Traveling all the way from one coast to the other is always a bit of a daunting task for a team in college basketball. Winning a game at the other team's place is even more difficult. That's just what Stanford did on Wednesday night when it took down one of the last unbeaten teams: UConn. We also saw an interesting game with Texas going to UNC. Let's take a look at Wednesday night's action.
Texas 86, North Carolina 83: Frankly, I thought North Carolina had figured out what was wrong. A home loss to Belmont was followed up by a win over Louisville. A loss at UAB was followed up by a win over Kentucky. But now UNC invited Texas, who has struggled in nearly every game this year, into its home and was fairly easily beaten. Even though UNC got close in the last 5 minutes, it never felt like UNC was going to grab the win here. Yes, this team seems better than Kentucky did last year, but the youth is killing it. And if Marcus Paige or James Michael McAdoo go down like Nerlens Noel did for Kentucky last year, UNC may also find itself in the NIT.
The win is also huge for Texas. As said, Texas didn't have a good win on its schedule before tonight, and it struggled against several of the low majors on its schedule. Texas won by 5 points or less points over Mercer, UT Arlington, and Temple, and only single digits against South Alabama and Vanderbilt. Michigan State will find itself in Austin on Saturday, and even though road wins are golden, Texas could use another win to solidify itself as a tournament team, which as of right now, it is merely on the bubble. Beating a team that already lost to Belmont and UAB isn't much to brag about.
NC State 65, Tennessee 58: Tennessee came away with a fairly bad road loss after this game. NCSU is a team that already has lost to North Carolina Central, at home no less, and before tonight, it lost its one road game of the year at Cincinnati. So to come away with a win against a team like Tennessee is huge for the Wolfpack. Wins in the ACC this year will be few and far between, but if NCSU has found some traction, and it can find someway to go 9-9 in conference, NCSU still has a shot at an at-large bid.
The Vols stock continues to drop, however. Yes, Tennessee has some decent points on the resume. It avenged an early season road loss to Xavier by beating XU in the Bahamas. It lost a close game at Wichita State. But it has inexcusably lost to UTEP, and now Tennessee lost a home game to a lesser opponent. Tennessee has one last good non-conference game left, against Virginia at home, but another loss will mean a low seed and danger for the Vols should they underperform in the SEC.
Saint Louis 83, Indiana State 66: This is by no means a surprising result. I include it mostly because despite decent computer numbers, ISU is quickly running out of chances to establish itself as an at-large contender. Losses to Belmont and Tulsa hurt, and while losing to St. Louis is not a bad thing, missing out on the win is. Indiana State has only a pair of games against Wichita State to prove itself, and it is looking increasingly like the MVC will be a one-bid conference.
Stanford 53, UConn 51: Along with UT/UNC, this was the co-game-of-the-night. UConn hadn't lost a non-conference home game in years, and Stanford has struggled with losses against BYU and Pitt and has an otherwise weak schedule. Johnny Dawkins is now in his sixth year as the Cardinal head coach, though Stanford has not made the NCAA tournament under his helm. Stanford has only even made the NIT one time in this span. Yes, Trent Johnson left the cupboard bare, but Dawkins has had enough time. If Stanford misses the tourney this year, Dawkins almost has to be gone. So this win is absolutely huge. With a resurgent Pac-12, Stanford can make the tournament now with merely a decent conference record. The Cardinal still have a chance for a massive non-conference win against Michigan on Saturday.
UConn is still in good shape. UConn was clearly overrated, but the Huskies should enter the American season 11-1. January 8 looms large, though, when UConn brings in Harvard. The American is no Big East, so UConn should be able to get a big number of wins this season, and continued success will guarantee a good seed regardless of competition.
The following teams are squarely in the tournament or on the bubble and won games unexpectedly. The exceptions, as noted below, are Drexel, who can't afford such losses, and Southern Miss, who is adding to the likelihood that Conference USA will only get one bid this year.
Ohio State 76, Delaware 64
UMass 83, Ohio 71
Ole Miss 75, UL Monroe 62
St. Joe's 75, Drexel 55 - road loss for Drexel, but not good loss
Western Kentucky 68, Southern Miss 65 - So. Miss can't afford this, needs major CUSA wins
UAB 67, Chattanooga 52
St. John's 81, USF 57
SMU 82, UT Pan Am 56
LSU 71, Texas Tech 69
Baylor 91, Northwestern St. 84 (OT) - disaster averted, two weeks off since beating UK hurt
San Diego St. 76, Southern Utah 39
Tomorrow's marquee matchup is UCLA traveling across the country to play Duke in Madison Square Garden in an attempt to replicate Stanford's Pac-12 success from tonight. This is a game between what should be between Top 25 teams who will both get good seeds in March. Expect to see a ton of offense in this game. In the Ken Pomeroy rankings, each team has a Top 12 offense, but UCLA's defense is ranked 75th and Duke's is #101. The teams are also both Top 60 in tempo, so expect a high-scoring game. Here are the other games you bracket watchers should keep an eye on for Thursday:
Iona at Dayton
UCLA vs. Duke at MSG
Troy vs. UCSB in Utah
Clemson at Auburn
UT Martin at Arkansas
Louisiana Lafayette at Jackson State
Southern at Arizona
American at St. Mary's
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