As it turned out, neither of those games above were worth watching, save except for their fans. In fact, only one score jumped out at me:
Houston 64 - Nevada 61 = The Cougars may not be "Guy Lewis" back, but they are making some steps in the right direction. And I thought this was a decent win for them . . . until I noticed that this was Nevada's 7th loss in a row. Well, actually more, if you go back to last season.
There are not a lot of games tonight, but it does promise to give us some better ones. For instance:
# 4 Kansas vs. # 13 Memphis = Both teams are undefeated, so we can feel fairly secure in the knowledge that this will end tonight. The Jayhawks have been playing well, but have not been world-beaters. Meanwhile, the Tigers have shown the inconsistency of youth, of their players and their coach. I'd go with KU, but UM has a shot of making it close.
# 7 Michigan State vs. # 8 Syracuse = The Spartans have lost twice, to U. Conn and Duke, yet retain a higher ranking than the undefeated Orange . . . who haven't played much of anybody yet. Northern Iowa? Michigan? Georgia Tech and N.C. State? And some of those final scores have been mighty tight. Shoot, they only beat Wm.&Mary by 3! Go with MSU here . . . that zone won't stop their shooters.
# 19 Purdue vs. Valparaiso = And I'm even a little tempted to go with Valpo here. Purdue has struggled offensively all season . . . well, actually since they lost Robbie Hummel last spring . . . and they've now lost key reserve John Hart. Also, D.J. Byrd is questionable for tonight too. I'm not going to call for the upset, but if it happens don't be all that shocked.
James Madison vs. Marshall = Here's just two damn decent teams, going toe-to-toe.
Georgia vs. Georgia Tech = And both of these have started showing signs of improvement also. Plus, they don't much like each other.
ODU vs. East Carolina = Here is another one of those that has the potential to become a real barn-burner.
Long Beach State vs. Utah State = Pretty much the same game here, transported 1500 miles west . . . or however far Logan UT is from Greenville NC.
That's all I gots. Hey, it's better than last night, and maybe as good as tomorrow. That remains to be seen. Until then, then . . . enjoy.