I've broken the "on the fence" teams down into four different tiers. My predictions are what I think happens come tournament selection time - not as things stand today.
These are my locks and automatic bids:
LOCKS ( 32 ) - North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Maryland, Duke, Boston College, Kansas, Texas, Texas A&M, Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Louisville, Notre Dame, Marquette, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Indiana, Memphis, Butler, Southern Illinois, BYU, UNLV, Air Force, UCLA, Washington State, USC, Oregon, Arizona, Florida, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Nevada
AUTO ( 21 ) - ( as things stand now ) Vermont, Xavier, ETSU, Winthrop, Weber State, Long Beach State, VCU, Wright State, Pennsylvania, Marist, Oral Roberts, Akron, Delaware State, CCSU, Austin Peay, Holy Cross, Davidson, Sam Houston State, Mississippi Valley State, South Alabama, Gonzaga
This leaves 12 spots for 36 bubble teams.
Tier 1 ( Almost Clinched ):
#1. Stanford ( 44 RPI /18 SOS ):
Remaining Games: Arizona State/Arizona
Stanford has all but clinched a spot, but obviously can't slip up against an Arizona State team that's playing very well down the stretch.
My prediction: Arizona State ( W ), Arizona ( W ) 19-10 ( 11 - 7 )
IN
#2. Kentucky ( 11 RPI / 2 SOS)
Remaining Games: Georgia/at Florida
Kentucky has all the computer numbers, but they aren't playing well at all and lack a marquee win. If they end up getting swept by Georgia, it's probably really time to panic.
My prediction: Georgia ( W ), at Florida ( L ) 20-10 ( 9 - 7 )
IN
#3. Creighton ( 29 RPI / 28 SOS )
Remaining Games: MVC tournament
Another team that's not playing good basketball down the stretch. They're still pretty much guaranteed to get in due to finishing 2nd in the 6th rated conference in the RPI. That's especially true with such a weak bubble team field this year. Get by the quarterfinals in the MVC tourney and they're in with no questions asked.
My prediction: Regular season over
IN
#4. Villanova ( 21 RPI / 7 SOS )
Remaining Games: at Connecticut/Syracuse
Good computer numbers and several really good wins ( at Georgetown, Notre Dame, Texas, Louisville ) means they're all but in unless they drop their final two.
My prediction: at Connecticut ( W ), Syracuse ( W ) 20-9 ( 9 - 7 )
IN
#5. Syracuse ( 48 RPI / 51 SOS )
Remaining Games: at Villanova
The Orange seem to have clinched a tournament birth with their win over Georgetown and would get in for sure if they can steal a win at Nova. Even if they don't get that, they're still probably safe with 10 Big East wins. They probably want to win a game in the Big East tournament for good measure though.
My prediction: at Villanova ( L ) 21 - 9 ( 10 - 6 )
IN
#6. Michigan State ( 22 RPI / 13 SOS )
Remaining Games: at Wisconsin
Michigan State got two huge wins last week against Wisconsin and Indiana. Dropped a tough road game to Michigan last night, but that still didn't hurt their profile that much considering they have no bad losses and several really quality wins. They'll get their final chance at a marquee road win against the Badgers to end the regular season. Of course, if they were to take that one it'd jump them to lock status.
My prediction: at Wisconsin ( L ) 21-10 ( 8 - 8 )
IN
#7. Missouri State ( 36 RPI / 44 SOS )
Remaining Games: MVC tournament
They did well to get a road win over struggling Wichita State and are probably in the same boat as Creighton - with such a weak bubble field, they probably won't be left out of the tournament after finishing 3rd in the MVC. The Bears probably don't want to risk being one and done in the MVC tourney though after what happened last year. I think if they get their quarterfinal win against Wichita State, they're safe.
My prediction: Regular season over
IN
#8. Old Dominion ( 34 RPI / 93 SOS )
Remaining Games: CAA tournament
Not many teams are playing as well as the Monarchs are these past few months. They're on an 11 game winning streak which includes good wins at Toledo and Drexel along with home wins over Hofstra and VCU. They probably need to get into the finals of the CAA tournament to feel really safe. There would be no shame in losing the championship to VCU on VCU's home floor. Their Georgetown win is also looking better and better.
My prediction: Regular season over
IN
Second Tier ( Work to do ):
#1. Illinois ( 31 RPI / 25 SOS )
Remaining Games: at Iowa
Illinois doesn't have a single good win away from home unless you count their Mizzou and Bradley wins that were played a few miles down the road. They need to beat Iowa to finish out the regular season heading into the Big Ten tourney.
My prediction: at Iowa ( L ) 21 - 10 ( 9 - 7 )
OUT
#2. Texas Tech ( 47 RPI / 14 SOS )
Remaining Games: Baylor/ at Iowa State
Not many teams have three wins like Texas Tech does over Kansas once and Texas A&M twice. They've got two easier games left before the Big 12 tournament and must win both.
My prediction: Baylor ( W ), at Iowa State ( W ) 20-11 ( 9 - 7 )
IN
#3. Oklahoma State ( 41 RPI/ 31 SOS )
Remaining Games: at Baylor/ at Nebraska
The Cowboys picked up a must win at home over Kansas State and need to win out in the regular season to have a chance to go dancing - particularly since they're still 0-fer on the road in the Big 12. I really think they're starting to turn it around and can get it done.
My prediction: at Baylor ( W ), at Nebraska ( W ) 21-9 ( 8 - 8 )
IN
#4. Winthrop ( 68 RPI/ 249 SOS )
Remaining Games: Big South tournament
I have them in as my automatic bid, but if they fall in the Big South championship to High Point I still think they'd have to get in. As much as their four non div-1 games have been talked about, it's not their fault they can't get anybody to play them at home. Also, let us not forget their road wins over ODU and Mississippi State.
My prediction: Regular season over
IN ( Auto bid, but if need be at large )
#5. West Virginia ( 55 RPI / 95 SOS )
Remaining Games: Cincinnati
Two good wins for the entire year and nary a decent road win. They need to win a few in the Big East tournament.
My prediction: Cincinnati ( W ) 20-8 ( 9 - 7 )
OUT
#6. Florida State ( 49 RPI/ 16 SOS )
Remaining Games: at Miami
Lots of good wins but have really faltered down the stretch with Douglas hurt. Thankfully for the 'Noles, they're getting him back in time for ACC tournament play. We'll see if that ends up being enough. Need at least one, perhaps two wins in the ACC tourney.
My prediction: at Miami ( W ) 19 - 11 ( 7 - 9 )
IN
#7. Georgia Tech ( 52 RPI / 37 SOS )
Remaining Games: North Carolina/ Boston College
Well, they certainly have their shot this week to prove they belong in the tournament. They almost pulled one out at Virginia which might have lifted them to the almost in category but faltered down the stretch. A win over UNC would likely put them over the top.
My prediction: North Carolina ( L ), Boston College ( W ) 19 - 11 ( 7 - 9 )
OUT
#8. Purdue ( 40 RPI / 33 SOS )
Remaining Games: Minnesota/ Northwestern
There's no more opportunities in the regular season to impress so they're going to have to get busy in the Big Ten tournament. A lack of any good road wins and a few really bad losses ( at Minnesota and Indiana State ) will prove to be costly.
My prediction: Minnesota ( W), Northwestern ( W ) 20-10 ( 9 - 7 )
OUT
#9. Alabama ( 45 RPI/ 53 SOS )
Remaining Games: Ole Miss/ at Mississippi State
Mark Gottfried coached teams play their best when backed into a corner and all is lost, and, truthfully, I wouldn't be surprised if they somehow won out in the regular season. Even if they did happen to make that happen, I'm not sure it'd be enough. They need to atleast get past the SEC tournament quarterfinals.
My prediction Ole Miss ( W ), Mississippi State ( L ) 20-10 ( 7 - 9 )
OUT
#10. Georgia ( 53 RPI/ 20 SOS )
Remaining Games: at Kentucky/ Tennessee
Like Georgia Tech, this is a make or break week for the Bulldogs. It'd be huge for them to get a win at Rupp over the struggling Wildcats and the Tennessee game at home is very winnable. Win both and they're in. Split and win one SEC tourney game and they'll have to sweat it.
My prediction: at Kentucky ( L ), Tennessee ( W ) 17-11 ( 9 - 7 )
OUT
#11. Drexel ( 42 RPI/ 100 SOS )
Remaining Games: CAA tournament
One of the best road teams in the country with wins over Villanova, Syracuse, Creighton, Vermont, and Hofstra away from home. The Dragons need to atleast get into the semifinals of the CAA tourney to be safe.
My prediction: Regular season over
IN
#12. Kansas State ( 58 RPI/ 89 SOS )
Remaining Games: Oklahoma
Ten wins in the Big 12 would usually get you in with no questions asked, but with how average the league is this year in the middle and towards the bottom that might not be the case. A lack of good wins unless they can get hot in the Big 12 tourney will keep them out.
My prediction: Oklahoma ( W ) 21-10 ( 10 - 6 )
OUT
#13. Clemson ( 43 RPI/ 39 SOS )
Remaining Games: Miami/ at Virginia Tech
Talk about a team fading. They've got to beat Virginia Tech to get back into consideration and a few wins in the ACC tourney wouldn't hurt either.
My prediction: Miami ( W ), at Virginia Tech ( L ) 20-10 ( 6 - 10 )
OUT
#14. Xavier ( 35 RPI/ 85 SOS )
Remaining Games: St. Joseph's/ at La Salle
Xavier has put themselves into pretty decent position to garner an at large bid if they can win their next two and get to the A-10 finals.
My prediction: St. Joseph's ( W ), at La Salle ( W ) 23-7 ( 13 - 3 )
IN ( auto ), IN ( otherwise )
Tier 3 ( A prayer ):
#1. Appalachian State ( 56/ 157 SOS )
Remaining Games: Southern tournament
Lots of good wins, but two sub 200 losses really hurt. Need to win the Southern tourney.
My prediction: Regular season over
OUT
#2. Bradley ( 46 RPI/ 27 SOS )
Remaining Games: MVC tournament
Good computer numbers and some really nice wins, but NIU loss at home probably killed their at large hopes. Need to get to the MVC finals.
My prediction:
OUT
#3. Ole Miss ( 61 RPI/ 74 SOS )
Remaining Games: at Alabama/ Auburn
Nary a good road or neutral site wins means no tournament bid unless they can get a win at Alabama and get into the SEC semis. As you'll see later, this will become a theme.
My prediction: at Alabama ( L ), Auburn ( W ) 19-11 ( 8 - 8 )
OUT
#4. Gonzaga ( 69 RPI/ 91 SOS )
Remaining Games: WCC tournament
Lots of good wins with Heytvelt, but since they're going to be judged on being without him I don't think they'll get in without the auto bid. They might have somewhat of a case if they lose to Santa Clara in the finals
My prediction: Regular season over
IN ( auto ) OUT ( otherwise )
#5. Michigan ( 50 RPI/ 50 SOS )
Remaining Games: Ohio State
It's pretty simple. They beat Ohio State and they're probably in. If not, it's another NIT season.
My prediction: Ohio State ( L ) 20-11 ( 8 - 8 )
OUT
#6. VCU ( 59 RPI/ 138 SOS )
Remaining Games: CAA tournament
You may ask how I could leave the CAA champion out when I have ODU and Drexel in. Well, VCU doesn't even come close to matching their OOC wins and their overall computer profile is quite weak. The committee won't be impressed if they drop a game in the CAA tourney on their own floor.
My prediction:
IN ( auto ) OUT ( otherwise )
#7. Providence ( 71 RPI/ 40 SOS )
Remaining Games: at South Florida/ at St. John's
Dropped a key home game against Syracuse which might have burst their bubble. Need to finish the regular season out strong and go deep in the Big East tourney.
My prediction: at South Florida ( W ), at St. John's ( W ) 19-10 ( 9 - 7 )
OUT
#8. UMass ( 57 RPI/ 125 SOS )
Remaining Games: La Salle/ at St. Joseph's
Need to atleast win out and then get to the A-10 tourney final to be considered. Probably needs to get the auto bid at this point.
My prediction: La Salle ( W ), at St. Joseph's ( W ) 23-7 ( 11 - 3 )
OUT
Tier 4 ( So you're saying there's a chance ):
#1. San Diego State ( 54 RPI/ 68 SOS )
Remaining Games: TCU
Their road loss to Utah probably did their at large chances in. The only option now seems to be winning the MWC tournament.
My prediction: TCU ( W ) 19 - 9 ( 10 - 6 )
OUT
#2. Arkansas ( 63 RPI/ 12 SOS )
Remaining Games: Mississippi State/ at Vanderbilt
There's too much talent on this team for potentially 15 losses. Like Mississippi State below, they need to win out and advance into the SEC semifinals to get a sniff from the committee. My guess is Stan Heath is fired after the year concludes.
My prediction: Mississippi State ( W ), at Vanderbilt ( L ) 17-13 ( 6 - 10 )
OUT
#3. Mississippi State ( 65 RPI/ 42 SOS )
Remaining Games: at Arkansas/ Alabama
The Bulldogs need to take the SEC West title and advance into the SEC semifinals. I don't think either will happen.
My prediction: at Arkansas ( L ), Alabama ( W ) 17-12 ( 8 - 8 )
OUT
#4. DePaul ( 60 RPI/ 19 SOS )
Remaining Games: South Florida
They've gotten a couple good wins over Notre Dame and Marquette recently and can hang their hat on the Kansas win, but early season losses to Northwestern, UAB, and St. John's will be their undoing. They probably need to atleast make it to the Big East conference championship to be put under real consideration. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised to see that happen either with how well they're playing.
My prediction: South Florida ( W ) 17-12 ( 9 - 7 )
OUT
#5. Davidson ( 62 RPI/ 206 SOS )
Remaining Games: Southern tournament
They breezed through Southern Conference play and have no bad losses, but don't particularly have any good wins either. They really need to win the Southern tournament to be safe.
My prediction: Regular season over
IN ( Auto ) OUT ( otherwise )
#6. Hofstra ( 67 RPI/ 144 SOS )
Remaining Games: CAA tournament
Truthfully, their only chance now is to win the CAA tourney.
My prediction: Regular season over
OUT
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
NCAA Tourney and NIT Bracket Projections ( Feb 28th )
Click on the images for enlarged views.
Tourney
Last Five In: Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Drexel, Illinois, Old Dominion
Last Five Out: Georgia Tech, West Virginia, Purdue, Florida State, Alabama
Big East ( 7): Pittsburgh, Marquette, Louisville, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Villanova, Syracuse
ACC ( 6 ): North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Boston College, Duke, Maryland
Pac-10 ( 6 ): UCLA, Washington State, Arizona, Oregon, Stanford, Southern Cal
Big Ten ( 5 ): Wisconsin, Ohio State, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan State
Big 12 ( 5 ): Kansas, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State
SEC ( 4 ): Florida, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Tennessee
MVC ( 3 ): Southern Illinois, Creighton, Missouri State
MWC ( 3 ): Air Force, UNLV, BYU
CAA ( 3 ): Virginia Commonwealth, Old Dominion, Drexel
Horizon ( 2 ): Butler, Wright State
NIT
Last Five In: South Carolina, Santa Clara, Bucknell, St. Louis, North Carolina State
Last Five Out: Auburn, Kent State, Wichita State, Nebraska, Oklahoma
SEC ( 7 ): Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, South Carolina, LSU
ACC ( 4 ): Georgia Tech, Florida State, Clemson, North Carolina State
Big East ( 3) : West Virginia, Providence, DePaul
Big Ten ( 3 ): Purdue, Michigan, Iowa
A-10 ( 2 ): UMass, St. Louis
Big 12 ( 2 ): Kansas State, Missouri
MVC ( 2 ): Bradley, Northern Iowa
Pac-Ten ( 2 ): Washington, Cal
WAC ( 2 ): Utah State, New Mexico State
It's pretty unbelievable that the SEC could have every team make the postseason in some form. Has a conference ever had that happen before?
Updates coming tomorrow
Instead of last night, I'll be posting the bubble team run downs tomorrow. I'll also be providing more conference tourney predictions.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Later tonight..
I'll have an updated bracket projection for the tourney and NIT, more conference tourney predictions, and a run down of the bubble teams.
Big South, Horizon, and OVC Conference Tourney Predictions
I'll be putting more predictions up as the conference regular seasons come to an end.
Monday, February 26, 2007
NCAA Tourney and NIT Bracket Projections ( Feb 26th )
Click on the images for enlarged views.
Tourney
Last Five In: Texas Tech, Georgia Tech, Drexel, Old Dominion, Missouri State
Last Five Out: Alabama, Purdue, Florida State, Kansas State, Georgia
ACC ( 7 ): North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Duke, Maryland
Big East ( 7): Pittsburgh, Marquette, Louisville, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Villanova, West Virginia
Pac-10 ( 6 ): UCLA, Washington State, Arizona, Oregon, Stanford, Southern Cal
Big Ten ( 5 ): Wisconsin, Ohio State, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan State
SEC ( 4 ): Florida, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Tennessee
Big 12 ( 4 ): Kansas, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech
MVC ( 3 ): Southern Illinois, Creighton, Missouri State
MWC ( 3 ): Air Force, UNLV, BYU
CAA ( 3 ): Virginia Commonwealth, Old Dominion, Drexel
Horizon ( 2 ): Butler, Wright State
Last Five In: Texas Tech, Georgia Tech, Drexel, Old Dominion, Missouri State
Last Five Out: Alabama, Purdue, Florida State, Kansas State, Georgia
ACC ( 7 ): North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Duke, Maryland
Big East ( 7): Pittsburgh, Marquette, Louisville, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Villanova, West Virginia
Pac-10 ( 6 ): UCLA, Washington State, Arizona, Oregon, Stanford, Southern Cal
Big Ten ( 5 ): Wisconsin, Ohio State, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan State
SEC ( 4 ): Florida, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Tennessee
Big 12 ( 4 ): Kansas, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech
MVC ( 3 ): Southern Illinois, Creighton, Missouri State
MWC ( 3 ): Air Force, UNLV, BYU
CAA ( 3 ): Virginia Commonwealth, Old Dominion, Drexel
Horizon ( 2 ): Butler, Wright State
NIT
Last Five In: Oklahoma, Bucknell, North Carolina State, St. Louis, Northern Iowa
Last Five Out: Nebraska, Auburn, South Carolina, Wichita State, Kent State
SEC ( 6 ): Alabama, Arkansas, LSU, Ole Miss, Georgia, Mississippi State
Big 12 ( 4 ): Oklahoma State, Kansas State, Missouri, Oklahoma
ACC ( 3 ): Florida State, Clemson, North Carolina State
Big East ( 3 ): Syracuse, Providence, DePaul
Big Ten ( 3 ): Purdue, Michigan, Iowa
A-10 ( 2 ): UMass, St. Louis
Missouri Valley ( 2 ): Bradley, Northern Iowa
Pac-10 ( 2 ): Washington, Cal
WAC ( 2 ): New Mexico State, Utah State
Coming later this evening..
I'll be putting up conference tournament predictions in the same bracket format I use for the NIT/Tourney projections. Also, I'll be updating those said NIT/Tourney projections daily as soon as the conference tournaments really kick into gear.
Friday, February 23, 2007
NCAA Tourney and NIT Bracket Projections ( Feb 23rd )
Click on the images for an enlarged view.
Tourney
Last Five In: Texas Tech, Missouri State, Old Dominion, Georgia Tech, Illinois
Last Five Out: Oklahoma State, Purdue, Clemson, Georgia, Florida State
ACC ( 7 ): North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Duke, Maryland
Big East ( 7): Pittsburgh, Marquette, Louisville, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Villanova, West Virginia
Pac-10 ( 6 ): UCLA, Washington State, Arizona, Oregon, Stanford, Southern Cal
SEC ( 5 ): Florida, Alabama, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Tennessee
Big Ten ( 5 ): Wisconsin, Ohio State, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan State
Big 12 ( 4 ): Kansas, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech
MVC ( 3 ): Southern Illinois, Creighton, Missouri State
MWC ( 3 ): Air Force, UNLV, BYU
CAA ( 2 ): Virginia Commonwealth, Old Dominion
Horizon ( 2 ): Butler, Wright State
NIT
Last Five In: Northern Iowa, St. Louis, Connecticut, Wichita State, Oklahoma
Last Five Out: Nebraska, South Carolina, LSU, The whole upper half of the Atlantic 10
SEC ( 4 ): Georgia, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Mississippi State
Big East ( 4 ): Syracuse, Providence, DePaul, Connecticut
Big 12 ( 4 ): Oklahoma State, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Missouri
ACC ( 3 ): Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina State
Big 10 ( 3 ): Purdue, Iowa, Michigan
MVC ( 3 ): Bradley, Northern Iowa, Wichita State
Pac-10 ( 2 ): Washington, Cal
WAC ( 2 ): New Mexico State, Utah State
CAA ( 2 ): Drexel, Hofstra
Atlantic 10 ( 2 ): UMass, St. Louis
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Monday, February 19, 2007
NCAA Tourney and NIT Bracket Projections ( Feb 19th )
Click the images for an enlarged view.
TourneyLast Five In: Texas Tech, Missouri State, Michigan State, Clemson, West Virginia
Last Five Out: Kansas State, Arkansas, Gonzaga, Georgia Tech, Florida State
NIT
Last Five In: North Carolina State, Iowa, LSU, Nebraska, Connecticut
Last Five Out: Northern Iowa, Dayton, South Carolina, George Washington, Bucknell
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Predictions for Feb 17th
Record: 320 - 140 ( 24 - 21 GOTD )
Games of the day
#1. Southern Illinois at Butler
Southern Illinois 64 Butler 63
#2. Florida at Vanderbilt
Florida 73 Vanderbilt 70
#3. UCLA at Arizona
UCLA 73 Arizona 71
#4. North Carolina at Boston College
North Carolina 74 Boston College 69
#5. Kentucky at Alabama
Alabama 72 Kentucky 67
#6. Georgetown at Villanova
Georgetown 66 Villanova 63
#7. Drexel at Creighton
Creighton 71 Drexel 69
#8. Oregon at Stanford
Oregon 71 Stanford 68
#9. Bradley at VCU
VCU 74 Bradley 70
#10. Texas A&M at Oklahoma
Oklahoma 65 Texas A&M 61
#11. Memphis at Gonzaga
Memphis 78 Gonzaga 69
#12. Florida State at Virginia
Florida State 73 Virginia 71
#13. Ole Miss at Arkansas
Arkansas 75 Ole Miss 72
#14. Appalachian State at Wichita State
Wichita State 76 Appalachian State 74
#15. Holy Cross at Hofstra
Hofstra 71 Holy Cross 65
#16. Washington at Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh 75 Washington 66
Bracket Busters
Northeastern 68 Maine 63
Cal Poly 82 Portland State 77
Northern Arizona 78 San Jose State 69
Montana 75 Pacific 67
UC-Santa Barbara 73 Eastern Washington 70
Coastal Carolina 78 Canisius 71
Niagara 80 Liberty 74
San Francisco 76 UC Irvine 71
CSU-Fullerton 74 Wright State 73
CSU-Northridge 75 Cleveland State 65
Idaho 63 UC Riverside 59
Long Beach State 79 Hawaii 72
Bucknell 65 Towson 62
Georgia State 69 Elon 62
William & Mary 68 Fairfield 66
George Mason 67 Kent State 59
Old Dominion 70 Toledo 65
Delaware 63 Iona 55
Siena 71 James Madison 62
UNC-Greensboro 69 UNC-Wilmington 60
UW-Green Bay 68 Northern Illinois 65
Loyola ( IL ) 74 Eastern Illinois 58
Eastern Kentucky 64 Youngstown State 61
Illinois-Chicago 70 Central Michigan 66
Detroit 63 Buffalo 60
Drake 74 UW-Milwaukee 64
Manhattan 71 Eastern Michigan 67
Rider 73 Murray State 65
Marist 70 Colgate 53
UT-Martin 64 St. Peter's 54
Tennessee State 71 Loyola ( MD ) 70
Indiana State 66 Miami ( OH ) 61
Western Michigan 69 Valparaiso 63
Akron 73 Austin Peay 67
Illinois State 71 Ball State 57
Bowling Green 65 Morehead State 63
New Mexico State 75 Ohio 64
Oral Roberts 71 Utah State 65
Evansville 67 Samford 61
Nevada 72 Northern Iowa 61
Chattanooga 68 Jacksonville State 59
Louisiana Tech 64 SE Missouri State 61
Northwestern State 81 Tennessee Tech 79
Sam Houston State 75 Fresno State 73
A-10
George Washington 88 Temple 82
Rhode Island 71 Charlotte 64
St. Joseph's 72 St. Bonaventure 62
Xavier 64 Richmond 50
St. Louis 66 LaSalle 58
ACC
Wake Forest 72 Miami 68
A-10
Lipscomb 69 Gardner-Webb 58
East Tennessee State 70 Kennesaw State 68
Belmont 67 Campbell 55
Big 12
Oklahoma State 75 Missouri 67
Kansas 79 Nebraska 60
Kansas State 73 Iowa State 64
Texas Tech 77 Colorado 63
Texas 81 Baylor 76
Big East
Providence 69 St. John's 61
Syracuse 73 Connecticut 66
West Virginia 68 Seton Hall 59
South Florida 65 DePaul 63
Marquette 74 Louisville 69
Big South
High Point 70 Charleston Southern 60
UNC-Asheville 73 Radford 71
Big Ten
Wisconsin 74 Penn State 57
Iowa 67 Michigan State 65
Indiana 69 Michigan 66
C-USA
Houston 71 UAB 66
Tulane 63 Marshall 58
SMU 70 East Carolina 53
Rice 74 UCF 72
Tulsa 67 UTEP 65
Independents
Savannah State 73 Allen 55
North Dakota State 71 Texas-Pan American 68
IPFW 67 N.J.I.T. 60
Utah Valley State 74 South Dakota State 57
Ivy
Yale 71 Harvard 64
Pennsylvania 70 Cornell 58
Brown 63 Dartmouth 59
Columbia 55 Princeton 50
Mid-Continent
UMKC 70 IUPUI 68
Centenary 69 Chicago State 64
Southern Utah 72 Oakland 67
MEAC
Florida A&M 69 UM-Eastern Shore 59
North Carolina A&T 65 Coppin State 62
Bethune-Cookman 63 Howard 59
Delaware State 62 Hampton 58
Morgan State 65 South Carolina State 64
Mountain West
San Diego State 75 Wyoming 70
Air Force 69 Colorado State 57
UNLV 70 Utah 64
New Mexico 73 TCU 63
NEC
Quinnipiac 69 Long Island 67
Central Connecticut State 74 Fairleigh Dickinson 66
Robert Morris 73 St. Francis ( NY ) 65
Monmouth 68 Mt. Saint Mary's 64
St. Francis ( PA ) 66 Wagner 63
Pac-10
Cal 68 Oregon State 55
Patriot
Navy 64 Army 60
SEC
LSU 68 Mississippi State 63
Tennessee 74 South Carolina 70
Georgia 71 Auburn 68
Southern
Furman 65 Citadel 58
Charleston 71 Wofford 63
Davidson 76 Western Carolina 66
Southland
SE Louisiana 69 Nicholls State 66
McNeese State 64 Central Arkansas 59
Texas State 74 UT-San Antonio 71
SWAC
Alabama State 61 Southern 57
Jackson State 74 Grambling State 69
Mississippi Valley State 67 Prairie View A&M 58
Texas Southern 66 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 60
Alcorn State 67 Alabama A&M 65
Sun Belt
UL Monroe 73 Arkansas State 71
New Orleans 75 Florida Atlantic 74
North Texas 74 Arkansas-Little Rock 68
Western Kentucky 76 Troy 67
UL Lafayette 68 Denver 59
WCC
Santa Clara 73 San Diego 63
Loyola Marymount 76 Pepperdine 70
Games of the day
#1. Southern Illinois at Butler
Southern Illinois 64 Butler 63
#2. Florida at Vanderbilt
Florida 73 Vanderbilt 70
#3. UCLA at Arizona
UCLA 73 Arizona 71
#4. North Carolina at Boston College
North Carolina 74 Boston College 69
#5. Kentucky at Alabama
Alabama 72 Kentucky 67
#6. Georgetown at Villanova
Georgetown 66 Villanova 63
#7. Drexel at Creighton
Creighton 71 Drexel 69
#8. Oregon at Stanford
Oregon 71 Stanford 68
#9. Bradley at VCU
VCU 74 Bradley 70
#10. Texas A&M at Oklahoma
Oklahoma 65 Texas A&M 61
#11. Memphis at Gonzaga
Memphis 78 Gonzaga 69
#12. Florida State at Virginia
Florida State 73 Virginia 71
#13. Ole Miss at Arkansas
Arkansas 75 Ole Miss 72
#14. Appalachian State at Wichita State
Wichita State 76 Appalachian State 74
#15. Holy Cross at Hofstra
Hofstra 71 Holy Cross 65
#16. Washington at Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh 75 Washington 66
Bracket Busters
Northeastern 68 Maine 63
Cal Poly 82 Portland State 77
Northern Arizona 78 San Jose State 69
Montana 75 Pacific 67
UC-Santa Barbara 73 Eastern Washington 70
Coastal Carolina 78 Canisius 71
Niagara 80 Liberty 74
San Francisco 76 UC Irvine 71
CSU-Fullerton 74 Wright State 73
CSU-Northridge 75 Cleveland State 65
Idaho 63 UC Riverside 59
Long Beach State 79 Hawaii 72
Bucknell 65 Towson 62
Georgia State 69 Elon 62
William & Mary 68 Fairfield 66
George Mason 67 Kent State 59
Old Dominion 70 Toledo 65
Delaware 63 Iona 55
Siena 71 James Madison 62
UNC-Greensboro 69 UNC-Wilmington 60
UW-Green Bay 68 Northern Illinois 65
Loyola ( IL ) 74 Eastern Illinois 58
Eastern Kentucky 64 Youngstown State 61
Illinois-Chicago 70 Central Michigan 66
Detroit 63 Buffalo 60
Drake 74 UW-Milwaukee 64
Manhattan 71 Eastern Michigan 67
Rider 73 Murray State 65
Marist 70 Colgate 53
UT-Martin 64 St. Peter's 54
Tennessee State 71 Loyola ( MD ) 70
Indiana State 66 Miami ( OH ) 61
Western Michigan 69 Valparaiso 63
Akron 73 Austin Peay 67
Illinois State 71 Ball State 57
Bowling Green 65 Morehead State 63
New Mexico State 75 Ohio 64
Oral Roberts 71 Utah State 65
Evansville 67 Samford 61
Nevada 72 Northern Iowa 61
Chattanooga 68 Jacksonville State 59
Louisiana Tech 64 SE Missouri State 61
Northwestern State 81 Tennessee Tech 79
Sam Houston State 75 Fresno State 73
A-10
George Washington 88 Temple 82
Rhode Island 71 Charlotte 64
St. Joseph's 72 St. Bonaventure 62
Xavier 64 Richmond 50
St. Louis 66 LaSalle 58
ACC
Wake Forest 72 Miami 68
A-10
Lipscomb 69 Gardner-Webb 58
East Tennessee State 70 Kennesaw State 68
Belmont 67 Campbell 55
Big 12
Oklahoma State 75 Missouri 67
Kansas 79 Nebraska 60
Kansas State 73 Iowa State 64
Texas Tech 77 Colorado 63
Texas 81 Baylor 76
Big East
Providence 69 St. John's 61
Syracuse 73 Connecticut 66
West Virginia 68 Seton Hall 59
South Florida 65 DePaul 63
Marquette 74 Louisville 69
Big South
High Point 70 Charleston Southern 60
UNC-Asheville 73 Radford 71
Big Ten
Wisconsin 74 Penn State 57
Iowa 67 Michigan State 65
Indiana 69 Michigan 66
C-USA
Houston 71 UAB 66
Tulane 63 Marshall 58
SMU 70 East Carolina 53
Rice 74 UCF 72
Tulsa 67 UTEP 65
Independents
Savannah State 73 Allen 55
North Dakota State 71 Texas-Pan American 68
IPFW 67 N.J.I.T. 60
Utah Valley State 74 South Dakota State 57
Ivy
Yale 71 Harvard 64
Pennsylvania 70 Cornell 58
Brown 63 Dartmouth 59
Columbia 55 Princeton 50
Mid-Continent
UMKC 70 IUPUI 68
Centenary 69 Chicago State 64
Southern Utah 72 Oakland 67
MEAC
Florida A&M 69 UM-Eastern Shore 59
North Carolina A&T 65 Coppin State 62
Bethune-Cookman 63 Howard 59
Delaware State 62 Hampton 58
Morgan State 65 South Carolina State 64
Mountain West
San Diego State 75 Wyoming 70
Air Force 69 Colorado State 57
UNLV 70 Utah 64
New Mexico 73 TCU 63
NEC
Quinnipiac 69 Long Island 67
Central Connecticut State 74 Fairleigh Dickinson 66
Robert Morris 73 St. Francis ( NY ) 65
Monmouth 68 Mt. Saint Mary's 64
St. Francis ( PA ) 66 Wagner 63
Pac-10
Cal 68 Oregon State 55
Patriot
Navy 64 Army 60
SEC
LSU 68 Mississippi State 63
Tennessee 74 South Carolina 70
Georgia 71 Auburn 68
Southern
Furman 65 Citadel 58
Charleston 71 Wofford 63
Davidson 76 Western Carolina 66
Southland
SE Louisiana 69 Nicholls State 66
McNeese State 64 Central Arkansas 59
Texas State 74 UT-San Antonio 71
SWAC
Alabama State 61 Southern 57
Jackson State 74 Grambling State 69
Mississippi Valley State 67 Prairie View A&M 58
Texas Southern 66 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 60
Alcorn State 67 Alabama A&M 65
Sun Belt
UL Monroe 73 Arkansas State 71
New Orleans 75 Florida Atlantic 74
North Texas 74 Arkansas-Little Rock 68
Western Kentucky 76 Troy 67
UL Lafayette 68 Denver 59
WCC
Santa Clara 73 San Diego 63
Loyola Marymount 76 Pepperdine 70
Thursday, February 15, 2007
NCAA Tourney and NIT Bracket Projections ( Feb 12th )
Click on the images for enlarged views.
NCAA Tournament
Last Five In: Arkansas, Drexel, Kansas State, Purdue, Maryland
Last Five Out: Georgia, Illinois, Michigan State, Texas Tech, Ole Miss
NIT
Last Five In: Dayton, Missouri, Cal, Santa Clara, Long Beach State
Last Five Out: George Washington, Utah State, Nebraska, Houston, Western Kentucky
Predictions for Feb 16th
I've been extra busy these past few days so please forgive me for not getting yesterday's predictions up.
Record: 313 - 140 ( 23 - 21 GOTD )
Games of the day
#1. Winthrop at Missouri State
Winthrop 72 Missouri State 69
Bracket Busters
Boise State 74 Albany 70
A-Sun
Jacksonville 67 Mercer 63
Ivy
Pennsylvania 66 Columbia 54
Brown 64 Harvard 61
Cornell 53 Princeton 47
Yale 59 Dartmouth 50
Record: 313 - 140 ( 23 - 21 GOTD )
Games of the day
#1. Winthrop at Missouri State
Winthrop 72 Missouri State 69
Bracket Busters
Boise State 74 Albany 70
A-Sun
Jacksonville 67 Mercer 63
Ivy
Pennsylvania 66 Columbia 54
Brown 64 Harvard 61
Cornell 53 Princeton 47
Yale 59 Dartmouth 50
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Predictions for Feb 14th
Record: 270 - 112 ( 22 - 17 GOTD )
Games of the day
#1. Duke at Boston College
Boston College 73 Duke 67
#2. Washington State at Washington
Washington 68 Washington State 67
#3. LSU at Ole Miss
Ole Miss 70 LSU 64
#4. Alabama at Florida
Alabama 74 Florida 72
#5. Long Beach State at CSU-Fullerton
CSU-Fullerton 81 Long Beach State 79
AEC
Vermont 69 Maine 64
A-10
George Washington 75 St. Joseph's 73
Temple 92 La Salle 78
Rhode Island 66 St. Louis 63
Duquesne 84 Richmond 76
ACC
North Carolina State 67 Maryland 64
Clemson 76 Wake Forest 67
Big 12
Missouri 74 Baylor 65
Kansas 89 Colorado 68
Big East
South Florida 72 Syracuse 70
Connecticut 65 Seton Hall 57
Marquette 68 DePaul 64
Villanova 75 Cincinnati 62
Big Sky
Weber State 77 Montana 71
Montana State 78 Sacramento State 74
Big South
Winthrop 78 Charleston Southern 57
High Point 72 UNC-Asheville 64
VMI 104 Radford 96
Big Ten
Ohio State 70 Penn State 53
Wisconsin 74 Minnesota 57
Iowa 67 Northwestern 54
Big West
UC Riverside 68 UC Irvine 65
Cal Poly 71 UC-Santa Barbara 69
CSU-Northridge 73 UC Davis 60
CAA
Virginia Commonwealth 67 UNC-Wilmington 57
Towson 69 James Madison 55
Northeastern 72 Georgia State 63
Drexel 71 William & Mary 61
George Mason 68 Delaware 62
C-USA
Marshall 60 SMU 54
Southern Miss 70 East Carolina 63
Houston 77 South Alabama 75
UAB 66 Rice 61
Central Florida 71 Tulane 68
Memphis 75 Tulsa 56
Horizon
Wright State 77 Cleveland State 59
Youngstown State 67 Detroit 62
Illinois-Chicago 73 UW-Green Bay 69
Loyola ( IL ) 72 UW-Milwaukee 66
MAAC
Loyola ( MD ) 77 Rider 74
Iona 60 St. Peter's 57
Fairfield 69 Siena 68
Marist 80 Manhattan 75
MAC
Western Michigan 73 Central Michigan 70
Kent State 65 Miami U. 59
MVC
Indiana State 68 Illinois State 66
Wichita State 74 Drake 73
Bradley 76 Evansville 71
Mountain West
BYU 75 New Mexico 56
Air Force 68 Utah 52
OVC
Murray State 67 Tennessee State 56
Patriot
Colgate 54 Lehigh 51
Holy Cross 68 Navy 56
Bucknell 67 Lafayette 55
American 60 Army 54
SEC
Georgia 83 Kennesaw State 61
Vanderbilt 75 South Carolina 64
Mississippi State 71 Arkansas 69
Southern
UNC-Greensboro 75 Western Carolina 64
Appalachian State 76 Chattanooga 63
Southland
Northwestern State 71 McNeese State 63
Sam Houston State 70 Stephen F. Austin 59
Sun Belt
Western Kentucky 82 Florida Atlantic 71
WAC
Louisiana Tech 63 Idaho 54
Utah State 69 Hawaii 61
Nevada 79 San Jose State 58
Games of the day
#1. Duke at Boston College
Boston College 73 Duke 67
#2. Washington State at Washington
Washington 68 Washington State 67
#3. LSU at Ole Miss
Ole Miss 70 LSU 64
#4. Alabama at Florida
Alabama 74 Florida 72
#5. Long Beach State at CSU-Fullerton
CSU-Fullerton 81 Long Beach State 79
AEC
Vermont 69 Maine 64
A-10
George Washington 75 St. Joseph's 73
Temple 92 La Salle 78
Rhode Island 66 St. Louis 63
Duquesne 84 Richmond 76
ACC
North Carolina State 67 Maryland 64
Clemson 76 Wake Forest 67
Big 12
Missouri 74 Baylor 65
Kansas 89 Colorado 68
Big East
South Florida 72 Syracuse 70
Connecticut 65 Seton Hall 57
Marquette 68 DePaul 64
Villanova 75 Cincinnati 62
Big Sky
Weber State 77 Montana 71
Montana State 78 Sacramento State 74
Big South
Winthrop 78 Charleston Southern 57
High Point 72 UNC-Asheville 64
VMI 104 Radford 96
Big Ten
Ohio State 70 Penn State 53
Wisconsin 74 Minnesota 57
Iowa 67 Northwestern 54
Big West
UC Riverside 68 UC Irvine 65
Cal Poly 71 UC-Santa Barbara 69
CSU-Northridge 73 UC Davis 60
CAA
Virginia Commonwealth 67 UNC-Wilmington 57
Towson 69 James Madison 55
Northeastern 72 Georgia State 63
Drexel 71 William & Mary 61
George Mason 68 Delaware 62
C-USA
Marshall 60 SMU 54
Southern Miss 70 East Carolina 63
Houston 77 South Alabama 75
UAB 66 Rice 61
Central Florida 71 Tulane 68
Memphis 75 Tulsa 56
Horizon
Wright State 77 Cleveland State 59
Youngstown State 67 Detroit 62
Illinois-Chicago 73 UW-Green Bay 69
Loyola ( IL ) 72 UW-Milwaukee 66
MAAC
Loyola ( MD ) 77 Rider 74
Iona 60 St. Peter's 57
Fairfield 69 Siena 68
Marist 80 Manhattan 75
MAC
Western Michigan 73 Central Michigan 70
Kent State 65 Miami U. 59
MVC
Indiana State 68 Illinois State 66
Wichita State 74 Drake 73
Bradley 76 Evansville 71
Mountain West
BYU 75 New Mexico 56
Air Force 68 Utah 52
OVC
Murray State 67 Tennessee State 56
Patriot
Colgate 54 Lehigh 51
Holy Cross 68 Navy 56
Bucknell 67 Lafayette 55
American 60 Army 54
SEC
Georgia 83 Kennesaw State 61
Vanderbilt 75 South Carolina 64
Mississippi State 71 Arkansas 69
Southern
UNC-Greensboro 75 Western Carolina 64
Appalachian State 76 Chattanooga 63
Southland
Northwestern State 71 McNeese State 63
Sam Houston State 70 Stephen F. Austin 59
Sun Belt
Western Kentucky 82 Florida Atlantic 71
WAC
Louisiana Tech 63 Idaho 54
Utah State 69 Hawaii 61
Nevada 79 San Jose State 58
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Predictions for Feb 13th
Record: 254 - 101 ( 20 - 14 GOTD )
Games of the day
I may not be able to get back in time to do a full preview for each of my GOTD picks. For now, I'll just leave the score predictions.
Update* I wasn't able to get back to do the previews so, unfortunately, only the scores will have to do for tonight. It wasn't like you missed anything, though, with 3 incorrect picks.
#1. Kentucky at Tennessee
Tennessee 75 Kentucky 71
#2. Southern Illinois at Missouri State
Missouri State 70 Southern Illinois 68
#3. UNLV at San Diego State
San Diego State 77 UNLV 75
#4. Hofstra at Old Dominion
Hofstra 69 Old Dominion 66
#5. Virginia Tech at North Carolina
North Carolina 80 Virginia Tech 66
A-10
Charlotte 77 UL-Lafayette 71
ACC
Virginia 89 Longwood 57
Florida State 75 Georgia Tech 69
A-Sun
Stetson 69 Savannah State 57
Big 12
Texas A&M 68 Texas Tech 60
Oklahoma 70 Iowa State 65
Kansas State 68 Nebraska 63
Big Ten
Michigan State 66 Michigan 57
Horizon
Butler 81 Florida Gulf Coast 54
Ivy
Pennsylvania 65 Princeton 47
MAAC
Niagara 78 Canisius 75
MAC
Akron 74 Ohio 66
Buffalo 68 Bowling Green 64
Toledo 73 Eastern Michigan 61
Northern Illinois 68 Ball State 60
MVC
Creighton 71 Northern Iowa 58
Mountain West
Colorado State 75 TCU 62
OVC
Morehead State 69 Jacksonville State 63
Samford 61 Eastern Kentucky 57
SE Missouri State 71 Eastern Illinois 69
Tennessee Tech 77 UT-Martin 67
WAC
Boise State 85 Montana-Western 58
Games of the day
I may not be able to get back in time to do a full preview for each of my GOTD picks. For now, I'll just leave the score predictions.
Update* I wasn't able to get back to do the previews so, unfortunately, only the scores will have to do for tonight. It wasn't like you missed anything, though, with 3 incorrect picks.
#1. Kentucky at Tennessee
Tennessee 75 Kentucky 71
#2. Southern Illinois at Missouri State
Missouri State 70 Southern Illinois 68
#3. UNLV at San Diego State
San Diego State 77 UNLV 75
#4. Hofstra at Old Dominion
Hofstra 69 Old Dominion 66
#5. Virginia Tech at North Carolina
North Carolina 80 Virginia Tech 66
A-10
Charlotte 77 UL-Lafayette 71
ACC
Virginia 89 Longwood 57
Florida State 75 Georgia Tech 69
A-Sun
Stetson 69 Savannah State 57
Big 12
Texas A&M 68 Texas Tech 60
Oklahoma 70 Iowa State 65
Kansas State 68 Nebraska 63
Big Ten
Michigan State 66 Michigan 57
Horizon
Butler 81 Florida Gulf Coast 54
Ivy
Pennsylvania 65 Princeton 47
MAAC
Niagara 78 Canisius 75
MAC
Akron 74 Ohio 66
Buffalo 68 Bowling Green 64
Toledo 73 Eastern Michigan 61
Northern Illinois 68 Ball State 60
MVC
Creighton 71 Northern Iowa 58
Mountain West
Colorado State 75 TCU 62
OVC
Morehead State 69 Jacksonville State 63
Samford 61 Eastern Kentucky 57
SE Missouri State 71 Eastern Illinois 69
Tennessee Tech 77 UT-Martin 67
WAC
Boise State 85 Montana-Western 58
Monday, February 12, 2007
Predictions for Feb 12th
Record: 241 - 86 ( 18 - 13 GOTD )
Games of the day
#1. Oklahoma State at Texas
Most everybody has now heard about the 3 OT classic between these two teams a little under a month ago. Oklahoma State has been poor on the road in the Big 12 going 0-4. Texas is strong at home, having lost there only once this season. Mario Boggan continues playing extremely well, but guards JamesOn Curry, Terrel Harris, and Byron Eaton have seen their shooting stroke go cold over the past few games. In their recent road loss to Oklahoma, those three shot a combined 14-35 from the field with an 8:10 A/TO ratio. They really have to step up to have a chance tonight against Texas. Combine that with their largly poor defensive effort on the road as well and I'm not seeing how they can stop the three-headed offensive machine that is Durant, A.J. Abrams, and D.J. Augustin. Everybody talks about Durant, for good reason, but how about the play of freshman PG Augustin? He's averaging 14 ppg and 7.5 apg in Big 12 play. Texas' offense is humming right now and I don't see the Cowboys leaving Austin with a win.
Texas 81 Oklahoma State 75
#2. West Virginia at Georgetown
West Virginia, fresh off their home win over Darren Collison-less UCLA, have now probably secured themselves a tournament bid. However, a win at Georgetown would elevate that bid even more. It won't be easy, as the Hoyas are on a roll having won seven straight games to put themselves firmly in second place behind Pitt. When matched up against teams with good big men, WVU usually struggles on the glass and gets pushed around on the inside. Unfortunately for them, they probably play the biggest team in the Big East tonight with 6'9 Jeff Green and 7'2 Roy Hibbert suiting up for Georgetown. That's not even mentioning their freshman "wing" DaJuan Summers who stands at 6'8 and also can drain threes. WVU has a couple of 7 footers themselves, but they aren't nearly as athletic or as good as GU's big men. I figure it'll be a close, defensive game before Georgetown pulls away in the second half.
Georgetown 64 West Virginia 55
#3. Santa Clara at Gonzaga
This will be Gonzaga's second game without Josh Heytvelt, who was suspended on Saturday afternoon before their game against St. Mary's. It wasn't a factor against the struggling Gaels as they pulled away for a 60-49 win. They'll be missing him tonight against Santa Clara who possess 6'11 230 lb C Sean Denison and 6'11 320 lb John Bryant. They also have 7' C Josh Higgins who can provide solid minutes off the bench. Replacing him as the lead forward will be foul machine Sean Mallon. Abdullahi Kuso will likely remain in the starting lineup after joining it for the first time against St. Mary's. Unfortunately, Kuso probably picks up even more fouls than Mallon does as he's been averaging a foul every 4.5 minutes. If Gonzaga gets into foul trouble tonight, it might be disaster. The good news for the Zags is they are far superior to SC in guard play and have the best homecourt advantage in the WCC. Atleast two of their many guards ( Micah Downs, Derek Raivio, Jeremy Pargo and Matt Bouldin ) need to step up and get hot for Gonzaga to win tonight. I think they will.
Gonzaga 65 Santa Clara 61
Big East
Pittsburgh 70 Louisville 60
Big South
Libery 74 Coastal Carolina 69
MEAC
Florida A&M 73 North Carolina A&T 70
South Carolina State 61 Bethune-Cookman 53
Delaware State 65 UM-ES 44
Morgan State 75 Norfolk State 71
Hampton 68 Coppin State 64
NEC
Sacred Heart 84 Central Connecticut State 83
Monmouth 67 Fairleigh Dickinson 64
OVC
Austin Peay 79 Tennessee State 64
Southern
Furman 69 Georgia Southern 63
Davidson 78 Charleston 76
Wofford 62 Citadel 57
Chattanooga 66 Western Carolina 63
UNC-Greensboro 70 Elon 57
Southland
Stephen F. Austin 69 Northwestern State 65
SWAC
Mississippi Valley State 74 Southern 59
Jackson State 78 Prairie View A&M 63
Arkansas-Pine Bluff 70 Alcorn State 68
Winston-Salem State 67 Alabama A&M 66
Grambling State 69 Texas Southern 67
WAC
Hawaii 72 New Mexico State 68
WCC
San Diego 78 Pepperdine 72
St. Mary's 67 Portland 63
Loyola Marymount 77 San Francisco 76
Games of the day
#1. Oklahoma State at Texas
Most everybody has now heard about the 3 OT classic between these two teams a little under a month ago. Oklahoma State has been poor on the road in the Big 12 going 0-4. Texas is strong at home, having lost there only once this season. Mario Boggan continues playing extremely well, but guards JamesOn Curry, Terrel Harris, and Byron Eaton have seen their shooting stroke go cold over the past few games. In their recent road loss to Oklahoma, those three shot a combined 14-35 from the field with an 8:10 A/TO ratio. They really have to step up to have a chance tonight against Texas. Combine that with their largly poor defensive effort on the road as well and I'm not seeing how they can stop the three-headed offensive machine that is Durant, A.J. Abrams, and D.J. Augustin. Everybody talks about Durant, for good reason, but how about the play of freshman PG Augustin? He's averaging 14 ppg and 7.5 apg in Big 12 play. Texas' offense is humming right now and I don't see the Cowboys leaving Austin with a win.
Texas 81 Oklahoma State 75
#2. West Virginia at Georgetown
West Virginia, fresh off their home win over Darren Collison-less UCLA, have now probably secured themselves a tournament bid. However, a win at Georgetown would elevate that bid even more. It won't be easy, as the Hoyas are on a roll having won seven straight games to put themselves firmly in second place behind Pitt. When matched up against teams with good big men, WVU usually struggles on the glass and gets pushed around on the inside. Unfortunately for them, they probably play the biggest team in the Big East tonight with 6'9 Jeff Green and 7'2 Roy Hibbert suiting up for Georgetown. That's not even mentioning their freshman "wing" DaJuan Summers who stands at 6'8 and also can drain threes. WVU has a couple of 7 footers themselves, but they aren't nearly as athletic or as good as GU's big men. I figure it'll be a close, defensive game before Georgetown pulls away in the second half.
Georgetown 64 West Virginia 55
#3. Santa Clara at Gonzaga
This will be Gonzaga's second game without Josh Heytvelt, who was suspended on Saturday afternoon before their game against St. Mary's. It wasn't a factor against the struggling Gaels as they pulled away for a 60-49 win. They'll be missing him tonight against Santa Clara who possess 6'11 230 lb C Sean Denison and 6'11 320 lb John Bryant. They also have 7' C Josh Higgins who can provide solid minutes off the bench. Replacing him as the lead forward will be foul machine Sean Mallon. Abdullahi Kuso will likely remain in the starting lineup after joining it for the first time against St. Mary's. Unfortunately, Kuso probably picks up even more fouls than Mallon does as he's been averaging a foul every 4.5 minutes. If Gonzaga gets into foul trouble tonight, it might be disaster. The good news for the Zags is they are far superior to SC in guard play and have the best homecourt advantage in the WCC. Atleast two of their many guards ( Micah Downs, Derek Raivio, Jeremy Pargo and Matt Bouldin ) need to step up and get hot for Gonzaga to win tonight. I think they will.
Gonzaga 65 Santa Clara 61
Big East
Pittsburgh 70 Louisville 60
Big South
Libery 74 Coastal Carolina 69
MEAC
Florida A&M 73 North Carolina A&T 70
South Carolina State 61 Bethune-Cookman 53
Delaware State 65 UM-ES 44
Morgan State 75 Norfolk State 71
Hampton 68 Coppin State 64
NEC
Sacred Heart 84 Central Connecticut State 83
Monmouth 67 Fairleigh Dickinson 64
OVC
Austin Peay 79 Tennessee State 64
Southern
Furman 69 Georgia Southern 63
Davidson 78 Charleston 76
Wofford 62 Citadel 57
Chattanooga 66 Western Carolina 63
UNC-Greensboro 70 Elon 57
Southland
Stephen F. Austin 69 Northwestern State 65
SWAC
Mississippi Valley State 74 Southern 59
Jackson State 78 Prairie View A&M 63
Arkansas-Pine Bluff 70 Alcorn State 68
Winston-Salem State 67 Alabama A&M 66
Grambling State 69 Texas Southern 67
WAC
Hawaii 72 New Mexico State 68
WCC
San Diego 78 Pepperdine 72
St. Mary's 67 Portland 63
Loyola Marymount 77 San Francisco 76
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Predictions for Feb 11th
I'll be putting my weekly bracket projection up by tomorrow afternoon.
Record: 229 - 76 ( 16 - 11 GOTD )
Games of the day
#1. Duke at Maryland
Duke’s current three game losing streak makes it just the 15th time in the last 27 years that a Coach K team has lost more than two in a row. After dropping a home game to Virginia last week, Maryland really, really needs to get this one. Both teams play solid defense as they're first and second, respectively, in the ACC in FG% defense. This'll probably be one of your average Duke games where it goes back and forth until the final minute and they get an improbable wide open shot to win the game at the buzzer. This time, like in their loss to Virginia, they miss.
Maryland 69 Duke 68
#2. Vermont at Albany
This game should decide the AEC regular season title one way or another. Vermont, having won 13 of their last 14 games, possess a one game lead in the conference loss column over Albany. They've already beaten the Great Danes earlier this year as well, 75-66, so a UVM win today would likely wrap up the AEC title. It won't come easy, however, because Albany is 10-1 at home including being undefeated there in America East play. Vermont is also missing key forward Joe Trapani and doesn't expect him back until later this month. Albany wins and makes this conference race for the crown last until the final week of the AEC regular season.
Albany 73 Vermont 69
#3. Stanford at Washington
Washington has a tough mountain to climb if they want to make it into the tournament as six of the next seven teams they play are in the AP Top 25. It gives them a chance to make an impression to the tourney committee or fall flat on their faces. I think they'll end up somewhere in between. Stanford has a tough remaining schedule as well but have seemingly done enough to get in at the moment.
Washington 79 Stanford 76
#4. Boston College at Florida State
Florida State barely lost earlier this season to BC on the road by falling on a buzzer beater 3 pointer. FSU is also very good at home this season, but Boston College is one of the hottest teams in the ACC with POY candidate Jared Dudley leading the way. Al Thornton takes the Noles to victory and, in the process, keeps moving FSU up the tourney seeding ladder.
Florida State 74 Boston College 70
AEC
Boston U. 66 New Hampshire 59
Maine 65 Binghamton 62
Stony Brook 62 Hartford 60
A-10
Rhode Island 109 Duquesne 106
UMass 84 Temple 79
ACC
Georgia Tech 72 Connecticut 62
Big East
Syracuse 73 St. John's 59
MAAC
Rider 71 Canisius 64
Siena 65 St. Peter's 59
Manhattan 78 Niagara 74
Marist 77 Iona 62
Loyola ( MD ) 74 Fairfield 71
MAC
Kent State 66 Western Michigan 64
MVC
Wichita State 74 Illinois State 69
Evansville 69 Indiana State 66
NEC
St. Francis ( NY ) 75 Long Island 72
Patriot
American 54 Colgate 50
Sun Belt
South Alabama 79 Arkansas State 68
Record: 229 - 76 ( 16 - 11 GOTD )
Games of the day
#1. Duke at Maryland
Duke’s current three game losing streak makes it just the 15th time in the last 27 years that a Coach K team has lost more than two in a row. After dropping a home game to Virginia last week, Maryland really, really needs to get this one. Both teams play solid defense as they're first and second, respectively, in the ACC in FG% defense. This'll probably be one of your average Duke games where it goes back and forth until the final minute and they get an improbable wide open shot to win the game at the buzzer. This time, like in their loss to Virginia, they miss.
Maryland 69 Duke 68
#2. Vermont at Albany
This game should decide the AEC regular season title one way or another. Vermont, having won 13 of their last 14 games, possess a one game lead in the conference loss column over Albany. They've already beaten the Great Danes earlier this year as well, 75-66, so a UVM win today would likely wrap up the AEC title. It won't come easy, however, because Albany is 10-1 at home including being undefeated there in America East play. Vermont is also missing key forward Joe Trapani and doesn't expect him back until later this month. Albany wins and makes this conference race for the crown last until the final week of the AEC regular season.
Albany 73 Vermont 69
#3. Stanford at Washington
Washington has a tough mountain to climb if they want to make it into the tournament as six of the next seven teams they play are in the AP Top 25. It gives them a chance to make an impression to the tourney committee or fall flat on their faces. I think they'll end up somewhere in between. Stanford has a tough remaining schedule as well but have seemingly done enough to get in at the moment.
Washington 79 Stanford 76
#4. Boston College at Florida State
Florida State barely lost earlier this season to BC on the road by falling on a buzzer beater 3 pointer. FSU is also very good at home this season, but Boston College is one of the hottest teams in the ACC with POY candidate Jared Dudley leading the way. Al Thornton takes the Noles to victory and, in the process, keeps moving FSU up the tourney seeding ladder.
Florida State 74 Boston College 70
AEC
Boston U. 66 New Hampshire 59
Maine 65 Binghamton 62
Stony Brook 62 Hartford 60
A-10
Rhode Island 109 Duquesne 106
UMass 84 Temple 79
ACC
Georgia Tech 72 Connecticut 62
Big East
Syracuse 73 St. John's 59
MAAC
Rider 71 Canisius 64
Siena 65 St. Peter's 59
Manhattan 78 Niagara 74
Marist 77 Iona 62
Loyola ( MD ) 74 Fairfield 71
MAC
Kent State 66 Western Michigan 64
MVC
Wichita State 74 Illinois State 69
Evansville 69 Indiana State 66
NEC
St. Francis ( NY ) 75 Long Island 72
Patriot
American 54 Colgate 50
Sun Belt
South Alabama 79 Arkansas State 68
Friday, February 9, 2007
Bracket Projection ( Feb 6th )
I'll be doing an updated projection every Sunday evening/Monday morning from here on out. Click on the image for an enlarged view.
Last Five In: Georgia, Arkansas, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Maryland
Last Five Out: Illinois, BYU, Georgia Tech, New Mexico State, Louisville
Predictions for Feb 10th
Record: 124 - 48 ( 12-7 GOTD )
Games of the day
#1. Florida at Kentucky
Florida usually plays to the occaison. They better today. Florida's still undefeated in SEC play while Kentucky stands at 7-2. Kentucky's got the Rupp advantage and desperately wants to show they're still a power in the SEC East this year. What's missing is the talent. After Morris, Bradley, and Crawford walk onto the court, the rest just look like spare parts that'd be walk ons on different UK teams. Freshman wing Jodie Meeks has been playing very well of late, but he's the only guy off the bench that I can see doing anything offensively against the Gators. Bobby Perry, Sheray Thomas, and "Woo" Obrzut? No thank you. Freshman PF Perry Stevenson couldn't catch an entry pass to save his life and has little offensive game to speak of, but at least he can play some defense. Freshman "point guard" Derrick Jasper's another whose offense hasn't even come close to developing yet, though his defense on Brewer or Green may be invaluable.
If Kentucky had the name "Ole Miss" on their uniform, would anybody really expect them to beat Florida today? Florida's just got way too much talent with four future pros in the starting lineup and more coming off the bench against Kentucky's...Bobby Perry?
Florida 73 Kentucky 69
#2. Marquette at Georgetown
Marquette, led by the best guard trio in the Big East, tries to push tempo and utilizes only one "true back to the basket" type big man in Ousmane Barro. On the other hand, Georgetown runs the Princeton style offense and wouldn't mind if both teams ended up with under 100 possessions total. Big men 7'2 278 C Roy Hibbert and 6'9 235 F Jeff Green lead the way for the Hoyas. Marquette comes into the game having won 8 in a row, including four on the road, and Georgetown also comes in with a six game winning streak.
As I mentioned earlier, Marquette only uses one true big man. Well, Georgetown only uses two guards the entire game. It's going to be interesting to see which team ends up at a matchup disadvantage. Georgetown is good in transition defense and play an excruciating pace of basketball that might frustrate the Golden Eagles. In the end though, Marquette just has too much around the perimeter. Georgetown doesn't have one single guard that's as good as Marquette's Dominic James, Jerel McNeal, and Wesley Matthews. Barro has also been playing really well on the defensive end and is big enough to matchup well with Hibbert.
Marquette 68 Georgetown 65
#3. Arizona at Oregon
Arizona's only 2-4 on the road and struggled with Oregon State in their previous game on Thursday. They played a back and forth game with little defense against the Ducks in mid-January before finally succumbing to Aaron Brooks' last second bank shot. Oregon has more depth, even more scoring options, and the homecourt advantage. I don't see how they lose.
Oregon 85 Arizona 77
#4. Vanderbilt at Tennessee
Vanderbilt got their hot streak started by winning on a buzzer beater at home over the Vols by one. In Tennessee's last game, their first getting Lofton back in four games, against LSU at home they weren't particularly impressive. Their press didn't really force guardless LSU into that many bad decisions. Really, LSU, who isn't exactly known for ball handling this year, fared pretty well against the press. If LSU can do decently against it, Vanderbilt, who starts four guards, should excel in an up tempo game. Tennessee's defense has been horrid over the past month, but it's always tough to win in Thompson-Boling Arena ( The Summit, is that emasculating? ) - particularly under Bruce Pearl. In fact, they're undefeated there so far this year.
It's all up to the guards in this one as there are only two big men that won't end up sneaking out to the perimeter ( Duke Crews for UT and Ted Skuchas for Vandy ). I know it doesn't matter if Lofton's guarded or not, but Shan Foster or Derrick Byars for VU can certainly shadow him on defense very well. On offense, I think Foster and Byars can also do as they please as UT doesn't have anybody on defense that can match up well with either one - except maybe Bradshaw and Josh Tabb. Unfortunately for the Vols, they're both a liability on the offensive end. Vandy has too much firepower as Lofton's still hobbled a little bit by his ankle injury.
Vanderbilt 85 Tennesseee 81
#5. Virginia at Virginia Tech
After starting so well in ACC play, the Hokies have been blown out in consecutive games by N.C. State and BC. The opposite's true for Virginia as they're just now playing their best basketball of the year. They don't have any problem playing on the road either, having won at Clemson, N.C. State, and Maryland during their current seven game winning streak.
Virginia's got the offense with their guards and VT's got the defense ( though not recently ). The Hokies have a tough remaining schedule left and can't afford to go back on the bubble with a loss today. They'll get a much needed win before their rematch with UNC on Tuesday.
Virginia Tech 76 Virginia 72
#6. Creighton at Southern Illinois
SIU is undefeated at home, play the most ferocious defense in the Missouri Valley, and beat Creighton in Omaha earlier this year by a point. You would think that all adds up to a win for SIU. And you'd be right. I'm not sure, even with POY candidate Nate Funk, the Bluejays can win today. Creighton has more a lot more meat in the paint with Anthony Tolliver/Dane Watts and that's the only way I can see them exploiting SIU's defense. It may not matter with defensive specialist Randal Falker on one of them.
Southern Illinois 63 Creighton 56
#7. VCU at Old Dominion
The Monarchs of ODU come in as one of the hottest teams in CAA play having won six in a row including two tough road games at Drexel and George Mason. Their last loss on January 20th was actually at the hands of VCU by 5 on the road. They've been doing it with great defense and haven't allowed a team to shoot over 39% in four out of their last six games. VCU has been very good on the road having won 8 of 9, butI think Old Dominion's too good at home and their smothering defense forces VCU, not known as a good shooting team this year anyways, into a low shooting percentage in a close game.
Old Dominion 70 VCU 65
#8. UCLA at West Virginia
West Virginia ran into a brick wall defense in their last game against Pitt at home. Unfortunately for them, they face another. For UCLA, it all starts on defense with superb PG Darren Collison. Though he may not play in today's game, the Bruins still have plenty of other weapons on offense and defense to beat WVU. The Mountaineers have nothing that can match up with UCLA bigs Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Lorenzo Mata.
UCLA 68 West Virginia 59
#9. Alabama at Ole Miss
Alabama played badly once again in their last game against Mississippi State but keeps coming away with wins. They had no prayer of stopping Jamont Gordon, who finished with 27 points and 9 boards, continued to give up wide open 3s, and have no prayer of beating Ole Miss in the Tad Pad if their defense doesn't improve. Well, unless Steele can play like he's taking the last shot for the win the whole game. Fortunately for Alabama, Ole Miss doesn't have a Jamont Gordon. Unforuntately for Alabama, their three leading scorers can all nail threes. That's always been a huge problem for Alabama - particularly on the road. At least Brandon Hollinger, the spark plug point guard that's replaced Mykal Riley in the lineup for defensive purposes, matches up much better against Ole Miss than he did against MSU. In the end though, it probably won't matter as Todd Abernethy or Clarence Sanders or Bam Doyne or some walk on will nail 10+ threes today. I can't pick Alabama on the road until they can show me just once they can play some solid defense, the LSU games withstanding.
Ole Miss 84 Alabama 73
A-10
Dayton 74 St. Bonaventure 60
St. Joseph's 68 La Salle 61
Fordham 74 Charlotte 69
George Washington 76 Xavier 67
ACC
North Carolina 93 Wake Forest 67
N.C. State 73 Miami 67
A-Sun
Campbell 79 Mercer 74
East Tennessee State 76 North Florida 62
Jacksonville 70 Kennesaw State 61
Gardner-Webb 74 Stetson 69
Big 12
Texas 81 Iowa State 64
Kansas 79 Missouri 70
Oklahoma 73 Baylor 66
Oklahoma State 77 Texas Tech 67
Kansas State 84 Colorado 72
Texas A&M 66 Nebraska 59
Big East
Villanova 76 Seton Hall 67
Louisville 69 South Florida 61
Rutgers 63 Cincinnati 60
Pittsburgh 72 Providence 59
Big Sky
Northern Arizona 77 Idaho State 73
Montana 76 Montana State 75
Eastern Washington 88 Portland State 83
Big South
VMI 109 UNC-Asheville 98
Liberty 79 Charleston Southern 64
Winthrop 80 Radford 61
High Point 73 Coastal Carolina 68
Big Ten
Ohio State 75 Purdue 62
Indiana 73 Illinois 64
Wisconsin 76 Iowa 71
Northwestern 61 Penn State 59
Michigan 75 Minnesota 58
Big West
Cal Poly 75 UC Irvine 69
Pacific 77 UC Riverside 65
Long Beach State 74 UC-Santa Barbara 72
CSU-Fullerton 87 CSU-Northridge 83
CAA
Towson 83 Georgia State 68
Drexel 79 Delaware 58
Hofstra 72 George Mason 68
UNC-Wilmington 67 William & Mary 65
Northeastern 67 James Madison 61
C-USA
UCF 73 Marshall 60
Southern Miss 67 Tulsa 65
UAB 77 UTEP 70
Memphis 86 Tulane 67
SMU 70 Rice 66
Houston 80 East Carolina 63
Horizon
Detroit 73 Illinois-Chicago 65
Butler 72 Wright State 69
Loyola ( IL ) 76 Wisconsin-Green Bay 74
Independents
North Dakota State 79 N.J.I.T 63
Utah Valley State 81 Texas-Pan American 72
Chicago State 83 East-West University 56
IPFW 77 South Dakota State 62
Winston-Salem State 94 Columbia Union 71
Ivy
Columbia 66 Brown 61
Cornell 72 Yale 68
Penn 84 Harvard 73
Princeton 56 Dartmouth 50
MAC
Bowling Green 76 Eastern Michigan 66
Ohio 79 Northern Illinois 59
Miami U. 61 Ball State 53
Buffalo 72 Central Michigan 64
Akron 76 Toledo 71
Mid-Continent
Oakland 78 Valparaiso 69
IUPUI 70 Western Illinois 63
UMKC 73 Centenary 71
Oral Roberts 75 Southern Utah 66
MEAC
Coppin State 69 Norfolk State 67
North Carolina A&T 73 Bethune-Cookman 58
Morgan State 68 Hampton 65
Florida A&M 71 South Carolina State 70
Delaware State 69 Howard 52
MVC
Bradley 75 Drake 69
Missouri State 74 Northern Iowa 67
Mountain West
San Diego State 80 Colorado State 78
Air Force 66 New Mexico 62
BYU 74 TCU 65
UNLV 81 Wyoming 72
NEC
Central Connecticut State 68 Quinnipiac 61
Sacred Heart 86 Wagner 81
Robert Morris 85 Mt. Saint Mary's 83
OVC
Samford 63 Austin Peay 58
Eastern Kentucky 77 SE Missouri State 73
Murray State 69 Morehead State 62
Tennessee Tech 79 Tennessee State 69
UT-Martin 68 Eastern Illinois 65
Pac-10
Washington State 70 California 59
Arizona State 59 Oregon State 55
Patriot
Navy 66 Lafayette 59
Lehigh 64 Army 57
SEC
LSU 68 Arkansas 64
Mississippi State 75 Auburn 70
Georiga 73 South Carolina 69
Southern
Appalachian State 81 Wofford 72
Furman 67 Elon 57
Western Carolina 68 Georgia Southern 64
Charleston 77 UNC-Greensboro 75
Chattanooga 67 Citadel 58
Southland
Texas A&M CC 83 SE Louisiana 76
McNeese State 70 UT-Arlington 64
Nicholls State 75 UT-San Antonio 71
Sam Houston State 71 Central Arkansas 54
Lamar 86 Texas State 77
SWAC
Arkansas-Pine Bluff 56 Southern 52
Alabama State 63 Alabama A&M 58
Jackson State 72 Texas Southern 61
Grambling State 64 Prairie View A&M 55
Mississippi Valley State 67 Alcorn State 61
Sun Belt
Western Kentucky 79 Middle Tennessee State 68
Louisiana Monroe 83 North Texas 80
Florida Atlantic 77 FIU 64
UA-Little Rock 73 Troy 68
New Orleans 77 Denver 65
WCC
San Diego 77 Loyola Marymount 73
Gonzaga 80 St. Mary's 67
San Francisco 89 Pepperdine 76
Santa Clara 72 Portland 65
WAC
Boise State 65 San Jose State 58
New Mexico State 76 Fresno State 74
Utah State 75 Idaho 61
Hawaii 73 Louisiana Tech 58
Games of the day
#1. Florida at Kentucky
Florida usually plays to the occaison. They better today. Florida's still undefeated in SEC play while Kentucky stands at 7-2. Kentucky's got the Rupp advantage and desperately wants to show they're still a power in the SEC East this year. What's missing is the talent. After Morris, Bradley, and Crawford walk onto the court, the rest just look like spare parts that'd be walk ons on different UK teams. Freshman wing Jodie Meeks has been playing very well of late, but he's the only guy off the bench that I can see doing anything offensively against the Gators. Bobby Perry, Sheray Thomas, and "Woo" Obrzut? No thank you. Freshman PF Perry Stevenson couldn't catch an entry pass to save his life and has little offensive game to speak of, but at least he can play some defense. Freshman "point guard" Derrick Jasper's another whose offense hasn't even come close to developing yet, though his defense on Brewer or Green may be invaluable.
If Kentucky had the name "Ole Miss" on their uniform, would anybody really expect them to beat Florida today? Florida's just got way too much talent with four future pros in the starting lineup and more coming off the bench against Kentucky's...Bobby Perry?
Florida 73 Kentucky 69
#2. Marquette at Georgetown
Marquette, led by the best guard trio in the Big East, tries to push tempo and utilizes only one "true back to the basket" type big man in Ousmane Barro. On the other hand, Georgetown runs the Princeton style offense and wouldn't mind if both teams ended up with under 100 possessions total. Big men 7'2 278 C Roy Hibbert and 6'9 235 F Jeff Green lead the way for the Hoyas. Marquette comes into the game having won 8 in a row, including four on the road, and Georgetown also comes in with a six game winning streak.
As I mentioned earlier, Marquette only uses one true big man. Well, Georgetown only uses two guards the entire game. It's going to be interesting to see which team ends up at a matchup disadvantage. Georgetown is good in transition defense and play an excruciating pace of basketball that might frustrate the Golden Eagles. In the end though, Marquette just has too much around the perimeter. Georgetown doesn't have one single guard that's as good as Marquette's Dominic James, Jerel McNeal, and Wesley Matthews. Barro has also been playing really well on the defensive end and is big enough to matchup well with Hibbert.
Marquette 68 Georgetown 65
#3. Arizona at Oregon
Arizona's only 2-4 on the road and struggled with Oregon State in their previous game on Thursday. They played a back and forth game with little defense against the Ducks in mid-January before finally succumbing to Aaron Brooks' last second bank shot. Oregon has more depth, even more scoring options, and the homecourt advantage. I don't see how they lose.
Oregon 85 Arizona 77
#4. Vanderbilt at Tennessee
Vanderbilt got their hot streak started by winning on a buzzer beater at home over the Vols by one. In Tennessee's last game, their first getting Lofton back in four games, against LSU at home they weren't particularly impressive. Their press didn't really force guardless LSU into that many bad decisions. Really, LSU, who isn't exactly known for ball handling this year, fared pretty well against the press. If LSU can do decently against it, Vanderbilt, who starts four guards, should excel in an up tempo game. Tennessee's defense has been horrid over the past month, but it's always tough to win in Thompson-Boling Arena ( The Summit, is that emasculating? ) - particularly under Bruce Pearl. In fact, they're undefeated there so far this year.
It's all up to the guards in this one as there are only two big men that won't end up sneaking out to the perimeter ( Duke Crews for UT and Ted Skuchas for Vandy ). I know it doesn't matter if Lofton's guarded or not, but Shan Foster or Derrick Byars for VU can certainly shadow him on defense very well. On offense, I think Foster and Byars can also do as they please as UT doesn't have anybody on defense that can match up well with either one - except maybe Bradshaw and Josh Tabb. Unfortunately for the Vols, they're both a liability on the offensive end. Vandy has too much firepower as Lofton's still hobbled a little bit by his ankle injury.
Vanderbilt 85 Tennesseee 81
#5. Virginia at Virginia Tech
After starting so well in ACC play, the Hokies have been blown out in consecutive games by N.C. State and BC. The opposite's true for Virginia as they're just now playing their best basketball of the year. They don't have any problem playing on the road either, having won at Clemson, N.C. State, and Maryland during their current seven game winning streak.
Virginia's got the offense with their guards and VT's got the defense ( though not recently ). The Hokies have a tough remaining schedule left and can't afford to go back on the bubble with a loss today. They'll get a much needed win before their rematch with UNC on Tuesday.
Virginia Tech 76 Virginia 72
#6. Creighton at Southern Illinois
SIU is undefeated at home, play the most ferocious defense in the Missouri Valley, and beat Creighton in Omaha earlier this year by a point. You would think that all adds up to a win for SIU. And you'd be right. I'm not sure, even with POY candidate Nate Funk, the Bluejays can win today. Creighton has more a lot more meat in the paint with Anthony Tolliver/Dane Watts and that's the only way I can see them exploiting SIU's defense. It may not matter with defensive specialist Randal Falker on one of them.
Southern Illinois 63 Creighton 56
#7. VCU at Old Dominion
The Monarchs of ODU come in as one of the hottest teams in CAA play having won six in a row including two tough road games at Drexel and George Mason. Their last loss on January 20th was actually at the hands of VCU by 5 on the road. They've been doing it with great defense and haven't allowed a team to shoot over 39% in four out of their last six games. VCU has been very good on the road having won 8 of 9, butI think Old Dominion's too good at home and their smothering defense forces VCU, not known as a good shooting team this year anyways, into a low shooting percentage in a close game.
Old Dominion 70 VCU 65
#8. UCLA at West Virginia
West Virginia ran into a brick wall defense in their last game against Pitt at home. Unfortunately for them, they face another. For UCLA, it all starts on defense with superb PG Darren Collison. Though he may not play in today's game, the Bruins still have plenty of other weapons on offense and defense to beat WVU. The Mountaineers have nothing that can match up with UCLA bigs Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Lorenzo Mata.
UCLA 68 West Virginia 59
#9. Alabama at Ole Miss
Alabama played badly once again in their last game against Mississippi State but keeps coming away with wins. They had no prayer of stopping Jamont Gordon, who finished with 27 points and 9 boards, continued to give up wide open 3s, and have no prayer of beating Ole Miss in the Tad Pad if their defense doesn't improve. Well, unless Steele can play like he's taking the last shot for the win the whole game. Fortunately for Alabama, Ole Miss doesn't have a Jamont Gordon. Unforuntately for Alabama, their three leading scorers can all nail threes. That's always been a huge problem for Alabama - particularly on the road. At least Brandon Hollinger, the spark plug point guard that's replaced Mykal Riley in the lineup for defensive purposes, matches up much better against Ole Miss than he did against MSU. In the end though, it probably won't matter as Todd Abernethy or Clarence Sanders or Bam Doyne or some walk on will nail 10+ threes today. I can't pick Alabama on the road until they can show me just once they can play some solid defense, the LSU games withstanding.
Ole Miss 84 Alabama 73
A-10
Dayton 74 St. Bonaventure 60
St. Joseph's 68 La Salle 61
Fordham 74 Charlotte 69
George Washington 76 Xavier 67
ACC
North Carolina 93 Wake Forest 67
N.C. State 73 Miami 67
A-Sun
Campbell 79 Mercer 74
East Tennessee State 76 North Florida 62
Jacksonville 70 Kennesaw State 61
Gardner-Webb 74 Stetson 69
Big 12
Texas 81 Iowa State 64
Kansas 79 Missouri 70
Oklahoma 73 Baylor 66
Oklahoma State 77 Texas Tech 67
Kansas State 84 Colorado 72
Texas A&M 66 Nebraska 59
Big East
Villanova 76 Seton Hall 67
Louisville 69 South Florida 61
Rutgers 63 Cincinnati 60
Pittsburgh 72 Providence 59
Big Sky
Northern Arizona 77 Idaho State 73
Montana 76 Montana State 75
Eastern Washington 88 Portland State 83
Big South
VMI 109 UNC-Asheville 98
Liberty 79 Charleston Southern 64
Winthrop 80 Radford 61
High Point 73 Coastal Carolina 68
Big Ten
Ohio State 75 Purdue 62
Indiana 73 Illinois 64
Wisconsin 76 Iowa 71
Northwestern 61 Penn State 59
Michigan 75 Minnesota 58
Big West
Cal Poly 75 UC Irvine 69
Pacific 77 UC Riverside 65
Long Beach State 74 UC-Santa Barbara 72
CSU-Fullerton 87 CSU-Northridge 83
CAA
Towson 83 Georgia State 68
Drexel 79 Delaware 58
Hofstra 72 George Mason 68
UNC-Wilmington 67 William & Mary 65
Northeastern 67 James Madison 61
C-USA
UCF 73 Marshall 60
Southern Miss 67 Tulsa 65
UAB 77 UTEP 70
Memphis 86 Tulane 67
SMU 70 Rice 66
Houston 80 East Carolina 63
Horizon
Detroit 73 Illinois-Chicago 65
Butler 72 Wright State 69
Loyola ( IL ) 76 Wisconsin-Green Bay 74
Independents
North Dakota State 79 N.J.I.T 63
Utah Valley State 81 Texas-Pan American 72
Chicago State 83 East-West University 56
IPFW 77 South Dakota State 62
Winston-Salem State 94 Columbia Union 71
Ivy
Columbia 66 Brown 61
Cornell 72 Yale 68
Penn 84 Harvard 73
Princeton 56 Dartmouth 50
MAC
Bowling Green 76 Eastern Michigan 66
Ohio 79 Northern Illinois 59
Miami U. 61 Ball State 53
Buffalo 72 Central Michigan 64
Akron 76 Toledo 71
Mid-Continent
Oakland 78 Valparaiso 69
IUPUI 70 Western Illinois 63
UMKC 73 Centenary 71
Oral Roberts 75 Southern Utah 66
MEAC
Coppin State 69 Norfolk State 67
North Carolina A&T 73 Bethune-Cookman 58
Morgan State 68 Hampton 65
Florida A&M 71 South Carolina State 70
Delaware State 69 Howard 52
MVC
Bradley 75 Drake 69
Missouri State 74 Northern Iowa 67
Mountain West
San Diego State 80 Colorado State 78
Air Force 66 New Mexico 62
BYU 74 TCU 65
UNLV 81 Wyoming 72
NEC
Central Connecticut State 68 Quinnipiac 61
Sacred Heart 86 Wagner 81
Robert Morris 85 Mt. Saint Mary's 83
OVC
Samford 63 Austin Peay 58
Eastern Kentucky 77 SE Missouri State 73
Murray State 69 Morehead State 62
Tennessee Tech 79 Tennessee State 69
UT-Martin 68 Eastern Illinois 65
Pac-10
Washington State 70 California 59
Arizona State 59 Oregon State 55
Patriot
Navy 66 Lafayette 59
Lehigh 64 Army 57
SEC
LSU 68 Arkansas 64
Mississippi State 75 Auburn 70
Georiga 73 South Carolina 69
Southern
Appalachian State 81 Wofford 72
Furman 67 Elon 57
Western Carolina 68 Georgia Southern 64
Charleston 77 UNC-Greensboro 75
Chattanooga 67 Citadel 58
Southland
Texas A&M CC 83 SE Louisiana 76
McNeese State 70 UT-Arlington 64
Nicholls State 75 UT-San Antonio 71
Sam Houston State 71 Central Arkansas 54
Lamar 86 Texas State 77
SWAC
Arkansas-Pine Bluff 56 Southern 52
Alabama State 63 Alabama A&M 58
Jackson State 72 Texas Southern 61
Grambling State 64 Prairie View A&M 55
Mississippi Valley State 67 Alcorn State 61
Sun Belt
Western Kentucky 79 Middle Tennessee State 68
Louisiana Monroe 83 North Texas 80
Florida Atlantic 77 FIU 64
UA-Little Rock 73 Troy 68
New Orleans 77 Denver 65
WCC
San Diego 77 Loyola Marymount 73
Gonzaga 80 St. Mary's 67
San Francisco 89 Pepperdine 76
Santa Clara 72 Portland 65
WAC
Boise State 65 San Jose State 58
New Mexico State 76 Fresno State 74
Utah State 75 Idaho 61
Hawaii 73 Louisiana Tech 58
Looking back at Feb 8th
DePaul 67 Notre Dame 66
I was certainly wrong in my prediction that DePaul's loose 3 point defense would be their undoing. Notre Dame only shot 32% from behind the arc and Russell Carter was a paltry 4-12 ( 1 - 7 3PT ). Notre Dame's really strugging on the road but should have two upcoming road wins at BE cellar dwellers Rutgers and Cincy. DePaul's best bet is to make the NIT which would give them a nice boost going into next year with emerging stud big man Wilson Chandler returning.
Drexel 95 Hofstra 87 ( OT )
Once again, another wrong prediction by me. Hofstra's trio of guards ( Stokes, Rivera, Agudio ) certainly did enough to win combining for 62 points, 15 boards, and 10 assists but they let the game slip away in the second half. This probably ends Hofstra's chances for an at large berth. Drexel really needs a win at Creighton on Bracket Buster Saturday to have a chance.
Jacksonville State 72 Tennessee Tech 71
This one really surprised me. Tennessee Tech has one of the best backcourts and is one of the better teams in the OVC while the Gamecocks are one of the worst ( they lost to Michigan Tech at home, guys ). Will Ginn hit a layup with 11 seconds to go to give State the victory.
UL Monroe 82 Middle Tennessee State 76
It's amazing what coach Orlando Early ( Alabama still hasn't gotten somebody to replace his coaching abilities ) is doing at UL Monroe considering they were routinely one of the worst teams in the country year in and year out before he got there. Now they're in first place in the Sun Belt Western Division and almost have six players averging in double figures. Juco transfer Gerard Jackson was finally cleared to play late last month and has added even more scoring punch to this team. If they don't make the tournament this year, they should certainly be at the top of the Sun Belt list the next with every key player returning.
Drake 67 Northern Iowa 59
It's safe to say NIU is done. Their cold shooting woes continue and with a brutal schedule ahead, the best I can see them finishing is 18-12. It's NIT time for them.
Western Illinois 64 Oakland 63
Oakland picked a bad time to lose at home to the absolute worst team in the Mid-Continent conference. They were one game back in the standings of Oral Roberts with a return game at home to end the regular season. That game certainly doesn't look to be as meaningful after this egg.
Also, since I didn't do a look back for Feb 7th, check out this Derrick Jasper dunk against South Carolina.
I was certainly wrong in my prediction that DePaul's loose 3 point defense would be their undoing. Notre Dame only shot 32% from behind the arc and Russell Carter was a paltry 4-12 ( 1 - 7 3PT ). Notre Dame's really strugging on the road but should have two upcoming road wins at BE cellar dwellers Rutgers and Cincy. DePaul's best bet is to make the NIT which would give them a nice boost going into next year with emerging stud big man Wilson Chandler returning.
Drexel 95 Hofstra 87 ( OT )
Once again, another wrong prediction by me. Hofstra's trio of guards ( Stokes, Rivera, Agudio ) certainly did enough to win combining for 62 points, 15 boards, and 10 assists but they let the game slip away in the second half. This probably ends Hofstra's chances for an at large berth. Drexel really needs a win at Creighton on Bracket Buster Saturday to have a chance.
Jacksonville State 72 Tennessee Tech 71
This one really surprised me. Tennessee Tech has one of the best backcourts and is one of the better teams in the OVC while the Gamecocks are one of the worst ( they lost to Michigan Tech at home, guys ). Will Ginn hit a layup with 11 seconds to go to give State the victory.
UL Monroe 82 Middle Tennessee State 76
It's amazing what coach Orlando Early ( Alabama still hasn't gotten somebody to replace his coaching abilities ) is doing at UL Monroe considering they were routinely one of the worst teams in the country year in and year out before he got there. Now they're in first place in the Sun Belt Western Division and almost have six players averging in double figures. Juco transfer Gerard Jackson was finally cleared to play late last month and has added even more scoring punch to this team. If they don't make the tournament this year, they should certainly be at the top of the Sun Belt list the next with every key player returning.
Drake 67 Northern Iowa 59
It's safe to say NIU is done. Their cold shooting woes continue and with a brutal schedule ahead, the best I can see them finishing is 18-12. It's NIT time for them.
Western Illinois 64 Oakland 63
Oakland picked a bad time to lose at home to the absolute worst team in the Mid-Continent conference. They were one game back in the standings of Oral Roberts with a return game at home to end the regular season. That game certainly doesn't look to be as meaningful after this egg.
Also, since I didn't do a look back for Feb 7th, check out this Derrick Jasper dunk against South Carolina.
Predictions for Feb 9th
Record: 117 - 44 ( 11-6 GOTD )
Games of the day
Holy Cross at Bucknell
The top two teams in the Patriot League meet in what should decide the regular season championship. Holy Cross is undefeated in league play and in the process gave Bucknell their only loss in conference on January 12th, 65-60. The Bison have recovered nicely from their early season struggles that included a loss to Central Arkansas, who is playing their first year in Division 1. These teams are very evenly matched and I see home court advantage being the deciding factor.
Bucknell 66 Holy Cross 64
Belmont at Lipscomb
Another matchup of two of the top contenders in their league. Like the Drexel - Hofstra game last night, there is definitely a contrast in size in this one. Belmont is led by do-it-all guard Justin Hare, but they have something Lipscomb doesn't - big men. Joining Hare, they also have 6'10 255 Boomer Herndon, a transfer from Tennessee, and 6'10 210 Andrew Preston. However, that doesn't mean they're any good at rebounding the ball. In their previous meeting, a 55-50 loss, little Lipscomb actually outrebounded the Bruins, including 15 offensive boards. How they managed to lose when the Bisons shot 3-26 from the arc, I'll never know.
Well if they can't rebound with that size or match Lipscomb's fantastic guard trio ( Eddie Ard, Brian Fisk, and Trey Williams ), how will they win? Defense. That's something they are great at as they're top 40 nationally in FG%, 3PT FG%, and 2PT FG% defense. My prediction is Belmont and Lipscomb split the season series by winning on each other's home court and the Bruins move exactly one game back of East Tennessee State in the standings.
Belmont 64 Lipscomb 61
Ivy
Yale 68 Columbia 63
Penn 81 Dartmouth 64
Cornell 64 Brown 57
Harvard 61 Princeton 50
MAAC
Niagara 74 St. Peter's 60
Siena 66 Iona 63
Manhattan 74 Rider 72
Loyola ( MD ) 79 Canisius 73
NEC
Fairleigh Dickinson 72 St. Francis ( NY ) 61
Games of the day
Holy Cross at Bucknell
The top two teams in the Patriot League meet in what should decide the regular season championship. Holy Cross is undefeated in league play and in the process gave Bucknell their only loss in conference on January 12th, 65-60. The Bison have recovered nicely from their early season struggles that included a loss to Central Arkansas, who is playing their first year in Division 1. These teams are very evenly matched and I see home court advantage being the deciding factor.
Bucknell 66 Holy Cross 64
Belmont at Lipscomb
Another matchup of two of the top contenders in their league. Like the Drexel - Hofstra game last night, there is definitely a contrast in size in this one. Belmont is led by do-it-all guard Justin Hare, but they have something Lipscomb doesn't - big men. Joining Hare, they also have 6'10 255 Boomer Herndon, a transfer from Tennessee, and 6'10 210 Andrew Preston. However, that doesn't mean they're any good at rebounding the ball. In their previous meeting, a 55-50 loss, little Lipscomb actually outrebounded the Bruins, including 15 offensive boards. How they managed to lose when the Bisons shot 3-26 from the arc, I'll never know.
Well if they can't rebound with that size or match Lipscomb's fantastic guard trio ( Eddie Ard, Brian Fisk, and Trey Williams ), how will they win? Defense. That's something they are great at as they're top 40 nationally in FG%, 3PT FG%, and 2PT FG% defense. My prediction is Belmont and Lipscomb split the season series by winning on each other's home court and the Bruins move exactly one game back of East Tennessee State in the standings.
Belmont 64 Lipscomb 61
Ivy
Yale 68 Columbia 63
Penn 81 Dartmouth 64
Cornell 64 Brown 57
Harvard 61 Princeton 50
MAAC
Niagara 74 St. Peter's 60
Siena 66 Iona 63
Manhattan 74 Rider 72
Loyola ( MD ) 79 Canisius 73
NEC
Fairleigh Dickinson 72 St. Francis ( NY ) 61
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Predictions for Feb 8th
Record: 81 - 25 ( 9-4 GOTD )
Games of the day
Notre Dame at DePaul
The Blue Demons have been quite competitive at home while Notre Dame continues to struggle mightily on the road, minus their win over disappointing Syracuse on Jan 30th. Since that win though, they've dropped two winnable games at St. John's and South Florida. Notre Dame doesn't match up well with athletic teams that play tight man to man so common sense would tell you they'd drop another road game to a team like DePaul. However, DePaul is one of the worst teams in the country guarding against the 3 ( and the 14th worst in the Big East ). I think Notre Dame shoots themselves to a win like in their aforementioned game against the Orange in the Carrier Dome.
Notre Dame 74 DePaul 69
Drexel at Hofstra
A game that features two very different teams. Which will win out? Drexel's inside game represented by 6'9 220 C Frank Elegar ( 14.9 ppg, 6.9 rpg ) and 6'10 235 F Chaz Crawford ( 6.8 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 3.7 bpg ) or Hofstra's three headed guard trio in Loren Stokes, Antoine Agudio, and Carlos Rivera ( combined 52 ppg, 10.7 rpg, and 9.4 apg )?
Hofstra's undefeated at home with a couple of nice in-conference wins over VCU and Old Dominion. Drexel has been struggling as of late having lost three out of their last five home games. Both teams need wins to try to get into the tournament as an at large team. Hofstra's guard play will be too much in a well played, close game.
Hofstra 75 Drexel 68
Stanford at Washington State
These two teams are on fire lately - particularly Stanford, who has seemed to secure a tournament bid for themselves as of now. Wazzu is incredibly tough to beat at home with blowout wins over Washington and Gonzaga along with an OT win over Arizona. The Cardinal had an exciting win in overtime over the Cougars last time they met this year at Stanford.
I expect the same back and forth game tonight, but you've got to go with the home team in this one. However, all bets are off if Washington State has another second half like they did against Arizona State this past Saturday. Seriously, 12 points.
Washington State 76 Stanford 72
Western Kentucky at South Alabama
Western Kentucky, who the media picked to have preseason POY Courtney Lee and to finish first in the Sun Belt , have been dropping a lot of road games recently. That includes losses to middle of the road SBC teams like UA-Little Rock ( without Lee ), Arkansas State, and North Texas. On the other side of things, South Alabama is headed in a different direction, having won 10 in a row. They've also taken over possession of first place in the process which is a huge surprise considering they lost 7 key players off their tournament team from a year ago. The Jaguars are a much different team since their 22 point loss at WKU earlier this season and I can't see them dropping this game.
South Alabama 74 Western Kentucky 63
AEC
Hartford 68 New Hampshire 65
Boston U. 59 Binghamton 53
Vermont 84 UM-BC 61
A-10
Massachusetts 81 Rhode Island 74
A-Sun
East Tennessee State 71 Jacksonville 68
Stetson 75 Campbell 70
Mercer 64 Gardner-Webb 55
Kennesaw State 78 North Florida 64
Big Sky
Montana State 79 Sacramento State 72
Idaho State 66 Northern Colorado 57
Portland State 74 Weber State 68
Big West
Long Beach State 79 Cal Poly 77
Cal State Fullerton 78 Pacific 72
UC Santa Barbara 73 UC Irvine 68
Cal State Northridge 74 UC Riverside 63
CAA
Virginia Commonwealth 73 George Mason 62
C-USA
Memphis 82 UAB 65
Independents
North Dakota State 80 IPFW 66
N.J.I.T. 58 South Dakota State 55
Horizon
Butler 74 Cleveland State 57
Wisconsin-Green Bay 71 Youngstown State 65
MAAC
Marist 78 Fairfield 69
Mid-Continent
Valparaiso 69 IUPUI 66
Oakland 83 Western Illinois 59
Southern Utah 65 Centenary 57
Oral Roberts 79 UMKC 65
MVC
Northern Iowa 70 Drake 60
Wichita State 73 Indiana State 64
NEC
Mt. Saint Mary's 79 St. Francis ( PA ) 64
Quinnipiac 81 Sacred Heart 75
Monmouth 78 Wagner 76
OVC
Tennessee Tech 81 Jacksonville State 64
Murray State 69 Eastern Kentucky 65
Austin Peay 80 Eastern Illinois 62
SE Missouri State 66 Morehead State 59
Pac-10
Oregon 76 Arizona State 55
Arizona 77 Oregon State 63
Washington 82 California 72
Southland
Northwestern State 82 Sam Houston State 79
UT-Arlington 76 Lamar 70
McNeese State 72 Texas State 65
SE Louisiana 69 UT-San Antonio 61
Texas A&M CC 81 Nicholls State 66
Sun Belt
FIU 68 Troy 62
North Texas 85 New Orleans 83
Louisiana Monroe 77 Middle Tennessee State 68
Arkansas State 75 UL-Lafayette 69
Denver 70 UA-Little Rock 66
WAC
San Jose State 74 Louisiana Tech 70
Nevada 80 Fresno State 72
Games of the day
Notre Dame at DePaul
The Blue Demons have been quite competitive at home while Notre Dame continues to struggle mightily on the road, minus their win over disappointing Syracuse on Jan 30th. Since that win though, they've dropped two winnable games at St. John's and South Florida. Notre Dame doesn't match up well with athletic teams that play tight man to man so common sense would tell you they'd drop another road game to a team like DePaul. However, DePaul is one of the worst teams in the country guarding against the 3 ( and the 14th worst in the Big East ). I think Notre Dame shoots themselves to a win like in their aforementioned game against the Orange in the Carrier Dome.
Notre Dame 74 DePaul 69
Drexel at Hofstra
A game that features two very different teams. Which will win out? Drexel's inside game represented by 6'9 220 C Frank Elegar ( 14.9 ppg, 6.9 rpg ) and 6'10 235 F Chaz Crawford ( 6.8 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 3.7 bpg ) or Hofstra's three headed guard trio in Loren Stokes, Antoine Agudio, and Carlos Rivera ( combined 52 ppg, 10.7 rpg, and 9.4 apg )?
Hofstra's undefeated at home with a couple of nice in-conference wins over VCU and Old Dominion. Drexel has been struggling as of late having lost three out of their last five home games. Both teams need wins to try to get into the tournament as an at large team. Hofstra's guard play will be too much in a well played, close game.
Hofstra 75 Drexel 68
Stanford at Washington State
These two teams are on fire lately - particularly Stanford, who has seemed to secure a tournament bid for themselves as of now. Wazzu is incredibly tough to beat at home with blowout wins over Washington and Gonzaga along with an OT win over Arizona. The Cardinal had an exciting win in overtime over the Cougars last time they met this year at Stanford.
I expect the same back and forth game tonight, but you've got to go with the home team in this one. However, all bets are off if Washington State has another second half like they did against Arizona State this past Saturday. Seriously, 12 points.
Washington State 76 Stanford 72
Western Kentucky at South Alabama
Western Kentucky, who the media picked to have preseason POY Courtney Lee and to finish first in the Sun Belt , have been dropping a lot of road games recently. That includes losses to middle of the road SBC teams like UA-Little Rock ( without Lee ), Arkansas State, and North Texas. On the other side of things, South Alabama is headed in a different direction, having won 10 in a row. They've also taken over possession of first place in the process which is a huge surprise considering they lost 7 key players off their tournament team from a year ago. The Jaguars are a much different team since their 22 point loss at WKU earlier this season and I can't see them dropping this game.
South Alabama 74 Western Kentucky 63
AEC
Hartford 68 New Hampshire 65
Boston U. 59 Binghamton 53
Vermont 84 UM-BC 61
A-10
Massachusetts 81 Rhode Island 74
A-Sun
East Tennessee State 71 Jacksonville 68
Stetson 75 Campbell 70
Mercer 64 Gardner-Webb 55
Kennesaw State 78 North Florida 64
Big Sky
Montana State 79 Sacramento State 72
Idaho State 66 Northern Colorado 57
Portland State 74 Weber State 68
Big West
Long Beach State 79 Cal Poly 77
Cal State Fullerton 78 Pacific 72
UC Santa Barbara 73 UC Irvine 68
Cal State Northridge 74 UC Riverside 63
CAA
Virginia Commonwealth 73 George Mason 62
C-USA
Memphis 82 UAB 65
Independents
North Dakota State 80 IPFW 66
N.J.I.T. 58 South Dakota State 55
Horizon
Butler 74 Cleveland State 57
Wisconsin-Green Bay 71 Youngstown State 65
MAAC
Marist 78 Fairfield 69
Mid-Continent
Valparaiso 69 IUPUI 66
Oakland 83 Western Illinois 59
Southern Utah 65 Centenary 57
Oral Roberts 79 UMKC 65
MVC
Northern Iowa 70 Drake 60
Wichita State 73 Indiana State 64
NEC
Mt. Saint Mary's 79 St. Francis ( PA ) 64
Quinnipiac 81 Sacred Heart 75
Monmouth 78 Wagner 76
OVC
Tennessee Tech 81 Jacksonville State 64
Murray State 69 Eastern Kentucky 65
Austin Peay 80 Eastern Illinois 62
SE Missouri State 66 Morehead State 59
Pac-10
Oregon 76 Arizona State 55
Arizona 77 Oregon State 63
Washington 82 California 72
Southland
Northwestern State 82 Sam Houston State 79
UT-Arlington 76 Lamar 70
McNeese State 72 Texas State 65
SE Louisiana 69 UT-San Antonio 61
Texas A&M CC 81 Nicholls State 66
Sun Belt
FIU 68 Troy 62
North Texas 85 New Orleans 83
Louisiana Monroe 77 Middle Tennessee State 68
Arkansas State 75 UL-Lafayette 69
Denver 70 UA-Little Rock 66
WAC
San Jose State 74 Louisiana Tech 70
Nevada 80 Fresno State 72
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Predictions for Feb 7th
Record: 40 - 16 ( 2-2 GOTD )
Games of the day
North Carolina at Duke
I got sick of hearing about Duke - UNC around the time the season started. Even if I was gushing about this game, I still couldn't watch it in hi def because of the ESPN blackout in ACC markets. When do you think Lincoln Financial Sports ( always JP Sports to me ) will go HD? My guess is..never.
Since everybody else has analyzed this game to death, I probably don't have much to add. I'll just leave you with this video.
North Carolina 77 Duke 71
Florida State at Clemson
Toss a coin on this one. Clemson hasn't been playing well, but they were a shot clock malfunction away of taking Duke to OT and were blowing Virginia out over a week ago before collapsing at the end. FSU has obviously improved on the road as the year has gone on but Clemson HAS to have this win considering their tough schedule down the stretch. Go with the desperate team I say.
Clemson 71 Florida State 70
Kansas State at Kansas
Kansas has seemed to back bounce well after losses so far this season. After their home loss to Oral Roberts, they won in Las Vegas over Florida. After the bad DePaul loss, they came back home, beat USC, and thrashed Boston College by 18 ( and that was with Sean Williams ). I see the same thing happening tonight. Kansas won't mess around and the Wildcats will be put away early.
Kansas 83 Kansas State 71
Oklahoma State at Oklahoma
I'm absolutely shocked Doug Gottlieb is calling this game tonight. I wonder who he's rooting for.
Oklahoma State is 0-3 on the road so far in the Big 12 by a margin of 20 points a game. That included this past Saturday's blowout loss to the worst team in the league ( and maybe one of the worst in any BCS conference ) Colorado. OSU has also been getting beaten on the boards throughout Big 12 play and I think it continues tonight. Couple OU's rebounding proficiency ( top 40 in the country in all rebounding categories along with top 4 in the Big 12 ) and their mauling defense, I think Oklahoma will get the job done here. The Sooners really seem to be hitting their stride in Big 12 play in an attempt to get into bubble consideration.
Oklahoma 73 Oklahoma State 67
Georgetown at Louisville
Louisville's another team that can't afford to miss a big win at home considering they don't have, well, any particularly good wins yet. I'll take Georgetown's stifling defense, experience, and as of recently, dominating inside game to lead the Hoyas to a nice road win.
Georgetown 66 Louisville 60
Pittsburgh at West Virginia
West Virginia is, once again, another team that's on the edge of the tournament and the bubble right now. They have two crucial games coming up against Pitt and UCLA. If they want to get in, they're going to need to win one of those. Gray obviously poses a matchup problem for the 'Neers and it'll be interesting to see if they can stop him in any way.
WVU is undefeated at home this year; though the best team they've beaten is Villanova. They haven't faced anybody like Pitt at home this year but I don't believe Pitt will be involved in a more hostile environment the rest of the year than tonight in Morgantown. I'm sure Marquette fans will disagree with me on that one. This is much more of a need game for West Virginia and I think they pull off the upset.
West Virginia 76 Pitt 73
USC at UCLA
USC is one of the hottest teams in the country right now and came within a last second shot by Arron Afflalo of beating UCLA last month. Though I think it'll be close, I don't see a way USC can win at Pauley tonight.
UCLA 73 USC 64
Florida at Georgia
First time Florida slips up in the SEC? I think so. Georgia desperately needs this game to take themselves off the bubble and into the tournament. They've also been playing very well at home in SEC play with a blowout win over South Carolina and other wins against Vanderbilt, LSU, and Kentucky. For Georgia, their only true "big man" Takais Brown has been playing extremely well this past month. The problem is, they don't have two Browns to guard Horford and Noah. I really don't see Steve Newman, Dave Bliss, or Albert Jackson being able to stay with whoever Takais doesn't guard. My guess is they play zone which opens them up for even more problems. Green, Humphrey, Brewer, and Hodge can shoot over that zone and get them out of it like that. The good thing for Georgia, though, is even in a zone they can rebound very, very well with all of their athletic guards getting in on the action ( their guards contribute 18.6 rpg ).
With all of that being said, I still think Georgia pulls it out. Florida's due to drop an SEC game and Georgia's playing very well at home in SEC play. Brown has an official coming out party for Georgia and Stukes goes for 20. The 'Dawgs by 3.
Georgia 71 Florida 68
Mississippi State at Alabama
Which Alabama team will show up? Is it the team that showed up in Baton Rouge or is it the team that struggled to put away South Carolina until the final minute? The problem tonight for Alabama will be if Mississippi State can drain threes like almost every other team ( sans LSU ) in the SEC has done to the Tide. It's especially concerning for them considering State has six players that can all shoot it deep. Alonzo Gee and Mykal Riley ( Riley coming off the bench I assume ) really have to pick it up on defense tonight because one of them is going to have to guard Jamont Gordon. Why do I keep imagining him draining wide open 3s after a set screen or taking Gee off the dribble to the bucket with nobody sliding over for help defense? Thankfully for Alabama he's also a turnover machine averaging 4 a game.
On the other hand, Mississippi State is 1-6 on the road this year and I'm not sure who they have that can guard Davidson AND Hendrix. Charles Rhodes has been a huge disappointment for them so far this season and minus a game against Ole Miss over a week ago, he hasn't done anything in almost a month. If Rhodes gets in his usual foul trouble, I don't see Jarvis Varnado or Vernon Goodridge being near strong enough to guard Hendrix. This rivalry is almost always decided by less than a couple of buckets. Well, other than that one time. Hendrix goes for a double double and the Tide win by 7.
Alabama 70 Mississippi State 63
AEC
Albany 71 Maine 66
A-10
Dayton 72 Fordham 68
Temple 81 St. Bonaventure 65
Duquesne 106 La Salle 101
Xavier 64 St. Louis 59
Charlotte 77 Richmond 58
ACC
Boston College 80 Miami 70
Big East
St. John's 65 South Florida 61
Marquette 82 Rutgers 61
Big Sky
Montana 84 Sacramento State 66
Eastern Washington 85 Weber State 80
Big South
UNC-Asheville 75 Brevard College 44
Big Ten
Illinois 63 Northwestern 54
Iowa 74 Minnesota 67
Purdue 65 Michigan State 62
Wisconsin 69 Penn State 55
CAA
UNC-Wilmington 63 Delaware 61
Northeastern 78 Towson 72
Old Dominion 82 Georgia State 63
James Madison 64 William & Mary 59
C-USA
UCF 66 East Carolina 52
Houston 76 SMU 71
Tulane 73 UTEP 72
Tulsa 65 Marshall 58
Rice 74 Southern Miss 66
Horizon
Wright State 72 Illinois-Chicago 64
Loyola ( IL ) 67 Detroit 50
MAC
Akron 78 Central Michigan 57
Buffalo 68 Ball State 63
Miami U. 62 Eastern Michigan 60
Bowling Green 65 Northern Illinois 60
MVC
Creighton 80 Evansville 64
Southern Illinois 62 Bradley 53
Mountain West
Colorado State 70 Utah 66
UNLV 81 TCU 63
Patriot
Lafayette 60 Colgate 54
Lehigh 68 Navy 56
SEC
Kentucky 76 South Carolina 65
Arkansas 82 Auburn 63
Southland
Stephen F. Austin 72 Central Arkansas 61
WAC
Boise State 84 Idaho 55
Games of the day
North Carolina at Duke
I got sick of hearing about Duke - UNC around the time the season started. Even if I was gushing about this game, I still couldn't watch it in hi def because of the ESPN blackout in ACC markets. When do you think Lincoln Financial Sports ( always JP Sports to me ) will go HD? My guess is..never.
Since everybody else has analyzed this game to death, I probably don't have much to add. I'll just leave you with this video.
North Carolina 77 Duke 71
Florida State at Clemson
Toss a coin on this one. Clemson hasn't been playing well, but they were a shot clock malfunction away of taking Duke to OT and were blowing Virginia out over a week ago before collapsing at the end. FSU has obviously improved on the road as the year has gone on but Clemson HAS to have this win considering their tough schedule down the stretch. Go with the desperate team I say.
Clemson 71 Florida State 70
Kansas State at Kansas
Kansas has seemed to back bounce well after losses so far this season. After their home loss to Oral Roberts, they won in Las Vegas over Florida. After the bad DePaul loss, they came back home, beat USC, and thrashed Boston College by 18 ( and that was with Sean Williams ). I see the same thing happening tonight. Kansas won't mess around and the Wildcats will be put away early.
Kansas 83 Kansas State 71
Oklahoma State at Oklahoma
I'm absolutely shocked Doug Gottlieb is calling this game tonight. I wonder who he's rooting for.
Oklahoma State is 0-3 on the road so far in the Big 12 by a margin of 20 points a game. That included this past Saturday's blowout loss to the worst team in the league ( and maybe one of the worst in any BCS conference ) Colorado. OSU has also been getting beaten on the boards throughout Big 12 play and I think it continues tonight. Couple OU's rebounding proficiency ( top 40 in the country in all rebounding categories along with top 4 in the Big 12 ) and their mauling defense, I think Oklahoma will get the job done here. The Sooners really seem to be hitting their stride in Big 12 play in an attempt to get into bubble consideration.
Oklahoma 73 Oklahoma State 67
Georgetown at Louisville
Louisville's another team that can't afford to miss a big win at home considering they don't have, well, any particularly good wins yet. I'll take Georgetown's stifling defense, experience, and as of recently, dominating inside game to lead the Hoyas to a nice road win.
Georgetown 66 Louisville 60
Pittsburgh at West Virginia
West Virginia is, once again, another team that's on the edge of the tournament and the bubble right now. They have two crucial games coming up against Pitt and UCLA. If they want to get in, they're going to need to win one of those. Gray obviously poses a matchup problem for the 'Neers and it'll be interesting to see if they can stop him in any way.
WVU is undefeated at home this year; though the best team they've beaten is Villanova. They haven't faced anybody like Pitt at home this year but I don't believe Pitt will be involved in a more hostile environment the rest of the year than tonight in Morgantown. I'm sure Marquette fans will disagree with me on that one. This is much more of a need game for West Virginia and I think they pull off the upset.
West Virginia 76 Pitt 73
USC at UCLA
USC is one of the hottest teams in the country right now and came within a last second shot by Arron Afflalo of beating UCLA last month. Though I think it'll be close, I don't see a way USC can win at Pauley tonight.
UCLA 73 USC 64
Florida at Georgia
First time Florida slips up in the SEC? I think so. Georgia desperately needs this game to take themselves off the bubble and into the tournament. They've also been playing very well at home in SEC play with a blowout win over South Carolina and other wins against Vanderbilt, LSU, and Kentucky. For Georgia, their only true "big man" Takais Brown has been playing extremely well this past month. The problem is, they don't have two Browns to guard Horford and Noah. I really don't see Steve Newman, Dave Bliss, or Albert Jackson being able to stay with whoever Takais doesn't guard. My guess is they play zone which opens them up for even more problems. Green, Humphrey, Brewer, and Hodge can shoot over that zone and get them out of it like that. The good thing for Georgia, though, is even in a zone they can rebound very, very well with all of their athletic guards getting in on the action ( their guards contribute 18.6 rpg ).
With all of that being said, I still think Georgia pulls it out. Florida's due to drop an SEC game and Georgia's playing very well at home in SEC play. Brown has an official coming out party for Georgia and Stukes goes for 20. The 'Dawgs by 3.
Georgia 71 Florida 68
Mississippi State at Alabama
Which Alabama team will show up? Is it the team that showed up in Baton Rouge or is it the team that struggled to put away South Carolina until the final minute? The problem tonight for Alabama will be if Mississippi State can drain threes like almost every other team ( sans LSU ) in the SEC has done to the Tide. It's especially concerning for them considering State has six players that can all shoot it deep. Alonzo Gee and Mykal Riley ( Riley coming off the bench I assume ) really have to pick it up on defense tonight because one of them is going to have to guard Jamont Gordon. Why do I keep imagining him draining wide open 3s after a set screen or taking Gee off the dribble to the bucket with nobody sliding over for help defense? Thankfully for Alabama he's also a turnover machine averaging 4 a game.
On the other hand, Mississippi State is 1-6 on the road this year and I'm not sure who they have that can guard Davidson AND Hendrix. Charles Rhodes has been a huge disappointment for them so far this season and minus a game against Ole Miss over a week ago, he hasn't done anything in almost a month. If Rhodes gets in his usual foul trouble, I don't see Jarvis Varnado or Vernon Goodridge being near strong enough to guard Hendrix. This rivalry is almost always decided by less than a couple of buckets. Well, other than that one time. Hendrix goes for a double double and the Tide win by 7.
Alabama 70 Mississippi State 63
AEC
Albany 71 Maine 66
A-10
Dayton 72 Fordham 68
Temple 81 St. Bonaventure 65
Duquesne 106 La Salle 101
Xavier 64 St. Louis 59
Charlotte 77 Richmond 58
ACC
Boston College 80 Miami 70
Big East
St. John's 65 South Florida 61
Marquette 82 Rutgers 61
Big Sky
Montana 84 Sacramento State 66
Eastern Washington 85 Weber State 80
Big South
UNC-Asheville 75 Brevard College 44
Big Ten
Illinois 63 Northwestern 54
Iowa 74 Minnesota 67
Purdue 65 Michigan State 62
Wisconsin 69 Penn State 55
CAA
UNC-Wilmington 63 Delaware 61
Northeastern 78 Towson 72
Old Dominion 82 Georgia State 63
James Madison 64 William & Mary 59
C-USA
UCF 66 East Carolina 52
Houston 76 SMU 71
Tulane 73 UTEP 72
Tulsa 65 Marshall 58
Rice 74 Southern Miss 66
Horizon
Wright State 72 Illinois-Chicago 64
Loyola ( IL ) 67 Detroit 50
MAC
Akron 78 Central Michigan 57
Buffalo 68 Ball State 63
Miami U. 62 Eastern Michigan 60
Bowling Green 65 Northern Illinois 60
MVC
Creighton 80 Evansville 64
Southern Illinois 62 Bradley 53
Mountain West
Colorado State 70 Utah 66
UNLV 81 TCU 63
Patriot
Lafayette 60 Colgate 54
Lehigh 68 Navy 56
SEC
Kentucky 76 South Carolina 65
Arkansas 82 Auburn 63
Southland
Stephen F. Austin 72 Central Arkansas 61
WAC
Boise State 84 Idaho 55
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