NEWS, NOTES AND LINKS
CLICK HERE for our most recent Championship Week Video Notebook, which recaps and previews all of the conference tournament action
CLICK HERE For Part 1 of Jon Teitel’s Conference Awards of the Year
CLICK HERE For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Little Rock, who is a contender for an at-large bid, and Appalachian State
-Notre Dame was blown to pieces for the second straight game. They lost badly, at home, to Miami FL. On the flip side, it was probably Miami’s most impressive road win of the year, but Notre Dame has suddenly looked eye-gougingly bad in their last two games.
-Alabama fell at home to Arkansas, and is most likely outside the bubble, and will most likely remain there on Selection Sunday. It’s disappointing, but let’s not forget just how little was expected of this Bama program this year, and that they also lost a key player so early in the season. Avery Johnson has done a fantastic job, and although the NIT is not where they want to be, it’s still a good year for a program that is in rebuilding mode. Unlike most programs that claim to be in rebuilding mode, Bama actually is building something.
-Pittsburgh followed up their impressive win against Duke over the weekend by being the exact opposite of impressive with their loss to Virginia Tech. I know VA Tech is at least formidable at home, but it’s still the kind of game a tournament caliber team needs to win when…well…they need to win it.
-Bubblicious Saint Bonaventure picked up a nice home win against Saint Joseph’s, which is the second time they have beaten the Hawks this season. Granted, it was a home game, but Joe’s has been strong on the road this year, so the Bonnies do deserve some credit for it.
-In Seton Hall’s last 11 games, they’ve won all of them that weren’t against Butler. I think Both Butler and Seton Hall are relatively safe in regards to making the field, but last night was a nice win for the Bulldogs.
-Oregon State managed to close the gap toward the end of the game at USC last night to make the final score look a little better than what the actual game was. Oregon State is a program that is definitely going in the right direction, and they probably will make the field, but they are not impressive when playing away from home.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-GEORGIA AT SOUTH CAROLINA (SEC). South Carolina appears to be safely in the field, and should go in on the initial ballot so long as they hold serve the rest of the way.
-MEMPHIS AT TEMPLE (American). Temple is right on the fringe of the bubble right now, and if they want to get a serious look and land on the right side of it then they can’t afford to lose a home game to a non-tournament team.
-ILLINOIS AT MARYLAND (Big Ten). A win won’t really help Maryland out much. The one thing they need on their resume is quality wins away from home. Still, the Terps should end up as a protected seed.
-ARKANSAS LITTLE ROCK AT APPALACHIAN STATE (Sun Belt, Survival Board). Little Rock has had a fantastic season, and they’ve almost gone the distance with, for the most part, avoiding bad losses in conference play. They don’t want to slip up and fall on their face by losing a game to a team as bad as Appy State. A loss by Appy State also eliminates the Mountaineers from Sun Belt Tournament qualification.
-TROY AT TEXAS STATE (Sun Belt, Survival Board). A win by Texas State would move the Bobcats into an 8th place tie with Arkansas State for the 8th and final spot in the Sun Belt Tournament with 1 game left to play. This is important because TSU has a season sweep over the Red Wolves. A loss leaves Texas State on the brink of elimination.
-CONNECTICUT AT SMU (American). UConn is relatively safe, but I wouldn’t consider them a lock just yet. But, if they win this game they likely will be. It’d be one of their more impressive wins of the year.
-CINCINNATI AT HOUSTON (American). Cincinnati is squarely on the bubble, and this is a hugely important game for them. Houston is actually pretty good. Their profile is kind of weak, but that’s largely due to their out of conference schedule. They actually did themselves a disservice becasue they’re better than what their paper indicates. This won’t be an easy game for Cincinnati to win, but it’s one that they really could use.
-SFA AT NORTHWESTERN STATE (Southland, Survival Board). SFA has two games remaining to go a perfect 18-0 in conference play. Northwestern State needs a win to avoid potentially falling below Nicholls State in the standings and potentially being eliminated from advancing to the Southland Conference tournament.
-SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA AT NEW ORLEANS (Southland, Survival Board). New Orleans also needs a win to avoid potentially falling into a tie with Nicholls State; a win all but wraps up a Southland Conference Tournament slot going into their regular season finale with Northwestern State.
-NICHOLLS STATE AT CENTRAL ARKANSAS (Southland, Survival Board). A win by New Orleans combined with a Nicholls loss would eliminate the Colonels from Southland Conference Tournament contention and lock in all 8 teams for the tournament.
-CALIFORNIA AT ARIZONA (Pac Twelve). Both teams are safely in the field, and Cal’s profile has improved a ton since they’ve picked up some road wins. It would improve a ton more if they manage to pick this one up against an Arizona team that has been good this year, but not nearly as good as many of us were expecting.
-STANFORD AT ARIZONA STATE (Pac Twelve). I’m not big on Stanford, but they’re in a situation to where if they win their last two games against Arizona and Arizona State, then we would have to give them a serious look.
News, Notes, Links, and Highlighted Games: Thursday, March 3rd
NEWS, NOTES AND LINKS
CLICK HERE for our most recent Championship Week Video Notebook, which recaps and previews all of the conference tournament action
CLICK HERE For Part 1 of Jon Teitel’s Conference Awards of the Year
CLICK HERE For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Little Rock, who is a contender for an at-large bid, and Appalachian State
-Notre Dame was blown to pieces for the second straight game. They lost badly, at home, to Miami FL. On the flip side, it was probably Miami’s most impressive road win of the year, but Notre Dame has suddenly looked eye-gougingly bad in their last two games.
-Alabama fell at home to Arkansas, and is most likely outside the bubble, and will most likely remain there on Selection Sunday. It’s disappointing, but let’s not forget just how little was expected of this Bama program this year, and that they also lost a key player so early in the season. Avery Johnson has done a fantastic job, and although the NIT is not where they want to be, it’s still a good year for a program that is in rebuilding mode. Unlike most programs that claim to be in rebuilding mode, Bama actually is building something.
-Pittsburgh followed up their impressive win against Duke over the weekend by being the exact opposite of impressive with their loss to Virginia Tech. I know VA Tech is at least formidable at home, but it’s still the kind of game a tournament caliber team needs to win when…well…they need to win it.
-Bubblicious Saint Bonaventure picked up a nice home win against Saint Joseph’s, which is the second time they have beaten the Hawks this season. Granted, it was a home game, but Joe’s has been strong on the road this year, so the Bonnies do deserve some credit for it.
-In Seton Hall’s last 11 games, they’ve won all of them that weren’t against Butler. I think Both Butler and Seton Hall are relatively safe in regards to making the field, but last night was a nice win for the Bulldogs.
-Oregon State managed to close the gap toward the end of the game at USC last night to make the final score look a little better than what the actual game was. Oregon State is a program that is definitely going in the right direction, and they probably will make the field, but they are not impressive when playing away from home.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-GEORGIA AT SOUTH CAROLINA (SEC). South Carolina appears to be safely in the field, and should go in on the initial ballot so long as they hold serve the rest of the way.
-MEMPHIS AT TEMPLE (American). Temple is right on the fringe of the bubble right now, and if they want to get a serious look and land on the right side of it then they can’t afford to lose a home game to a non-tournament team.
-ILLINOIS AT MARYLAND (Big Ten). A win won’t really help Maryland out much. The one thing they need on their resume is quality wins away from home. Still, the Terps should end up as a protected seed.
-ARKANSAS LITTLE ROCK AT APPALACHIAN STATE (Sun Belt, Survival Board). Little Rock has had a fantastic season, and they’ve almost gone the distance with, for the most part, avoiding bad losses in conference play. They don’t want to slip up and fall on their face by losing a game to a team as bad as Appy State. A loss by Appy State also eliminates the Mountaineers from Sun Belt Tournament qualification.
-TROY AT TEXAS STATE (Sun Belt, Survival Board). A win by Texas State would move the Bobcats into an 8th place tie with Arkansas State for the 8th and final spot in the Sun Belt Tournament with 1 game left to play. This is important because TSU has a season sweep over the Red Wolves. A loss leaves Texas State on the brink of elimination.
-CONNECTICUT AT SMU (American). UConn is relatively safe, but I wouldn’t consider them a lock just yet. But, if they win this game they likely will be. It’d be one of their more impressive wins of the year.
-CINCINNATI AT HOUSTON (American). Cincinnati is squarely on the bubble, and this is a hugely important game for them. Houston is actually pretty good. Their profile is kind of weak, but that’s largely due to their out of conference schedule. They actually did themselves a disservice becasue they’re better than what their paper indicates. This won’t be an easy game for Cincinnati to win, but it’s one that they really could use.
-SFA AT NORTHWESTERN STATE (Southland, Survival Board). SFA has two games remaining to go a perfect 18-0 in conference play. Northwestern State needs a win to avoid potentially falling below Nicholls State in the standings and potentially being eliminated from advancing to the Southland Conference tournament.
-SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA AT NEW ORLEANS (Southland, Survival Board). New Orleans also needs a win to avoid potentially falling into a tie with Nicholls State; a win all but wraps up a Southland Conference Tournament slot going into their regular season finale with Northwestern State.
-NICHOLLS STATE AT CENTRAL ARKANSAS (Southland, Survival Board). A win by New Orleans combined with a Nicholls loss would eliminate the Colonels from Southland Conference Tournament contention and lock in all 8 teams for the tournament.
-CALIFORNIA AT ARIZONA (Pac Twelve). Both teams are safely in the field, and Cal’s profile has improved a ton since they’ve picked up some road wins. It would improve a ton more if they manage to pick this one up against an Arizona team that has been good this year, but not nearly as good as many of us were expecting.
-STANFORD AT ARIZONA STATE (Pac Twelve). I’m not big on Stanford, but they’re in a situation to where if they win their last two games against Arizona and Arizona State, then we would have to give them a serious look.