it isn’t all that discouraging either.

-Auburn continues to impress.  They blew open a huge lead against Arkansas and won that game comfortably.  There is a bigger buzz around Auburn basketball than there has been in almost fifteen years.

-Florida got a really big road win against Missouri in a game that was decided in the final seconds.  It was a game the Tigers really could have used, and lost in heartbreaking fashion.

-Georgia won the appetizer in the Georgia-Alabama weekend that will be highlighted by the National Championship game for football tomorrow night. Alabama may have a resemblance to the Vandy team that had a killer schedule last season, but they’re going to need to start racking up Ws in a conference that will be unforgiving this winter.

-Notre Dame got a big road win that also came in the final seconds as they knocked off Syracuse at the Dome.  The Irish have actually done a great job of rallying the troops since Bonzie Colson went down with an injury.

-UMass, who is nowhere close to an NCAA Tournament team, has to be the most volatile team in the country. This is a team that has lost at Quinnipiac and at home to George Mason and Georgia State, yet has wins against Georgia and Providence at home and won at Dayton yesterday.

-Boise State missed a lot of key (and to be fair contested) layups in the final seconds of regulation and in overtime and failed to pick up what would have been a nice road win against Wyoming.  It doesn’t sink them by any means, but the chances at decent wins are few and far between, so what was already a rather small margin for error for the Broncos certainly didn’t get any larger.

-BYU fell at Pacific.  Their margin for error may have just gone away entirely. Saint Mary’s won at home against a scrappy San Diego team that is trying to crash the Big 3 of the WCC.

-UNLV lost at home to Utah State.  That is a rather crippling loss for a much improved Runnin’ Rebel team, but also a team that needs to improve a little bit more before they’re a solid and consistent tournament caliber team.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-TEMPLE AT UCF (American).  Temple is off to an 0-3 start in league play, and they’ll need to put together a long string of wins just to get anywhere close to the bubble.  UCF, at 11-4, still has quite a bit of work to do themselves.

-SOUTH FLORIDA AT WICHITA STATE (American).  Wichita is clearly the superior team and should have no trouble rolling at home in this one.

-LOYOLA CHICAGO AT NORTHERN IOWA (Missouri Valley).  After both teams put together some fantastic wins OOC, they have both been atrocious in league play.  Both are pretty much out of strikes outside of winning out, and neither of them have looked anything close to capable of doing that in the past couple of weeks.

-MICHIGAN STATE AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten).  This is probably the biggest game of the day as an improving Ohio State team with a growing amount of buzz around it hosts the top team in the nation.  If Ohio State can pull off the upset, it certainly helps their tournament chances even though they are at home.

-FLORIDA STATE AT MIAMI FL (ACC).  Simply put, this is a conference rivalry game between two ranked teams who are in good shape, but who still both have room for improvement, and a win today would certainly look good on either team’s resume.

-SMU AT CINCINNATI (American).  We thought there were three solid NCAA teams in the American, and that SMU was one of them, but that’s looking to be less and less the case.  SMU needs a big win in a game like this in order to get them back on the right side of the bubble.

-ARIZONA STATE AT UTAH (Pac Twelve).  Both teams are coming off close losses in tough games and are looking to rebound.  Arizona State’s loss at Colorado was certainly the more surprising of the two.  They appear to be a solid protected seed, and Utah is still looking for wins to solidify themselves as an NCAA Tournament team.

-IOWA AT MARYLAND (Big Ten).  Maryland is right on the fringe and needs to hold serve in games like this, which amount to home games against non-tournament teams.

-USC AT STANFORD (Pac Twelve).  Stanford is coming off a big home win against UCLA and will be on an emotional high.  USC really needs to put together a long string of wins if they want to consider themselves to be safely inside the bubble.

NEWS AND NOTES

-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day, which is a great one between Ball State and Buffalo – CLICK HERE

-Northwestern is back to their old selves of not being any good.  They were creamed by Penn State last night.  Both teams have barely looked like NIT teams so far, and as of now it’s hard to say if Northwestern has even looked that good.

-Oregon dropped a pivotal game on the road to rival Oregon State.  It was a feelgood win for the Beavers, and a crushing loss both on and off paper for the Ducks.

-For teams under the radar, Northern Kentucky got their first true road win in a hostile environment at Oakland. The Norse are currently the team to beat in the Horizon, but look for these two teams to be at the top of the league come March.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-XAVIER AT PROVIDENCE (Big East).  Xavier has looked pretty sharp all year, and has some pretty decent road wins on their resume as well.  As for Providence, they need to play catch up just to get themselves on the committee’s radar.  A win today would certainly go a long way.

-LOUISVILLE AT CLEMSON (ACC).  Clemson is red hot and is coming off a road win against BC, whereas Louisville is in a tailspin and will need to string together several wins just to get themselves into the category of being a tournament team.

-ILLINOIS AT MICHIGAN (Big Ten).  I like this Michigan team, and although Illinois has looked good at times, they’re still looking for their first B1G win (not including the Bragging Rights game against Missouri) and I don’t think it will come today.

-PITTSBURGH AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC).  VA Tech got absolutely rocked by rival UVA earlier in the week, and needs to string together some wins just to solidify that they are a tournament team.

-ALABAMA AT GEORGIA (SEC).  This is a fun game just two days before the two meet for the national title in football.  Both have fielded good basketball teams as well and appear to be hovering around the bubble right now, and whenever that’s the case it’s a big game for both teams

-CREIGHTON AT GEORGETOWN (Big East).  Creighton is off to a pretty good start in league play and has a chance to pick up a winnable (but not easy) road game today.

-NORTH CAROLINA AT VIRGINIA (ACC).  Both teams have looked like they could end up as protected seeds, so this would be a high caliber win for whoever pulls it off.  I’ve been more impressed with the Hoos than with the Heels, and they’re at home.  Having said that, if the Tar Heels were to pick up a win it would make a resume that’s already pretty good a whole lot better.

-FLORIDA AT MISSOURI (SEC).  Both teams have looked really good at times, and not so good at other times.  Both also still have work to do and could really use this one.

-ARIZONA AT COLORADO (Pac Twelve).  Arizona just picked up a really nice road win against Utah and is one of the hotter teams in all of college hoops right now.  Colorado hasn’t been that strong, but they’re coming off a hugely surprising upset against Arizona State and will have a lot of momentum and confidence coming into this game.

-DEPAUL AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East).  Saint John’s is beaten up a little bit, but they need wins.  They certainly can’t afford to drop what is perhaps the most winnable game in all of Big East play.  A home game against DePaul.

-TEXAS AT BAYLOR (Big 12).  This rivarly has heated up in recent years, and this year it’s an important game for both teams.  Both have played well, but both need more good wins on their resumes than what they currently have (more so for Baylor at the moment).

-BUFFALO AT BALL STATE (MAC).  These look to be the two best teams in the MAC right now, and this is their only meeting during the regular season.

-NEVADA AT AIR FORCE (Mountain West).  Nevada looks to be the best teams in the MWC and should safely make the field.  They just need to hold serve in games like this.

-LSU AT TEXAS A&M (SEC).  TAMU is in a sudden tailspin due to part of their roster being suspended.  A win today against LSU would really help things get turned around, but it’s still much easier said than done.  LSU isn’t great, but they are very much improved.

-NEBRASKA AT PURDUE (Big Ten).  Purdue continues to look like a solid protected seed and should be able to breeze through this at home and sustain that status.

-SETON HALL AT BUTLER (Big East).  Butler has gotten better as the year has gone on, and as Villanova found out they are very tough to beat at home.  They’re coming off a road loss to Xavier, but that’s hardly damaging.  Seton Hall could still end up as a protected seed, and a win today would certainly help them achieve that.

-NEW MEXICO STATE AT CHICAGO STATE (WAC).  New Mexico State looks to be the best team in the WAC and may be the best overall UTR team.

-NOTRE DAME AT SYRACUSE (ACC).  Both teams are hanging around the bubble right now, and both could really use this win.

-DUQUESNE AT FORDHAM (Atlantic Ten).  Duquesne can improve to 3-0 in Atlantic Ten play, and I think they’re good enough to where they can at least finish toward the top of the league.

-KANSAS STATE AT TEXAS TECH (Big 12).  Texas Tech is coming off one of the biggest surprise wins of the season, and a team that started off without receiving a single vote in the top 25 is now looking like they could end up on the #2 or #3 line.  They can improve to 14-1 on the year and stay perfect in conference play with a win today.

-WAKE FOREST AT BOSTON COLLEGE (ACC).  Right now it looks like both are on the outside looking in and if either wants any chance at all to be in the tournament picture then they need to win games like this.

-WASHINGTON AT WASHINGTON STATE (Pac Twelve).  Washington has had a pretty good year so far.  A bit inconsistent, but the NCAA Tourney is certainly an attainable goal for them.  Picking up a win against rival Wazzu would help both on and off paper.

-IOWA STATE AT OKLAHOMA STATE (Big 12).  Both teams have played well this year at times, but both have a lot of work to do and both are still looking for their first conference win.  This game has a pivotal feel to it for both teams.

-RHODE ISLAND AT GEORGE WASHINGTON (Atlantic Ten).  Rhody looks to be a very solid tournament team and should be able to skate into the top half of the bracket if they hold serve throughout A10 play.

-MISSISSIPPI STATE AT OLE MISS (SEC).  Mississippi State had a bloated record, but I was attributing that mostly to their schedule.  Their win against Arkansas the other night was really big, and if they can follow that up with a road win against their rival then there is a lot to take seriously there.

-STEPHEN F AUSTIN AT NORTHWESTERN STATE (Southland).  SFA may have an outside shot at making the field if they win out and lose in the conference championship, but it is a very very very small chance.

-MIDDLE TENNESSEE AT FLORIDA ATLANTIC (Conference USA).  Middle had to sweat out FIU the other night.  They have a very slim margin for error if they want to land inside the bubble.  It may be so small that there isn’t really any margin at all.

-INDIANA AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten).  Minney has a good record, but they’re in a situation where losing at home to non-tournament teams would not be good.

-ARKANSAS AT AUBURN (SEC).  This is one of the more exciting games of the day.  Both teams have been surprises, and as good as both have looked neither has really gotten credit for being as good as they probably are.  They’ll both have a chance to pick up a big win today.

-OLD DOMINION AT NORTH TEXAS (Conference USA).  If ODU can win out, which is much easier said than done, then they will have the attention of the committee.

-UCLA AT CALIFORNIA (Pac Twelve).  UCLA fell at Stanford in an overtime thriller the other night and could use a nice bounce back win today.

-WESTERN KENTUCKY AT MARSHALL (Conference USA).  Western KY has the kinds of OOC wins they need to land inside the bubble, but they need to blow through CUSA where they won’t really be getting any further opportunities to impress the committee.

-OKLAHOMA AT WEST VIRGINIA (Big 12).  These are perhaps the two best teams in the Big 12, and both are so good that they will likely contend for #1 seeds.  This is the kind of game that #1 seeds need to be able to win, so it should be a fun one.

-DUKE AT NC STATE (ACC).  Duke is off to a solid 13-1 start and faces an NC State team that is inconsistent, but that should be way up for this one.

-MARQUETTE AT VILLANOVA (Big East).  Nova is coming off a loss to Butler, but I still think they are the best team in the country and still have the #1 line very much within their grasp.  Marquette is hovering around the bubble.  Of course if they could somehow win this then they’ll be so far inside it that they won’t have to worry nearly as much.

-SAINT BONAVENTURE AT SAINT JOSEPH’S (Atlantic Ten).  The Bonnies are coming off a loss to Dayton, and although it didn’t cripple them by any means, they really can’t afford too many more losses to what appear to be sub-tournament teams.  They need to rebound with a win tonight.

-COASTAL CAROLINA AT LOUISIANA (Sun Belt).  If Louisiana can run the table, and that’s a very big ‘if,’ then they may not need the auto bid this March.

-BOISE STATE AT WYOMING (Mountain West).  I really like this Boise State team and think they can challenge Nevada for first place in the Mountain West.  Wyoming hasn’t turned out to be quite as good as I thought, but they’re still very tough to beat at home.

-KENTUCKY AT TENNESSEE (SEC).  Tennessee was one of the surprise teams this season, but they’ve kind of hit a skid and are still looking for their first conference win.  They host a Kentucky team tonight that seems to be improving as the season goes along and who also just picked up a nice road win at LSU.

-KANSAS AT TCU (Big 12).  TCU is ranked, and they’re at home, and they’re hosting Kansas.  This is perhaps the biggest showcase game in TCU’s entire history.  Well, may be a stretch, but in all seriousness it’s easily the biggest one that I can recall.  Kansas has struggled, but still has a really good chance to turn things around and end up as a protected seed.  TCU, for that matter, could also end up seeded that high.

-GONZAGA AT LMU (West Coast).  The Zags really haven’t been challenged in league play yet, and probably won’t be tonight either.

-BYU AT PACIFIC (West Coast).  BYU needs to avoid losing to anyone that isn’t Gonzaga or Saint Mary’s, and pick up a couple of wins against Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s if they want to make the field.

-UTAH STATE AT UNLV (Mountain West).  UNLV has a lot of work to do.  The last thing they need to do is to drop a game at home to a team that isn’t likely to finish anywhere near the NIT, much less the NCAAs.

-SAN DIEGO AT SAINT MARY’S (West Coast).  Last, but certainly not least!!  This is one of the better match ups of the day.  Both teams have solid records, but both desperately need quality wins and must take advantage of the few chances they have left.  That certainly means being able to win this game today.