-NEBRASKA AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten). Ohio State is good enough to earn a #1 seed, but due to a lack of quality wins out of conference they’ll need to blow through league play to get it.
-CINCINNATI AT MEMPHIS (AAC). It’s nice to see this as a conference game again. Both teams could really use this win, but Cincinnati probably needs it a little more than Memphis does.
-PITTSBURGH AT NC STATE (ACC). Pitt’s only loss is to Cincinnati, they’ve played a horrendously weak schedule and need some decent wins away from home. NC State isn’t a solid tournament team, but they’re probably better than anyone PItt has managed to beat up to this point.
-SAINT JOHN’S AT GEORGETOWN (Big East). Both teams have good records, and Georgetown did beat a decent VCU team, but you get the idea that neither has a huge margin for error due to a lack of notable OOC wins.
-IOWA STATE AT TEXAS TECH (Big Twelve). Iowa State has looked great this season and shouldn’t have too much trouble picking up the road win in this one.
-WASHINGTON AT ARIZONA (Pac Twelve). Washington has had an unspectacular season, but they blew out Arizona State in their conference opener the other night. If they can manage a win today, it would be the biggest and most sudden 180 of the year by far. Having said that, it isn’t likely to happen.
-MIAMI FL AT SYRACUSE (ACC). Syracuse should roll and stay on track to be in the discussion for a #1 seed.
-UCONN AT SMU (AAC). UConn lost their conference opener to a weak and shorthanded Houston team. If they drop this one they could be in a little bit of trouble.
-MICHIGAN STATE AT INDIANA (Big Ten). Indiana really needs this one in the worst way. They’ve come up short against all the quality opponents they’ve faced, including a heartbreaker in their conference opener against Illinois. They need a big win at home.
-BUTLER AT XAVIER (Big East). Butler has three losses by a total of 7pts, and two of those were against top ten teams. The problem is that they don’t have any big wins on their profile. Their team is a lot better than their profile indicates, and they could use a notable road win such as this. Xavier has some decent wins on their profile, but doesn’t have an infinite margin for error. This has been a fun series over the years, and it should be another good one today.
-DEPAUL AT MARQUETTE (Big East). Both teams are 8-6. DePaul wasn’t expected to do much this year, but Marquette has been hugely disappointing against all the quality teams they’ve played. If they want any chance at all of sniffing the postseason they need a very strong showing in conference.
-YOUNGSTOWN STATE AT GREEN BAY (Horizon League). If Green Bay can win out, they should be in position to get an at-large bid. They have just three losses, including a close one to Wisconsin, and a notable win against Virginia.
-PENN STATE AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten). Illinois has been pretty good so far and simply needs to hold serve in games like this.
-RICHMOND AT FLORIDA. Richmond needs a big win if they want to be considered for an at-large. They’re a respective 10-4, but still haven’t looked like an at-large team yet.
-CREIGHTON AT SETON HALL (Big East). Creighton should make the NCAA Tournament so long as they hold serve against the weaker teams in the league….like Seton Hall.
-OKLAHOMA STATE AT KANSAS STATE (Big Twelve). Okie State is a #1 or #2 seed caliber team, and Kansas State really seems to have improved as the year has gone on. It’ll be interesting to see what the Wildcats can do at home against a top notch opponent.
-DUKE AT NOTRE DAME (ACC). It feels weird that this is now a conference game. Duke hasn’t done much on the road, but Notre Dame wasn’t overly impressive before now, and will likely be less impressive now that they’ve lost a key player.
-CLEMSON AT BOSTON COLLEGE (ACC). Clemson has a really bad loss to Auburn, but they are 9-3 overall and if they can play well in conference they should be in the discussion. Now whether or not they’re good enough to compete in the ACC is another story.
-OREGON STATE AT UTAH (Pac Twelve). Oregon State hasn’t been that impressive this year, but they are coming off a strong showing at Colorado. Utah, on the other hand, lost a heartbreaker to Oregon the other night and needs to rebound.
-USC UPSTATE AT MERCER (Atlantic Sun). I only highlight this game because these appear to be the two best teams in the A-Sun, and if one of them goes on to win the league they could be a tough out in the Round of 64.
-LONG BEACH STATE AT MISSOURI. Late OOC game for Mizzou. A win gets them to 12-1 going into league play.
-LONGWOOD AT LOUISIANA TECH. If LA Tech can avoid bad losses, which pretty much means they need to win out, they should be in the discussion for an at-large.
-VIRGINIA AT FLORIDA STATE (ACC). Both teams have been very inconsistent and could really use this one.
-YALE AT SAINT LOUIS. SLU needs big wins, but they also need to avoid bad losses.
-RHODE ISLAND AT LSU. LSU has looked pretty good, but they don’t have that many strikes due to not playing that many games against big competition. They really need to hold serve in games like this.
-LOUISVILLE AT RUTGERS (AAC). Louisville is shorthanded the rest of the year, but they did look good in their conference opener at UCF.
-COLORADO STATE AT NEW MEXICO (Mountain West). Both teams should have a sense of urgency coming into this game. New Mexico has done alright, but not as well as they were expected to do, and Colorado State needs some notable wins if they want any shot at all for an at-large.
-MIAMI OH AT UMASS (buy game….sort of). This is one of the four MAC teams UMass plays every year as an affiliate MAC football member. They shouldn’t have too much trouble at home in this one. A win gets them to a very impressive 12-1.
-PACIFIC AT GONZAGA (West Coast). Gonzaga should be okay for a bid if they win the league outright, but anything short of that and they’ll really be sweating. They did look good the other night against Saint Mary’s, so one would think they could handle Pacific tonight. Pacific hasn’t looked bad, but they also aren’t quite good enough for me to think they can get an at-large.
-OKLAHOMA AT TEXAS (Big Twelve). Both teams have good records, but outside of Texas’s win against North Carolina they don’t have much in the way of quality wins. This is a conference game between two rivals who should have a sense of urgency coming into this one.
-HARVARD AT RICE. Harvard won’t need the at-large if they can finish first in the Ivy, but at 12-1 they could end up with a very good seed if they can avoid bad losses.
-UTSA AT ARKANSAS. A win for Arkansas gets them to 11-2.
-INDIANA STATE AT EVANSVILLE (Missouri Valley). Other than Wichita State, Indiana State is the only team in the MVC with any shot at all for an at-large, and they’ll probably need to win out against all teams other than Wichita in order to get it.
-DAYTON AT OLE MISS. Dayton looked really good out in Maui, but they’ve dropped some games since then and their wins against Gonzaga and Cal aren’t panning out to be as good as they originally appeared. One gets the sense that they really need this one.
-FRESNO STATE AT BOISE STATE (Mountain West). Boise needs to contend for a league title just to be in position to get an at-large. They did not play a strong OOC.
-SAN JOSE STATE AT UTAH STATE (Mountain West). Utah State is without their best player for the rest of the year, and will probably play their way out of the picture before long.
-AIR FORCE AT UNLV (Mountain West). UNLV was very disappointing OOC, but they appear to have it together now. Unfortunately, anything short of a first place finish likely won’t be enough for an at-large bid.
-SAINT MARY’S AT PORTLAND (West Coast). SMC won some good games out of conference, but they’ve really shot themselves in the foot (or perhaps the face) over the course of their last five games. They are pretty much out of strikes and will need to end up with a first place finish ahead of Gonzaga to have a legit shot.
