Precap 2/9 - West Virginia, and 2 of the biggest mid-major games of the year today

2/9

Recap

• Yesterday’s “big win” opportunities reviewed

Yesterday, we had a couple of bubble teams that had opportunities to give themselves an extreme boost further into the bubble with Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Seton Hall. 

Starting with Seton Hall, the Pirates had an opportunity to prove that they could beat ranked teams as well as get a win that could put them in the tournament. However, at home, despite being up 2 with 12 minutes left in the second half, they couldn’t pull it out and Creighton pulled ahead by 13. Though if you look at the final score, you could assume that Seton Hall still can’t hang with ranked teams. However, since they were neck-and-neck with one of the hottest teams in the country for 28 minutes, I think that they may be able to beat one of these ranked teams eventually. They still have UConn and Providence away, which may be tough, but they also get Xavier at home.

Next up with Oklahoma, the Sooners visited Baylor to move back on the bubble, as they’re not on it right now. They lost by 10, and this could have eliminated them from the tournament. After trouncing #2 Alabama, they haven’t been the same team, losing 3 straight. However, we do know that they have the potential to make a Big 12 tournament run that could get them in. 6 of their 7 next games are against ranked teams, so if they can pick up a few wins there, it would still be doable for them.

Lastly, the only aforementioned team that won, West Virginia, beat an inconsistent #11 Iowa State. I really like this team. With this win, they won’t be on the bubble anymore. I believe that they only have to beat 1 of the 5 remaining ranked teams they play, and though I think they’ll win more than that, that’s the bare minimum. They’ve had a ton of close losses in the past, but now, I think that they’ve gotten over that weakness, though it is something to watch in the future.

• All of yesterday’s mid-major implications

On a relatively mild mid-major Wednesday, nothing too crazy happened upset-wise, but there were a few things to note.

We’ll start with the mid-major matchup of the day in San Diego State - Utah State. This game was almost a must-win for Utah State, as they likely only had 1 or maybe 2 losses to spare to earn at at-large bid. Now that they lost, they’ll be hanging on the bubble with a lot of room to make up. Outside of Nevada and Boise State, the rest of their schedule shouldn’t be too terrible, but they also have to visit Wyoming and UNLV. They get Nevada and Boise State at home, so they definitely could find themselves winning out the regular season and making the tournament.

Lastly, we’ll talk about St. Bonaventure. The Bonnies were coming off an incredible win vs Dayton, who just beat VCU, so they were in an incredible position at third place to maybe even win the conference. However, at home, they were upset by the hottest team in the A10, La Salle. The Explorers have been playing incredibly and dangerously recently, winning 3 straight. I still want to see a game with them against another big-5 team, and the only big-5 team they play for the rest of the regular season is Dayton. Make sure to catch that game.

Preview

• 3 huge mid-major matchups

There’s a lot to talk about, but we’ll just start with Southern Miss - Louisiana. These two teams are tied at the top of the conference at 10-2, and the last time they played, Louisiana won by 14 at home. But now Southern Miss is at home, and they’re favored by 2.5. Both of these teams are on long win streaks, with Louisiana on a 10-game streak and Southern Miss on a 7-game streak. It’ll be close, it’ll be incredible, and it’ll determine who is the king of the stacked Sun Belt.

After previewing the Louisiana game, I didn’t think any game could one up it. However, with UAB - North Texas, I think that has changed. UNT has begun to make a case for an at-large bid, and though I don’t think it would happen even if they won out, it’s something to notice. They play UAB, the hottest team in the C-USA. Last time they played at UAB, North Texas won by 11. Now they’re at home, and all signs are pointing to another win. However, UAB is coming off a win against first-placed and first team out of the Top 25 FAU. They look like a completely different team, and though I won’t go over why, you can read more about it in my 2/2-2/3 precap. Make sure not to miss this game.