Valentine's Day is the most beautiful and the most heartbreaking day of the year. Some couples get engaged while some proposals get rebuffed. People get dumped in the most unceremonious ways. Kids pass cards that say "I CHOO-CHOO-CHOOSE you to be my Valentine" while others are too shy to give the card to that girl they've been into for far too long... and she leaves for her bus... and you have a crappy card you made in art class that makes no sense when you pass it on to your sister. College hoops is a landscape filled with equal parts hope and heartbreak. There are possibilities for greatness and the reality of just not being good enough. Welcome to another heartbreaking Valentine's Week around the beltway.
Maryland (16-9, 5-5) saw their at-large profile take a major hit with Saturday's loss at Boston College. Getting swept by another bubble team is not ideal... and they try to avoid getting swept by permanent bubble resident Virginia Tech Tuesday.
Cruising the Commonwealth-- the Hokies (16-7, 6-4) also have separation games with Boston College and Clemson plus a February 26th date with Duke. A victory over the Blue Devils and a 4-1 mark in the other five ACC games could change the question from will they be seeded to where will they be seeded. Virginia (12-12, 3-7) shot 28% in the first half against Florida State... and we wait for Lacrosse to get into high gear.
Georgetown (20-5, 9-4) is the hottest team in the Big East and was actually mentioned on ESPN.COM's Forde Minutes as a dark horse for a #1 seed. In a guard's game the duo of Chris Wright and Austin Freeman has this team as dangerous as anyone in the nation. And two of their last five remaining regular season games are against ranked teams-- with both UConn (on a 2-3 slide) and Syracuse (2-6) slumping somewhat.
Alma Mater Update-- My mother always told me "defense doesn't end until you get the rebound". Unfortunately teams have been shooting so well from three point range against the Orange the rebound opportunities are few and far between. Even in a victory over West Virginia they gave up 11 threes. Ahem-- I think a weakness in the 2-3 has been spotted. On another note--they took down the Whale Tail Tap Prefab at Sign of the Whale... and SU lost 2 straight. That straight from the department of "too much time spent on a trivial matter".
George Mason (21-5, 11-2) is getting attention as an at-large possibility if they don't win the CAA. Cam Long and company beat a solid James Madison team to set up a major matchup with Virginia Commonwealth-- only the Rams have dropped two of their last four (both by double digits). Can the Patriots prevail in on the road in Richmond? Can they contain VCU leading scorer Jamie Skeen like Old Dominion did last weekend (1-5, 7 pts against the Monarchs).
George Washington (13-12, 6-5) after an impressive win at UMass has a legitimate shot at finishing with a winning A-10 record... as bottom-feeders LaSalle and Charlotte are next and if anything GW takes care of teams below them in the standings.
Maryland Womens Minute-- back to back losses derail the Terps momentum momentarily. Twenty turnovers in the first half against Miami and a lackluster start against Virginia were the culprits-- making Thursday's game with league-leading Duke all the more important.
American (17-8, 7-3) bounced back from a tough loss to Bucknell to beat Colgate-- and with four games remaining on the Patriot League slate it looks as though AU is on a collision course with the #2 seed (they'd need Bucknell to go at least 1-3).
Howard (5-20,3-9) fell to 0-12 on the road with losses at Norfolk State and North Carolina A&T... with one more shot at a road win coming February 26th at Maryland-Eastern Shore (alma mater of Art Shell).
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