Notable Games & Discussion 2/13/2010

• Azubuike24

  

  Not going to be around much this weekend, especially Saturday since I will be at Gameday and then the UT/UK game Saturday night. Figured I'd get this thread started. It's a HUGE slate of games this weekend, I'll stick to the ones with conference races and bubble implications.
  
  Cincinnati at Connecticut - Both teams are out now, but this game could eliminate one and give hope to the other. Calhoun is back.
  
  Miami (FL) at Clemson - Clemson can't lose focus after winning this week, Miami is in desperate need of another win.
  
  Missouri at (24) Baylor - Both teams are likely in now, but neither wants to risk falling further down with A&M surging.
  
  George Mason at Old Dominion - Both 11-3 in the CAA, a game back of Northeastern. ODU still has at-large hopes, but both want to win the league. CAA Tourney in Richmond will help ODU.
  
  (23) UNLV at San Diego State - SDSU has slipped off the bubble board, and UNLV just lost to UNM at home. UNLV has to win here, a bad situation for them too as SDSU is very good but not an NCAA team.
  
  Rhode Island at (21) Temple - URI just lost at home to Richmond, but only a game back in the A-10. Temple wins here they only have Dayton at home left. The A-10 is really looking to get 5 teams in.
  
  Texas A&M at Texas Tech - Tech is sliding despite a road win this week, and they already lost to A&M. One of the "sealer" games for A&M if they can win it. Tech is on life support and must win.
  
  Cornell at Princeton - Battle of unbeatens in the Ivy, Harvard isn't the major threat anymore, Princeton is. Win this game and Cornell basically clinches an NCAA Tournament bid. Princeton, if they win they have a chance to win the Ivy League, but they still have to go to Cornell.
  
  Xavier at Florida - Both bubble teams, Xavier is more secure and Florida needs the win more. Very interesting OOC match-up in February. The last few years UF has dropped the ball in these games.
  
  Memphis at Tulsa - UTEP is clearly the class of C-USA, but these 2 are only a game back in the loss column. Both are probably on the outside looking in, but it would be a quality win for both.
  
  Coastal Carolina at Radford - Coastal is probably the quietest 21-4 team around, leading the Big South by a game. Radford is a game back and already won at Coastal. A CC win here pretty much locks them the Big South and with their remaining schedule, maybe makes them at-large worthy as they could rack up 28 wins without winning the conference tourney.
  
  Northeastern at William & Mary - W&M is out of the CAA regular season discussion, but Northeastern leads it and this is like the UNLV/SDSU, a really tough game with little reward you must win. I still think the CAA gets 2 bids if the reg. season and tourney champ are different.
  
  Virginia at Virginia Tech - VT won at JPJC and amazingly both can still win the ACC. UVA has a tough road to hoe, and this would be a huge win. It's another major bubble impact game.
  
  Marshall at UAB - Marshall has slipped, but are still dangerous. UAB could definitely get an at-large bid, but it's not a guarantee. They must beat a very quality Herd team here.
  
  (20) Georgia Tech at Wake Forest - Tech has fallen on hard times in ACC play while Wake has really elevated their game. Both are NCAA bound for now, but this is a big game for resume building.
  
  South Florida at Marquette - USF's stock fell after losing to ND, while Marquette is back in the discussion. Neither has a strong resume, and both have been off and on the radar. Huge game for both to win, but devastating for either to lose.
  
  St. Mary's at Gonzaga - St. Mary's can't beat Gonzaga, that's clear. However, they can still get an at-large bid if they beat everyone else. Like so many other games, this is their toughest road test outside of going to Gonzaga and they won't get any credit for losing it.
• Mulva

  

  One other game I would throw in is Dayton @ Saint Louis. There's a HUGE split between the top 7 teams in the A-10 and the bottom 10, and Saint Louis is that 7th team in the top half.
  
  Quietly sitting at 15-8 (6-3). The only good win to their resume is Richmond (a near miss in a 2 point loss @ Charlotte), but they still have this one, Rhode Island, Xavier, and Temple all at home, so plenty of chances for resume builders the rest of the way.
  
  They also end the year with a return trip to Dayton.
  
  I also think the A-10 gets 5 teams in, and of the 7 possibilities St. Louis and Xavier are the 2 odd teams out right now I think. X might be the best team in my opinion, but they just blew just about every chance for a statement win they had out of conference (Marquette, Butler, Kansas State, Wake, Baylor), as the Cinci win is no longer very impressive.
• tiger1990

  The Xavier/Florida tilt has major implications for both teams' at-large chances...loser may be NIT-bound if there are alot of conference tourney upsets this year. Xavier has no "bad" losses, but no "good" wins either. A Muskie win = NCAA lock with a terrific RPI & SOS
• reclegend22

  

  Maryland at (7) Duke is a huge, huge game in the ACC on Saturday. The Blue Devils, at 20-4 and 8-2 in conference, and Terrapins, at 16-6 and 6-2, are fighting for first place in the ACC regular season cloth race. More importantly, the top seed in the ACC Tournament is on the line. This is important for two reasons. A) The ACC Tournament in Greensboro is where the true ACC champion is crowned, and B) With such a deep and talented field in conference, a top seed could go a long way in deciding who cuts down the ACC nets. Despite some peoples' opinion of the conference, the ACC is deep and filled with dangerous teams from 1 through 10.
  
  With a win, Duke can put some added separation into a race that currently five teams have a chance of taking. This one's on CBS at 1:00 EST.
• Scarlet_Fever

  

  (13) Ohio State at Illinois
  
  
  The top two teams in the Big 10 play this weekend and you leave that off your list. I know you aren't a big 10 fan but how can you leave that off with all the others you added.
• Prescott

  Despite some peoples' opinion of the conference, the ACC is deep and filled with dangerous teams from 1 through 10.

  The ACC. like every other league, is deep and dangerous because of mediocrity. William and Mary has won games at Wake and at Maryland.Enough said.
  

  The top two teams in the Big 10 play this weekend and you leave that off your list.

  This a huge game being played by two teams that are both playing very well.The illini have won back-to-back games versus Michigan State and Wisconsin. That is not an easy feat. Gerald McCamey has played as well as any Big 10 player the past couple of weeks.
  
  OSU has won (8) straight league games. Evan Turner will be returning home for a game against his high school teammate. Emotion will be high. If a team wants to win a conference title , a team must win games like this.
  
  OSU must control McCamey, who has averaged almost 25.0 ppg and 10 assists in the Illini's last two wins. Tisdale will be a concern because of his length and OSU's lack of frontcourt depth.
• Mulva

  

  William & Mary actually has a pretty solid team, but I agree that the ACC is full of a bunch of average to slightly above teams overall. I don't see Duke having any problem with the Terps at home.
  
  I think about 90% of the home teams in the games that have been listed will end up winning tomorrow.
• Azubuike24

  

  Scarlet_Fever wrote: (13) Ohio State at Illinois
  
  
  The top two teams in the Big 10 play this weekend and you leave that off your list. I know you aren't a big 10 fan but how can you leave that off with all the others you added.

  I make the game list based on games that won't have their own topics. It's easier to discuss them in here than to make separate threads.
  
  OSU/ILL and Duke/MD will surely have their own topics, so I didn't include them in here.
  
  Has nothing to do with whether I'm a Big Ten fan. And also, that game is Sunday, the 14th, so technically it doesn't even fit under the 2/13 game topic.
• SportsAndLady

  

  Scarlet fever=owned/a moron
• Scarlet_Fever

  

  How is that owned and a Moron. I actually just skimmed the date thinking it was today's using it as a guide for what games where notable at this date. Anyway, I also wasn't knocking Azubuike for not being a Big 10 guy, just stating that he missed this game. He is probably my favorite poster in this forum. Anywho, yes the OSU game will have it's thread.
• ironman02

  Penn (4-15, 3-2 Ivy) beat Cornell 79-64 tonight in a shocker.
  
  That matchup with Princeton tomorrow just became VERY important for Cornell.
• Mulva

  

  Cinci wins @ UConn to keep it's hopes alive, but aside from that the home teams are holding serve. Clemson and Baylor win, Temple and Old Dominion are each up 20+ on Rhode Island and George Mason, and San Diego State is up on UNLV.
  
  Dayton leads St. Louis by 2 in the 2nd half in a big one in the A-10.
  
  Northern Iowa lost @ Bradley today. The MVC is a 1 bid league in my opinion.
  
  Cal just took a 1 point lead against Washington State.
• CinciX12

  

  Xavier finally has a good road win. Quite impressively too.
• Prescott

  Good win for the Musketeers. It is always good to see Florida lose.
• reclegend22

  

  ironman02 wrote:That matchup with Princeton tomorrow just became VERY important for Cornell.

  So this is what it is has come to, hiding out in here discussing the strategic plan for Big Red athletics?
  
  In seriousness, that was a huge win for Cornell over Princeton today. It would have been devastating for them to lose two in a row after such a great start to the season and sneaking into the top 25. The Princeton rematch on Feb. 26 just became a monumental game assuming both schools win out their next three or four games. I believe Princeton holds the tie breaker since Cornell lost once already to Penn, so things could get interesting.
  
  I don't have the ESPN schedule in front of me, but I hope that games finds it way onto national television. I have always enjoyed watching the Ivy League, dating back to the days of Sir Pete Carril, and I would most certainly tune in.
• Mulva

  

  Randy Culpepper is having a huge first half for UTEP. 31 points on 10/11 shooting, 6/7 on 3s.
• reclegend22

  

  What did the Culpepper kid end up with? Those are sighting numbers.
• Mulva

  

  45 points in 32 minutes. 14/18 shooting, 9/12 from 3.