3 Most Important Results from Tonight
Alabama 69, LSU 53 – Different sport, same result. This one solidifies Alabama's standing in the top five of the SEC, a likely five bid league. It also leaves LSU in a world of hurt at the top team outside that group of five.
Temple 62, Saint Louis 57 – Huge win for Temple coming off the loss to Dayton. The Owls needed this one to show beating Duke wasn't a fluke. For Saint Louis, more up and down play (with more down that up recently) leaves it in need wins before the trip to Xavier in two weeks.
Memphis 60, Southern Miss 58 – Did you Southern Miss has a top 20 RPI? Therefore, this is a huge win for the largely lacking in quality wins Memphis, especially as the computer numbers weaken in Conference USA. As for Southern Miss, it would be in the tournament if the season ended today, but taking losses to anyone in Conference USA is a dicey proposition.
Worst Loss from Tonight
St. Bonaventure 81, Dayton 73 – As sure as the sun rises, Dayton will be all over the place. At this point would it surprise anyone if Dayton beat a team like Syracuse of Kentucky only to lose to a terrible Pac-12 team in a theoretical situation?
3 Biggest Games of Tomorrow
St. Mary's vs Gonzaga – Time for game one of the best series in the country outside of the power conferences. As usual, these teams are on top of the WCC, though winning this doesn't make a league title as automatic as it used to with BYU now in the league. That said, the winner here is likely a tournament lock barring a pretty bad collapse in February.
Duke vs Virginia – Time to see where Virginia fits in the ACC picture. It is obviously the 3rd best team, but is it closer to North Carolina and Duke or Maryland and NC State? This game will answer that question.
Purdue vs Wisconsin – Purdue is a bubble team right now with a couple of bad losses (Butler and Penn St.). It has been better at home and the Boilermakers can bury reeling Wisconsin in the Big Ten with a win tomorrow. Almost a must win for the tournament hopes of the Badgers.
Final Thought on the night in College Basketball
What's happening at Pitt. The normally solid Panthers have collapsed this season. Tonight, the collapse reached its likely lowpoint: getting blitzed at home by Rutgers while scoring only 39 points. For the Panthers, there is likely no fix on the horizon. Nobody knows when Tray Woodall will be back and even he won't help this team a ton given the putrid shooting we saw tonight. When Jay Bilas refuses to tell his twitter followers what channel the game is on for their own good, you know its gotten, especially on offense.
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