3 Most Important Results from Tonight
Xavier 82, Vanderbilt 70 – Vanderbilt is still missing Festus Ezeli, but winning on the road is a big time win for Xavier. They are probably a little overrated at number 11 though. As for Vanderbilt, the Commodores haven't yet had Ezeli and thus haven't really had the opportunity to live up to its preseason buzz yet. Check back when Ezeli returns in a couple of weeks.
Louisville 79, Long Beach St. 66 – Long Beach St.'s win over Pittsburgh was not a fluke, but they may have overscheduled a bit trying to ensure an at-large berth out of a league that doesn't get at-large berths very often. The 49ers are very good, but they already have three losses with games at Kansas and North Carolina and the Diamond Head Classic with an opening game against Xavier. The 49ers could easily end up with seven non-conference losses and no shot at an at-large, even with a couple of quality wins.
St. Mary's 87, Weber St. 70 – Weber St. was off to a 4-0 start and already beat Utah St. this season. This will end up being a decent win, possibly even a top 100 win for a St. Mary's team that is annually on the bubble as one of the last teams in or out of the NCAA Tournament field.
Worst Loss from Tonight
None – It was shocking to me that with 30 games on the schedule, no NCAA Tournament contenders took a bad loss. That normally doesn't happen and it certainly won't happen tomorrow.
3 Biggest Games of Tomorrow
Ohio St. vs Duke – The headliner of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge is expected to be a great game, but I'm not so sure. I think Ohio St. is a level or two above Duke and will show it at home.
Virginia vs Michigan – Virginia is 5-1 against a collection of nobodies so far. Beating Michigan at home would go a long way toward showing the Cavaliers really are NCAA Tournament contenders.
New Mexico St. vs Arizona – Arizona has lost its last two games against quality opposition (Mississippi St. and San Diego St.). It can ill afford to lose here with possible losses coming during a 3-game stretch against Florida, Clemson and Gonzaga and a still very weak Pac-12. New Mexico St. likely has to have this game to make a credible run at an at-large bid.
Final Thought on the night in College Basketball
Should Jim Boeheim lose his job at Syracuse over the Bernie Fine sex abuse scandal? Of course not. He erred in judgment in vehemently rushing to his longtime friend and assistants aid in the media when the story first broke, but there is nothing like the Joe Paterno-Mike McQuery mess at Penn St. football. When all is said and done, Boeheim will likely have a stain on his reputation that looks a lot like the one Jim Calhoun has for his recruiting violations that got him suspended for three games this season. It may not be right that the legacy consequences are the same (after all we are talking about cheating vs kids here), but Boeheim's on court legacy is far too great to be totally stained by something where he had no idea what was happening (and nobody else around the program did either).
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