Below is a rundown of tonight’s action and a quick look back at last night.
NEWS AND NOTES
-Both Kansas and Maryland lost on the road last night. The Kansas loss at West Virginia was far less surprising and far less damaging. WVU hasn’t lost at home all year. The fans showed up late due to hazardous weather. I must apologize for attacking their fans on twitter when the game started and the arena was empty. I didn’t realize the trouble people were having getting to the game.
-Michigan picked up a big home win. Maryland is definitely a protected seed, but I don’t think they belong on the top two lines, or deserve the #3 ranking. I didn’t feel that way before the game either because they look good, but at no point have they looked #1 seed good.
-Virginia picked up a big home win against Miami FL. Virginia is clearly a top five caliber team when they’re at home. I still think they’ll end up as a protected seed, but thing is that to land on the top two lines the way they have the past two years is that you have to beat top twenty teams ON THE ROAD, and in Virginia’s last two road games they went down to teams that aren’t even likely to make the tournament. As for Miami, it was close, and it would have been their biggest win of the year up to this point, but they’re still in very good shape.
-Iowa State went down at Texas, which is a big win for Texas but they still have some work to do.
-For Chad Sherwood’s Under the Radar Game of the Day – CLICK HERE
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-SMU AT EAST CAROLINA (American). SMU is a top twenty caliber team that is still unbeaten and still ineligible.
-RUTGERS AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten). Ohio State still has a long way to go, and a loss at home tonight would increase that distance by quite a bit.
-HOUSTON AT CINCINNATI (American). Some at Hoops HD like this Houston team. I’m not a believer, but if they can pick up this win on the road then I’d have to at least sit up and take notice. Cincinnati is about six points and twelve seconds away from having three wins against the top twenty and easily being in the top twenty themselves. As it stands, they have a slim margin for error, and any loss to a non tournament caliber team narrows that margin.
-BOSTON COLLEGE AT SYRACUSE. (ACC). Right now I’d say Syracuse is out. If they lose this game, there won’t be any doubt about it.
-DUKE AT CLEMSON (ACC). Clemson has so far to go that you can’t even begin talking about them realistically getting there yet, but they do have three conference wins, including at Syracuse and at home against Louisville in their last two games. Duke is looking to improve to 3-0 in true road games and remain a contender for a #1 seed.
-FORDHAM AT VCU (Atlantic Ten). VCU had a somewhat sluggish December, but they’re really on a roll now and are looking like one of the best teams in the Atlantic Ten. They shouldn’t have too much trouble getting past Fordham tonight.
-RHODE ISLAND AT SAINT BONAVENTURE (Atlantic Ten). A win gets the Bonnies to an impressive 12-3. I also think it’s time for us to start looking at them a lot more closely.
-TEMPLE AT MEMPHIS (American). Despite not having anywhere close to the paper they need (at least not yet) Temple does seem like they’re good enough to ruin a lot of people’s days. Memphis seems to be inching toward the bubble, but they still have a long way to go and really can’t afford a loss tonight.
-TCU AT BAYLOR (Big Twelve). Baylor is coming off their huge win at Iowa State, and is looking to follow that up with a win against their in-state rival tonight.
-MARQUETTE AT VILLANOVA (Big East). After a sluggish start to the season, Marquette’s paper is looking better and better. They already have a monster road win at Providence, and if they pick this one up they’re probably looking at catapulting themselves into our next projections. Nova still looks to be the best in the Big East and can still end up as high as the #1 line.
-PENN STATE AT PURDUE (Big Ten). This is as winnable as conference games get for the Boilers. They shouldn’t have too much trouble especially at home.
-OLE MISS AT LSU (SEC). Right now, I think both teams are on the outside looking in and still have a lot of work to do, which makes this a big game for both of them.
-SOUTH CAROLINA AT ALABAMA (SEC). South Carolina looks to remain among the unbeaten while adding another quality road win to an already pretty good profile, and Bama is looking to pick up a home win against a ranked team and boost their resume as well. The Tide seem to be hovering around the bubble and could really use this one.
-OKLAHOMA AT OKLAHOMA STATE (Big Twelve). BEDLAM!!!! I love this rivalry, and the way things are going in college basketball it may be cancelled soon, but lets hope not. On paper, and even on the court, it appears to be a mismatch, but it’s still a rivalry game on the underdog’s home court, so there’s a good chance it will be closer than you would think.
-WAKE FOREST AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC). Wake is looking for their fourth true road win, as well as another big and much needed conference win against a very much improved (but still with a long way to go) Virginia Tech team. Wake should make the field if they take care of business in their winnable games. This game isn’t easy, but it is winnable.
-GEORGIA TECH AT NOTRE DAME (ACC). Right now we have Notre Dame on the bubble and Georgia Tech pretty far outside of it. The best way to fall outside the bubble is to lose at home to teams that are outside the bubble, so the Irish can’t afford to drop this one.
-FLORIDA STATE AT NC STATE (ACC). Both teams have somewhat of a shot at making the field, and in the case of Florida State the talent is certainly there, but both also have a long way to go.
-WICHITA STATE AT MISSOURI STATE (Missouri Valley). The Shockers continue to look like a very solid program since getting healthy, and if they continue to rampage through the conference they should be okay for a bid.
-BOISE STATE AT NEVADA (Mountain West). I believe Boise State is the only team in this league who can play their way into a position to be safe for an at-large, but they’ll have to run over the league to be in that situation.
-OREGON STATE AT COLORADO (Pac Twelve). These teams are looking very bubblish right now, and when a team is in that situation every game has a sense of urgency to it, and this one is no different.
-USC AT UCLA (Pac Twelve). USC is having an amazing year. They’re much better than I think any of us expected them to be (and now we know why Pac-12 coaches said USC was a darkhorse team), and whether they make it into the dance or not you have to commend the job Coach Andy Enfield has done with this team. If they pick up a win at UCLA, who has just one home loss this season, I think they go from inside the bubble to safely inside the bubble. UCLA is a home court hero that needs to get some wins away from home, but until they do they need to hold serve at home. There’s a lot on the line for both teams in this one.
News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Wednesday, Jan 13th
Below is a rundown of tonight’s action and a quick look back at last night.
NEWS AND NOTES
-Both Kansas and Maryland lost on the road last night. The Kansas loss at West Virginia was far less surprising and far less damaging. WVU hasn’t lost at home all year. The fans showed up late due to hazardous weather. I must apologize for attacking their fans on twitter when the game started and the arena was empty. I didn’t realize the trouble people were having getting to the game.
-Michigan picked up a big home win. Maryland is definitely a protected seed, but I don’t think they belong on the top two lines, or deserve the #3 ranking. I didn’t feel that way before the game either because they look good, but at no point have they looked #1 seed good.
-Virginia picked up a big home win against Miami FL. Virginia is clearly a top five caliber team when they’re at home. I still think they’ll end up as a protected seed, but thing is that to land on the top two lines the way they have the past two years is that you have to beat top twenty teams ON THE ROAD, and in Virginia’s last two road games they went down to teams that aren’t even likely to make the tournament. As for Miami, it was close, and it would have been their biggest win of the year up to this point, but they’re still in very good shape.
-Iowa State went down at Texas, which is a big win for Texas but they still have some work to do.
-For Chad Sherwood’s Under the Radar Game of the Day – CLICK HERE
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-SMU AT EAST CAROLINA (American). SMU is a top twenty caliber team that is still unbeaten and still ineligible.
-RUTGERS AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten). Ohio State still has a long way to go, and a loss at home tonight would increase that distance by quite a bit.
-HOUSTON AT CINCINNATI (American). Some at Hoops HD like this Houston team. I’m not a believer, but if they can pick up this win on the road then I’d have to at least sit up and take notice. Cincinnati is about six points and twelve seconds away from having three wins against the top twenty and easily being in the top twenty themselves. As it stands, they have a slim margin for error, and any loss to a non tournament caliber team narrows that margin.
-BOSTON COLLEGE AT SYRACUSE. (ACC). Right now I’d say Syracuse is out. If they lose this game, there won’t be any doubt about it.
-DUKE AT CLEMSON (ACC). Clemson has so far to go that you can’t even begin talking about them realistically getting there yet, but they do have three conference wins, including at Syracuse and at home against Louisville in their last two games. Duke is looking to improve to 3-0 in true road games and remain a contender for a #1 seed.
-FORDHAM AT VCU (Atlantic Ten). VCU had a somewhat sluggish December, but they’re really on a roll now and are looking like one of the best teams in the Atlantic Ten. They shouldn’t have too much trouble getting past Fordham tonight.
-RHODE ISLAND AT SAINT BONAVENTURE (Atlantic Ten). A win gets the Bonnies to an impressive 12-3. I also think it’s time for us to start looking at them a lot more closely.
-TEMPLE AT MEMPHIS (American). Despite not having anywhere close to the paper they need (at least not yet) Temple does seem like they’re good enough to ruin a lot of people’s days. Memphis seems to be inching toward the bubble, but they still have a long way to go and really can’t afford a loss tonight.
-TCU AT BAYLOR (Big Twelve). Baylor is coming off their huge win at Iowa State, and is looking to follow that up with a win against their in-state rival tonight.
-MARQUETTE AT VILLANOVA (Big East). After a sluggish start to the season, Marquette’s paper is looking better and better. They already have a monster road win at Providence, and if they pick this one up they’re probably looking at catapulting themselves into our next projections. Nova still looks to be the best in the Big East and can still end up as high as the #1 line.
-PENN STATE AT PURDUE (Big Ten). This is as winnable as conference games get for the Boilers. They shouldn’t have too much trouble especially at home.
-OLE MISS AT LSU (SEC). Right now, I think both teams are on the outside looking in and still have a lot of work to do, which makes this a big game for both of them.
-SOUTH CAROLINA AT ALABAMA (SEC). South Carolina looks to remain among the unbeaten while adding another quality road win to an already pretty good profile, and Bama is looking to pick up a home win against a ranked team and boost their resume as well. The Tide seem to be hovering around the bubble and could really use this one.
-OKLAHOMA AT OKLAHOMA STATE (Big Twelve). BEDLAM!!!! I love this rivalry, and the way things are going in college basketball it may be cancelled soon, but lets hope not. On paper, and even on the court, it appears to be a mismatch, but it’s still a rivalry game on the underdog’s home court, so there’s a good chance it will be closer than you would think.
-WAKE FOREST AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC). Wake is looking for their fourth true road win, as well as another big and much needed conference win against a very much improved (but still with a long way to go) Virginia Tech team. Wake should make the field if they take care of business in their winnable games. This game isn’t easy, but it is winnable.
-GEORGIA TECH AT NOTRE DAME (ACC). Right now we have Notre Dame on the bubble and Georgia Tech pretty far outside of it. The best way to fall outside the bubble is to lose at home to teams that are outside the bubble, so the Irish can’t afford to drop this one.
-FLORIDA STATE AT NC STATE (ACC). Both teams have somewhat of a shot at making the field, and in the case of Florida State the talent is certainly there, but both also have a long way to go.
-WICHITA STATE AT MISSOURI STATE (Missouri Valley). The Shockers continue to look like a very solid program since getting healthy, and if they continue to rampage through the conference they should be okay for a bid.
-BOISE STATE AT NEVADA (Mountain West). I believe Boise State is the only team in this league who can play their way into a position to be safe for an at-large, but they’ll have to run over the league to be in that situation.
-OREGON STATE AT COLORADO (Pac Twelve). These teams are looking very bubblish right now, and when a team is in that situation every game has a sense of urgency to it, and this one is no different.
-USC AT UCLA (Pac Twelve). USC is having an amazing year. They’re much better than I think any of us expected them to be (and now we know why Pac-12 coaches said USC was a darkhorse team), and whether they make it into the dance or not you have to commend the job Coach Andy Enfield has done with this team. If they pick up a win at UCLA, who has just one home loss this season, I think they go from inside the bubble to safely inside the bubble. UCLA is a home court hero that needs to get some wins away from home, but until they do they need to hold serve at home. There’s a lot on the line for both teams in this one.