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Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: cincinnati
Age: 29
Posts: 2,254
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highlighted matchups for thursday, january 20th
-PACIFIC AT CAL POLY. Pacific’s winning streak is currently at eight games. They are way undermatched in this one. Cal Poly is just 3-11 on the year. When these two met earlier in the year, Pacific won by more than twenty. Expect a similar result tonight.
-MARQUETTE AT DEPAUL. Both teams DESPERATELY need quality wins, and need to do well in conference play in order to get to the dance. This is a conference rivalry, so there should be plenty of intensity. DePaul has been inconsistent all year, but when they are on, they are a good team. Marquette has an impressive record, but they have yet to pass a big test. There is a lot at stake for both teams in this conference rivalry game.
-IOWA AT ILLINOIS (***pod system spotlight game***). Illinois remains unbeaten on the year. Iowa has exceeded expectations and are a solid NCAA tournament team, but they’ve also had some stumbles along the way and need to improve their resume if they want to remain in the pod picture. Iowa has four quality wins, but are just 1-2 in conference. Winning at Illinois is probably too tall an order for them to fill, so chances are they’ll fall to 1-3, which adds a lot of importance to future conference games. Illinois has only played three road games, but they have pretty much appeared to be unstoppable at home and on the road. Iowa is good, but Illinois is great.
-ARKANSAS LITTLE ROCK AT NORTH TEXAS. Arkansas Little Rock is just 8-5 against div1 opponents, but they have won seven of their last eight games, have a big win against Southern Illinois, and have an RPI in the 40s. They also defeated Western Kentucky, and appear to be the best team in the Sun Belt Conference.
-ARIZONA STATE AT OREGON STATE. Arizona State DESPERATELY needs this win. They are 2-3 in conference, and dropping this game will make it very difficult for them to keep pace with Arizona, Washington, UCLA, etc. Oregon State is a respective 10-6 on the year and they are unbeaten at home and that includes a big win over UCLA. They have lost their last three games, but all were road games. A loss would be VERY damaging for the Sun Devils.
-ARIZONA AT OREGON. Arizona is 4-1 in conference play, 14-3 on the year, and appears to be on their way to making the pod system. Oregon has a fantastic RPI, but the last time they played in a big game they were blown off the floor by Washington. They are just 3-2 in conference and have only one quality win, and that was early on against Vanderbilt. Oregon is tough at home, and if they could pull this off it would be a huge win for them. It would keep them just one game out of the Pac Ten lead and give them their highest quality win of the season so far. Arizona is a very quick team and their speed could give the ducks some trouble.
-SAINT MARY’S AT PEPPERDINE. Losing at home to Santa Clara was a huge blow to Saint Mary’s. basically, their margin for error is zero. It can still be done, and whenever a team is able to beat Gonzaga it’s obvious they can play. They just need to deliver each and every night. It won’t be easy playing against Pepperdine. The Wave are inconsistent, but they have a tendency to be tough at home in big games, as was exhibited earlier this season when they defeated Wisconsin at home. Saint Mary’s must deliver in this one.
-FRESNO STATE AT RICE. Rice’s RPI is in the 20s. They are 8-4 on the year, two of those losses were against Connecticut and Syracuse, and they played decently in both games. Since being blown out of the gym by UTEP, Rice has won their last two games and has another big one at home tonight. Fresno State is 10-4 on the year and 5-1 in conference play. This is a critical game for both teams, because conference standings are going to be important to a lot of potential bubble teams from the WAC. The top half of this conference is very competitive. If Rice wants to get to the tournament, they need to get it done in games like this one.
-GONZAGA AT SAN FRANCISCO. Gonzaga is continuing their quest to make the pod system. This is another game that won’t be easy, because USF is unbeaten at home. Whenever the Zags play on the road in conference, it’s guaranteed to be a hostile environment. Also, the margin for error is not that big because they don’t have any more opportunities at quality wins. This may not look like a tough game for Gonzaga to win, but it is. It should be exciting.
-NEVADA AT TULSA. An always important conference game for Nevada. They don’t have a whole lot to gain, but they do have a lot to lose. This would be a bad loss on paper, as well as a conference loss, and neither would help Nevada’s at large chances. Nevada is playing fantastic basketball and I’m not expecting any slipups, but we’ve had A LOT of those not just in this conference, but all over the country this past week.
-STANFORD AT UCLA. Stanford just can’t seem to get it together this year. They have won their last two games, one of which was against Arizona, and they looked really good in those two games, but up until that they had been very inconsistent and at times just looked pathetic. UCLA has been solid most of the year and there is no reason to think that will change tonight. A win at home keeps the top of the Pac Ten well within reach. They are a well coached team that is good on offense, defense and on the boards.
-HAWAII AT UTEP. This is another big game in the WAC conference. Hawaii is 10-3, but has not looked nearly as good on the road as they have at home. They are also coming off a surprising loss to Louisiana Tech over the weekend, which dropped them to just 2-3 in conference. If they fall to 2-4, it may be an insurmountable deficit and REALLY hurt their chances at the tournament. UTEP has been playing fantastic, especially at home, but they did lose at Fresno State over the weekend and need to rebound from that. This is a tough game to call. UTEP definitely has the advantage at home. It isn’t too far fetched to think they could absolutely blow Hawaii out. In saying that, Hawaii has their backs against the wall, and when a good team has their backs against the wall, they tend to rise to the occasion.
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IT'S MILLER TIME!!!
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highlighted matchups for thursday, january 20th
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