PiRate Ratings College Basketball For January 28, 2020

Tuesday’s Games

 

Home	Visitor	Spread
St. John’s	Villanova	-2.1
Tennessee	Texas A&M	12.4
Virginia	Florida St.	-1.5
Florida	Mississippi St.	5.1
Cincinnati	SMU	6.2
VCU	Richmond	4.1
George Mason	Rhode Island	-5.4
Akron	Buffalo	9.5
Toledo	Kent St.	2.9
Clemson	Syracuse	1.3
Nebraska	Michigan	-6.2
Miami (O)	Central Michigan	0.7
Bowling Green	Ball St.	-0.9
Rutgers	Purdue	3.0
Miami	Virginia Tech	-1.0
Northern Illinois	Ohio	5.0
Missouri	Georgia	3.9
Duke	Pittsburgh	18.3
Georgetown	Butler	-0.7
Ole Miss	Auburn	-5.0
Air Force	Fresno St.	1.8
Wyoming	Utah St.	-13.6

 

Tuesday’s Best Games On TV

 

Tonight’s small slate of games features a couple of key contests where teams are

jostling for NCAA Tournament berths.  The top game of the night is an inner-city

battle between Virginia Commonwealth and Richmond, two Atlantic 10 rivals

separated by just five miles and a half dozen monuments.

 

If St. John’s has any idea of getting back on the Bubble for a potential NCAA

Tournament at-large bid the Red Storm needs to upset Villanova tonight at Madison

Square Garden.  St. John’s has dropped six of their last eight games.

 

Could it be that last year’s National Champion misses out on an NCAA Tournament

bid?  Virginia is hanging on by a thread in the at-large wars, as the Cavaliers might

become the first champion in five years not to make the Big Dance the next season.

UVA is 5-4 in the ACC and 13-6 overall with a couple of good wins, but multiple bad

losses.  A win tonight over a tough Florida State team could put the Cavs back above

the midpoint of the Bubble, but the Seminoles are competing for a number one

seed, and a road win in the ACC could strengthen that chance.

 

The Big Ten is the strongest conference in the nation today, and when 12 teams in

one league are competing for probably 10 bids, every game is vital.  Purdue is in

10th place in the Big Ten at 4-5/11-9, but the Boilermakers are in contention for an

at-large bid.  Rutgers is in great shape, as the Scarlet Knights are enjoying their best

season since Phil Sellers, Eddie Jordan, and Hollis Copeland made RU basketball the

most exciting event in the Metro NY-NJ area.  This year’s RU team sits at 6-3 in the

Big Ten, good enough for a tie for third and just one game behind the co-leaders.

 

At 2-5/12-8, Georgetown has moved far down the Bubble and is currently an NIT

team from the Big East.  If the tournament started today, five Big East Teams would

have invitations.  Butler 4-3/16-4 would be one of those five.  The Hoyas need a big

win over the Bulldogs tonight.

 

Time (EST)	Network	Home	Visitor
6:30 PM	FS1	St. John’s	Villanova
7:00 PM	ESPN	Virginia	Florida St.
7:00 PM	CBSSN	Va. Commonwealth	Richmond
8:00 PM	BigTen	Rutgers	Purdue
9:00 PM	CBSSN	Georgetown	Butler