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SPOTLIGHTED GAMES:

-TEXAS AT KANSAS (***pod system spotlight game***). Texas has proven they can play well without P.J Tucker. They put up a valiant effort at Oklahoma last weekend and had a decisive win at home against Texas Tech earlier this week. Kansas is perfect at home and one game away from being perfect on the road. If Texas were to win this, it would basically negate P.J. Tucker’s ineligibility in the eyes of the selection committee because it will prove they can win without him. It will also put them in a position to finish high in the conference standings and get to the pod system. However, a loss for Texas would be their third conference loss and that will make it hard to catch Oklahoma and Kansas. Both teams are well coached. Texas plays well in big games. With the exception of the blow out loss at Villanova, so does Kansas.

-INDIANA AT IOWA (***desperation spotlight game***). Iowa choked away the Northwestern game. They led by twelve with under four minutes to go and lost in overtime to drop to 2-4 in the conference. They DESPERATELY need a win here at home or the mountain they’ll have to climb will be very high. Indiana is on the cusp as well. A poor shooting night and too many turnovers led to their loss up at Minnesota to drop them out of a tie for second place. It’s all about the Big Ten standings for both these teams. Indiana needs it to offset a rather poor start to the season. Iowa needs it to retain a good start to the season. Both teams should have a huge sense of urgency entering this one. It really is a resume game. It should be a highly competitive game as well between two teams that typically play hard and are well coached.





OTHER GAMES OF INTEREST:

-GEORGIA AT ALABAMA. Alabama is trying to improve to 17-3 on the year and 6-1 in conference which would keep them in first place of the west division. This is a huge mismatch, especially at home. Alabama is superior in every aspect and should role over a struggling Georgia team.

-WASHINGTON STATE AT ARIZONA. Arizona just won a big game over Washington to take over soul control of first place in the Pac Ten. Styles cannot contrast more than they do with these two teams. Arizona likes a fast paced game and generally scores in the 90s, whereas Wazzu likes a slow, half court, back door game and would be happy with the score in the 40s. These teams are so mismatched, it could very well end up that Arizona scores 90+ and Wazzu scores 40. Wazzu can frustrate teams and their style of play can keep them in games even when they are extremely overmatched, but Arizona is clutch and well coached. They shouldn’t have too much trouble winning this one.

-KENTUCKY AT ARKANSAS. Kentucky is unbeaten in conference play. Although they have had some close calls, especially on the road, they’ve been taking care of business all season. This will be another tough challenge. Arkansas is a young team who is also inconsistent, but they will be way up for this one. It should be an electric atmosphere and Kentucky needs to be on upset alert. If the Wildcats can go down to Arkansas and play like they are the superior team it will be a great statement for their basketball team.

-GEORGETOWN AT BOSTON COLLEGE. Will the heart-stopping down to the wire wins continue for BC?? Georgetown has really played better than anyone expected them to this year and they appear to be on their way to the NCAA tournament. If they could win this game on the road, it wouldn’t only be their biggest win of the season so far, it could arguably be their biggest win in several years. It would keep them in third place in the Big East standings and give them their second high quality win of the year. For Boston College, they are still unbeaten, still on top in the conference and still on pace to get into Worcester and possibly get a #1 seed in the Syracuse Region. They have shown that they are beatable. They just haven’t been beaten yet. This is actually really good for this team because every game they play they are getting the best shots from their opponents, and there is a lot on the line. Come March, they’ll feel like they’ve been there before.

-HOUSTON AT CINCINNATI. This is a mismatch in C-USA. Houston is capable of playing some pretty decent basketball and have a big upset win over Louisville, but Cincinnati is just playing very well right now, especially at home, and they should role in this game. The C-USA regular season title is still attainable because Louisville also has one loss and Cincinnati get another chance against them later this year. They just need to win all these games as well.

-CHARLOTTE AT EAST CAROLINA. Charlotte is another one of those one-loss C-USA teams. They were romped in Cincinnati, but other than that they have been playing really well this year. East Carolina has not been playing well. Their win against Saint Louis the other night was their first div1 win since December 1. Charlotte should role and role big over their in-state non rivals.

-SOUTH CAROLINA AT FLORIDA. Florida desperately needs to get it in gear or they’ll be playing some more home games when they get to host NIT games. They are 12-4 with no good wins and two poor losses. They have also been inconsistent with a near loss to Auburn and an overtime loss to Tennessee. They need to finish high in the conference standings and win games like this or they’ll be on the outside part of the bubble.

-PORTLAND AT GONZAGA. Gonzaga has been sensational at home this year. Portland is a decent team but they aren’t anywhere near the level of Gonzaga, especially at home. The Zags have their backs against the wall somewhat with two conference losses. However, their next three games are at home and they should be able to win all of them and keep themselves toward the top of the standings. If they lose any of these, it would be really damaging.

-MINNESOTA AT ILLINOIS. Minnesota is a good team that has a great chance of making the NCAA tournament. They got a much better chance of doing that than winning this game. Illinois is just plain sick. They are so good and so clutch it’s incredible. No one has really come close to beating them at home. Wisconsin took them to the wall, but Illinois still outscored them by sixteen in the final eight minutes at Wisconsin to go on and get the big win. Illinois is in the driver’s seat for the top #1 seed and I don’t think they’ll relinquish it this weekend.

-OKLAHOMA AT IOWA STATE. Iowa State had won 25 of 26 games at home, but they’ve lost their last two. They have also lost six games in a row and have completely dropped of the radar. Oklahoma, on the other hand, is red hot. They need to be careful because Iowa State always has been and always will be one of the toughest arenas to win at no matter how the Cyclones are playing, but they should be able to go in there and get it done. It is a good test for the Sooners and a chance for them to stay unbeaten in conference and pick up their eleventh straight win.

-MISSISSIPPI STATE AT LSU. Mississippi State appears to be out of the pod picture for now, but they are definitely still a very strong NCAA contender. They need this conference win. They have a tendency to fall behind on the road and in cases like Tennessee, they could not get back into the game. They did get a nice win against South Carolina last week and they need that momentum to continue. LSU has just been struggling all year long, but they have won four of their last five and could present some problems for a Mississippi State team who desperately needs this win.

-UTEP AT LOUISIANA TECH. UTEP has continued their winning ways, but they have struggled in their last three games, all of which were against teams that aren’t as good as they are. Still, 13-1 in their last fourteen games is VERY impressive. They need a decisive win to prove to themselves that they are a good team. They are undermatched and even though they are on the road UTEP needs to go in there and make a statement. With Rice losing their second straight the other night, They and Nevada are out in front of the conference standings. If UTEP can win this league they will most likely go to the tournament regardless of what happens in the conference tourney….so long as they don’t have any bad losses on their resume which is what this game would be.

-OAKLAND AT MICHIGAN STATE. This is a snoozer. Someone should tell Michigan State that November ended almost two months ago. They role over an Oakland team that will struggle to finish .500 in the MidCon.

-FRESNO STATE AT NEVADA. Nevada has won ten of their last eleven games and is tied for first in the WAC. Fresno’s RPI is low, but they do have a decent record so it won’t drag down Nevada’s resume too much. In a conference race like this that will likely send two teams to the NCAA tournament, every game is crucial. Nevada is a tough team to beat at home and they are very exciting to watch. They should win this against a Fresno team that’s been slumping a little bit recently.

-WISCONSIN AT PENN STATE. Wisconsin just had their 38 game home winning streak snapped. However, this is a chance for them to increase their road winning streak against a Penn State team that has had trouble punching their way out of a paper bag recently. They are just 2-10 in their last twelve games. Wisconsin needs to pick up the road conference win, avoid the devastating loss and continue their march towards the pod system.

-SYARCUSE AT PITTSBURGH. Syracuse overcame a 20 point deficit at Rutgers, which is one of the toughest places to play in the country, to come back and win. Pitt overcame a big deficit of their own last weekend when they came back and beat Connecticut. Syracuse is trying to win the conference and possibly earn a #1 seed. Pitt is just trying to improve their resume with a big quality conference win. Pitt hasn’t looked all that dominant at any point this year other than in the final few minutes of the UConn game. Even at home they’ve lost to teams like Bucknell and nearly lost to Seton Hall. It should be an electric atmosphere, but Syracuse is just too good IMHO. It’s not to say an upset can’t happen, but they call them upsets for a reason. They generally don’t happen.

-YALE AT PRINCETON. I expect Princeton to cruise through the Ivy League and have the automatic bid rapped up by the end of February.

-VILLANOVA AT RUTGERS. Villanova followed up their big upset win over Kansas with a big conference win over Notre Dame. This will be another big test though because this is their first road game since they began making big national headlines. Their last road trip proved they can play in hostile environments, but they still lost in the final seconds to Boston College. The RAC is not an easy place for opponents to play and they will certainly be gunning for Nova in this game. It will be interesting to see how they do as the hunted rather than the hunter.

-MARQUETTE AT SAINT LOUIS. Marquette desperately needs this game. A loss would be a bad loss on their resume, it would take them down another notch in the conference standings, and it would come close to knocking them out of the bracket projections for now. Marquette has not looked like a good team at all. They certainly didn’t look good in their blowout loss to Louisville the other night. If they can’t beat the good teams, than they can’t afford to lose to the poor teams.

-RICE AT SAN JOSE STATE. Rice has lost their last two conference games and have slipped behind Nevada and UTEP in the conference race. A loss here would be almost too damaging for them to recover from. San Jose State is a sub 200 RPI team, so that wouldn’t look good. Not to mention, it would make it almost impossible to get catch UTEP or Nevada. It would probably all but end whatever is left of their at large hopes.

-UCLA AT USC. This is a big rivalry game. It’s also a game that UCLA desperately needs to win in order to resuscitate their resume and get back to being a legitimate NCAA tournament team. The Bruins cannot afford to lose four straight. Before the losing streak started, they looked to be one of the twenty best teams in the country. It’s as if a switch was flipped because they haven’t looked good at all lately. USC needs to win this one too, but for a different reason. They are trying to get to the Pac Ten tournament and if they don’t finish in the top eight, then they get to watch it from home.

-EVANSVILLE AT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS. SIU’s RPI is good, but they’ve lost their last two games on the road. They are unbeaten at home though. They are also much better than Evansville and they need this win to rebound from their two game losing streak.

-DEPAUL AT SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI. DePaul is coming off a surprising loss where they were pretty much handled at Memphis. Before that they had been playing really well, but they just did not have it last night. A second conference road loss to a sub 100 RPI team is the last thing they need. They need to take care of business against a team that they are clearly better than.

-TEMPLE AT SAINT BONAVENTURE. After appearing to be the dominant team in the A-10, Temple completely laid an egg earlier this week in their loss at Fordham. Saint Bonaventure is one of the worst teams in the country this year. Temple should trounce them, but they should have trounced Fordham. Either way, they need to go full steam ahead from here on out because most conference losses will go down as bad losses for the Owls.

-OREGON AT STANFORD. These are two teams that appear to be heading in opposite directions. Oregon got off to a great start to the season, but has been slumping lately and are coming off a loss to a Cal team who is nowhere near NCAA tournament caliber. Stanford, on the other hand, got off to a slow start, but has been tearing it up lately. They have been playing real well and are in third place of the conference. Again, Stanford needs the good conference record because they struggled OOC, but the way they are playing now they seem capable of getting it.

-NEBRASKA AT TEXAS TECH. Texas Tech didn’t play their best game against Texas earlier in the week. Still, they have done better than many expected them. They don’t have any big wins other than UTEP, but they’ve pretty much taken care of business against most of the week teams. This is another game where they need to win and sustain their conference record as well as their RPI. Like I always say, if you can’t beat the good teams, then you can’t lose to the bad ones. Nebraska’s Princeton-style offense is capable of causing teams fits. They almost won at Kansas. However a well coached TTU team should be ready for them.

-KENT STATE AT TOLEDO. Kent State’s RPI is very solid, but up until recently nothing else had been. They have taken care of business in their last three games and are working their way back up the MAC standings. Toledo is a team that has underachieved this season in most peoples’ opinion and isn’t anywhere near being an NCAA tournament caliber team. This is a really big game for Kent State. It would mean winning four in a row and staying a game within Miami OH in the east division.

-LOUISVILLE AT TULANE. Louisville has been blowing through their opponents lately and this game should be no different. This game shouldn’t be close for very long as Louisville continues to charge full speed ahead for the conference title while Tulane continues to plummet towards the bottom.

-SOUTH FLORIDA AT UAB. UAB is in a position where they can’t lose too many more games before the end of the year. They are inside the bubble right now, but they aren’t a lock by any means. They play a very quick, full court game that resembles the old Nolan Richardson teams at Arkansas and should wear down and beat South Florida at home.

-OLD DOMINION AT VCU. ODU needs to continue to dominate the CAA. If they run the table they should be in the NCAA tournament regardless of what happens in the conference tournament.

-NORTH CAROLINA AT VIRGINIA. These two teams are on opposite ends of the ACC standings right now, but that doesn’t mean this game is going to be a blowout. Virginia has been very competitive at home and they will not back down from the Tar Heels. UNC still looks to be one of the two best teams in the country though and shouldn’t be strangers to hostile environments by any means. Every game is big for them because they are trying to get into Charlotte.

-MIAMI FL AT WAKE FOREST. Miami has played pretty well this year, but not nearly as well as Wake, especially as well as Wake has played at home. Wake is coming off what was a surprising upset loss at Georgia Tech and really needs to rebound from it. Again, any sort of slippage from any of the Carolina teams and it will be hard for them to catch back up. They should overpower Miami with their speed, passing and shooting at home.

-CENTRAL MICHIGAN AT WESTERN MICHIGAN. After looking to be a strong NCAA caliber team and contender, Western Michigan has lost their last two games, one of which was a blowout loss to Miami Oh. Their window of opportunity is still open, but it isn’t quite as wide. They really need to do well in this conference and either win or tie for the division title to have a shot at an at large. The MAC has been very competitive this year so it won’t be easy. Central Michigan, however, is not among the teams in the mix. Western Michigan should win this one at home without too much trouble.

-ILLINOIS STATE AT WICHITA STATE. Wichita State is on an absolute role. They are 15-2 on the year and have won six of their last seven. They did look sluggish the other night against a Drake team that isn’t very good, but they still got the win. They are at home, they’ve played well at home all year, and they should take care of Illinois State. However, this conference has been wacky all throughout. Teams like Wichita State and Southern Illinois have been losing games you’d expect them to dominate, so nothing is certain.

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IT'S MILLER TIME!!!