Saturday: Buffs enter the weekend with an RPI of 31, good for 4th in the Pac behind Oregon (7), USC (16), and Arizona (26).
Omaha 12-6 (4-0) vs IPFW 14-5 (3-1): Omaha is looking good. Most recently, they rallied from 21 down in the second half to beat South Dakota. They now sit alone atop the Horizon League. A win in this one would put Omaha at least 2 games ahead of everyone except South Dakota State. Omaha's RPI is currently 137. IPFW has an RPI of 78, so a win would give Omaha an excellent bump. It is not at all out of the question for Omaha to have a top 100 RPI by the time March rolls around.
Colorado State 10-7 (2-2) vs Utah State 10-6 (2-3): CSU dropped a hard fought game to San Diego State their last time out. This game against Utah State is one they should probably win at home. CSU is limited without Clavell, but they don't seem to have completely folded despite the Eustachy murmurs. The MWC is so poor that CSU can be a middle of the pack team and pick up their share of wins if they decide to do so. CSU's RPI is currently a poor 188. Rams are favored by 3.5 in this one.
Auburn 7-8 (1-3) vs #14 Kentucky 13-3 (3-1): Auburn is a shell of the team we beat on the road earlier in the season. Isn't it just our luck to have both teams we beat on the road OOC be crushed by injuries? The Tigers have dropped 3 in a row and this season is on the verge of being lost. Their RPI is still hanging at 114 though. Pearl certainly hates Calipari, but an upset here is asking a lot. Wildcats favored by 12.
#17 Iowa State 12-4 (1-3) @ Kansas State 11-5 (1-3): ISU is off to a rough start in Big XII play. 4 games in and they're already out of realistic consideration for the regular season title. Right now they simply need to stop the bleeding and get a W. Things can spiral out of control quickly in this Big XII. They do not want to drop this game in Manhattan considering Oklahoma comes calling next. The Cyclone RPI has tumbled to 25 and they're just 1 point favorites over KSU in this one.
Hampton 8-7 (4-0) @ North Carolina A&T 5-13 (2-2): As expected, some rest + finally playing home games has done Hampton some good. The Pirates are alone atop the MEAC and stand a good chance of grabbing the auto-bid to the NCAA Tournament. Their RPI sits at 205, but unfortunately piling up MEAC wins isn't going to do a whole lot to improve that.
BYU 13-5 (4-1) @ Portland 8-11 (2-4): Both CU opponents, I think it's much better if BYU wins. BYU is fresh off a huge win at Gonzaga and is right on the edge of the RPI top 50 (and thus is on the verge of being seen as CU's 3rd true quality win by the Selection Committee). Portland, meanwhile, seems to have thrown in the towel on the season. They've dropped 4 in a row and I can't even comprehend how their RPI is so poor (267). BYU favored by 9.5
Northern Colorado 4-13 (1-4) vs Montana State 7-10 (2-3): Rare occasion in which the Bears are actually favored to win a game. 2 point favorites in this one.
Washington 11-5 (3-1) @ Arizona State 11-6 (1-3): Huskies are coming off their first Pac loss of the season in Tucson, while the Sun Devils got their first Pac W in a must win against Wazzu. Despite the solid Pac12 start, UW's RPI is just 75 while ASU's is 40. Given the 1-3 start and a road swing to the Bay Area up next, I'd say ASU has more urgency to win this one. Live-RPI gives the Sun Devils a 67% chance of victory. They're favored by 6.
Nicholls State 5-12 (1-2) @ Texas A&M Corpus-Christi 12-3 (3-0): Nicholls State's RPI sits at 248. Sadly (and pathetically) LiveRPI gives Nicholls just a 4% chance of winning at Texas A&M-CC. Nicholls is 0-10 on the road this season.
Penn State 10-8 (1-4) @ Northwestern 15-3 (3-2): This season is starting to get away from PSU as they get deeper into the B1G schedule. They really, really need a W. Their RPI is 97, which is actually above Northwestern (100). This might be Northwestern's best side ever, but their OOC was extremely weak (OOC SOS 324, overall SOS 227). As a result, Northwestern still has major work to do if they're to make their first NCAA Tournament. Northwestern is favored by 9.5
Washington State 9-7 (1-3) @ #18 Arizona 14-3 (2-2): As expected, Wazzu is clearly the Pac's 12th team. However, they're not actually *that* bad. Their RPI is 152 - well behind the rest of the league - but I'd take Wazzu above the bottom teams of just about any major conference. When your clear bottom team has knocked off UCLA, you play in an absurdly difficult conference. The question is whether the inevitable losses piling up will start to get to Wazzu and cause them to fold a bit. Arizona, meanwhile, won't be pulling away from the rest of the conference for a while, if at all. After this one the Wildcats have the difficult Bay Area road swing. Arizona favored by 17.
Air Force 10-7 (1-3) @ UNLV 10-7 (1-3): The Falcons are fading, having dropped 3 straight after a better start to the season than expected. AFA should be able to grab a few victories at home in this MWC, but for the most part they just do not have the talent. UNLV is currently a clown show, having just fired Dave Rice. Still, the talent on UNLV is at another level.