Welcome back to RTC Live as we are here courtside at the Verizon Center as Notre Dame takes on Georgetown. The Irish have been playing arguably their best basketball of the season the last two games despite Luke Harangody still being out with a knee injury. No word yet on ‘Gody’s status (last I heard, Mike Brey had said he was doubtful). Without the big fella in the lineup, Notre Dame has relied on Tim Abromaitis, Ben Hansbrough, and Tory Jackson to shoulder a much bigger load of the scoring. If these three get hot (which they have a tendency to do), Notre Dame can compete with anyone in the country. Georgetown picked up a nice win against Louisville on the road last time out, and it was once a gain a result of Austin Freeman showing up. The junior guard scored the first eight second half points, had 18 in a 24-3 run to open the second half, and scored 24 of his 29 points in the second stanza as the Hoyas cameback from 11 down early in the game. Georgetown has three guys with the ability to carry the team. When they are all playing well at the same time, look out.

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RTC Live returns to Madison Square Garden for a late season Big East match between two teams who started the conference season with very different ambitions and expectations. Pittsburgh, picked by the conference coaches to finish ninth, ran up a 5-0 record to start the Big East season, but they have gone 5-5 in their last 10 games, including a sobering 68-51 beating in South Bend earlier this week. Early season talk of not missing a beat has given way to speculation on whether they can hold onto a bye seed in the Big East Tournament. The Panthers are slotted  #13 on Joe Lunardi’s S-Curve, which makes them a #4 seed in the East Region, as of Lunardi’s February 22 bracket. Playing their Sweet Sixteen game (assuming they make it out of the first weekend) game in Syracuse is about as good as it gets for Pitt, and a second, consecutive loss would jeopardize their standing. The Johnnies were projected to finish #11 in the Big East, and more than a few St. John’s fans complained about lack of respect from the conference coaches. Going into this weekend the Red Storm languishes at #13 in the conference, seemingly unable, even with a squad well stocked with upper classmen, unable to escape the dreaded “last four” in the Big East. A win this late is the season is valuable to both teams.  This is a head-to-head matchup between two teams who attack and defend the low post very well. Join us as two teams who will not be afraid to go body-to-body in the low post go blow for blow and possession for possession in the Garden. This is good old fashioned Big East basketball.

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We’re back in Haas Pavilion tonight for another edition of Pac-10 hoops at RTC Live.  It’s no secret that the conference is having a major down year, but Cal has been the one team with a solid enough out-of-conference schedule to warrant  possible inclusion in the NCAA Tournament should they do well enough in the league.  Right now, our bracketologist Zach Hayes has the Bears as #10 seed, which isn’t exactly living dangerously with respect to the bubble but it’s definitely not comfortable either.  Whatever the case, Cal has been solid at home this season, going 13-1 (6-1 in the Pac-10) with the only loss a bizarre overtime L to UCLA in January.  The Pac-10 regular season title and the top seed in the Pac-10 Tournament are there for the taking this weekend, with Arizona State currently one game behind the Bears in the standings.  But to get to that all-important game on Saturday, Mike Montgomery’s team needs to take care of business tonight, and considering that they lost in Tucson by four points a month ago, that won’t be an easy task.  Join us tonight as Cal takes on the Wildcats on RTC Live…

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Is this a revenge game for Kentucky?  You recall that it was South Carolina that beat Kentucky on ESPN near the end of January, giving UK their only blemish on the season and removing them from the #1 ranking to which they had ascended merely days beforehand.  The UK players and coaches downplay the revenge factor a bit, but you can’t help but think that the Wildcats would LOVE to get the Gamecocks back…especially after the USC Student Senate sent a rather boastful message to Kentucky after that game. USC is here to prove that first one wasn’t a fluke, and Devan Downey relishes these spoiler roles.  He has his critics (is USC really 6-0 when he takes less than 14 shots?), but he’s certainly exciting, and God only knows what the Rupp Arena crowd has in store for him tonight.  Should be fun.  ESPN2’s got this one at 9pm, and we’ll be there as well.  Join us, and join the discussion this evening.

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Welcome tonight from Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana, on the campus of Indiana University. Tonight’s matchup pits a team in Wisconsin near the top of the Big Ten against a team near the bottom in Indiana. This is the second meeting between these two teams this season. The last game was a blowout at the Kohl Center in Madison in Wisconsin’s favor. Indiana has now lost eight straight, while Wisconsin seems to be playing hop scotch in the win-loss column lately, and is coming off a win at home against Northwestern. The players to watch for Wisconsin are Trevon Hughes, Jason Bohannon, Jordan Taylor, and now Jon Leuer, who is back from a broken wrist that sidelined him for over a month. The players to watch for Indiana are Verdell Jones III, Christian Watford, and as of late, Devan Dumes, who is looking to close out his Indiana career on a positive note. This game will really come down to a couple of things: turnovers and three point shooting. Wisconsin only turns the ball over an average of nine times a game, whereas Indiana has struggled all year, giving away an average of 15 possessions a game. Each team shoots about 35% from long range, so it will just be a matter of how hot each team gets, and how many times they are willing to throw it up from long range. Get excited for what could either be a battle if Indiana shows up, or a game out of reach if they don’t. Wisconsin will definitely show up, that’s for sure.

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RTC Live will be coming to you from downtown Providence Tuesday night for a battle between a top-five Syracuse powerhouse and an upset-minded Providence team. Syracuse enters play tonight fresh off their monumental victory last Thursday at Georgetown but enter the Dunkin Donuts Center hoping to avoid a letdown in their sandwich game between the emotional win over the Hoyas and this coming Saturday’s hyped visit from Villanova to the Carrier Dome. The Orange are led by sensational Iowa State transfer Wesley Johnson and the pinpoint long-range shooting of Andy Rautins. Productive big men are also imperative to Jim Boeheim’s success this season from the punishing Arinze Onuaku to the athleticism of Kris Joseph. Providence is hoping they can post a memorable win akin to their stunning upset over #1 Pittsburgh in 2009 at the Dunk. If the Friars win tonight, they must defend in the halfcourt and shoot well from outside, most notably Sharaud Curry and Marshon Brooks. Also, keep an eye on how sophomore Jamine Peterson handles the forwards of Syracuse down in the post. We could have a high-scoring, high-flying, up and down marathon tonight in the Big East. Hope you’ll join me courtside for Syracuse vs. Providence here on RTC Live tonight at 7 PM.

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Both of these teams need to bounce back quick after disappointing losses.  Wisconsin ruined their Big Ten title hopes with a road loss at Minnesota, and Northwestern damaged their tournament status with a home loss against Penn State.  Wisconsin usually excels at the Kohl Center, but Illinois recently broke Bo Ryan’s streak of never losing a home game to an unranked Big Ten team.  Jon Leuer is back for Wisconsin, and they will need significant improvement from him if they want to win this afternoon.  He shot just 2-12 against Minnesota, and some fans are starting to question if he came back too soon.  Wisconsin is a legitimate tournament team, but if they don’t step up their game, they could be in danger of falling out of the top 25.  As for the Wildcats, they may need to win their conference tournament if they lose today.  Join us at 1 pm on RTC Live to find out which team makes a statement.

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Grab a cup of coffee or a red bull, because we’ve got a great one for the nightcap of an RTC Live quadruple-header when Wichita State visits Utah State to end ESPN’s Bracketbuster weekend. The Shockers come into Logan on a bit of a slide, going just 1-4 in their last five road games (including a terrible loss at previously MVC-winless Evansville) but could get back into the bubble discussion with a win here. Wichita State will look to get it done with their fantastic defense (30th in the nation in points per possession at just .914) and a balanced offense led by guards Toure Murry and Clevin Hannah (averaging 12.4 and 12.3 points per game, respectively). Utah State comes into the game red-hot, winning their last 11 games and will counter the Shockers’ defense with the nation’s fifth most efficient offense, including the eleventh best FG% (48.6%) and nation’s best 3-point shooting (42.4%). Tai Wesley gets it done for the Aggies underneath leading the Aggies with 13.3 points per game and they will look to Pooh Williams, the WAC’s best perimeter defender, to slow down the Shocker guards. A win for the Aggies would add another much-needed quality win to the resume should they falter at the WAC Tournament in Reno next month. The loser of this game will likely have its odds of making it into the bracket as an at-large candidate busted. Can Wichita State turn it around? Or will Utah State continue its recent dominance? Make sure you have enough caffeine in you to stay up with us on RTC Live tonight and find out.

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It should be a great battle tonight between the UTEP Miners and the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes. UTEP is rolling into the matchup with a an almost perfect conference record (10-1) and a seemingly unstoppable offense. Five players are scoring in double figures for the Miners, averaging 77.3 points per game. They are clearly the odds-on favorite to dethrone Memphis. UTEP currently has a nine-game winning streak, but they are a mediocre 5-3 on the road. The Miners are only one game ahead of Memphis for the conference lead, and it seems like a win in Tulsa would really go a long way for this team’s confidence and momentum. Tulsa (19-7, 8-4) has dropped to fourth in C-USA, and has lost three of their last four—including 73-59 at UTEP. This is more of a gut-check and a prove-your-worth stand for the Golden Hurricanes as it is an act of supremacy by the Miners. Tulsa has been accused of playing a cup-cake schedule this year, and they haven’t really proved anyone wrong—losing to the top three C- USA teams (UAB, Memphis , UTEP). Tulsa has the talent to win this conference, but the effort we have seen from them so far is not enough. For Tulsa to come out on top tonight, and have any shot at winning the conference, they will have to ride their big man, Jerome Jordan, who is dreaming of the NBA in his future. In my book, this is a must win for Tulsa—and seeing that their resume is not good enough for the dance as is, they will have to get that automatic bid if they want to keep playing in March. For both teams, a win would mean reaching the 20-win mark, and positioning themselves for an opportunity to win C-USA.

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RTC Live is back in College Park, MD, as the Maryland Terrapins host the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Maryland is an interesting team. They haven’t beaten much of anyone this season, and don’t have a the greatest overall profile in the ACC, but nonetheless this team is sitting just a game back (in the loss column) of the Duke Blue Devils for first place in the ACC. Georgia Tech is in a different situation. The Yellow Jackets have struggled mightily to win games on the road this season, and as they are currently sitting at .500 in the league, Tech really needs to start putting together some wins to assure themselves of a decent seeding.  It doesn’t take a genius to see that this game is going to be won in the paint. Georgia Tech has a very, very good front line with Derrick Favors, Gani Lawal, and Zach Peacock. Maryland’s front line consists of a promising freshman and, well, a couple other bodies. The Terps are going to need to compete on the glass.   Another aspect to watch for is Maryland’s press. Tech’s backcourt is a bit up and down and can be turnover prone. Maryland has been running a three-quarter court press this season, and it has been pretty effective at times. If the Terps can rebound, force a few turnovers, and get a game from Greivis Vasquez, they should be able to handle the Jackets at home.

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