Wednesday's Pregame Beat

11:00 pm: New Mexico @ UNLV: In the game of the night, the Lobos travel up to Vegas in a battle for first place in the MWC. Back in January, UNLV knocked off New Mexico at the Pit on the strength of 21 points from Kendall Wallace. Since that loss, the Lobos have won seven straight games, including knocking off BYU, to move into the three-way first place tie.

UNLV has also been playing well of late. Since dropping a game to Utah at home, the Rebels have won five straight, including Saturday's whooping of BYU. That win created the three-way tie at the top of the league.

New Mexico has got to slow down the Rebels on the perimeter if they have any chance in this thing. The Rebels take and make a lot of threes, and when they are hitting, they can beat anyone. UNLV was 11-26 when they beat New Mexico early in the season, and made 12-23 on Saturday in their win over BYU.

Atlantic 10: There are two big games in the A-10 tonight, and both have some serious bubble ramifications. A lot of the bracket predictions currently have as many as six A-10 teams making the field of 65. That will likely not be the case come Selection Sunday as the A-10 is too balanced this season. It will be games like these that will likely determine which A-10 teams go, and which one don't.

• 7:00 pm: Richmond @ Rhode Island: The Spiders picked up a big win on Saturday by knocking off Temple, which put Richmond that much closer to an at-large. Rhode Island has a great computer profile, but needs to pick up a couple more wins to feel comfortable. They will get there shot this week, playing Richmond and Temple. I think URI wins this one at home. The Rams are simply too athletic for Richmond.
• 7:00 pm: Charlotte @ Dayton: Charlotte is currently in first in the conference, but they have the most work to do of any team in the league on the bubble. Dayton picked up a huge win Saturday by knocking off Xavier, but they also still have some work to do. I like Charlotte this season, as Shamari Spears and Chris Braswell are both high-major recruits and Derrio Green has been very good. Dayton, however, is just too physical for Charlotte.
  

7:00 pm: UConn @ Syracuse; 9:00 pm: Duke @ UNC: We've already touched on these games here, but we'll give you a little bit more insight. UConn is going to struggle against the Syracuse zone. The Orange are playing as well as they ever have on the defensive end of the floor, and this is a UConn team that really struggles in the half court. The only chance UConn has is if they can beat Syracuse down the floor, before the Orange have a chance to set up their defense.

I know of Duke struggles on the road this season, and I know that UNC has a knack for beating Duke even when they are having a down year. I also know that UNC's effort issues may be solved with the Dukies coming to town. UNC has a ton of talent, and if they can put it all together, they are good. Like, beat Michigan State good. That said, UNC is dealing with injuries right now (both Tyler Zeller and Travis Wear are out), and I think that they don't match-up all that well with Duke.

Bubble Watch

• 7:00 pm: Florida State @ Clemson: The middle of the ACC is a mess. Both Clemson and FSU have spent time in the top 25 this season, but both have been inconsistent. Florida State needs to prove they can win on the road, while Clemson simply needs to prove that they can win after losing four of their last five.
• 8:00 pm: UTEP @ SMU: UTEP still has a shot of getting an at-large bid, but they cannot afford any more bad losses. Even if its on the road, losing to SMU is a bad loss. SMU has been playing well lately, so the Miners better come ready to play.
• 8:00 pm: Florida @ South Carolina: Florida has yet to lock up an at-large berth, and playing in the SEC East, there are only so many chances for a winnable game that will help a resume. Kentucky couldn't win at SC, will the Gators? If you remember, these two teams played a classic a month ago.
• 8:30 pm: Northwestern @ Iowa: The Wildcats still have an outside chance of making a run at the dance, but they absolutely cannot lose to Iowa.
• 9:00 pm: Virginia Tech @ NC State: Va Tech is probably in the tournament as of today, but they have to prove their worth by beating teams a tournament team should beat on the road.

Other notable games

• 6:30 pm: Ohio State @ Indiana
• 7:00 pm: UCF @ Memphis
• 7:00 pm: Old Dominion @ James Madison
• 7:30 pm: Iowa State @ Missouri
• 8:00 pm: LSU @ Arkansas
• 8:00 pm: Iowa State @ Missouri
• 8:00 pm: Southern Miss @ Tulsa
• 9:00 pm: Baylor @ Nebraska
• 10:30 pm: Wyoming @ San Diego State