Quick Takes: Virginia nets key win over Florida State

Trailing late, Virginia rallied to beat Florida State in Charlottesville, netting the Cavaliers a key Quadrant 1 win over Florida State.  Beforehand, UVA’s best profile wins were against fellow bubble teams – Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Arizona State.  And that’s without factoring in losses to South Carolina and Boston College.

One win does not a season nor a profile make.  But if Virginia wants a chance to defend its national title in the NCAA tournament, beating FSU was a big step in that direction. Looking ahead, there’s no return trip to Tallahassee.  UVA’s closing chances for additional marquee wins are a pair of games against Louisville and a visit from Duke.

Elsewhere, the bubble wasn’t so kind.  Additional Quick Takes:

• Villanova pounded Saint John’s at MSG.  Missed opportunity.
• Georgetown led by double-digits at halftime but lost to Butler at home.  The Hoyas need a strong February.
• While it’s no surprise that Purdue lost to Rutgers at the RAC, it does drop the Boilermakers to 11-10 overall and 0-6 in B10 road games.  Unless Purdue can correct both of those numbers, its NCAA chances are fading.
• Virginia Tech fell at Miami – which was playing again without its best player (Chris Lykes).  This, following a loss to Boston College.  Four of the Hokies next five are at home, but only Florida State carries much weight.  And VT is also trying over overcome a 340-ish non-conference SOS.
• Richmond lost at VCU; which certainly isn’t bad.  But the Spiders’ A10 schedule only provided one regular-season shot against Dayton (loss), meaning its two with VCU are critical. The next matchup is February 15.
• Florida wasn’t quite on the bubble heading into its home game with Mississippi State.  But after losing to the Bulldogs, the Gators are squarely in that condition now.  Just think how the Gators’ profile would look had they beaten both Baylor and MSU in Gainesville?  And yet, they are now just 12-8 overall – with three of their next four on the road.
• Then there’s Tennessee, who after competing well at Kansas, dropped Tuesday’s home game against Texas AM.
• And Syracuse, which saw its five-game winning streak end at Clemson – with Duke visiting the Carrier Dome this weekend.

Wednesday’s Bubble Games …

• DePaul (at Seton Hall) – The Blue Demons’ early road wins at Iowa and Minnesota will only hold up so long.  It’s been a rough go in the Big East thus far (1-6) with only a home win over Butler of note.
• Alabama (at LSU) – The Crimson Tide need a couple of high profile wins.  Beating the current SEC leader in Baton Rouge would qualify.
• Texas Tech (West Virginia) – Lost in an AP ranking and a host of good losses is a simple fact: TTU is 1-7 vs. Quad 1 opponents.  It’s hard to believe that type of ratio will be good enough a month from now.
• Xavier (Marquette) – The Musketeers need NCAA-level wins; home or away.
• Arizona State (at Washington State) – A swing through the Great Northwest won’t be easy, but the Sun Devils need to avoid a step back after the Arizona rally.