Dammit, for the third day in a row I'm pressed for time. Here's MY highlights:
# 2 Kentucky 75 - # 12 Kansas 65 = A sloppy first half left this tied at 28, with more total TOs than FGs. The 'Cats were slightly less sloppy in the 2nd, and won by a respectable, if not dominant, margin. But like I thought, the Jayhawks gave them game, and might have won had they not started the second stanza so poorly.
# 3 Ohio State 81 - # 7 Florida 74 = Pretty much what I thought it would be, with a Buckeye victory over a Gator team that played better this year on the road than they did last year at home against OSU.
# 6 Duke 74 - Michigan State 69 = You likely didn't need Bryan to tell you this was Coach K's 903rd win, taking the top spot from his old mentor Bobby Knight. Again, congratulations. And again, congratulations to the Spartans, who did what they did against Carolina by falling behind big but not giving up, and making a good game of it before the buzzer.
# 23 California 77 - Austin Peay 53 = As referenced above, A-P might have been able to steal this one, had they not scored a mere 13 points in the first half. Shoot, their FOOTBALL team could have done as well against the Golden Bears.
Middle Tennessee State 86 - UCLA 66 = Remember when the Bruins were good? No, I don't mean the Wooden era, I mean before the season started and they were ranked. A loss to Loyola-Marymount was bad. A spanking by MTSU is just wrong. So, Justin, if you want to hop on the Tar Heel bandwagon, feel free. The blue's about the same shade, anyway.
Charlotte 77 - Central Michigan 75 (2OT) = Aside from being a barn-burner, this interests me because the 49ers used to be pretty danged good. I'm not sure what this tells us, as I've no idea how good (or bad) Cent. Mich. is, so we'll have to wait another month or two.
Texas 100 - Rhode Island 90 = About the same situation here, though I do know the Longhorns are supposed to be a little down, while the Rams have been improving over the past few years. Again, wait and see applies.
Coastal Carolina 71 - LSU 63 // Elon 58 - South Carolina 53 = I lumped these two together to make a point about the SEC. What with earlier unexpected losses by Vandy and Mississippi State, these might foretell that the SEC is even more top-heavy than we expected.
Tonight's actions includes:
# 9 Pittsburgh vs. Long Beach State = Ehhh, I can see this lasting a half or so, but as I've said before, this is not the kind of game the Panthers lose.
# 14 Wisconsin vs. Colgate = As with the SEC, it's possible the Big Eighty-Six is top-heavy too. Yet the Badgers play a tough grind-'em-out style that's hard to beat, even if you AREN'T Colgate. If you ARE, then it's already over. I can see Wisconsin doing something it rarely can do . . . approach the century mark in scoring.
# 25 Florida State vs. Stetson = And I can't see Stetson cracking the Seminoles defense either. FSU needs to make a statement in this one, to start solidifying its claim as an ACC power.
N. C. State vs. Princeton = However, though the Wolfpack likely won't do the same, at least until next year's class of classy freshmen arrive, they do need to win some for their new coach while they can. The Tigers are not what they used to be, so this should give NCSU an opportunity to do so.
Creighton vs. UAB = And this is just another of those match-ups that pop out at me. This may have a shot at being a decent game.
Indiana vs. Evansville = This one too. Much like the Wolfpack, the Hoosiers aren't there yet, but they have been making steps back to where they were. And Evansville has already had a "signature" win over Butler, so that alone makes this interesting to me.
N. C. Asheville vs. Mars Hill = And this one is interesting to me because I'm wondering where in the hell these guys can find a place that's flat enough to play some hoops.
That's it for me. Keep those cards and letters coming fellas . . . and there's plenty of bandwidth for more of you to chip in also.