February sounds a lot warmer than January

What would a winter weekend in Southwestern Ohio be without another Winter Weather Advisory. We may get 1-3 inches of snow with a little freezing rain which is always nice. The work has really piled on this week, which shows no sign of letting up soon. I'll be in the lab tomorrow morning working on an assignment; that's always fun to look forward to. I did have a great workout today. The running is starting to pay off, which is always a good sign.

My Northmont T-bolts are now 11-5 and still share first place in the GWOC East after a big 48-44 win up at Troy. Troy is a very difficult place to play. It's not the biggest gym I ever played in, but it certainly was the loudest. The only entrances/exits are underneath the bleachers on one side so the sound reverberates off of all 4 walls with no place to go. It makes for a great atmosphere. I think we only won up there once, my freshman year, so any win in Troy is a great win.

Serena Williams came from behind to win her 2nd Aussie Open title, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 over Lindsay Davenport. Davenport hit Serena off the court in the 1st set, but from 3-3 on in the 2nd, it was all Serena as Davenport mentally went away like a leaf in the wind. I have to give credit to Serena, she fought through an injury she sustained at the beginning of the match and showed some toughness, so she's definitely earned some respect back in my book. If you show some off-court dedication now, you'll have it all back. Tomorrow night is the men's final pitting Marat Safin vs. Lleyton Hewitt. Hewitt knocked off Andy Roddick in 4 sets, so it's all set up for the Aussie to win his home championship.

Now, let's preview tomorrow's key basketball games:

• 12:00 games are upset-prone and there are a couple of them tomorrow. Villanova goes to the RAC to play Rutgers. After two great wins against Kansas and Notre Dame, can the Cats focus on the mediocre, but tough at home Scarlet Knights. The other noon tilt sees North Carolina go to Virginia. I expect the Tar Heels to win, but University Hall can be a tough place to play and at least once ever year, Virginia pulls an upset at home. If the Tar Heels come in flat, they'll lose.
• South Carolina at Florida. These two teams are probably on the bubble right now, South Carolina moreso. The SEC isn't as strong, so the Gamecocks need this one to stay above .500 in the league to have a chance.
• Minnesota at Illinois. This would be a huge upset considering all of the former Illini greats will be in town for this game celebrating the 100th year anniversary of Illinois basketball. Illinois tunes up for their showdown with Michigan St. with a big win in this game.
• Kentucky at Arkansas. Arkansas is 14-5, with their 5 losses coming against the likes of Illinois, at Florida, at Mississippi St., at Alabama and LSU, so 4 quality losses. However, those last 4 have been in a row. The Hogs need this to get themselves on the bubble. Kentucky needs to show they can go on the road and win in a hostile environment. You know Bud Walton Arena will be rocking. This is the biggest game there in several years.
• Miami at Wake Forest. The U might catch Wake still reeling from their OT loss at Georgia Tech. Miami will be one of the more physical teams Wake has played, so it will be an interesting matchup. The Canes still need that eye-catching ACC win to make more believers out of the pundits.
• Indiana at Iowa. These two teams are on the bubble. Despite a strong start to the year in Maui, a 2-4 Big 10 record isn't going to impress anyone. The Hawkeyes need to get on the right track. Indiana has played one of, if not the toughest schedules in the country. But sitting at 9-8, 4-2 in the Big 10 with no significant road wins won't impress anyone either. This is as close to an elimination game as you can get, and it's only January 29th. That's how much these teams need this game, and how down the Big 10 is.
• Syracuse at Pittsburgh. The Panthers got a huge win at UConn last Saturday. The Orange come to town looking to go to 21-1 and show they can win it all in March. The Cuse will sit in their zone and force Pitt to shoot from the outside, which means Pitt point guard Carl Krauser must penetrate and find open people, specifically Chevy Troutman under the basket.
  
• Illinois State at Wichita State. 3rd against 1st in the Missouri Valley. I wish this game could be seen in my local TV area.
• Georgetown at Boston College. I smell upset in this game. What a job Georgetown has done, 13-5, 5-2 in the Big East. Since losing at home to Oral Roberts, they own victories at Pitt, at Villanova, at home vs. Notre Dame, and took Syracuse to overtime in the Carrier Dome. BC has been sliding by recently, and even though this game is in Chestnut Hill, John Thompson III and his crew I think get it done.
• UW-Milwaukee at UW-Green Bay. This is for first in the Horizon League. It's been awhile since Green Bay has been in this position. They ruled the old MCC, now the Horizon league throughout the 1990s, giving higher seeded teams fits in the NCAAs. Now, with a new on-campus arena, the Phoenix are back, and now looking to knock off the reigning champs.
• Texas at Kansas. I think this game could get ugly. Bill Self got the effort he was looking for in a win at Baylor this week. Texas is short-handed and not very tough inside. They rely on their young backcourt, particularly Daniel Gibson, who's making his first trip to Allen Fieldhouse. This is the Gameday featured game, so look for Kansas to start fast and never let up.

If you're wondering, Miami hosts Akron in a rare Sunday afternoon game. Don't look for attendance to be too high. Sunday afternoon basketball in Oxford on the day everyone does homework if people are up by 2pm??? What happened to Saturday night games????