Preview Roundups
March 12, 2014
Notre Dame at Wake Forest 1:00 PM ET
Notre Dame enters its first ACC Tournament as the 13th seed and looks to avenge an earlier defeat against Wake Forest in the opening round at Greensboro, N.C. on Wednesday. The Fighting Irish comes in off three straight solid efforts, although the last two were losses to Pittsburgh in overtime and at 15th-ranked North Carolina 63-61. Wake Forest, the 12th seed, shocked sixth-ranked Duke last week at home before losing momentum in a 13-point defeat at Miami (Fla.) on Saturday.
Washington at Utah 3:00 PM ET
Utah reached the 20-win mark for the first time since 2008-09, but the Utes are still on the outside looking in when it comes to the NCAA Tournament. They’ll aim to improve their chances with a long run at this week’s Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas, starting with Wednesday’s first-round matchup against No. 9 seed Washington. The teams split two meetings this season, with Washington winning 59-57 in Seattle and Utah registering a 78-69 victory in Salt Lake City.
Virginia Tech at Miami-Florida 3:30 PM ET
Miami (Fla.) will have to win five games in five days to defend its ACC Tournament title, starting with a first-round battle against Virginia Tech on Wednesday in Greensboro, N.C. The 10th-seeded Hurricanes come in playing some of their best basketball of the season with four victories in six games, but 15th-seeded Virginia Tech has beaten them twice for its only two league wins. The Hokies have struggled with injuries much of the season and will be trying to snap a six-game losing streak.
Southern California at Colorado 5:30 PM ET
Colorado takes its road show to Las Vegas on Wednesday to face No. 12 seed Southern California in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament. The Buffaloes, who played five of their final seven regular-season games on the road, nearly earned a No. 3 seed before losing 66-65 in overtime at California on Saturday. Instead, Colorado heads into the tournament as a dangerous fifth seed against the Trojans, who lost 11 of their final 12 games and struggled all season under first-year coach Andy Enfield.
South Florida at Rutgers 7:00 PM ET
Seventh-seeded Rutgers rides a little momentum into its American Athletic Conference tournament opener against 10th-seeded South Florida on Wednesday at the FedExForum in Memphis, Tenn. The Scarlet Knights' only two victories in their last nine games were against the Bulls, but Rutgers did push a pair of ranked teams in the regular season's final week.
Texas Tech at Oklahoma St. 7:00 PM ET
Marcus Smart has more than a little bit of history with Texas Tech this season. The Oklahoma State guard will try to assure the Red Raiders don’t damage the Cowboys’ NCAA Tournament hopes when the teams meet in Wednesday’s first round of the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City. Smart infamously shoved a Texas Tech fan in the final seconds of a road loss to the Red Raiders and returned from a three-game suspension 14 days later to lead the Cowboys past Texas Tech.
South Carolina at Auburn 7:00 PM ET
South Carolina will have its fiery head coach back on the sidelines when it faces Auburn in the first round of the SEC tournament on Wednesday. Frank Martin was suspended for the Gamecocks' regular-season finale - a 74-62 win at Mississippi State - after a video of his profanity-laden tirade directed at freshman guard Duane Notice went viral following a 72-46 loss to top-ranked Florida last week. He returns in search of his first win in four meetings with the Tigers.
Butler at Seton Hall 7:00 PM ET
Four days after closing out the regular season against each other, Seton Hall and Butler will square off Wednesday in the opening game of the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden. Butler climbed out of the conference cellar by closing the regular season with back-to-back victories against DePaul and Seton Hall. The Pirates are trending the other way, wrapping up their regular season with seven losses in nine games.
Boston College at Georgia Tech 7:00 PM ET
Both Georgia Tech and Boston College showed what each is capable of by winning at Syracuse, but both teams also stumbled to a combined 26 losses in ACC play. That is why the No. 14 seed Eagles and 11th-seeded Yellow Jackets square off Wednesday on the opening day of the ACC tournament for the right to face Clemson in Thursday’s second round. The Yellow Jackets closed the season with two victories in a row, starting with the upset of the Orange, and own a pair of close victories over the Eagles.
Oregon St. at Oregon 9:00 PM ET
Oregon likely guaranteed itself a spot in the NCAA Tournament with Saturday’s win over Arizona, but don’t expect the Ducks to suddenly become complacent. The seventh-seeded Ducks carry a seven-game win streak into Wednesday’s Pac-12 Tournament first-round matchup in Las Vegas against No. 10 seed Oregon State. “I think we are still a desperate team,” Oregon forward Mike Moser told the Register-Guard. “That doesn’t go away even after the last few wins. You’ll see the same desperation next week.''
Central Florida at Temple 9:30 PM ET
Eighth-seeded Temple is going to have to win the AAC Tournament at the FedExForum in Memphis, Tenn. - starting with nine-seeded Central Florida on Wednesday - if its going to add to its streak of six straight NCAA Tournament appearances. Temple and Central Florida both finished league play at 4-14 and split their meetings, but the Owls got the higher seed thanks to its win against Southern Methodist in February. Wednesday's winner faces top-seeded Cincinnati in Thursday's quarterfinals.
Texas Christian at Baylor 9:30 PM ET
Baylor has seemingly played its way into the NCAA Tournament field with a sustained late-season charge and the Bears attempt to make a run in the Big 12 tourney when they open play against Texas Christian in Wednesday’s first round in Kansas City. Seventh-seeded Baylor has won seven of its last eight games to re-emerge after a midseason swoon in which it lost seven of eight contests. The 10th-seeded Horned Frogs have lost 18 straight games since the calendar turned to 2014.
Mississippi St. at Vanderbilt 9:30 PM ET
Vanderbilt limped into the SEC tournament with four straight losses, but the Commodores seem red-hot compared to their first-round foe. Mississippi State enters Wednesday's matchup at the Georgia Dome on a 13-game losing streak that dates to Jan. 22 and already includes one loss to the Commodores. The winner faces No. 6 seed Mississippi on Thursday night.
DePaul at Georgetown 9:30 PM ET
Georgetown knows that it likely needs to reach the Big East tournament title game to have any shot at earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. That dream begins Wednesday night, when the seventh-seeded Hoyas take on No. 10 DePaul at Madison Square Garden. The winner of this game will advance to Thursday afternoon's matchup against second-seeded Creighton - a team Georgetown knocked off just eight days ago.
Washington St. at Stanford 11:30 PM ET
Four days after recording the biggest upset in the Pac-12 this season, Washington State looks to pull another surprise Wednesday in Las Vegas in the conference tournament's first round against sixth-seeded Stanford. The 11th-seeded Cougars snapped an eight-game losing streak with Saturday’s 73-55 win over UCLA, and will need a similar effort against a veteran Stanford squad. The Cardinal swept the season series with an 80-48 home victory on Jan. 15 before winning 69-56 in Pullman on Feb. 15.