Four Point Play Dec. 27

3 Most Important Results from Tonight

Illinois 81, Minnesota 72 (2OT) – Illinois desperately needed this after getting drilled by UNLV and falling short in a comeback attempt against Missouri. It almost blew it to a Minnesota teams that has adapted well after the injury to Trevor Mbakwe behind a greatly improved Ralph Sampson III. Both teams should be fine in the long run.

Notre Dame 72, Pittsburgh 59 – Uh oh for Pittsburgh. The Panthers haven't had a great non-conference run and losing to Notre Dame to start Big East play won't help. As for Notre Dame, this win might start the climb out of the hole the Irish dug for itself in non-conference play.

Wisconsin 64, Nebraska 40 – Wisconsin is really good. Previously 8-3 Nebraska is 8-4 and obviously not ready for primetime.

Worst Loss from Tonight

St. John's 91, Providence 67 – St. John's is not good this season. The win moved the Red Storm to 7-5. Providence was thought to be good, but nobody knew because its strong record was countered with a weak schedule. I guess we now know which way the Friars are going.

3 Biggest Games of Tomorrow

Syracuse vs Seton Hall – Seton Hall is one of the surprises of the season so far. Now, on the road, we get to see how legit the Pirates are.

Baylor vs Mississippi St. - Baylor continues its pre-Big 12 insanity tour with a game against top 15 SEC power Mississippi St. The Bears should win (Miss St. is overrated in the top 15) and carry a truckload of momentum into Big 12 play.

Michigan St. vs Indiana – Michigan St. has rebounded well from getting beat by North Carolina and Duke to start the season. Now, the Spartans get to test Indiana at home, the first really good team to get that chance (sorry NC State). I think the Spartans will pass with flying colors, leaving Indiana to doubt how it got to where it is.

Final Thought on the night in College Basketball

The RPI is a mess right now. I know we aren't supposed to evaluate these things until later, but there is no way Northern Iowa is a top 5 team or Long Beach is a top 15 team (though those teams are very good and a threat to win a game in the NCAA Tournament if given that opportunity). With that known, we need an alternative to the RPI. What that is, I don't know, but I do know the RPI is a flawed system, at best.