SPOTLIGHT GAMES
-KANSAS AT TEXAS (Big Twelve). Texas has been playing great basketball lately, and this is a major showcase game for them at home. Kansas has looked even better, and is definitely a road tested team, so the atmosphere shouldn’t bother them. Both teams are hot, and it should be an electric atmosphere, so this one should be fun.
-DUKE AT SYRACUSE (ACC). Duke hasn’t been the best road team this year, but they’re playing their best basketball of the season so far right now, so it wouldn’t entirely shock me if they went into Syracuse and pulled off an upset. It would give Duke one of the most impressive wins of the year.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTED MATCH UPS
-RICHMOND AT VCU (Atlantic Ten). This is a huge rivalry game, and it’s one that Richmond really needs. Should be fun.
-OHIO STATE AT WISCONSIN (Big Ten). Ohio State’s next win against a team that is solidly in the field will be their first. They’re also coming off a damaging loss to Penn State. Wisconsin has also hit the skids lately, and is also coming off a surprising loss to Northwestern. Both teams could really use this, especially Ohio State.
-GEORGIA TECH AT WAKE FOREST (ACC). Wake is outside the bubble, but could conceivably get onto it if they can string together some wins.
-SETON HALL AT XAVIER (Big East). Xavier is in good shape and will remain that way if they hold serve and win games like this.
-GEORGE WASHINGTON AT DAYTON (Atlantic Ten). GW is having a great year and can get another conference road win on their profile today.
-KENTUCKY AT MISSOURI (SEC). Missouri just got a huge, much needed road win against Arkansas, and will be in great shape if they can follow it up with a home win against Kentucky. Kentucky has just one true road win so far, so a win in this game would improve their resume as well.
-NC STATE AT NORTH CAROLINA (ACC). This is a bitter ACC conference rivalry, and it’s one that UNC really needs to win at home.
-PROVIDENCE AT DEPAUL (Big East). Providence is coming off of a loss, and really needs more road wins on their profile. If they’re unable to beat a fairly weak DePaul team, the committee will question their lack of road wins.
-TOLEDO AT OHIO (MAC). I have Toledo right on the bubble, and I think they can end up inside of it and not need the automatic bid if they can win out, but their margin for error is small.
-KANSAS STATE AT WEST VIRGINIA (Big Twelve). K State could really use a road win.
-SOUTH CAROLINA AT OLE MISS (SEC). Ole Miss has a lot of work to do just to get onto the bubble, much less inside of it.
-BAYLOR AT OKLAHOMA STATE (Big Twelve). Baylor has been atrocious since conference play began, and they’ll end up missing the tournament if they don’t get it turned around.
-MEMPHIS AT SMU (American). Memphis is solidly in the field, but could still improve their profile with some road wins. SMU is right on the bubble, so this is a very big game for them.
-UTAH AT COLORADO (Pac Twelve). This is a very bubblicious game. Both teams really need this one.
-NORTHWESTERN AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten). Don’t look now, but a win for Northwestern will put them at 5-5 in Big Ten play, and would also be their fifth win in their last seven games. They’re a mile from the bubble, but the Big Ten has so many quality teams in it that if they string together some wins they can make up quite a bit of ground. Much easier said than done, though. Minnesota has been tough at home and has looked good this season.
-GEORGE MASON AT SAINT LOUIS (Atlantic Ten). SLU is having another big year and shouldn’t have too much trouble today.
-EVANSVILLE AT WICHITA STATE (Missouri Valley). Wichita is still unbeaten, and will likely get a #1 seed if they run the table.
-MICHIGAN STATE AT GEORGETOWN. Georgetown has hit the skids, and needs a big win just to get themselves back within reach of the bubble. Michigan State is shorthanded, but they’re coming off a big road win against Iowa, so I’d say they’ve made some effective adjustments.
-CLEMSON AT FLORIDA STATE (ACC). Florida State is in the field for now, but they do not have an infinite margin for error by any means.
-TEXAS A&M AT FLORIDA (SEC). Florida is rolling and should end up on one of the top three lines in the NCAA Tournament.
-VILLANOVA AT TEMPLE (Big Five). This is a very bitter rivalry, but it appears to be a huge mismatch this year. It’s an out of conference mythical conference game.
-OKLAHOMA AT IOWA STATE (Big Twelve). Oklahoma has looked good this year, but they have struggled some on the road. A win in this would really boost their profile. Iowa State is one of the toughest home courts in the country to win on.
-LOUISIANA TECH AT UTSA (Conference USA). LA Tech is out of strikes. They pretty much need to win out, or else they’ll need to win the conference tournament.
-ARIZONA STATE AT STANFORD (Pac Twelve). Another bubblelicious game. Both teams are right on the bubble, so this has a real pivotal feel to it.
-ARKANSAS AT LSU (SEC). I have both these teams outside the bubble, and both will have to start stringing together some wins if they want any chance at all. Both have managed home wins against Kentucky, but considering how Kentucky has struggled on the road, those may not be worth as much as some may think.
-UMASS AT SAINT JOSEPH’S (Atlantic Ten). UMass has been struggling lately and could really use a big win.
-COLORADO STATE AT SAN DIEGO STATE (Mountain West). This San Diego State is one of the best and hottest in the country right now. I don’t expect that they’ll have any trouble at home in this one.
-TULANE AT SOUTHERN MISS (Conference USA). Southern Miss is right on the bubble, and with a weak remaining schedule they have a very small margin for error, but should be fine if they win out.
-WRIGHT STATE AT GREEN BAY (Horizon League). Green Bay is coming off their first conference loss, and can’t afford to lose another one. Otherwise they’ll probably need the automatic bid to get them in.
-INDIANA STATE AT NORTHERN IOWA (Missouri Valley). Indiana State is out of strikes, they’ll have to win out to get in as an at-large, and that would include winning against Wichita State.
-SAN JOSE STATE AT NEW MEXICO (Mountain West). New Mexico is in fairly good shape so long as they hold serve in games like this.
-USC AT OREGON (Pac Twelve). Oregon has been horrifically bad since conference play began. If they lose this game, they’ll be outside the bubble for sure.
-UCF AT LOUISVILLE (American). Louisville is coming off a loss, but shouldn’t have too much trouble in this one.
-TENNESSEE AT ALABAMA (SEC). Tennessee is outside the bubble and really needs to win games like this.
-GONZAGA AT SAN FRANCISCO (West Coast). Gonzaga has a small margin for error, but they’ve been blowing through the league, which is what they need to do.
-ARIZONA AT CALIFORNIA (Pac Twelve). Arizona is the #1 team in the country. Cal is on the bubble. This is a HUGE chance for Cal.
-SAINT MARY’S AT BYU (West Coast). SMC might be able to play their way inside the bubble if they win out. This would be a big road win for them.
On this special pre-Super Bowl edition of the Bracket Racket, the crew breaks down some of the surprising games from the past week, including Ohio State-Wisconsin, Arizona finally losing, the overreaction to Syracuse-Duke, and the suddenly surging Texas Longhorns. We also discuss the upcoming games this week, and talk about the tournament implications of the lack of quality mid-major teams.
