Friday, December 26, 2008

A Six Pack For The Weekend

A look at the six most notable games on this weekend's schedule:

West Virginia at Ohio State
B.J. Mullens finally made an impact for Ohio State against UNC-Asheville on Saturday, scoring 19 points and grabbing eight boards. If he puts up those numbers again against the smallish Mountaineers, the Buckeyes should be able to stay unbeaten.

Washington State at LSU
Neither of these teams has a bad loss, but they don't have any good wins, either. LSU is still in the bracket because on paper they should win the SEC West; if they lose here, though, they might be on the wrong side of the bubble very soon.

UAB at Louisville
This game could have huge at-large implications down the road for the Blazers, who already have a road win against Arizona on their OOC resume. The Cardinals, meanwhile, could shake their Most Disppointing Team title (a little) by holding serve at home.

Illinois State at Missouri State
The Redbirds stayed unbeaten and snuck into our latest Field of 65 by beating Illinois-Chicago last weekend. They have no OOC resume to speak of, though, which means they will probably need to win the MVC down the road to get a bid. A road win here would be a nice start.

Western Kentucky at Florida State
The Seminoles weren't able to pull of the upset against Pitt their last time out, but they hung tough and held the Panthers to 33 percent shooting from the field. That defense will come in handy against a balanced and dangerous Hilltoppers team (just ask Rick Pitino).

Siena at Saint Joseph's
The (over-hyped?) Saints haven't been able to knock off any of the headliners on their brutal non-conference schedule, but they did look good in a home win against Buffalo on Tuesday. They have an opportunity to make it two solid mid-major wins in a row here as they visit the Flying Lunardis.

Also receving votes: Texas Tech at Stanford, Rutgers at North Carolina, Miami (FL) at St. John's, Drake at Evansville

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