Tuesday, December 18th Highlighted Match-ups

NEWS AND NOTES

If you didn't get a chance to see the bracket and/or read the analysis, it is posted in the blog below today's write-up.


HIGHLIGHTED MATCH-UPS

-OHIO STATE AT CLEVELAND STATE. It is rare that Ohio State plays anyone else from the state of Ohio, much less on the road. Cleveland State has won six of their last seven and is having their best season in quite some time. Head coach Gary Waters has made quite a bit of progress in terms of rebuilding the program and I wouldn’t be surprised if they give Ohio State a scare tonight. OSU doesn’t look like an NCAA Tournament team right now, and losing this game would be very damaging. They’ll get plenty of chances to make a case for themselves in conference, but they also need to take care of business in games like this.

-KANSAS AT GEORGIA TECH. Georgia Tech’s inexperience has hurt them this year, especially early on in the season. This is their first game in almost two weeks, so it’s hard to say for sure how well they’ll play. It should be an electric atmosphere, which means Kansas will likely be in for a bit of a fight. Kansas does have a win at USC, though, so they have been road tested against a good team.

-KENTUCKY AT HOUSTON. Houston is 9-1 on the year, but it’s hard to say how good they are because most of their schedule has consisted of cupcakes. This would be their most impressive win of the season, but it may not be as impressive as the Cougars had hoped if they pull it off. Other than the first half against UAB (a game that Kentucky ended up losing) The Wildcats have not looked good at all. They have lost three in a row and there is a good chance that this could end up being #4.

-CHARLOTTE AT TULSA. Charlotte has a very inconsistent team this year. They have some pretty good wins on their resume, but they also have some head scratching losses. Tulsa is off to a fairly decent start and could really give Charlotte some trouble. These are the kinds of games Charlotte needs to win. Tulsa is decent, but they don’t look like an NCAA Tournament team and Charlotte needs to prove that they can win games like this most of the time.

-NEW ORLEANS AT SOUTHERN MISS. New Orleans continues to look strong out of the Sun Belt. A win in this game would give them yet another road win and improve them to 7-1. It’s early, but if they can keep it up they can play their way into a position to receive an at-large bid.


BUY GAMES

-MONTANA STATE AT ARIZONA STATE. Montana State has shown some promise and could be a force in the Big Sky, but they don’t appear to be much of a match for an Arizona State team that is red hot right now. A win for ASU will get them to 8-2 on the year.

-COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON AT FLORIDA STATE. Florida State shouldn’t have too much trouble bouncing back from their loss to Butler and picking up a win in this game.

-MARSHALL AT LOUISVILLE. Louisville is very shorthanded, but they should have enough in the tank to win this game at home. It may sound strange, but this is a game they really need to win. A loss would be crippling, and they just need to hold on until they get some of their players back.

-CHICAGO STATE AT MIAMI, OH. This game should be a blowout, but with Miami one never knows. Miami is 4-4 and really needs a big win here.

-COLGATE AT SYRACUSE. Colgate is a modest 6-3 on the year, but they haven’t really played anyone quite as good as Syracuse. The Orange shouldn’t have too much trouble winning this one.

-ORAL ROBERTS AT TEXAS. This game is a huge mismatch, and Texas shouldn’t have any trouble remaining undefeated.

-WESTERN ILLINOIS AT UCLA. UCLA will likely win this one in a blowout.

-PORTLAND STATE AT WASHINGTON. Washington is just 5-4 on the year, and the pressure will really be on them once conference play begins. The last thing they need is a slipup in this game.

-NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL AT WESTERN KENTUCKY. WKU came very close to upsetting Tennessee in their last game. They shouldn’t have any trouble tonight.