[The Poet]

There were a few good notable games last night, and half of them upsets:

Syracuse 75 - Georgetown 71 = Before tipoff, one could pick this one either way. By halftime, one would have said The Orange in a walkover. But then they went totally dead from the field and blew all but one point of what was once a 23-point bulge, and the Hoyas even had a shot to take a late lead . . . which they clunked.

Pittsburgh 58 - Marquette 51 = This is just about what I expected here, with Pitt taking a close one over a pretty good, and largely overlooked, Golden Eagles squad.

Vanderbilt 82 - Mississippi 78 = And this too is pretty much what you'd think too, with the Commodores juuuuust slightly better than Ole Miss.

Minnesota 68 - Wisconsin 52 = But not this one. Hey, the Badgers have not been great this year, but they have been better than their fellow Northern brothers. OK, so maybe you picked the Gophers, but not by deep double-digits I betcha.

Oregon State 80 - California 64 = And here the Pac-10 gets repacked again. The Bears could have grabbed the conference race by the throat, but they let the so-so Beavers spank them, and thus opened the door for the Sun Devils to steal the crown. Yes, those two WILL go head-to-head soon.

Loyola Marymount 74 - Gonzaga 66 = Now, this one isn't just an upset, it's a total stunner. LM's victory moved them up to .500 with a 13-13 record (and that's a SOFT 13 wins they have too), while it dropped the ranked 'Zags to 21-4 (which, to be honest, is a fairly soft 21 Ws for them too, as their schedule has NOT been a killer). And, much like that upset of the Hoyas by Rutgers last weekend, I don't care that the game was in LA and not Spokane . . . there's no excuse for Gonzaga to drop this particular popfly.

As with most Friday nights, there is light action this evening. Unlike most Friday nights, there are a few key games to be played:

Cornell vs. Harvard = The Big Red is 7-1 in the Ivy, and the Crimson is 6-2. Along with Princeton at 6-1, who should stomp Yale tonight in Jadwin, here is you Brainiac Conference race right here.

ODU vs. Northern Iowa = And here is a key non-conference game late in the season between two 20+ win schools, though perhaps more for ODU than NI. The latter seems to be the class of the Missouri Valley, and what's that worth? Well, an automatic bid, that's what! But if ODU can't take the Colonial, they will need every "quality" win they can get in order to score an at-large. Much the same can be said for . . .

William & Mary vs. Iona = . . . with the exception being that here BOTH teams (both with 19 wins) need that quality W to help their at-large hopes. This being given, both these games should be a total war.

As has become my usual, I shall only mention now those Saturday games which tip off early tomorrow:

Siena vs. Butler = If you enjoy good old-timey basketball between two damn decent programs, both of whom do a superior job year-after-year WITHOUT the benefit of NBA-bound talent, then this is the game for you to catch.

Florida vs. Mississippi = Neither of these teams are great, but both are capable of playing a good game, so it should be competitive.

UNC vs. Boston College = And this one should be competitive also . . . both teams pretty much suck. Yet it may have some bigger significance, since if the Tar Heels expect to have the slightest chance of getting a shot to defend their national championship they will need a few more wins to receive even a sympathy at-large bid. Here is one of their best opportunities left to get one.

A more complete weekend forecast will follow tomorrow. Until then, enjoy.