TV Tuesday (and a blog lookahead) - 20 January 2009

Relatively light night tonight, so the bulk of my post tonight is going to be about what’s coming up on BracketDobber for the rest of the season.

I’ll continue to release weekly projections on Sunday until mid-February.  Starting on February 21, I’ll move to a Saturday morning/Monday evening schedule.  Championship Week starts March 7, at that point, I’ll move to every other day at the very least, aiming for daily.  If I do any traveling that week or if things at my real job get busy, it will be every other day.

I’ll do a bubble breakdown in late February, sometime between the 20th and 23rd.  This may become a regular feature, depending on the quality of the bubble at this point.

My annual “Banana Peel List,” which provides a rundown of the races in the one-bid leagues and my picks will be out on February 9th and 10th.

Now onto tonight’s games:

Ohio State @ Illinois (ESPN, 7 EST) - Two of the teams in the group of five that sit two games behind Michigan State in the loss column.  Both of these teams dropped close ones to the Spartans, with the Illini losing by six in East Lansing on Saturday.  Only the Illini gets a second chance at the Buckeyes in the regular season.  An important game for both of these teams as they try to get out of the middle of the S-curve.

Boston College @ Georgia Tech (NESN, CSN Mid-Atl, FSN Florida, FSN South, 7 EST) - The Eagles have done a poor job of building on their signature win at UNC.  The Yellow Jackets are just looking for answers after an OT loss to NC State, who had lost their previous 11 games against ACC opposition.

NC State @ Duke (Raycom/Full Court, 8 EST) - The only meeting between these two neighbors this year.  If it was in Raleigh, the Wolfpack would have a prayer.  Unfortunately for them, it’s not, and it could be time for NCSU to start a new streak.

Virginia @ Maryland (Raycom/Full Court, 8 EST) - Terps are back home after a disastrous Florida swing.  A 7-7 Cavalier team without Sean Singletary should be an easy win, but with Maryland, you just don’t know.

Tennessee @ Vanderbilt (ESPN, 9 EST) - Kentucky has now passed the Vols as the favorites in the SEC East, thanks to their huge win in Knoxville a week ago.  The Commodores are a bit down this year, but considering Tennessee’s struggles of late, they have a great chance at the upset.

Michigan @ Penn State (BTN, 9 EST) - The Wolverines are slipping in the Big Ten, dropping consecutive games to the teams featured in the 7 p.m. ESPN matchup.  The Lonely Lions are surprisingly tied with Michigan at 3-3 in the conference.

Also of note, even if I can’t see it is Creighton at Evansville (ESPNU, 7 EST).  Heading into the Valley portion of their schedules, both teams looked like good bets to challenge for the crown.  They still might, but they’re both currently two games behind Northern Iowa in the standings.   A loss tonight would obviously be damaging to future hopes.