NEWS AND NOTES
-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE
-Well, last night was certainly a hell of a night! There are only four teams that are ranked in the top four. It’s true! I counted them, and there are only four. Last night, three of those four teams played, and all three of them lost.
-Marquette is having quite a week. They started off by picking up a road win at Creighton, and at the time we all felt it was a big win, but that it also had a big asterisk given that it was Creighton’s first full game without Watson. Well, there is no asterisk by last night’s game. Villanova took a double digit lead into the half and by all accounts were cruising toward another road win. Marquette shot the lights out in the second half, but Nova still held on to their lead until the final few minutes when Marquette finally drew even, then went ahead, and then ultimately won the game when Nova missed what would have been a game tying shot in the final seconds. The fans stormed the court, and Marquette has stormed inside the bubble.
-Kentucky losing at Tennessee was probably the biggest surprise. Tennessee isn’t a tournament team, but they have had some showcase moments this season, including a big one last night. They pretty much led for the entire second half and although Kentucky did tie it late, they couldn’t quite get over the hump.
-West Virginia taking down Kansas in Morgantown was easily the least surprising of the “upsets.” Considering that West Virginia is a likely protected seed, I don’t think you can even call it an upset. Whenever a protected seed wins at home, even if it’s against the #1 ranked team, it is not an upset. It’s not like Kansas went to Indiana State and lost. That would be an upset.
-Virginia went into Notre Dame, and although it was close for much of the game, they absolutely ran away from them down the stretch. I still like this Virginia team. I picked them to win the league at the beginning of the year, and although Florida State has beaten them at home and also gone through the toughest gauntlet of ACC play, I still like the Hoos chances of finishing in first place. This is their second true road win against a likely protected seed. That’s a remarkable profile!
-Louisville won at Pitt. That’s not really noteworthy, but the final score was 106-51. That’s noteworthy. Even people who believe everyone should get a participation trophy would be against giving one to Pitt after last night’s game.
-Purdue picked up a really nice road win at Michigan State. Michigan State is still inside the bubble, but you get the sense that they’re beginning to lose their grip.
-And last but not least (or perhaps it is least), Arkansas picked up a win at Vanderbilt last night. The win was against a Vandy team that will likely miss the NIT, and the win came in a rather ridiculous fashion after Arkansas looked very unimpressive for the first 39-and-a-half minutes and then looked unbelievably lucky for the final thirty seconds. But, they did get the win. Everyone else at Hoops HD thinks of Arkansas as being a tournament caliber team. I’m the outlier here. I still feel that I’m right and everyone else is wrong, but I cannot deny that Arkansas’s paper looks better than the rest of the teams around them that are hovering around the bubble. They now have three true road wins, and although none came against tournament teams, they did get one against the same Tennessee team that just beat Kentucky, and Vandy and Texas A&M who are a combined and respectable 14-7 at home. That’s not great, but nothing on their profile really makes you hold your nose. Still, if they want to land in the field, then I think they actually have to beat someone that’s better than just an NIT team, which they have yet to do. I know they have some wins against some good UTR teams, but good UTR teams are not tournament teams without the automatic bid and in some cases aren’t even NIT caliber teams without the automatic bid. But, nevertheless, for now I’d probably have them in my field if I did my new seed list today.
And Chad is NOT right about them!! HE’S JUST LUCKY!!!
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-MEMPHIS AT TEMPLE (American). Memphis is actually in my field right now, although barely, and I have them in there thinking that they would not be in the real committee’s. That being said, I do think they have a chance to make a run at the bubble, but that will require a very strong finish where they avoid losses in games like this.
-SMU AT UCF (American). UCF seems to have slipped entirely out of the picture, but they’re still one of the better teams in the league and it would be a nice road win for UCF if they’re able to pick this up.
-MINNESOTA AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten). Minney has lost three straight games and needs a win not just to shore up their profile, but to swing the momentum back their way. Ohio State hasn’t been the best team this year, but they are at home and it is a game that they’re capable of winning.
-FLORIDA STATE AT GEORGIA TECH (ACC). Florida State has just one loss in conference, and some pretty big wins. Winning at Georgia Tech isn’t easy this year, but FSU is coming off a six game stretch against ranked teams and they were 5-1 in that stretch, so this team is certainly battle tested. They’re still in play for a first place finish and a #1 seed in the Big Dance.
-CREIGHTON AT GEORGETOWN (Big East). Every game is a big game for Creighton because they need to show the committee that they’re still capable of holding serve without Maurice Watson.
-TEXAS TECH AT BAYLOR (Big Twelve). Baylor still has just one loss on the season and given the carnage from yesterday they are in a position to jump a couple spots in the polls (for whatever that’s worth). Texas Tech has some nice wins and should be okay if they hold serve, but if they could somehow pull this one off they’ll be a lot more than just okay.
-RHODE ISLAND AT RICHMOND (Atlantic Ten). It’s possible that Rhode Island can play their way back onto the bubble, but they’ll really have to thunder down the stretch to do it. That would mean winning games like this one tonight, and they haven’t been the best road team this year.
-BUTLER AT SETON HALL (Big East). Butler has a very good overall profile, but one area where they’ve struggled this year is in true road games. They needed overtime to get by DePaul on the road in their last game. Seton Hall should make the field, but adding a win like this to their resume would help a ton. So, there’s something to be gained by both teams in this one.
-ALABAMA AT GEORGIA (SEC). If Georgia is going to get things turned around and make a run at the NCAA Tournament, they better start running now. They cannot afford to lose this one.
-FLORIDA AT LSU (SEC). Florida needs a conference road win to rebound after two straight losses, the most recent one being a rather surprising home loss to Vandy.
-BOSTON COLLEGE AT MIAMI FL (ACC). It’s quite simple Miami is currently on the bubble and cannot afford a loss in a game like this.
-UCLA AT USC (Pac Twelve). This one should be fun. UCLA is coming off a loss at home to Arizona that may have been damaging as far as making the #1 line goes, but they’re still in very good shape. USC is having a good year, but a win in this game will make it much better, as well as give their resume a bit of a boost. It’s a rivalry game between two tournament caliber teams, so it should be fun.
