USC Beats Tennessee Again

USC 65, #18 Tennessee 64
Coming off of consecutive upsets to Oakland and Charlotte, and facing a USC team that shocked them last season, you would have figured Tennessee would bounce back with a win. But as I said, whatever you think Tennessee is going to do, they consistently do the opposite. Normally a one-point win is a toss-up that doesn't mean much going forward, but USC actually deserved to win this game by more. They led almost the entire way and had a four point lead in the final minute that they just barely hung onto. The fact is that Jio Fontan has given USC a huge lift. The Fordham transfer has been a part of two games now: a two point loss to Kansas and a win over Tennessee. The problem for their at-large resume is that they put together some weak losses (Rider, Bradley, TCU, Nebraska) before Fontan was eligible. This win helps them get back closer to the bubble, but they still have an uphill battle ahead of them. As for Tennessee, there's no reason that this three game slide needs to end immediately. They play a dangerous Belmont team on Thursday, and also have to play Memphis and Charleston before beginning SEC play. I still really have no idea how good this Volunteers team is.

UAB 68, VCU 63
This game wasn't remotely as close as the final score. UAB had a double digit lead only six minutes into the game and got the lead up to 19 points midway through the second half before going on an extended cold streak. UAB had (by my calculation) ten more possessions, and it was only some hot VCU shooting that allowed them to make the final score close. This was a game that VCU really needed to keep their at-large hopes in a healthy condition. They're now 7-4 with only one decent win (UCLA). They'll likely have to go 15-3 or better in Colonial play to have a decent shot at an at-large bid. UAB, meanwhile, is quietly off to a strong start. They're 9-2 with only true road losses at Georgia and Arizona State. Unfortunately, they don't have a very good win. Unless they shock the world at Duke on January 5th they're going to have to win one of their two regular season games against Memphis.

Wichita State 82, Tulsa 79
What makes this win particularly impressive is that Tulsa was shooting the lights out. They hit 14-for-27 behind the arc. But Wichita State dominated the paint, with a 57% offensive rebounding percentage, 36 free throw attempts, and a 60% two point shooting percentage (compared to 33% on threes). Most impressively they completely shut down Tulsa's very talented interior combo of Steven Idlet and DJ Magley (a combined 7 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 10 fouls). Wichita State doesn't have a huge attention-grabbing win, but they have beaten Virginia, LSU and Tulsa, and have zero bad losses. They still have an uphill battle to an at-large bid, but they're my pick to win the Valley's automatic bid regardless. Tulsa got off to a fairly strong start this season themselves with wins over Missouri State and Stanford, but they've begun to tail off with four losses in their last five games, including losses to Princeton and Arkansas-Little Rock. It's hard to see any scenario that gets them back to the bubble now.