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Saturday, February 18, 2006
BracketBusters not only games in town
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Bucknell at Northern Iowa, noon (ESPN2, Sirius 110): We previewed this one yesterday. What more is there to say? A Bucknell win would go a long way towards making the Bison a likely at-large bid should they falter in the Patriot League Tournament. A close loss won't hurt much, but a blowout would almost make it certain that the Bison's only way into the dance is as the champion.

Northern Iowa is banged up and in a little slump right now, having lost two straight and three of its last five. Bucknell need only look at its own recent past to know that very good teams can go through that stuff and still be a very good team. It happened to them last season. It's a big challenge for Bucknell. Would be even against a lesser foe. Flying 900 miles, shooting around in a strange dome for 20 minutes, then getting up the next day to play an opponent the caliber of UNI would seem to put BU at a disadvantage. If they play defense the way they have most of the season, they might overcome that.

Chris McNaughton could be the key. Both teams seem pretty even in the backcourt, but McNaughton, at 6-11, should give the Bison an edge in the post.
Bucknell notes | UNI notes | AP preview | DesMoines Register preview | Sportsline preview | SI.com BracketBusters preview | USA Today matchup | Gametracker | UNI radio | Bucknell Radio

Navy at Colgate, 1:30 p.m.: In a scheduling quirk, these two meet twice in their final three games. Navy still has a chance to move into the four-five game in the first round, a coveted spot among the teams not named Bucknell, Holy Cross or Lehigh, since that is the only way to avoid playing one of those three in the first round. Why is that important? Because those three are the teams with winning records, the rest are all below .500. Matter of fact, BU, HC and LU combined have 30 wins in conference play. The other five teams have all of 15 conference wins between them.
Colgate notes | Navy notes | USA Today matchup | Navy radio | 'Gate radio

Holy Cross at American, 2 p.m.: American is another team looking to lock up one of those 4-5 spots. A win here would clinch that by giving the Eagles a two-game lead in the loss column over fifth place Lafayette with two games left. For that to happen, they will need to find a way to stop Tim Clifford, who poured in 27 the last time the two met.
HC notes | AU notes | USA Today matchup | HC radio | AU radio
Published at 8:17 AM by Hoop Time.
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