There are six games on tonight with all kinds of bubble importance:
- 7:00 PM: Cincinnati (18-11, 8-8) @ South Florida (8-20, 3-13): Cincinnati absolutely has to win out if they want to make the dance, and that may not even be enough. The Bearcats are 1-8 against the RPI top 25 (the one win being against West Virginia last week), and while they don't have many bad losses, they also don't have many great wins.
- 7:30 PM: Kansas State (20-9, 8-6) @ Oklahoma State (19-9, 8-6): This might be a play-in game for the NCAA tournament. Right now, OK-State is probably in and K-State is on the outside looking in. That could change, however, with K-State winning this one on the road. The Wildcats really need to get to 10-6 in the Big XII if they want a bid because of how weak their non-conference schedule was. OK-State gets Oklahoma next, and probably won't get a bid at 8-8 in the Big XII.
- 7:30 PM: Georgetown (15-12, 6-10) @ St. John's (14-15, 5-11): It's hard to believe, but Georgetown still has an outside chance of making the dance. They need to win out, and then probably get at least one or two games in the Big East Tournament to have a chance at a bid.
- 9:00 PM: Wake Forest (22-5, 9-5) @ Maryland (18-10, 7-7): Maryland is in the dance with a win. Simple as that. With a loss, they are going to need to beat Virginia and get at least one game in the conference tourney to have a chance.
- 9:00 PM: Utah (20-8, 11-3) @ New Mexico (19-10, 10-4): Utah is a lock at this point. They are in the top 10 in the RPI, and no team with an RPI that high is going to miss the dance. New Mexico, on the other hand, needs this win to have a chance. The MWC is looking at just three teams right now (BYU and UNLV as well), but New Mexico can make a run if they can get this win. The Pit is always a tough place to play.
- 9:00 PM: Ohio State (18-9, 8-8) @ Iowa (14-15, 4-12): The Buckeyes are in pretty good shape right now. Their last two games are Iowa and Northwestern, and if they can win those two, they should be in the dance.
Duke has been playing much better since Coach K subbed Elliot Williams into the starting line-up. While Williams has been a spark on the defensive end, the biggest change has been offensively. Jon Scheyer is now playing the point. Part of his struggles earlier in the season were a result of being guarded by bigger, athletic guards. Now, he is being guarded by point guards, which he is much more effective against.
Florida State is a tough match-up for Duke simply because the 'Noles are big and athletic at every position (they start four players over 6'7", and their center is 7'1"). The key is that while guys like Chris Singleton and Uche Echefu are big, they can also get out and defend on the perimeter.
The rest of the games tonight:
- 7:00 PM: Michigan State (23-5, 13-3) @ Indiana (6-22, 1-15): Michigan State still has an outside chance of getting a #1 seed.
- 7:00 PM: Virginia (9-16, 3-11) @ Clemson (22-6, 8-6): Clemson lost to UVA less than a month ago in OT in Charlottesville.
- 9:00 PM: Rutgers (10-19, 1-15) @ Syracuse (21-8, 9-7): All the Orange are playing for at this point is seeding.
- 11:00 PM: Seattle (18-7) @ Washington (22-7): U-Dub scheduled this game to avoid getting rusty during their eight day lay-off.
Big South (campus sites):
- 7:00 PM: #8 High Point @ #1 Radford
- 7:00 PM: #7 Coastal Carolina @ #2 VMI
- 7:00 PM: #6 Gardner-Webb @ #3 Liberty
- 7:00 PM: #5 Winthrop @ #4 UNC-Asheville
Horizon (campus sites):
- 7:00 PM: #10 Detroit @ #3 Cleveland State
- 7:00 PM: #7 UIC @ #6 Youngstown State
- 7:00 PM: #9 Valparaiso @ #4 Wright State
- 8:00 PM: #8 Loyola @ #5 Milwaukee
Ohio Valley (campus sites):
- 7:30 PM: #5 Eastern Kentucky @ #4 Morehead State
- 8:00 PM: #8 Tennessee Tech @ #1 UT Martin
- 8:00 PM: #7 Eastern Illinois @ #2 Austin Peay
- 8:30 PM: #6 Tennessee State @ #3 Murray State
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