3 Most Important Results from Tonight
LSU 67, Marquette 59 – LSU has quite obviously improved to win a game like this. If it can win out the non-conference schedule (including a Jan. 2 game against Virginia), maybe it is a tournament contender after all. For Marquette, It was due to lay an egg. This loss will have little effect in the long run though tough game against Milwaukee and Vanderbilt remain before Big East play begins.
Cal 70, UC Santa Barbara 50 – It's come to this for the Pac-12. Beating UC Santa Barbara is a huge win for the league. That said, this was important for Cal to win in front of what might be a must win trip to UNLV Friday night.
Denver 57, Wyoming 46 – The best way for a low-major to make the NCAA Tournament as an at-large is to play a bunch of middling to decent mid-majors, beat them all and pile up a huge win total. Denver is doing just that with wins over St. Mary's, Southern Miss, Utah St., Portland St., Boise St. and now Wyoming. All that remains now is to not slip up in the remaining non-conference games (there are two and at Colorado St. could be trouble) and roll to a 14-2 or 15-1 type record in Sun Belt play.
Worst Loss from Tonight
Davidson 80, Kansas 74 – This is gonna sting at least in the seeding department. Davidson is decent, but they are nowhere near the Steph Curry teams of a few years ago. The lack of depth on the Kansas roster is evident (just six bench points and only six players able to contribute anything offensively in pretty much every game) making winning yet another Big 12 title look like a long shot at best with Baylor and Missouri playing so well.
3 Biggest Games of Tomorrow
Northern Iowa vs Ohio – 10-1 mid-major that looks tournament bound against 9-1 low major that needs quality wins? Sign me up. Should be a good game. The biggest question is whether Ohio can score enough to get Northern Iowa off its patient half court game. Nobody has managed that feat yet this season (St. Mary's didn't really score a bunch, it just held Northern Iowa to 41 points).
Gonzaga vs Butler – The two main mid-major powers square off with neither in as good a shape as normal. Butler is below .500 and needed a late tip in to beat Purdue just to be close right now. Gonzaga was ranked for awhile this season and has some quality wins, but it can ill afford to slip up against a team with Butler's resume.
Arizona vs Oakland – Another day, another chance for the Pac-12 to embarrass itself. Oakland is a decent team in the Summit League, but Pac-12 teams should win games like this, especially at home. As a whole though, the league has failed in these games pretty much all season (Bay Area schools exempted).
Final Thought on the Night in College Basketball
I understand why teams do it, but some teams shouldn't need to play home games at other venues. Tonight, one reason Kansas lost was that it played Davidson in Kansas City instead of at home in Lawrence. I know the game was played in Kansas City for the fans there and because campus is now closed, but at some schools like Kansas it shouldn't be necessary. The building would be sold out no matter what. That goes for you too Illinois (lost to UNLV on Saturday at United Center) though there is at least a recruiting benefit there. That also goes for the Oklahoma schools that couldn't sell out an arena together in Oklahoma City for a doubleheader. When are schools going to learn that the on campus atmosphere is what makes regular season college basketball great?
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