Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES

-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Bucknell and Lehigh, which are two of the better teams in the Patriot League – CLICK HERE

-Last night was another busy and exciting night.  Alabama pulled off a surprising upset at South Carolina, and they needed four overtimes to do it making it one of the more exciting games of the year.  Alabama isn’t a team that we’ve talked much about at all, but they host Kentucky this weekend and if they pick that one up then you have to start thinking that the bubble is in reach for them.

-Maryland lost their second straight game.  Their string of close wins and having a record that appeared to be better than their team is starting to even out.  They lost to Penn State, and pretty much trailed the entire game.

-Butler picked up a nice road win at Marquette, which is another really nice win for the Butler profile.  They’ve got a lot of those.  Marquette is still inside the bubble, but they have backtracked somewhat over the last week or so.

-Notre Dame was able to hold off Wake Forest in a game that seesawed back and forth.  Wake is still on the outside looking in.

-Northwestern lost at home to a very mediocre Illinois team that hadn’t won a single road game all season.  Northwestern still appears to be in the field, and they were without one of their better players, but you can’t help but scratch your head a little bit and wonder if they’re going to make it.

-Syracuse picked up another nice win, and continues to inch closer and closer to the bubble.  They won at Clemson on a last second shot, and are now a very surprising 8-4 in ACC play.  That alone has the earmarks of being in the field.  And, as Chad so accurately observed, Jim Boeheim picked up his 900th win just three days after picking up his 1000th win!

-Arkansas had a nice comeback against Vanderbilt and only lost by 13 after falling behind by close to 30.  It’s their second straight loss to a team that is nowhere close tot he field.  I believe they are in a bit of trouble.

-Iowa State followed up their big win at Kansas with a road loss at Texas.  Had you told me they would win one out of two in those two games, I would have definitely picked the opposite outcomes.

-Michigan State was blasted off the court by Michigan, and is now falling backward toward the bubble.  They need to hold serve the rest of the way just to feel safe.

-TCU held on to beat Texas Tech in a game between two bubble teams that really needed the win.  The score was 62-61.  That’s about what the score seems to be whenever these two meet up in football.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-OLE MISS AT TENNESSEE (SEC).  Tennessee is coming off of a loss that they really couldn’t afford.  They are running out of strikes, but the possibility for them to get in is still there.

-DEPAUL AT XAVIER (Big East).  Xavier is coming off of a huge win at Creighton and despite their frustrations is just a game back of first place in the loss column.  This is probably their most winnable remaining game so they really don’t want to slip up.

-RUTGERS AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten).  Ohio State is inching closer to the bubble, but they still have a lot of work to do.

-NC STATE AT FLORIDA STATE (ACC).  NC State is outside the bubble, and although I don’t think it’s probable it is possible for them to reach it if they can pull off some wins in games like this.  Florida State is coming off a very impressive week and once again looks like they’ll end up as a protected seed.

-BAYLOR AT OKLAHOMA STATE (Big Twelve).  Oklahoma State is coming off a huge win at West Virginia, and Baylor is trying to rebound from a two game losing streak.  Baylor is still within reach of a #1 seed, but it’ll be a lot less likely if they’re not able to pull off this win.  Oklahoma State should have a ton of momentum, which will make for a fun atmosphere.

-PROVIDENCE AT SETON HALL (Big East).  Seton Hall has been in a tailspin after losing five of six, but they just picked up a win at Georgetown that they really needed.  They need to hold serve at home tonight against a Providence team that does not appear to be inside the bubble.

-IOWA AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten).  Minnesota just ended a five game losing streak with their win at Illinois and needs to hold serve and pick up a win against an Iowa team that is of sub-tournament level.

-VIRGINIA TECH AT MIAMI FL (ACC).  Virginia Tech appears to be inside the field, but certainly has room to improve.  Miami is on the fringe of the bubble and needs to string together some wins.  In short, it’s a game between two teams that really need to improve their profiles.

-WEST VIRGINIA AT OKLAHOMA (Big Twelve).  Oklahoma pulled off what was a huge upset when the two met earlier in the year, and West Virginia is coming off yet another surprising upset against Oklahoma State.  Offsetting that with a road win of their own would certainly be nice.

-UCF AT CINCINNATI (American).  Cincinnati has a shot at ending up as a protected seed if they win out, but the lack of quality wins may give the committee pause.  Either way they need to hold serve in games like this.

-VCU AT GEORGE WASHINGTON (Atlantic Ten).  VCU escaped with a road win against Saint Bonaventure under controversial circumstances that they desperately needed.  They’re still on the fringe of the bubble and need to pick this one up tonight.

-CALIFORNIA AT ARIZONA STATE (Pac Twelve).  Cal is a fringe bubble team, and this is a winnable road game that they need to pick up.

-STANFORD AT ARIZONA (Pac Twelve).  Arizona got blasted in their last game at Oregon, but should be able to rebound at home against a Stanford team that’s barely above .500.

NEWS AND NOTES (SEASON RESET)

-So, it’s the day after the Super Bowl.  That means that between now and April 3rd college basketball is the biggest sport in the country.  We’ve been here since the first day of the season, and really since even before that, and we kind of like to reset things when conference play begins, and again on the day after the Super Bowl because it’s at those two periods where there is a spike in interest.  If you’ve been with us since the beginning, then great!  If you’ve been with us since the start of conference play, then great!  If you’re just now finding us, then welcome!

Bracketology is one of the things that we do, and we are actually doing it in three different ways.  We have Jon Teitel, who attempts to guess the actual Selection Committee, and over the past three years has been one of the most accurate at doing this.  Last year he had an amazing 65 out of 68 seeded exactly correct or within one line of it.  Most people brag if they get that many in the field correctly.  He got that many, and actually had them seeded correctly.  We also have a selection committee of our own where the staff collectively selects and seeds the teams.  This isn’t an attempt to guess the real committee, but rather doing it the way we would do it if we were in charge.  And, we actually now have individuals that post their own brackets and open it up to criticism.  CLICK HERE for our BRACKETOLOGY PAGE, or just go to the top of the screen.

We also have our own Power Rating, or Joby’s Nitty Gritty Rankings as we call it, that attempts to measure what the selection committee will do.  The way it works is…well…I really don’t know how it works.  Joby Fortson does it, and I like it as much as any of the other ones because it has actually predicted some of the strange selections that the committee has made in recent years.  You can look at that BY CLICKING HERE

-There are also daily write-ups of all of that day’s action where we explain why a game is important, as well as a recap of the day before.

-We also have three weekly video podcasts that we record each week.  There’s the Hoops HD Report, which is the main show that looks at all of the power conferences/multi-bid conferences as well as any of other teams that are inside the bubble, we do Under the Radar, which covers all of the other leagues, and we have a Bracket Rundown Podcast where we build an NCAA Tournament bracket and discuss all the teams as we do it.

There is also an Under the Radar Game of the Day that Chad Sherwood writes up.  CLICK HERE for today’s game 

-Again, if you’re just tuning in you’ve missed quite a bit of excitement.  Some of the big storylines are Baylor, who was unranked and barely receiving votes when the season began, and has now been ranked as high as #1 and in line to get a #1 seed.  Florida State is also high in the rankings after starting off unranked.

-Northwestern, who has never made the NCAA Tournament, is now in prime position to make it, and that’s been one of the bigger and more exciting stories of the season.

-UConn, who started off ranked in the teens, is now nowhere to be found and is probably the biggest surprise on the other end of the spectrum.  Syracuse, Texas, and Rhode Island have also been busts.

-Duke has dealt with injuries, a star player who keeps tripping people, a head coach who needed to miss some time due to back surgery, and has lost some games you’d expect them to win, but just now appears to be turning it back around.

-Gonzaga is your #1 team.  I don’t know if I think they are the best team in the nation, but I do think they are among the top four.  They only have one ranked team remaining on their schedule prior to the conference tournament, so it’s possible that they’ll run the table and finish not just ranked #1, but undefeated as well.

-If you are just now putting college basketball on your front burner, then I really hope that you did so before Saturday.  It was one of the craziest days of college basketball that I can remember, and that’s not hyperbole.  It was fantastic!  We will be recording our Hoops HD Report tonight, so be sure and look out for that because we’ll get you all caught up.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-LOUISVILLE AT VIRGINIA (ACC).  This is a match-up between two likely protected seeds.  Virginia is coming off a rather surprising loss (at least to me) against Syracuse over the weekend, but they flattened Louisville at Louisville when they played earlier in the year.  This has been a rough match-up for the Cardinals in recent years and tonight may not be any different.

-ALBANY AT NEW HAMPSHIRE (America East).  The Team of the People!!!!  They’re fighting to finish in the top half of the America East standings and host a conference tournament game.

-KANSAS AT KANSAS STATE (Big Twelve).  The first meeting between these two was a thriller with Kansas needing overtime to win at home in a finish that was somewhat controversial.  K State was a fringe bubble team, but they’re coming off the biggest win of the season, and will have a huge head of steam when it comes to the momentum they have.  It’s a rivalry game between a Kansas team that’s fighting for a spot on the #1 line and a K State team that’s trying to drastically improve their resume and win the bragging rights.  For now.