Highlighted Games for Monday, 12/18

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-UAB AT OLD DOMINION. UAB is coming off a loss to a very good VCU team, who is consequently Old Dominion’s biggest conference rival. Old Dominion is a respectable 7-3 with no losses that are overly damaging and they even have a win against Georgetown. The problem is that none of their other wins have been that good and their chances to get them from here on out will be few and far between. For that reason, any loss is going to be damaging.

-MISSOURI STATE AT SAINT LOUIS. Great matchup here. Missouri State is 8-1 with some very good wins and their only loss coming to an outstanding Oklahoma State team in overtime. Saint Louis is 7-2, but hasn’t looked quite as good. They recently fell to Southern Illinois and this would easily be their biggest win of the year so far and go a long way toward making a case that they are a tournament team. With the Atlantic Ten not being all that strong, Saint Louis needs a big win or two on their resume and this is as good a chance as any for them to get one.

-OKLAHOMA STATE VS TENNESSEE. Oklahoma State is unbeaten and although they are only ranked in the teens right now, they appear to be one of the best teams in the country. Tennessee has been playing outstanding basketball lately after looking inconsistent at the beginning of the season. They just got a good win against Western Kentucky, and knocked off Memphis before that, so they are hot right now. The game is being played in Nashville, so even though it’s technically a neutral site it will definitely be a pro-Tennessee crowd. It would be a huge win for either team, because the way both have been playing it is likely that both will contend for a very good seeding, and a win in this game will go a long way.


BUY GAMES

-HIGH POINT AT FLORIDA STATE. The Seminoles are off to a good start and shouldn’t have any trouble improving to 9-2 with a win tonight.

-CENTENARY AT GEORGIA TECH. Georgia Tech has lost three out of four and hasn’t looked all that impressive lately, despite being very talented. Still, they should have no trouble winning this game.

-ALABAMA STATE AT MISSISSIPPI STATE. Mississippi State is 7-2, but has no impressive wins yet. They should improve to 8-2 after tonight.

-NORFOLK STATE AT UNLV. At the time I’m writing this, UNLV has a lead over TX A&M Corpus Christi in the second half. Assuming they win that, they can improve to 8-2 with a win in this game.


NEWS AND NOTES

-My new bracket projections should be up at some time late tomorrow morning.