PRECAP - 1/29-30: Shakeups in the SoCon and MVC, 3 marquee matchups and a big night in the SWAC.

Precaps 1/29-1/30

Welcome to precaps, where we will go over what happened the day before in college basketball, and what is coming today. Follow the implications, impact, and storylines of college basketball as the season goes on.

Recap:

There weren’t any crazy results today, though some shake-ups happened in mid-major conferences. So, let’s get right into the conferences:

Big Ten:

There were a lot of implications today in the Big Ten. While Purdue took care of business at home, Michigan may have been eliminated from the tournament with a 22-point loss at Penn State. The third game of the day was Iowa-Rutgers, and Iowa ended up picking up the much-needed win. Northwestern is now second in the conference, but there are 8 other teams within a game and a half of them.

Big East:

Though there were only 2 games today, one of them was very important as Justin Moore had his first game back from Villanova. He didn’t play very well, but Villanova lost to #23 Providence by 5, which isn’t bad at all. They could be dangerous once Moore gets back into the hang of things. In the other game, St. John’s narrowly avoided a loss against Georgetown, as the Hoyas have been looking a lot better recently.

SoCon: Preseason SoCon favorites Furman got back to the top of the standings after beating former first place UNC Greensboro away in one of the biggest SoCon games of the year. This conference is still up in the air, but after beating Samford and UNCG, Furman looks like the best in the league for now.

MAAC: It was an eventful day in the MAAC, as all top 4 teams played. A highlight was 4th-placed Quinnipiac at 3rd-placed Iona, as the Gaels came back from a 16-point halftime deficit to pull ahead at the end. Favored Manhattan and Siena got their business done, and 2nd-place Rider barely got past Fairfield in an OT thriller. Siena still looks like the best team in the conference, but the resiliency shown from Iona and Rider is encouraging. 

American: 

None of the big 6 teams played each other, but there were some notable results. SMU moved ahead of USF in the standings with a win, and Wichita State beat ECU by an impressive 15 away. Wichita State may not make March Madness this year, but they sure are putting themselves in a spot for success in upcoming seasons. 

Missouri Valley:

If you don’t know already, the MVC is the most balanced conference in the country. 10 teams are 4-8 or better, with 8 being comfortably over .500. SIU and Belmont were the only teams with two conference losses, but they both lost to Illinois State and Drake. They’re still first place, but it shows the parity in the conference as Illinois State is 4-8. We really didn’t get any standing separation today, so the MVC is still wide open.

Preview:

Monday isn't very deep in terms of games, but there are 3 that will have major implications. In the ACC, Virginia visits Syracuse. The Orange likely won’t get an at-large bid, but need all the wins they can get, and could make a statement with a win today. Meanwhile, Virginia continues their quest for a two-seed (or 1 seed) and would really hope to avoid a Q-2 loss tonight.

There are two big-12 games, one of them being one of the best games of the week in Baylor-Texas. There’s a 6-team race for first place, and Baylor and Texas are two of these teams. Baylor’s the hottest team in the conference on a 6-game win streak, so we’ll see who comes out on top in Austin tonight.

Iowa State also meets 0-8 Texas Tech, and this just feels like it could be the one for Tech. They’re coming off their first win in awhile, and if they get Aimaq and Isaacs back at home tonight, I wouldn’t be surprised if they picked up their first B-12 win of the season.

Outside of the power conferences, it’s a big day for the SWAC. There are 2 big games between Grambling and Alcorn State, who are tied for second, and #1 Southern vs. #5 Jackson State. These games could shake up the conference a lot as well as show us some of these teams’ best, so make sure to catch them. 

The MEAC is having a very similar night, as underrated NC Central face preseason favorite Norfolk State. #1 UMES also plays #3 Morgan State, so these 2 games are must-watches in terms of MEAC standings.

In 2 Summit games, South Dakota gets their shot at undefeated Oral Roberts, as there’s an important game for the #2 spot with Kansas City playing South Dakota State, as these two teams are part of a 3-way-tie for third. Oral Roberts has many of these important games coming up, as they’re aiming for a 12 seed and don’t have much room for error.

Overall, it should be a very interesting day for college basketball with many potential conference shake-ups and conference semifinal and final previews.