Bubble Boy Breakdown

The Bubble by the Numbers
--31 Automatic Bids. That number will not change this season.
--34 At-Large Bids. That also is a static number.
--14 teams are in fantastic shape. They are listed as "virtual locks" in lower case black font in the Lockbox. Nine of them are conference leaders. That means that five At-Large bids are virtual locks at this point. It is hard to imagine any of these teams missing even at this early stage. This could change, but most if not all of these teams are not going anywhere.
--We saw a HUGE movement both from the top and bottom toward the middle this week--the teams that look pretty safe, but need more validation. I have 21 of those listed and I'm positive that is the most teams that I have ever listed in blue. One of those is a conference leader. With the "virtual locks" added to this group, that accounts for 25 At-Large bids that are not "bubble slots." Hence, 9 slots are up for grabs.
--The Bubble Boys who made it in are in green and those left out are in red in the Lockbox.

Last Night's GOI
--at Arkansas 78, Mississippi State 58. Hogs cool the Dogs real proper-like.
--at Dayton 63, St. Louis 36. This one was, how do you say...not close.
--at Drake 75, Creighton 65. Drake is now THREE games clear of the field in the Valley. This race is nearly over.
--UMass 94, at Duquesne 80. Dukes are much-improved and dangerous, but not ready for the top of the A-10 this year.
--Memphis 89, at Houston 77. Tigers are the only team left with a bagel in the loss column...
--at Kansas State 84, Kansas 75. Because KU fell in Manhattan in historic fashion.
--Rider 79, at Marist 65. Meet your new MAAC favorites.
--at Mississippi 74, Vanderbilt 58. 'Dores are going all 2007 Clemson on us.
--at Pittsburgh 69, Villanova 57. In case there was any doubt, Nova is not an NCAA team at this point.
--Seton Hall 84, at Rutgers 71 (OT). But, the SHU IS an NCAA team at this point.
Tonight's GOI
--Murray State at Austin Peay. OVC throwdown to determine first place.
--GA Southern at Chattanooga. Two of your top 4 SoCon teams.
--NC State at Duke. Pack needs a quality win badly.
--Boston College at North Carolina. Ditto BC.
--South Alabama at North Texas. USA is blemish free in the Belt and 15-3 overall, but NT is 8-1 at home.
--Providence at Notre Dame. Two of the fat middle of the Big East. ND can separate toward the top a bit with a win.
--Arizona at Southern Cal. Both have been hot of late.
--Arizona State at UCLA. Devils need to stop the bleeding of a 3-game losing streak.
--Indiana at Wisconsin. IU is still looking for that signature win.

WKU Update/Lockbox

I am blogging for WNKY.net, a local TV station here in Bowling Green, KY, a couple of times per week. Here is today's blog on the improved (and still improving) WKU defense.

Also, the Lockbox has been updated. One change has been made since Monday's bracket: I swapped BYU IN and took Miami-FL OUT. A more extensive Bubble Boy Breakdown is forthcoming tonight or tomorrow.

Last Night's GOI
--at George Mason 63, VCU 51. Pats pull within one game of VCU in the CAA.
--at Virginia Tech 89, Florida State 80. 'Noles are fading, and the Hokies still have work to do.
--at Wake Forest 70, Miami-FL 68. Canes fall to 2-4 in ACC. It's going to be a meatgrinder in that league.

Tonight's GOI
--Mississippi State at Arkansas. Hogs must hold serve at home against red-hot Dogs to stay in the bracket.
--St. Louis at Dayton. Flyers have lost three straight and REALLY need a win to stop the bleeding.
--Creighton at Drake. Old guard vs New guard. Drake is two games clear of anyone else in the Valley.
--UMass at Duquesne. Minutemen are trying to stay in the bracket while Dukes try to get in on the conversation.
--Memphis at Houston. Probably the Tigers' toughest conference game.
--Kansas at Kansas State. In-state rivalry alert, and first place in the Big XII at stake!
--Rider at Marist. HUGE MAAC throwdown between two teams that are part of a three-way tie for first.
--Vanderbilt at Mississippi. Two early season darlings who suddenly find themselves in need of a win.
--Villanova at Pittsburgh. Cats badly need a win, and Pitt just lost at home to Rutgers. Both are hungry.
--Seton Hall at Rutgers. Dangerous game for Bubbly SHU.
--Texas at Texas A&M. Aggies really need a big win to for a lot of reasons, but chiefly to avoid going 2-4 in conference.
--

Bracket Update 1/29

I had some FTP issues, but the link to the bracket is finally ready. Sorry about the delay.

At the bottom of the bracket, I took Saint Joseph's, Arkansas and Illinois State over teams like Villanova, Syracuse, Oregon, Creighton, Providence, BYU, and half of the ACC.

Multi-Bid Conference Breakdown
Big East (8): Georgetown, Pitt, West Virginia, Marquette, Notre Dame, Louisville, UConn, Seton Hall
Big XII (6): Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Baylor, Kansas State, Texas A&M
SEC (6): Tennessee, Mississippi, Vanderbilt, Florida, Mississippi State, Arkansas
Pac-10 (5): UCLA, Washington State, Stanford, Arizona, Southern Cal
Big Ten (5): Indiana, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Purdue
ACC (4): Duke, North Carolina, Clemson, Miami-FL
Atlantic 10 (5): Dayton, Xavier, UMass, Rhode Island, Saint Joseph's
Missouri Valley (2): Drake, Illinois State
West Coast (2): St. Mary's, Gonzaga

Tonight's GOI
--VCU at George Mason. Massive CAA tilt.
--Florida State at Virginia Tech. Both very much alive, but both in dire need.
--Miami-FL at Wake Forest. Miami-FL can ill afford to slip to 2-4 in conference.

Buster Update/Weekend Forecast 1/25-1/27

BracketBusters Standings have been updated through Thursday's (Jan 24) games.

Match ups might look something like this as of today:

ESPN2 (6)
Drake at Butler
Kent St at St. Mary's
Creighton at Ohio
George Mason at Ill St
VCU at Oral Roberts
Nevada at Akron

ESPN Classic (1)
Davidson at Utah St

ESPNU (5)
Marist at Cleveland St
Miami-OH at Valparaiso
Wright St at Winthrop
UC-Santa Barbara at SIU
Siena at Missouri State

ESPN360 (2)
GA Southern at CS-Northridge
Indiana St at Appalachian St

Tonight
--Northern Arizona at Weber State. The outright lead in the Big Sky is on the line!
Saturday
--Auburn at Alabama. In-state rivalry alert!
--Washington State at Arizona State. Devils need to right the ship, but that's a tall order vs Cougars.
--Oklahoma at Baylor. Two much improved Big XII teams.
--New Mexico at BYU. Two of the better Mt West clubs.
--Appalachian State at Chattanooga. BIG SoCon showdown for outright lead in the North.
--NC State at Florida State. Both need it desperately.
--UConn at Indiana. Hoosiers need to stack up as many quality wins as possible for seeding purposes. UConn is fighting to solidify their NCAA status.
--Gonzaga at Memphis. Slim as the chances may be, this is one of the few remaining games that could make Memphis sweat.
--Mississippi at Mississippi State. This one has not meant this much in awhile.
--Minnesota at Ohio State. Gophers need to score some quality wins.
--Southern Cal at Oregon. Both need it, but Ducks need it more as they have lost 3 straight.
--Wisconsin at Purdue. Badgers looked vulnerable last time out and Boilers are starting to roll a bit.
--Dayton at Richmond. Flyers must respond on the road after that pasting at Xavier.
--UNLV at San Diego St. Two of four MWC teams with just one conference loss.
--Creighton at SIU. Usually for Valley supremacy, but neither can afford to lose this one.
--Saint Joseph's at Temple. Big Five, baby! And both teams are playing well.
--Notre Dame at Villanova. Two of mass of viable Big East teams.
--Georgetown at West Virginia. Tough roadie for Hoyas.
Sunday
--Vanderbilt at Florida. Gators have just two wins vs RPI top 100: GA Southern and Temple.
--Duke at Maryland. Terps are at home and riding high after their win over UNC.
--Xavier at UMass. Muskies were a wrecking ball vs Dayton this week.
--Clemson at Miami-FL. Both got off to great starts, but both have faded a bit lately.
--Providence at Syracuse. Both look destined to be Bubble Boys.

Lockbox Update 1/23

Here is today's Lockbox. Enough games have been played to at least see the beginnings of a Bubble (the teams in red and green). There are a number of teams that can move into "virtual lock" status with just a couple of more wins. The Bubble is currently 14, but history says that number will shrink in the coming weeks and level off at about 7 or 8 by conference tourney time. By Selection Sunday, there are usually 4 or 5 slots that are iffy, with two or three that are truly a crap shoot.

The Bubble by the Numbers
--31 Automatic Bids. That number will not change this season.
--34 At-Large Bids. That also is a static number.
--18 teams are in fantastic shape. They are listed as "virtual locks" in lower case black font in the Lockbox. Nine of them are conference leaders. That means that nine At-Large bids are virtual locks at this point. It is hard to imagine any of these teams missing even at this early stage. This could change, but most if not all of these teams are not going anywhere.
--11 other teams look pretty safe, but need more validation. Those teams are listed in blue. That accounts for 20 At-Large bids that are not "bubble slots." Hence, 14 slots are up for grabs.
--The Bubble Boys who made it in are in green and those left out are in red in the Lockbox.

Tonight's GOI
--Illinois State at Bradley. Redbirds AL hopes are on thin ice. They cannot afford many losses.
--UConn at Cincinnati. Huskies need to take care of this kind of game.
--Kansas State at Colorado. Ditto for K-State.
--Virginia at Florida State. Two Bubble Boys at this stage.
--Akron at Kent State. This is the most important game of the night.
--North Carolina at Miami-FL. Canes need a signature win, and they have the Heels at home.
--UMass at Saint Joseph's. Both look like Bubble Boy candidates.
--Pittsburgh at St. John's. Panthers need to show they can win on the road without their injured players.
--Baylor at Texas A&M. A combined 28-5.
--Missouri at Texas Tech. It's too early to say "must win," but both are in dire need.

Bracket Update 1/21

Here is today's (tonight's) updated bracket. It is less than 8 weeks until Selection Sunday.

Lots of good arguments to be made against teams IN or for teams left OUT. I felt "iffy" about five teams: Florida, Kansas State, Boston College, Illinois State and Southern Cal.

But, I went with those clubs over teams like Syracuse, Virginia, Arkansas, Miami-FL, Kent State, Saint Joseph's, and a few others.

Multi-Bid Conference Breakdown
Big East (9): Georgetown, Pitt, Villanova, West Virginia, Marquette, Notre Dame, Providence, Louisville, UConn
Pac-10 (7): UCLA, Washington State, Stanford, Arizona State, Arizona, Oregon, Southern Cal
Big XII (6): Kansas, Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Baylor, Kansas State
ACC (4): Duke, North Carolina, Clemson, Boston College
SEC (4): Tennessee, Mississippi, Vanderbilt, Florida
Big Ten (4): Indiana, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Ohio State
Atlantic 10 (4): Dayton, Xavier, UMass, Rhode Island
Missouri Valley (2): Drake, Illinois State
Horizon (2): Butler, Cleveland State
West Coast (2): St. Mary's, Gonzaga

Short Hiatus

I am heading to New York City (first trip!) tomorrow, and I am in crazy-prep mode. I will be attending the George Washington at Fordham game on Wednesday while I am there. Anyway, this blog will take a one-week break.

New bracket next Monday, and we will also begin the regular weekly rotation from then until Selection Sunday, which is now less than nine weeks away.

Mondays: New Bracket
Tuesdays: BracketBusters Update
Wednesdays: Lockbox Breakdown
Thursdays: Wild Card
Fridays: Weekend Forecast

Weekend Forecast 1/11-1/13

Last Night's GOI
--Arkansas 76, at Auburn 70. Hogs got a bit of fight from AU, but won a game they had to.
--at Louisville 63, West Virginia 54. It was not this close. UofL looks to be putting it together a bit.
--at Oregon 79, California 70. Bears are shaping up as a classic Bubble Boy. No top 50 wins right now, and no sub-100 losses. They need to cash in a few big home games in the Pac-10.
--Washington State 73, at Southern Cal 58. USC is in some trouble. Wins over Miami-OH and Oklahoma are the best they have, and they have started 0-3 in conference. They had better beat Washington at home, because they have three straight roadies after that. Oh, and Washington State is good.

Weekend Forecast
Tonight
--Siena at Niagara. It will be fast with a lot of points. These are two good teams.
Saturday
--UNLV at Air Force. Bubbly Rebels must be careful. Falcons are down this year, but still a threat at home.
--Wake Forest at Boston College. Is Wake good? Is BC bad? Interesting and important ACC game.
--Florida State at Clemson. Was Charlotte the beginning of the "Clemson slide?" That UNC game may have set them up for a fall when the 49ers visited. At any rate, Clemson needs to win this home game badly.
--UC-Santa Barbara at CS-Fullerton. Two of the best Big West teams collide.
--Pacific at CS-Northridge. Ditto.
--UConn at Georgetown. Hoyas meet a team with some inside bulk to fight Hibbert.
--Arizona at Houston. Cats might want to be careful here, lest they enter Bubbleland.
--Vanderbilt at Kentucky. 'Dores have owned the Cats of late and Vandy has looked MUCH better this season. But, this is still one to watch due to Vandy's spot-free record.
--Holy Cross at Lafayette. This will be the Leopards' first home game in FORTY days. That's 8 games in a row away from home. And, they are probably the top challenger to HC in the Patriot.
--Notre Dame at Marquette. Eagles have looked vulnerable the last two games.
--Texas at Missouri. Chance for the Tigers to score a marquee win at home.
--Kansas at Nebraska. Border rivals with a combined record of 25-2. HUGE opp for Huskers.
--South Alabama at New Orleans. Danger game for Belt's only team with no conference losses and an 8-game win streak going.
--NC State at North Carolina. In-state rivalry alert!
--Miami-OH at Ohio. Two top-50 RPI MAC teams.
--Kansas State at Oklahoma. Sooners have looked like an NCAA team. Wildcats? Not so much.
--Ohio State at Purdue. Buckeyes seem to be finding their groove. Boilers still looking.
--Washington State at UCLA. Winner gets a 1-seed on Monday.
--Creighton at Wichita State. Jays have to win these kind to stay viable.
--Cleveland State at Wright State. That would be your Horizon leading CSU Vikings...not Butler, not Valpo, not Wright State.
Sunday
--Alabama at Arkansas. If either fancies themselves an NCAA team, they need this one.
--Virginia at Duke. Cavs lost by nearly 40 at Xavier.
--Stanford at Oregon. Nice match up of probable NCAA teams.
--Duquesne at Rhode Island. Dukes have been overshadowed by sexier A10 teams, but they have played well to date.
--Syracuse at West Virginia. Two teams in the massive middle of the Big East.

Daily Grind

Last Night's GOI
--at Arizona State 64, Arizona 59 (OT). I'm not a "told you so" kind of guy, but the combo of rivalry, home court, a rare chance for ASU to win, extra motivation, and a team playing well was too much for Zona to overcome. Told you so.
--at Dayton 92, Rhode Island 83. Flyers get a leg up on Rams in the A10.
--at Delaware 73, George Mason 68 (OT). Blue Hens are STILL your CAA leaders (4-0).
--at Drake 75, Indiana State 50. ISU's first loss, and Drake is now one of two MVC teams spot-free in conference play (Illinois State).
--at Georgia 79, Georgia Tech 72. Jackets are flailing pretty badly.
--St. Joseph's 98, at UMass 92. Hawks win in a track meet. Is UMass just the 5th (or 6th) best team in A10? That could very well be.
--Pitt 79, at South Florida 66. Important win for M*A*S*H unit Pitt.
--Duke 74, at Temple 64. Owls go under .500, but they have played a monster schedule. Of course, the A10 is a bear this season, too.
--at Tennessee 85, Mississippi 83. Rebels' first loss, but they have served notice to the rest of the SEC.
--UAB 62, at Tulane 61. Blazers are now 9-2 in their last 11.

Tonight's GOI
--Arkansas at Auburn. Auburn is not great, but Arkansas is Bubbly as a NCAA-worthy team at this point. They need to win their "easier" road games.
--West Virginia at Louisville. 'Eers are trying to solidify themselves early in the conf season as an NCAA team, while Louisville looks to build on their blowout of rival Kentucky.
--California at Oregon. Good matchup of potential Bubble Pac-10 teams.
--Washington State at Southern Cal. USC could use a marquee win, and this is a huge chance at home.

State of Sun Belt: January Edition

Sun Belt play has started, and it can officially be said that the Belt is better this season than the last couple of years. The current conference RPI is #16, and could potentially move up to #15 past the SoCon depending how things play out. That is up from #21 last year and #18 in 2006.

South Alabama looks to be a solid top 50 team. They are 12-3, with losses to teams all in the top 40 RPI, including taking Vandy to OT in Nashville. They have beaten SEC member Mississippi State, and two other pretty good teams in Chattanooga and Western Kentucky. The Toppers probably had the second-best non-conference season, losing to Gonzaga, Tennessee, and SIU by slim margins, and beating Nebraska. North Texas and New Orleans have been up and down, but both have already slipped twice in conference play. That leaves UALR among teams I would label "good teams" in the league. The Trojans' have played stifling defense to this point, although they have lost three of their last four including a 15-point walloping to state rival Arkansas State. They may be coming back to earth a bit.

The two big surprises are Denver and UL-Lafayette. The Pioneers are just 5-8, but they were 4-25 last year and lost a lot of players and their coach. They upset North Texas last week, too. UL-Lafayette started the season 0-6 vs DI teams, but are 6-1 in their last seven.

South Alabama has emerged as the clear favorite to Dance, especially since the conference tourney is on their home court. WKU played neck and neck with them in Mobile last Sat, so the Toppers are still a major threat as well. Everyone else seems a rung below these two, but UL-Lafayette certainly deserves watching given their recent surge.

Last Night's GOI
--Florida 90, at Alabama 83. Good road win for Gators, even though Tide perennially underachieves.
--at Baylor 72, Brown 62. Baylor keeps the dream alive and Brown is no slouch. I like them in the Ivy.
--Georgetown 76, at DePaul 60. Time for the Hoyas to start showing us what they are made of: GOODNESS.
--St. Mary's 77, at Fresno State 68. Gaels log a confidence-building road win.
--at Illinois State 51, Northern Iowa 46. Redbirds move to 4-0 in the MVC with road wins at Creighton and Wichita State in tow.
--at Marquette 61, Seton Hall 56. Eagles scratch out a tough win at home.
--at Maryland 73, Holy Cross 48. Surprisingly lopsided.
--Indiana 78, at Michigan 64. Wolverines continue to flail, but IU looked very strong.
--at Michigan State 78, Purdue 75. Closer than most expected.
--at Wake Forest 79, BYU 62. Cougars' early season momentum has been flushed away.

Tonight's GOI
--Arizona at Arizona State. In-state rivalry alert! How long has it been since we expected AZ State to win this one? I do tonight.
--Rhode Island at Dayton. Critical early conference game in the A-10. BIG.
--George Mason at Delaware. Blue Hens are your current CAA leaders (3-0).
--Indiana State at Drake. Both blemish-free in the Valley.
--Georgia Tech at Georgia. In-state rivalry alert! Both BADLY need it, too.
--St. Joseph's at UMass. A not-quite-as-big-as-URI-Dayton-but-still-big A-10 game.
--Pitt at South Florida. How good are these depleted Panthers?
--Duke at Temple. Monster home opportunity for the Owls.
--Mississippi at Tennessee. These two are a combined 24-1. Ole Miss is still undefeated.
--UAB at Tulane. Two of the better CUSA teams not named Memphis.

--

BracketBusters Standings 01/08

The BracketBusters standings have been updated. If the pairings were announced today, this is what I think ESPN would do. Remember, this is made for TV, not fairness.

EDIT: A kind reader pointed out that Drake and St. Mary's have already locked horns this season, so I made the adjustment. Thanks!

ESPN2 (6)
Kent State at St. Mary's
Drake at Butler
George Mason at Valparaiso
Nevada at Illinois State
Creighton at Winthrop
Niagara at Ohio

ESPN Classic (1)
Miami-OH at CS-Northridge

ESPNU (5)
Wright State at Oral Roberts
Siena at Holy Cross
Marist at Cleveland State
VCU at SIU
Davidson at Akron

ESPN360.com (2)
UC-Santa Barbara at UW-Green Bay
Wichita State at Boise State

Tonight's GOI
--Florida at Alabama. One of these paper tigers will use a 3-hole punch on the other.
--Brown at Baylor. Two pleasant surprises in the non-conference.
--Georgetown at DePaul. Blue Demons have already taken care of Providence and Villanova in their last two home games.
--St. Mary's at Fresno State. Gael have been manhandled in their only two road games (SIU, Texas).
--Northern Iowa at Illinois State. Redbirds have been solid since their inexplicable loss to Eastern Michigan, including FOUR true road wins in a row before beating SIU at home in their last game.
--Seton Hall at Marquette. Warriors will be angry after losing at WVU last time out. SHU could use a signature win to bolster their profile.
--Holy Cross at Maryland. Crusaders are good and MD has been shaky.
--Indiana at Michigan. Hoosiers had a close on at Iowa. UM played well at Purdue on Sat.
--Purdue at Michigan State. Sparty is a heavy favorite, but Purdue needs to get it in gear. Their profile (and RPI) is very weak at this point.
--BYU at Wake Forest. Cougars find themselves in need of a win.
--

First Lockbox

You have to start somewhere, and this is the starting point for the Lockbox.

The Bubble by the Numbers
--31 Automatic Bids. That number will not change this season.
--34 At-Large Bids. That also is a static number.
--18 teams are in fantastic shape. They are listed as "virtual locks" in lower case black font in the Lockbox. Eight of them are conference leaders. That means that 10 At-Large bids are virtual locks at this point. It is hard to imagine any of these teams missing even at this early stage. This could change, but most if not all of these teams are not going anywhere.
--10 other teams look pretty safe, but need more validation. Those teams are listed in blue. That accounts for 20 At-Large bids that are not "bubble slots." Hence, 14 slots are up for grabs.
--The Bubble Boys who made it in are in green and those left out are in red in the Lockbox.

Weekend Forecast/Bracket

Bracket is up. This is mostly just muddling through. Next bracket (a week from Monday) will be complete with rationale and conference breakdown and whatnot.

Last Night's GOI
--at Arizona State 62, Oregon 54. There is quite a story brewin' in Tempe.
--at California 92, Southern Cal 82. Cal validates a good start and cracks the top 50 RPI.
--at Davidson 92, Georgia Southern 67. SoCon is still Davidson's league.
--Ohio State 74, at Illinois 54. Illini are looking like an NIT team.
--at Marquette 96, Providence 67. Eagles might be your mid-season Big East favorite.
--at Memphis 102, Siena 58. Memphis is pretty good at basketball.
--at Notre Dame 69, West Virginia 56. Irish gather an important win.
--UConn 98, at Seton Hall 86. Big road win for UConn. They will likely be dangerous by late Feb.
--UCLA 76, at Stanford 67. Bruins score a nice road dubya.
--at Xavier 108, Virginia 70. Shield thine eyes from the glory of the Muskies!

WEEKEND FORECAST
Saturday
--Miami-OH at Akron. HUGE, HUGE MAC throwdown.
--Oregon at Arizona. Ducks need to get their, um, ducks in a row.
--Arkansas at Baylor. Big non-conf game for both, but Hogs need it more.
--Kansas at Boston College. Massive opportunity for BC.
--Valparaiso at Butler. The cream of the Horizon.
--UCLA at California. Bears just knocked off USC.
--Southern Illinois at Illinois State. In-state rivalry alert with big MVC implications and with SIU in panic mode. They have REALLY struggled in road games.
--Louisville at Kentucky. One of the biggest non-conference rivalries in the nation, and both desperately need it.
--Minnesota at Michigan State. Gophers look like a paper gopher to me, but we'll see.
--UConn at Notre Dame. Both in that fatty middle of the Big East.
--WKU at South Alabama. The cream of the Sun Belt.
--USC at Stanford. Both coming off losses.
--South Florida at Syracuse. Bulls have won 9 of 10.
--St. Mary's at Texas. TASTY non-conference morsel.
--UMass at Vanderbilt. Someone is eventually going to get Vandy and the Minutemen might be the team to do it.
--Washington State at Washington. In-state rivalry alert!
Sunday
--North Carolina at Clemson. Portly ACC action.
--Pittsburgh at Villanova. Depleted Pitt ventures away from home with Nova smarting from a loss to DePaul.
--Marquette at West Virginia. 'Eers need to score some quality wins.

Bracket on Deck

First bracket coming tomorrow.

Last Night's GOI
--at Drake 61, Southern Illinois 51. MVC is on notice that The Drake is this year's mid-season favorite.
--at Dayton 83, Akron 81 (2OT). This one did not disappoint, as the Flyers continue their blistering hot start.
--at UMass 95, Houston 89. Very important win for UMass.
--at James Madison 62, VCU 61 . Dukes hold serve at home in an important conference game.
--UALR 84, at New Orleans 75. UALR looks like a serious contender in the Belt West.
--at Tulane 68, LSU 63. As expected, Green Wave took care of the Bengals. TBB estimates that this is John Brady's last season at LSU.
--New Mexico 86, at UTEP 85 (OT). Lobos are 13-2 but lack a quality win.

Tonight's GOI
--Oregon at Arizona State. Sun Devils are playing well at home, including a recent 22-point walloping of Xavier.
--Southern Cal at California. The Pac-10 is going to be fun this year.
--Georgia Southern at Davidson. Time for Davidson to get their ship in order.
--Ohio State at Illinois. Illini are already in serious trouble. A win here would certainly help.
--Providence at Marquette. Friars are looking to validate their solid start.
--Siena at Memphis. Saints are good, but probably not good enough to challenge the Tigers at home. Still, if you like fast-paced hoops, this one is for you.
--West Virginia at Notre Dame. Two teams that look like prime March Bubble Boys.
--UConn at Seton Hall. Another important game in the Big East vast middle.
--UCLA at Stanford. More Pac-10 goodness and a real test for both.
--Virginia at Xavier. Cavs have won at Arizona, so another road win of this magnitude would go a LONG way.

Daily Grind

Tonight's GOI
--Southern Illinois at Drake . The grizzled veteran champs visit this year's "it" team in the MVC.
--Akron at Dayton. These two are a combined 21-3.
--Houston at UMass. These two are a combined 21-3. Deja vu.
--VCU at James Madison. Two of the top three CAA teams in the non-conference.
--UALR at New Orleans. Two of the better Sun Belt West clubs.
--LSU at Tulane. In-state rivalry alert, and Tulane is probably a better team for the first time in awhile.
--New Mexico at UTEP. These two are a combined 21-4.