[providencefriars1Participant]

Some conference tourney’s start today but there are still some serious games with bubble teams vying for NCAA tourney berths. Here are the biggest bubble games of the week

Tuesday

UConn at Providence- UConn needs to stop their slide but they face a Providence team with nothing to lose and a solid offense. The Friars also play well at home which makes things extremly tough not to mention its a rivalry game. The Huskies should pound the ball inside to Oriakhi and Drummond to take advantage of their size which will lead to open jump shots for Lamb and Napier.

DePaul at West Virginia- WVU also has a skid to stop and they should do it against Depaul. Kevin Jones has been the best player in the Big East this season and look for him to do most of his work on the interior. DePaul likes to play fast and press full court which can be dangerous for WVU since they have two freshman guards, Jabarie Hinds and Gary Browne, who have ball handling responsibilities.

Xavier at Saint Louis- SLU is in which would make this win huge for Xavier. Xavier’s downfall since their brawl has been puzzling since they have two of the best players in the A-10, Tu Holloway and Mark Lyons.

TCU at Wyoming- Very simple if TCU wins they get closer to a bid, if they lose they are probably out of at large consideration. The Mountain West has been crazy this year so you never know.

UCF at Memphis- Memphis should be in while UCF is in a precarious situation. Their signature win was vs UConn on a neutral floor which looks worse and worse each day and they have lost to a couple of teams that are so inferior it makes me question how good UCF really is. Key Matchup is Will Barton vs Marcus Jordan.

Wednesday

Ohio St at Northwestern- The Wildcats could use a signature win since they blew the Michigan game. It would be great for Northwestern to make their first ever NCAA tourney but I think that there are more deserving teams so im pullin for the Buckeyes in this one.

UNLV at Colorado St- The Rams are closer to a bid than TCU and a sweep of UNLV would have to put them in the tourney. I have yet to see the Rams play this year so I might try to catch this one but dont be surprised if we see a rematch next week in the MWC tourney.

USF at Louisville- On the contrary, I have seen both these teams many times, probably too many times actually. USF wants to slow it down grind out games and hold you under 50 because they have no offensive talent. They try to dump it inside to Gilchrist but he hasnt improved in two years and Anderson has no back to the basket game. They are also a horrid shooting team which doesnt help. Louisville is the most inconsistent team in the nation. They played Kentucky tough to the end but lost to Providence by 33. This is a pretty even matchup but I think Lville takes a close win

St Joes at St Bonaventure and Dayton at Richmond- Both Dayton and St Joes are on the outside looking in right now because of good wins paired with even worse losses. I think both of them will be in the NIT.

Miss St at South Carolina- This one is simple too. Miss St must win and should win this one.

Miami at NCST- NCST had one thing going for them all year which was no great wins but no losses to inferior teams. That ended Saturday with a loss to Clemson. Miami got a great win yesterday but the suspension of Reggie Johnson will hurt their overall at large chances. Junior PF Kenny Kadji has been great for the Canes this year and will need to sustain that over the next two weeks.

Oklahoma at Texas- Texas cannot afford a bad loss and should handle the Sooners at home. Texas will probably be in the tourney but I see them exiting quickly.

Thursday

Michigan at Illinois- The Illini are not only fighting for a spot in the NCAA’s but for Bruce Weber’s job. Weber has the hottest seat in the country and Deron Williams aint walkin through that door.

Colorado at Oregon- Tad Boyle has done an amazing job with the Buffaloes since they have done so well without Alec Burks and Cory Higgins but their 24 point loss to Stanford probably puts them in the NIT. Oregon on the other hand is very much alive and winning this game would really help their resume. Its amazing how well they have done this year too without Jabari Brown.

New Mexico St at Nevada- Nevada is an intriguing team that can really score the ball and has one of the best front lines in the country with Olek Czyz and Dario Hunt. Unfortunately they will have to win their conference IMO since they have no great wins. Their best wins are home vs Washington and at Montana. On the hand, New Mexico St has an ok resume especially if they are to win this game. They have no bad losses and even a win at the Pit. If they won their last two games and made the finals for the WAC tourney, I would have no problem with them being in.

These are the bubble games Monday-Friday, hope you enjoyed the write up.

[Chilbert arenasParticipant]

 How has uconns bubble not burst yet? Biggest disappointment this year.

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

For some reason i still believe U Conn will get an at large bid..Just becuz they won the title last year,they play in the Big East and the talent of on their team…I guess the committee think they’ll play better in the Tourney….Remember a few years ago when everybody was shocked when Arizona got in despite not having an impressive record?

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

Memphis needs this win too.  If they lose, then they need to win the conference tournament to be in for sure. 

UConn needs a great Big East run to insure a NCAA tournament spot.

[Chilbert arenasParticipant]

 Who else thinks Baylor is gona be out in the first round this year?

[providencefriars1Participant]

Interesting fact: everyone talks about Long Bech St’s SOS but how about Mississippi Valley St’s. Both teams are undefeated in conference play and in non conference MVSU played at all these places. Notre Dame, DePaul, UNC, South Carolina, Arkansas, Northwestern, Ole Miss, Florida, Wisconsin, Iowa St.

Too bad they lost these games because this is one hell of a schedule.

[JNixonParticipant]

 Baylor probably has too much talent to lose in the 1st round. That 2nd round thing could get tricky, but I dont think they get past the Sweet 16.

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