Tuesday, January 22 Highlighted Match-ups

NEWS AND NOTES

-The most recent bracket projections are posted in the article below. Be sure and check them out if you haven't already.


HIGHLIGHTED MATCH-UPS

-CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE AT CHICAGO STATE. CS Northridge is 12-3 and has an RPI in the 60s. It’s a long shot, but if they can win out or come close to it and beat a quality team in the Bracket Buster they could find themselves in the discussion for an at-large. This is a rather unusual out of conference road game, at least considering that it’s late January. It’s still one they have to win, though.

-WAKE FOREST AT CLEMSON (ACC). Clemson is coming off a hard fought, heartbreaking loss to Duke, but they are still in good shape and should remain a solid NCAA team as long as they don’t fall apart (which they’ve had a tendency to do in recent years). Wake is having a decent year as well and is coming off a decisive win against Florida State, but needs some big wins on their resume if they want to make the NCAAs. A win on the road in this game would be a gigantic step forward.

-DRAKE AT CREIGHTON (Missouri Valley). Drake has just one loss on the year and is unbeaten in conference play. They just cracked the Top 25 and are looking to continue that momentum with what would turn out to be one of their more impressive road wins if they pull it off. Creighton is right on the bubble and really needs a win like this, so it’s a huge game for them as well. This is a chance for us to see Drake in action on the road against a conference team who really needs the win.

-TENNESSEE AT KENTUCKY (SEC). Kentucky came very close to taking down Florida in their last game, but ended up falling in overtime. Tennessee is on an absolute rampage. Despite the fact that Kentucky does seem to be improving, they have to be huge underdogs in this one. Tennessee is good enough to win the SEC and contend for a #1 seed.

-UTAH AT NEW MEXICO (Mountain West). New Mexico has a respectable 15-4 record, but hasn’t played a tough enough schedule to have much of a margin for error. They’ve played well in conference and need to keep it up. Utah has played pretty well at times this season, but has lost their last two games, including a disappointing loss to rival BYU in their last game.

-ILLINOIS AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten). Illinois looks like they’re playing better, but they still aren’t winning. They gave Purdue a scare, but fell behind down the stretch. Ohio State has lost three straight and really needs to snap that losing streak. Their last loss was a close one on the road to Ohio State, so that won’t hurt them too much, but they don’t want to lose their fourth straight game, especially to a team that’s struggling as much as Illinois is.

-MICHIGAN AT WISCONSIN (Big Ten). This is a huge mismatch, especially with Wisconsin playing at home. Michigan is just 5-13 on the year and hasn’t looked all that good at any point. Wisconsin looks like they’re getting better and better and could end up winning this one in a blowout.