Games of Interest - February 22 through 28, 2016

[njhoya78]

It’s the final full weekend of conference schedule play, as many mid-major conferences will conduct their tournaments next week. The Big East is down to two teams ranked in the AP Top 25, as Villanova maintains its #1 ranking for the third consecutive week and Xavier moves up three slots to #5; these two teams will match-up in Cincinnati on Wednesday night. Providence and Dayton both fell out of the Top 25, being replaced by Texas A&M (#21) and Utah (#22).

All times listed are in Eastern Standard Time.

Monday, February 22

BIG EAST CONFERENCE
No games scheduled

OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
No games scheduled

ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
#25 Texas at Kansas State, 7:00 pm (ESPN-U)
#3 Virginia at #12 Miami, 7:00 pm (ESPN)
#17 Iowa State at #14 West Virginia, 9:00 pm (ESPN)

Tuesday, February 23

BIG EAST CONFERENCE
No games scheduled

OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
No games scheduled

ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
Alabama at #16 Kentucky, 7:00 pm
#2 Kansas at #19 Baylor, 8:00 pm (ESPN 2)
#6 Michigan State at Ohio State, 9:00 pm (ESPN)

Wednesday, February 24

BIG EAST CONFERENCE
#1 Villanova at #5 Xavier, 7:00 pm (Fox Sports 1)
Marquette at Creighton, 8:00 pm (Fox Sports Network)

OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
Wisconsin at #8 Iowa, 9:00 pm (Big Ten Network)

ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
Mississippi State at #21 Texas A&M, 7:00 pm (ESPN 2)
#11 Louisville at Pittsburgh, 8:00 pm (ESPN 3)
#7 North Carolina at North Carolina State, 8:00 pm (ESPN 3)
#9 Arizona at Colorado, 9:00 pm (ESPN 2)
#23 Notre Dame at Wake Forest, 9:00 pm (ESPN 3)
Oklahoma State at #4 Oklahoma, 9:00 pm (ESPN-U)
Washington State at #13 Oregon, 10:00 pm (Pac 12 Network)

Thursday, February 25

BIG EAST CONFERENCE
Providence at Seton Hall, 7:00 pm (Fox Sports 1)
St. John’s at DePaul, 9:00 pm (Fox Sports 1)

OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
Bryant at St. Francis (New York), 7:00 pm
Connecticut at South Florida, 7:00 pm (CBS Sports Network)
Florida State at #15 Duke, 7:00 pm (ESPN)
Hofstra at North Carolina-Wilmington, 7:00 pm
Liberty at North Carolina-Asheville, 7:00 pm
Radford at Campbell, 7:00 pm
Texas San Antonio at Charlotte, 7:00 pm

ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
#24 Southern Methodist at Memphis, 7:00 pm
Arizona State at #22 Utah, 9:00 pm (Pac 12 Network)
#18 Indiana at Illinois, 9:00 pm

Friday, February 26

BIG EAST CONFERENCE
No games scheduled

OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
Dartmouth at Brown, 7:00 pm (ESPN 3)
Rider at Monmouth, 7:00 pm (ESPN 2)

ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
No games scheduled

Saturday, February 27

BIG EAST CONFERENCE
Butler at Georgetown, 12:00 noon (CBS)
#1 Villanova at Marquette, 2:00 pm (FOX)
DePaul at Providence, 4:00 pm (CBS Sports Network)

OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
Towson at North Carolina-Wilmington, 1:00 pm
North Carolina State at Syracuse, 2:00 pm (ESPN 3)
Delaware State at Maryland-Eastern Shore, 4:00 pm
Longwood at Radford, 4:00 pm
#10 Maryland at #20 Purdue, 4:00 pm (ESPN)
Bryant at Long Island-Brooklyn, 4:30 pm
Coastal Carolina at North Carolina-Asheville, 4:30 pm
Harvard at Brown, 6:00 pm
Texas El Paso at Charlotte, 7:00 pm

ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
Texas Tech at #2 Kansas, 12:00 noon (ESPN)
#9 Arizona at #22 Utah, 2:00 pm (ESPN)
#11 Louisville at #12 Miami, 2:00 pm (ESPN 3)
#4 Oklahoma at #25 Texas, 2:00 pm (CBS)
#16 Kentucky at Vanderbilt, 4:00 pm (CBS)
#23 Notre Dame at Florida State, 4:00 pm (ESPN 2)
#21 Texas A&M at Missouri, 4:00 pm (ESPN-U)
Kansas State at #17 Iowa State, 6:00 pm (ESPN 2)
#7 North Carolina at #3 Virginia, 6:30 pm (ESPN)
#19 Baylor at Texas Christian, 8:00 pm (ESPN-U)
#14 West Virginia at Oklahoma State, 8:00 pm (ESPN-U)

Sunday, February 28

BIG EAST CONFERENCE
#5 Xavier at Seton Hall, 12:30 pm (Fox Sports 1)
St. John’s at Creighton, 2:30 pm (Fox Sports 1)

OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
Houston at Connecticut, 1:00 pm (CBS Sports Network)
#15 Duke at Pittsburgh, 2:00 pm (CBS)
Niagara at Monmouth, 5:00 pm (ESPN 3)
Michigan at Wisconsin, 6:00 pm (Big Ten Network)

ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
Pennsylvania State at #6 Michigan State, 12:00 noon (Big Ten Network)
Tulane at #24 Southern Methodist, 3:00 pm (CBS Sports Network)
Ohio State at #8 Iowa, 4:00 pm
Washington at #13 Oregon, 8:30 pm (ESPN-U)

[GUJook97]

Its amazing that Kansas is going to win the B12 for the 12th year in a row, and that's with some years of having the best teams in America in their division. Helps to have their recruiting obviously, but unreal for Bill Self.

[mapei]

Speaking of Kansas, don't we play them next year?

[DanMcQ]

So much for on campus arenas...

[Deleted]

Article about the big game tonight (#1 Villanova at #5 Xavier)

sports.yahoo.com/news/why-villanova-xavier-clash-is-historically--religiously-relevant-032641954-ncaab.html

[DFW HOYA]

Feb 24, 2016 7:34:08 GMT -5 DanMcQ said:

So much for on campus arenas...

[hoyasaxa2003]

The BC situation just goes to prove that winning generally solves attendance problems. BC's awful run the last several years has decimated their attendance. People don't go to see losing teams.

[DanMcQ]

espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/14830314/villanova-wildcats-shake-ncaa-tournament-failures

[hoyasaxa2003]

The crowd for the Villanova Xavier game is great. Those types of games are exactly what the Big East needs.

[hoyaboya]

Feb 24, 2016 19:37:14 GMT -5 hoyasaxa2003 said:

The crowd for the Villanova Xavier game is great. Those types of games are exactly what the Big East needs.

100% agree. Kudos to Xavier.

[GUJook97]

Yeah, it's the biggest game of the night rankings-wise so it good for the big east to have an entertaining game. Seems to be that way.

[hoyaboya]

Feb 24, 2016 19:54:47 GMT -5 GUJook97 said:

Yeah, it's the biggest game of the night rankings-wise so it good for the big east to have an entertaining game. Seems to be that way.

Both teams play a great style of ball. Can understand why guard/wing recruits line up to play at these places.

[hoyaboya]

Xavier ridiculously deep. Looking like a Final 4 team tonight. Way more balanced than Nova.

[drquigley]

Agree. But looks like Nova will need to beat us in order to win BE championship. Could be ugly on March 5. Then again would give our guys something to play for.

[DanMcQ]

[hoyaboya]

Marquette beats Creighton in Omaha tonight. Pretty much ends any chance of Creighton getting an at-large as a bubble team.

[Filo]

Feb 24, 2016 21:05:28 GMT -5 hoyaboya said:

Xavier ridiculously deep. Looking like a Final 4 team tonight. Way more balanced than Nova.

Sounds simplistic but it really comes down to whether Nova shoots the ball well or not. Looking at the stats, the teams were not that far off (50% vs 45% overall, both at 39% from 3), but watching the game, Nova went on a awful streak where they couldn't buy a basket. They tend to be streaky and when they are on, they can beat anyone. When they are off or just mediocre, they get this game and the Oklahoma game.  Doesn't bode well for them for the NCAAs unless they hit a real hot streak...

[GUJook97]

Feb 25, 2016 7:22:29 GMT -5 Filo said:

Feb 24, 2016 21:05:28 GMT -5 hoyaboya said:

Xavier ridiculously deep. Looking like a Final 4 team tonight. Way more balanced than Nova.

Sounds simplistic but it really comes down to whether Nova shoots the ball well or not. Looking at the stats, the teams were not that far off (50% vs 45% overall, both at 39% from 3), but watching the game, Nova went on a awful streak where they couldn't buy a basket. They tend to be streaky and when they are on, they can beat anyone. When they are off or just mediocre, they get this game and the Oklahoma game.  Doesn't bode well for them for the NCAAs unless they hit a real hot streak...

I agree with you re: the tourney, but I still think last night was more about Xavier. They looked like one of the best teams in the country, IMO. As boya said, they are deep, they have good outside shooting, they have different defensive looks, good inside play, and balance. Of course, i say all that, and they will promptly lose in the 2nd round to the 6th place ACC team

[hoyasaxa2003]

One positive about Xavier winning is it increases their likelihood of getting a 1 seed, assuming they win out and don't have a bad BET loss.

[guru]

Feb 25, 2016 11:51:11 GMT -5 hoyasaxa2003 said:

One positive about Xavier winning is it increases their likelihood of getting a 1 seed, assuming they win out and don't have a bad BET loss.

A ton of pressure on X and Nova to carry the torch a long way in March for this conference. Another round of early flamouts for the NBE (particularly when one of the teams was ranked #1 for a portion of the season) makes it a lot harder to get people around the nation to take us seriously. Hmmm - wonder who's missing in this effort?