Will You Forgive Me?

Sorry about the lack of posting over the past three days. It's the political season here in Wisconsin (our Presidential primary is next Tuesday) and it's absorbed much of my free time. I will be around tonight, however. There are a ton of big games to look forward to, including two massive match-ups right at 7pm eastern time:

Indiana and Wisconsin battle for second place in the Big Ten. What's shocking isn't that they're battling for second, it's the team that they're chasing. Purdue has been on a shocking run - first by making me realize that I'd jinxed Saturday by dismissing it too early, and then by taking out Michigan State. Suddenly the Spartans are practically out of the regular season race. And Wisconsin might be out, for all intents and purposes, if they can't pull out the win tonight. Purdue only has one loss and has the head-to-head sweep of Wisconsin, so a third loss for Wisconsin will probably do it for them. A win for Indiana, however, would put them right in line for a run. They only have one loss in the Big Ten (to Wisconsin), and their one game with Purdue this season will be at home. They do still have a head-to-head with Michigan State to go, however.

Notre Dame and UConn battle for Big East position. The Big East is so bunched up that every single win or loss can mean three or four spots in the standings. UConn, despite their incredible run, is still a long-shot for the Big East regular season title. Notre Dame's chances are better, especially if they can pull off the upset tonight. It did seem as if Georgetown was running away with things, until Louisville took care of business in front of a crazed crowd on Saturday night. Now everything is a mess, and there are now four teams in the mix. There are too many scenarios to go throug here, but it's enough to say that tonight's game will have major implications.

A sleeper game tonight: Ole Miss at Alabama, 8pm eastern time. Ole Miss has great computer numbers, and their overall resume is pretty solid if the season ended now. The problem: they're 3-5 in the SEC. Their schedule the rest of the way is relatively easy, and they should win most of them. But a loss here would drop them to 3-6, and they'd have to be nearly perfect the rest of the way to make it to 9-7. If they drop to 8-8, a real possibility if they lose tonight, the Tournament will be a real long-shot.