Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES

CLICK HERE for our latest Under the Radar Video Podcast

-For Chad Sherwood’s Under the Radar Game of the Day between UNC Wilmington and Charleston, which is actually one of the more important overall games of the day seeing as how UNCW is looking like they can get an at-large bid – CLICK HERE

-Last night was crazy and exciting!  There was so much going on at once that it was hard to keep up with.

-Oklahoma, who is young, but has also showed signs of improvement and promise for the future, definitely showed that in waves last night when they picked up a win at West Virginia.  It was probably the biggest upset of the season so far.  One has to admire how difficult it is to win a game like that, but in terms of them being such a young team you have to admire their mental toughness when you look at how they won.  They had a chance to win the game in regulation, but a missed freethrow sent it to overtime.  They fell behind in the overtime, but were still able to fight their way back into it and get the win despite all the momentum being against them.  What a great moment for Oklahoma’s season, and perhaps a strong foundation for the future as this team continues to grow.  As of now their top player is a senior, but all other key players are likely to return next year.

-Notre Dame at Florida State was another exciting game.  It was the first conference loss for the Irish, and had they won it we’d probably be discussing them for the #2 line, but there is no damage or shame in losing it.  If anything I’m still really impressed with how well they played.

-South Carolina got a much needed and stabilizing win at home against Florida in a low scoring affair.  The Gamecocks weren’t in any real danger, but the win did help shore things up for them.

-Indiana got a win at Penn State that they needed, or perhaps to put it another way didn’t need to lose.  It looked like the Hoosiers were running away from them, but Penn State came back and it took a last second shot for IU to pull off the road win.  They’ve won three of their last four Big Ten games since losing their first two.

-VCU’s not very impressive profile coming into yesterday looks even less impressive now.  They lost at Fordham in overtime, and I think that might be a game that really sinks them.  There is almost nothing of quality on their profile, and the bad outweighs the good.  On top of that, they really haven’t even looked that good for much of the season.

-TCU lost at Texas Tech, but I must admit to being very impressed with the Horned Frogs last night.  It is not easy to win at Texas Tech, and TCU fell behind big early, but kept their poise and came back to make it a close game all throughout the second half that they had a chance to win.  TCU’s fluff OOC schedule did them no favors as far as strengthening their paper, but they do appear to be good enough to get the wins they need to land inside the bubble.  Last night certainly would have helped, but the loss certainly didn’t hurt either.

-Wake Forest blew out Miami FL.  I’m not sure if that’s more good for Wake, or more bad for Miami.  Perhaps it’s both.

-Nebraska lost at home on a virtual last second shot to Ohio State.  Ohio State needed that win and they need a lot more like that.  Nebraska, on the other hand, didn’t need that loss at all.

-Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech was another thrilling game between two teams that needed to build their profile.  I was very impressed with the Yellow Jackets, and now must admit that our resident statistician Joby Fortson may have been on to something when talking about how good they were.  They had a shot at the buzzer that would have tied the game against a VA Tech team that is very tough to beat at home.  Georgia Tech has a solid profile and they’re a few big wins away from being inside the bubble.  Furthermore, they’ve shown that they’re good enough to be capable of picking up those wins.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-MARYLAND AT IOWA (Big Ten).  Maryland is out to a very impressive 16-2 record and faces an Iowa team that’s nowhere near the tournament picture, but that has been tough at home, so it’s likely that the Terps will be tested.

-UCONN AT SMU (American).  SMU will safely land in the field so long as they continue to hold serve.  That would of course mean beating a UConn team that’s had a really bad year so far.

-DAVIDSON AT LA SALLE (Atlantic Ten).  La Salle is a LOONG way from the bubble, but believe it or not they are close to the top of the Atlantic Ten, and if they REALLY kick it into gear and finish strong the committee will likely take a serious look at them.

-RICHMOND AT DAYTON (Atlantic Ten).  Richmond struggled out of conference, but is a perfect 5-0 in the A10.  This is definitely the toughest league game they’ve played all year, and it’s a game that Dayton really can’t afford to trip up in.

-MIDDLE TENNESSEE AT FIU (Conference USA).  It’s the same write up for middle for every game.  They’re good enough to run the table, and if they do they’ll make the NCAAs regardless of what happens in the conference tournament.

-CLEMSON AT LOUISVILLE (ACC).  I still like Clemson’s team and profile, but they’ve lost their last four games.  All were close hard battles against good teams, but to be just 1-4 in league play and to not have picked up at least one decent win in that stretch is a bit of a setback.  Tonight will be another very difficult game to win against a Louisville team that appears destined to end up as a protected seed.

-CALIFORNIA AT OREGON (Pac Twelve).  Cal has an abundance of wins in home buy games, and although that’s not all they have, that is mostly what they have.  If they can pick up this win it will completely change the complexion of their profile.

-ARIZONA AT USC (Pac Twelve).  Arizona is having a fantastic year, but this will be one of their tougher road tests.  It comes against a USC team that is good and is still relatively safe, but that also will likely have a sense of urgency coming into this game.

-MEMPHIS AT HOUSTON (American).  Houston really needs to thunder down the stretch in order to land inside the bubble.  They’re good, and they’re much improved, but as far as being NCAA Tournament good they’re running out of strikes.

-UNC ASHEVILLE AT WINTHROP (Big South).  Neither team is inside the bubble, but both are tied for first place in the Big South and with the first place team getting to host the conference tournament this is a huge game.

-ARIZONA STATE AT UCLA (Pac Twelve).  UCLA shouldn’t have too much trouble picking this one up and staying on pace to earn a #1 seed.  They just don’t want to be looking ahead to this weekend.

-PACIFIC AT SAINT MARY’S (West Coast).  SMC is coming off the big loss to Gonzaga, but they still appear to be a first ballot team and will remain that way so long as they hold serve.

-GONZAGA AT SANTA CLARA (West Coast).  Gonzaga is the last unbeaten team and they are certainly good enough to win out.  If they do, the real selection committee will likely give them a #1 seed.  I’m not so sure the Hoops HD committee will, but the real committee probably will.

NEWS AND NOTES

–CLICK HERE to watch our latest Bracket Rundown, where we go through and build the seed list of our latest bracket line by line

-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Cal State Northridge and Hawai’i – CLICK HERE

-Michigan played one of their better games of the year against Wisconsin.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that they didn’t get the win and their profile still needs quite a bit of help.  They need a strong finish, and perhaps some big road wins like the one they almost picked up last night, to end up on the right side of the bubble.

-Pitt went to NC State and lost.  I was not all that impressed with Pitt prior to the game, and am even less impressed with them now.  They have one really good win, but it’s starting to look like an anomaly rather than an indicator of how good they are.

-Akron won big against Ohio, and despite their resume having some rust on it I really do like this team and think they’d deserve at least a look for an at-large bid if the season ended today.

–COACHES FLIPPING OUT.  In the last couple of weeks, we’ve seen more incidents of coaches losing their freaking minds than what we normally see in an entire season.  It was just the other week when the coaching staffs of Georgia and Missouri got into it and a brief shoving match broke out just before the half.  Then just the other week members of the New Mexico staff who had been ejected for running out onto the court while a fight nearly broke out (nothing too egregious there assuming they were wanting to break it up), but then continued yelling at Colorado State players after the game in the parking lot as they were getting on the bus (which is utterly ridiculous).

Last night’s game between Siena and Rider may have topped them all.  After Rider committed a hard foul on an attempted alley oop in the game’s final minutes, a shoving match broke out amongst the players in front of the Siena bench, but it appeared to be quickly controlled.  Then for reasons that I don’t understand, Rider head coach Kevin Baggett was all fired up, and ran at the Siena players and coaches while screaming his head off.  He was restrained and returned to the bench, and after a couple of ejections and technical fouls, the game resumed.  This had a rather hilarious ending when Baggett and his staff left the floor without shaking hands, and Siena head coach Jimmy Patsos walked through the line “air shaking” hands with no one.

There is kind of an unwritten rule that seems to have been violated in all three of these incidents.  When things get heated, coaches and players need to go get their own guys.  Let the other side worry about their guys.  When you go after the other side, you’re going to make it worse, and in every case that appears to be what happened and things escalated rather than diffused.  I really don’t think coaches should ever be going after the players and coaches of the opponents, or yelling at them throughout the game, or even talking to them at all.  They should talk to their own players and staffs and that’s it, and that’s especially true when things get overly heated.  Had Baggett not come charging in like a fool and yelling at the Siena players and coaches (even if he had a legitimate reason for being upset), it would have ended and not even been a story today.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-FLORIDA AT SOUTH CAROLINA (SEC).  This is a rare SEC game because it features two teams that appear to be solidly in the tournament.  That makes this a big game because both teams have limited chances to add solid wins to their profile.

-INDIANA AT PENN STATE (Big Ten).  Indiana needs to stabilize themselves, and that may be easier said than done.  Penn State still has a lot of work to do, but they’re slowly building up their resume.  A win today would be another huge step forward.

-NOTRE DAME AT FLORIDA STATE (ACC).  Much has been made about how Notre Dame is the only unbeaten ACC team.  While that’s true, they haven’t really faced a heavyweight yet other than Louisville, who they beat at home.  If they win this game tonight, then I’ll be on board in discussing them as a #2 seed.  We shall see.

-OKLAHOMA AT WEST VIRGINIA (Big Twelve).  There aren’t many games that are easy to win in this conference, but perhaps this is one of them.  West Virginia has been unstoppable at home and they aren’t likely to be stopped tonight.

-TEMPLE AT CINCINNATI (American).  Cincinnati is good enough to possibly run the table in this conference.  I don’t expect them to get much of a challenge tonight.

-VCU AT FORDHAM (Atlantic Ten).  In my opinion, VCU should not be in the field if the season ended today.  They just don’t have any really good wins.  They certainly cannot afford to lose a game like this.

-TCU AT TEXAS TECH (Big Twelve).  This is a hugely important game between two teams that we are currently projecting to be inside the bubble, but barely.  It has a very pivotal feel to it.

-VIRGINIA AT BOSTON COLLEGE (ACC).  Boston College is, admittedly, not nearly as bad as they have been in recent years, but this should still be a very winnable road game for a team like Virginia.

-MIAMI FL AT WAKE FOREST (ACC).  Both teams are looking very bubblish, and this is the kind of game that bubble teams really need to be able to win.

-OHIO STATE AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten).  For either team to get an at-large, they’d need to put together a long and impressive string of wins.  It isn’t completely outside the realm of possibility, but it’s getting closer and closer to being impossible.

-GEORGIA TECH AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC).  Some people here at Hoops HD like this Georgia Tech team and think we need to start looking at them as a tournament team.  I personally believe these people are mentally disturbed, but having said that, if the Yellowjackets win tonight, I really can’t avoid sitting up and taking notice.

-UTAH AT WASHINGTON STATE (Pac Twelve).  Utah, slowly but surely, keeps improving and they have a winnable conference road game tonight.

-KANSAS STATE AT OKLAHOMA STATE (Big Twelve).  Both teams need wins.  Period.  Both need to come into this with a huge sense of urgency because the loser will be knocked even further outside the bubble, and the winner will still have work to do but will at least be on the right track.

-ILLINOIS STATE AT BRADLEY (Missouri Valley).  I think Illinois State can land on the bubble if they win out or come close to it.  But, as soon as they lose a game that’s pretty much over.

-AIR FORCE AT NEVADA (Mountain West).  Nevada will be in the discussion if they can run the table, but anything short of that and they’ll probably need the automatic bid.