Carolina is surging.

LEADING OFF

With the Super Bowl over, from now until baseball's opening day, college hoop will take center stage on the national sports stage. Enjoy.

PATH TO POSTSEASON

On the blog this season, I'll project each UMass game based on expectations and how it affects the Minutemen's chances of reaching the postseason.

* A projected win (W) means based on rankings, venue etc. The Minutemen should be considered the favorite.

* A projected loss (L) means the Minutemen would be considered the underdog in the game, that a UMass win would be considered an upset.

* A (?) means the game is too close to call right now.

These aren't my predictions as such, simply how the games would be looked at right now.

I'll adjust the projections based on UMass' performance and the performance of the opponent as the season progresses.

By postseason I mean any tournament happening after the conference tournaments are over - NCAA, NIT, CBI, CIT - I'm guessing a UMass teams with a winning record gets a bid to one of those.

UMass has 29 games on its schedule and at least one A-10 Tournament game (I'm aware that two A-10 teams won't make the tournament, but if this execise is going to be relevant, UMass has to be good enough to make the A-10 Tournament). So a winning record means at least 16 wins.

Currently: 13-9
WINS: Rider, Sacred Heart, New Mexico State, TCU, AIC, Holy Cross, Quinnipiac, BU, Dayton, La Salle, Charlotte, St. Bonaventure, Rhode Island
LOSSES: Boston College, Maine, Seton Hall, UCF, CCSU, Xavier, Richmond, SLU, St. Joe's

Date - Opponent - (Expected result on paper)

Feb. 13 vs. George Washington, 4 (?) -

Feb. 16 vs. Duquesne, 7 (L) - Dukes have been tremendous.

Feb. 19 at Rhode Island, 2 (?) -
Feb. 23 vs. Saint Joseph’s, 7 (?) -
Feb. 27 at La Salle, 2 (?) -
March 2 vs. Temple, 7 (L) - The Owls have historically come together well late in the season and this group has a lot of talent.
March 5 at Fordham, 1 (?) -

Prognosis: As of right now, there are no more projected wins. two projected losses and five ?'s. Win three of the ?'s and the season likely gets extended.

KenPom.com Prediction - 16-13 - College hoops stat guru Ken Pomeroy uses a statistical formula that predicts the result of all games.

GAMES OF THE DAY:

MONDAY:.
Pitt at West Virginia -With Ashton Gibbs out, West Virgini's chances are much better and this would be a huge win for the Mountaineers NCAA Tournament chances.

TUESDAY:
Tennessee at Kentucky - Bruce Pearl returns to the Volunteers' sidelines.

WEDNESDAY:
North Carolina at Duke - Carolina needs to solidfy its NCAA Tournament position, but this is a big game in any season.
Louisville at Notre Dame/Georgetown at Syracuse - All four teams will be in the NCAA Tournament. This will affect seeding in the Big East and NCAA Tournament, but most of all it's an opportunity to watch great basketball.

THURSDAY: .
UConn at St. John's - Any result is possible in a game involving the Red Storm.

FRIDAY -
Yale at Harvard  -This is pretty much going to be an Ivy slot for the rest of the season

SATURDAY:
Ohio State at Wisconsin  - The Buckeyes undefeated run ends Saturday.

SUNDAY:
Purdue at Illinois -  The Big Ten has a good Sunday game now through conference tournament time.

WINLESS: Centenary

AND UNDEFEATED: Ohio State

BUZZER BEATERS

Could Texas be No. 1 next week?

...six days til UMass-Gw...