NEWS AND NOTES
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-Xavier suffered their first loss of the season two days ago when they were completely curb stomped by Villanova, but they lost more than just the game. Xavier PG Edmond Sumner needed to be taken off the court on a stretcher about a minute in. The good news is he was released from the hospital and traveled back with the team, so it is likely that he will be able to return at some point.
-Utah has some good wins on their tournament resume, but one thing that they still don’t have is a true road win. They fell at Stanford in overtime last night.
-Providence had a big win at Butler two days ago. They’ve now beaten Arizona on a neutral floor and have a true road win at Butler. Their only loss was a close game to a top ranked Michigan State team, who was at full strength at the time. Most people aren’t thinking of them as a #1 seed, and perhaps they won’t be there in the end, but as of now they’ve certainly looked the part.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-DEPAUL AT SETON HALL (Big East). Seton Hall is an impressive 11-2 on the year and unbeaten at home. They can improve to 2-0 in league play with a very winnable game today.
-WEST VIRGINIA AT KANSAS STATE (Big Twelve). WVU is really good, but they have just one true road win and K State has yet to lose at home. If K State wants to make the dance then they need to pick up wins in games like this.
-JAMES MADISON AT DELAWARE (Colonial). JMU’s home loss to College of Charleston was a huge surprise. I do believe that was their last strike. Having said that, I do believe that it’s possible that they can still run away from the league.
-HOUSTON AT TEMPLE (American). Houston has just two losses, but they’ll need to blow through league play in order to get noticed because their OOC schedule was so weak.
-PENN STATE AT MICHIGAN (Big Ten). People have kind of mailed it in on Michigan. A win in this game gets them to 12-3, which is anything but bad.
-FLORIDA STATE AT CLEMSON (ACC). Florida State traditionally struggles on the road, but they’re coming off a huge road win against Florida and have a winnable conference road game today against Clemson.
-GEORGIA TECH AT NORTH CAROLINA (ACC). Georgia Tech is 10-3, but we’re still not sold on them. That will change if they pull off the upset win today, though.
-RICHMOND AT SAINT JOSEPH’S (Atlantic Ten). We’ve kind of written off the A10 as just a two bid league, but Richmond has made a little bit of noise this year and Saint Joe’s is a very surprising 10-2, so the door is open for both of them. Having said that, the margin for error is small.
-CHATTANOOGA AT THE CITADEL (Southern). The Citadel is much improved, but they’re probably not good enough to knock off an at-large caliber team, which is what Chattanooga appears to be.
-BUTLER AT XAVIER (Big East). Both are trying to recover from losses in their conference openers and avoid starting out 0-2. Xavier was clobbered at Villanova, and lost Sumner, whereas Butler fell to Providence at home. Neither team is in any danger and both could still end up as protected seeds, but it’s a game with a sense of urgency. It’s also a game with a little bit of heat as this series appears to be a budding rivalry.
-TEXAS AT TEXAS TECH (Big Twelve). Texas needs road wins. Texas Tech has some decent wins, but all came at home and not many were of this caliber. Both teams need conference wins, so this is a big early conference game for both of them.
-NC STATE AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC). Many of us have stopped paying attention to NC State, but they’re a very respectable 10-3 and they’ll explode onto the national scene if they’re able to make some noise in ACC play.
-UIC AT VALPARAISO (Horizon League). Valpo can land inside the bubble, but they’ll need to blow through HL play in order to do it.
-SYRACUSE AT MIAMI FL (ACC). Syracuse is 0-3 in true road games, so a win in this game would jack up the value of their profile in a very big way. Miami has multiple impressive wins and has just one loss, which came at the buzzer.
-DAYTON AT DUQUESNE (Atlantic Ten). Dayton has a solid profile, but they’ve had to sweat out their last two games, both of which were at home against weak teams. Duquesne probably isn’t a tournament team, but they are 10-3 and are also unbeaten at home. This will be a tougher game for Dayton to win than the previous two that they’ve had to sweat out.
-MICHIGAN STATE AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten). Michigan State is looking to rebound from their loss at Iowa. I still don’t think they’re at full strength, but this is still a game they should be able to win.
-SAINT JOHN’S AT PROVIDENCE (Big East). With wins away from home against Arizona and Butler, and just one loss on the season, Providence’s case for a #1 seed is currently very strong. We have a long way to go, though.
-BAYLOR AT KANSAS (Big Twelve). Baylor’s team is good, but their profile needs lots of work. If they win this game today, then their profile will no longer need lots of work. Kansas, like most years, already has some big wins and will contend for the league title and a #1 seed.
-CHARLESTON AT WILLIAM & MARY (Colonial). CofC picked up a HUGELY impressive win at James Madison the other night, and if they get another road win against another conference favorite, then at this point we have to start thinking of them as the conference favorite. There is room for an at-large bid for the first place finisher of this league so long as they avoid bad losses.
-TULSA AT CINCINNATI (American). Cincinnati is coming off a surprising home loss to Temple, who is not a tournament caliber team. They can’t afford too many more of those. Tulsa, on the other hand, needs to start blowing through their schedule if they want the committee to notice them.
-INDIANA AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten). As disappointing as many feel Indiana has been, they’re still 11-3 and can still have a big year if they can get their defense figured out. Picking up a conference road win would certainly help things.
-EVANSVILLE AT MISSOURI STATE (Missouri Valley). Evansville is 12-2 and it’s very possible that they’ll land inside the bubble come Selection Sunday. They need to avoid losses in games like this, though.
-ARKANSAS AT TEXAS A&M (SEC). TAMU can improve to 11-2 on the season and remain in solid shape.
-DUKE AT BOSTON COLLEGE (ACC). This is Duke’s first true road game of the season, but they’ll probably be less tested than they were in many of their neutral floor OOC games.
-NOTRE DAME AT VIRGINIA (ACC). Notre Dame was a little sluggish at the start, but they are 9-3 and can change the entire complexion of their season if they can pick up a monster road win against a UVA team that will likely end up on one of the top two lines. That’s much more easily said than done, though.
-LITTLE ROCK AT TROY (Sun Belt). Little Rock has just one loss on the year and will be good for a bid if they keep winning at that clip.
-MARQUETTE AT GEORGETOWN (Big East). Marquette was blown out at home in their conference opener, but they still sit at a relatively healthy 10-3 and will be in good shape if they can pick up a conference road win today.
-MEMPHIS AT SOUTH CAROLINA. South Carolina is trying to remain unbeaten, and Memphis is trying to pick up their best win of the season so far. This is actually Memphis’s first true road game, so it’s one of their bigger tests so far.
-IOWA AT PURDUE. Iowa is coming off the win against Michigan State, but it was at home against a short handed Spartan team. Winning at Purdue will probably be a tougher test.
-NORTHEASTERN AT UNC WILMINGTON (Colonial). As mentioned earlier, the first place finisher in the Colonial will likely be in the discussion for an at-large bid.
-COLORADO STATE AT BOISE STATE (Mountain West). Boise State is probably good enough to run through the league and land inside the bubble, but anything short of that likely won’t be enough.
-OLE MISS AT KENTUCKY (SEC). People haven’t been that excited about Ole Miss, but if they can pull off the huge upset they’ll explode onto the national scene. They’re 10-2 with four true road wins. They don’t have anything of this caliber on their profile, though.
-IOWA STATE AT OKLAHOMA (Big Twelve). Both teams are likely protected seeds, and both are good enough to potentially play their way up to the #1 line. It’s a huge game that’s as much of a litmus test as it is a chance for a quality win.
-SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI AT LOUISIANA TECH (Conference USA). It’s a long shot, but LA Tech is 11-2 and has a chance of being in the discussion if they blow through conference play.
-CONNECTICUT AT TULANE (American). UConn will remain safe so long as they don’t lose games to non tournament teams. This game would certainly qualify.
-SOUTH FLORIDA AT SMU (American). SMU is still unbeaten. They are also still ineligible.
-GEORGIA AT FLORIDA (SEC). Both these teams need this game. Both are good. Both are improving, but both also need quality wins on their profile.
-MARYLAND AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten). Northwestern won their conference opener. At 13-1, this would be as big of a statement win as any they’ve had this year even though it’s a home game. It would also be one of Maryland’s more notable wins as well. In fact, Maryland hasn’t won a true road game yet.
-DAVIDSON AT SAINT BONAVENTURE (Atlantic Ten). I don’t think either team will be there in the end, but for now both are 8-3 and still have a chance if they can pick up some big wins in league play.
-NORTHERN IOWA AT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (Missouri Valley). Southern Illinois has a bloated record, but they haven’t beaten any good teams. Northern Iowa has beaten some really good teams, but has also lost to teams that are nowhere near the tournament picture. Both teams have a lot of work to do and it’s an important early conference game.
-GEORGIA SOUTHERN AT UT ARLINGTON (Sun Belt). Arlington can still land inside the bubble, but they’ll have to blow through the league and avoid bad losses in order to do it.
-LSU AT VANDERBILT (SEC). Vanderbilt looks like a tournament team that needs to strengthen its profile. LSU looks nothing like a tournament team and needs to start playing like one before it’s too late.
-SAN DIEGO AT SAINT MARY’S (West Coast). It’s the same narrative as always. I’m not a believer in SMC, but we’re still paying attention and entertaining the possibility that they might be good due to them due to their bloated record against weak teams.
-VILLANOVA AT CREIGHTON (Big East). Nova blew out Xavier in their conference opener, and is now looking for just their second true road win of the season.
-GONZAGA AT SAN FRANCISCO (West Coast). Gonzaga’s road just got a lot tougher seeing as how they’re now without Karnowski for the rest of the year. If they blow through the league they’re still likely a first ballot team, but but if they end up dropping several they could be in real trouble.
Norfolk State @ Alabama – (buy game)
-UMES @ Pittsburgh – (buy game)
