Tuesday Night:
Current MRI performance for the year: 958-298, 76.27%
MRI Performance this week: 21-17, 55.26%
MRI Performance all time: 3770-1361, 73.47%

Ohio State at Wisconsin - Wisconsin fell under the bus that has been Indiana lately on Saturday. Shooting just 35% from the field for the game and less than 30% in the half, they went down to the Hoosiers who have now won four of their last five. The Badgers were on a five game win streak at the time and Bo Ryan had them looking like they were the second best team in the Big Ten, not Michigan State. They will look to regroup tonight against a surprising Ohio State team. Wisconsin will count on Alando Tucker to continue his hot shooting. He has averaged 18.8 points per game over his last five and failed to score in double digits only one during that time. What Wisconsin will have to improve over the Indiana game is the third option. Mike Wilkinson down low gives them their second option in the post. Someone will have to contribute from outside so that the Badgers will shoot better than 16.7% from beyond 3 point range. That person had been Sharif Chambliss but he went stone cold on Saturday and scored a goose egg, dooming the Badgers. Kammron Taylor, who came off the bench to score 21 against Indiana will also be expected to contribute, but he is not the three point shooter that Chambliss is. While Wisconsin was losing, Ohio State was shocking everyone by beating Iowa, who had looked very good during non-conference games and has fallen twice now that Big Ten play has begun. The Buckeyes will be looking to keep the run going. Led by Terence Dials and Tony Stockman, Ohio State can continue to hang near the top of the Big Ten standings and frustrate everyone with a win tonight. Dials will need to be strong player he has been all season and it will all depend on them getting him the ball. He leads the team in scoring and rebounds but only had five shots against Illinois. Without him leading the team, Ohio State would struggle. If Wilkinson and the other Badger big men can keep a big body on Dials in Bo Ryan's defense, Wisconsin has a great chance of winning should their shooting improve. MRI Predicts: Ohio State Confidence factor: 50.60% MRI Result: LOSS

Villanova at Providence - It is sad to say that the story of a promising season may have turned on Friday, especially this early in the season, but it may just have. Villanova forward Curtis Sumpter injured his knee on in practice before the Notre Dame game and sat out that game. Without their leading scorer and rebounder, the Wildcats were unable to play like they did against West Virginia a few days earlier when they rolled to hand the Mountaineers their first loss of the season. Now they take their game, missing a large piece against a scrappy Providence team who, despite early season struggles, have rebounded to win 5 of their last seven and gave Boston College a run on Saturday. Ryan Gomes will need more help from his teammates though to help the Friars to a win. Given Villanova's loss, they may have an easier time contributing, especially Dwight Brewington. He needs his shots to fall or else he tends to disappear on the court. Without Nova's main inside threat, Brewington should be able to cut into the lane more like he did against Michigan earlier this season and play better. The winner of this one will continue to be look like a contender in the Big East and a team that could squeak in at the tail end of the tournament selections. The loser will have their work cut out for them, even this early in the conference season. MRI says Villanova, but with Sumpter's injury, this one may be an easy steal for Providence. MRI Predicts: Villanova Confidence factor: 64.44% MRI Result: WIN

Missouri at Oklahoma State - Ok, it's so cliche. "Maybe all they needed was a little confidence." It might be true in Missouri's case. After barely playing to a victory against Indiana, the Tigers faced an Illinois team which hadn't won by less than double digit margins all season. They played the Illini tough and almost pulled off what would have been the shock of the year. A loss by 6 points giving confidence? Against Illinois, it sure can. Since that loss, Missouri has looked like a different team on the floor. They have won three in a row, knocking off Gonzaga, American, and Iowa State. They have opened up the offense more and no longer need to run the ball through Linas Kleiza to score now that Jason Conley has found his shot. Tonight they take on Oklahoma State, who was unable to beat Gonzaga and had their troubles with Texas Tech before putting them away. Joey Graham will be looking to continue his amazing offensive output so far this season and he has proven that he can shoot from everywhere on the floor. John Lucas and Daniel Bobik will contribute with him. The Cowboys have tons of weapons and it will most likely be too much for Quin Snyder and the rejuvenated Missouri offense. MRI Predicts: Oklahoma State Confidence factor: 93.82% MRI Result: WIN

Maryland at Wake Forest- After a dismal performance on Saturday against North Carolina, it became apparent that Maryland is nothing without Ekene Ibekwe contributing with rebounds. Maryland is going to need him tonight when they face Wake Forest. He played only 14 minutes in the game against the Tar Heels and will need to stay out of foul trouble tonight. Wake Forest may try and get into his head and have Chris Paul repeatedly feeding their big men inside to see if they can entice Ibekwe into foul trouble again tonight. The Demon Deacons are not a feared inside team but a strong performance by the big men against Clemson may have given them confidence. Wake Forest was originally pegged as one of the favorites for a National Title this season. While playing at a high level, they are not to the height that both the Illini and North Carolina have set the bar at right now. Don't expect a blow out like both these teams saw this weekend, one on the winning end and one on the losing side, but Wake is playing well enough to handle whatever Maryland chooses to bring. MRI Predicts: Wake Forest Confidence factor: 84.76% MRI Result: WIN

Alabama at Arkansas - Alabama, they confuse me. They play well against weak teams, yet struggle to wins against most of the good teams they have played. Lately though, they have been struggling against those good teams. Losses to Wisconsin and Vanderbilt have dropped the SEC title talk that surrounded this team after their amazing performance last year in the tournament when they knocked off Stanford. Arkansas has meanwhile been rolling, albeit against weak competition, until they tripped against Florida this weekend. Neither team has shown me enough to get me to believe that either one deserves to have a ranking next to their name. Bama continues to be ranked in the national polls, while the MRI loves Arkansas, even if they are slightly riding a bubble right now that could pop at any moment. Look for the turnover battle to be key in this one as Alabama has had trouble handling the ball lately. They also have a short bench which could haunt them, much like it has all season when it hasn't produced. MRI Predicts: Arkansas Confidence factor: 84.76% MRI Result: LOSS

Air Force at St. Mary's - Raise your hand if you know who Paul Marigney is. Or how about Daniel Kickert? They play for the St. Mary's Gaels and were the two top scorers for the team when they did something that no one in the conference had done since February, 2003, beat Gonzaga. The Gaels had been hoping for a victory even longer than that, having lost the last 17 to the Zags. The mighty Gonzaga hasn't been as strong this year as they have in the past despite some big name victories earlier this season. The Gaels hope that they begin a trend in the West Coast Conference and more teams will take down Gonzaga. St. Mary's was touted with Santa Clara at the beginning of the season as the two hopes to unseat Gonzaga. The whole conference came out and played well, though some have fallen off recently. St. Mary's hopes to not see any fall-off when they go out of conference tonight to take on Air Force. The Falcons were the talk of the town last season and have yet to play up to what everyone though coming into the year when there were hopes they would repeat as the conference champs. Nick Welsh will lead the Falcons inside, but as the only big man getting minutes on the team, he has big shoes to fill. St. Mary's beat a tougher stronger team in Gonzaga. This one may come down to how well the Gaels can hold onto the ball, something that Air Force should be able to take advantage of. MRI Predicts: St. Mary's Confidence factor: 73.15% MRI Result: WIN