-BAYLOR AT KENTUCKY. Both teams are coming off losses. Neither team has a quality win on thier profile as high as this one would likely be. Even though Kentucky has struggled early, it would still be a big early road win for Baylor.
-ALABAMA AT CINCINNATI. Both teams are unbeaten. Bama has a decent win against South Dakota State, and Cincinnati has a few notable wins from their tournament over Thanksgiviing. It looks as though thisis the toughest test for either team so far, though.
-MICHIGAN AT BRADLEY. It’s a dream situation for Bradley. They’re off to a good 5-1 start, they’re at home, and they’re playing the #3 team in the country. It should be a great atmosphere, and we should learn something about both these teams. For Michigan, it is their first true road game.
-OKLAHOMA STATE AT VIRIGNIA TECH. Both teams come into this game unbeaten. Oklahoma State has shown they can beat good teams, but this is the first real test for Viriginia Tech so far.
-BELMONT AT VCU (***At-Large Implications***). It may seem too early to start to label games as having at-large implications, but Belmont will not get too many opportunities at quality wins after this. They already have a nice win at Stanford, and this win is one of the better chances they’re going to get at solidifying themselves. VCU has three losses, but two were to highly ranked teams in the Battle 4 Atlantis, so they have all the makigns of a solid team. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them win the Atlantic Ten. This game is probably below the radar, but it is HUGELY imoportant.
-SAINT JOSEPH’S AT CREIGHTON. Creighton is coming off a loss, but they’re still a very solid team. Saint Joe’s is trying to build their resume. If they’re able to win this one it will be a signature road win for them.
-ILLINOIS STATE AT LOUISVILLE. Louisville is shorthanded, but they’re still a strong team. As for Illiniois State, this is the kind of win that can not only get them in the discussion, but way inside the bubble. Both teams have just one loss on the season.
-NEW MEXICO AT INDIANA STATE. Very interesting game here. Indiana State dropped their opener at UCLA, but has not lost since. New Mexico is unbeaten on the season and has some decent wins to go with that record. This would certainly be another if they can pull it off.
-COLORADO AT WYOMING (Front Range). Both teams are unbeaten, but Colorado has yet to play anyone that is likely to finish in the RPI top 200…if that. Still, it’s a rivalry game. It’s a mythical Front Range conference game. They do have some momentum built up, and it will be interesting to see what they can do against the Buffalos.
-BYU AT IOWA STATE. Both teams have modest records, but are still unproven. Right now I have more questions than answers about these two teams.
-HAWAII AT UNLV. At 4-1, it’s still hard to determine how good Hawaii is. We should know a lot more about them after today.
-XAVIER AT PURDUE. Xavier didn’t appear to have much coming into the season, but they’re currently 5-1. Purdue is a very modest 3-3 and really needs to improve the looks of their resume.
-SAN DIEGO STATE AT UCLA. This game should be a bigger deal than what it is, but UCLA is in a tailspin. San Diego State has struggled, but their only loss on the season was to Syracuse in the opener.
-PACIFIC AT GONZAGA. Pacific is 3-3, but put up a strong showing in the DirecTV Classic with wins over Xavier and Saint Mary’s. Gonzaga continues to look like a protected seed and hasn’t really even been challenged at home.
-MIAMI, FL AT UMASS. Miami is coming off a good win against Michigan State, which offsets a bad loss against Florida Gulf Coast. Both teams are looking to build up their resumes.
-EAST CAROLINA AT CHARLOTTE. An in-state matchup between two unbeaten and untested teams.
-ARIZONA AT TEXAS TECH. Two unbeaten and untested teams, but common sense tells me Arizona is the far superior team.
-DELAWARE AT DUKE. Delaware has made some noise early, but is still just 2-5 on the year. They should pick up some wins once they get into conference play. Duke is unbeaten and extremely battle tested.
-SACRAMENTO STATE AT ARIZONA STATE. Neither team had high expectations, but both are coming into this at 5-1.
-BUCKNELL AT COLUMBIA. With just one loss on the year and with wins against Purdue and George Mason, Bucknell is playing at a level that will get them into the discussion.
-GREEN BAY AT VIRGINIA. UVA is coming off a nice win against Wisconsin, and can improve to 5-2 with a win today. One of those losses was a close game at George Mason, so maybe I wrote off the Cavaliers a little too early.
-RUTGERS AT MISSISSIPPI. Both teams enter this game with good records, but neither has really been tested yet.
-OAKLAND AT WESTERN MICHIGAN. A win gets Western Michigan to 6-1.
-BALL STATE AT BUTLER. Butler has two really solid wins and can get to 5-2 with a win in this game.
-WAGNER AT TEMPLE. Temple seems to be under the national radar, but they have some solid road wins and can improve to 5-0 with a win today.
-COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON AT ELON (SoCon). CofC does have a nice win against Baylor, which followed a rocky start. Elon is 5-2 and unbeaten at home and will provide an early season conference test. Both CofC and Davidson are teams to watch in the SoCon. Speaking of Davidson…..
-DAVIDSON AT CHATTANOOGA (SoCon). Like CofC, Davidson has a very small margin for error in their conference games, or for that matter, in any of their games.
-OHIO AT ROBERT MORRIS. Ohio can improve to 7-0 and pick up their third true road win today.
-PRINCETON AT KENT STATE. A win will get Kent to 6-2. IF they finish at or near the top of the MAC, they should be in the discussion.
-TEXAS A&M AT HOUSTON. Neither team has really been tested, but both are 5-1.
-DETROIT AT PITTSBURGH. Pitt has been a surprising team this year and can get to 7-1 with a win today.
-SOUTHERN MISS AT NEW MEXICO STATE. Southern Miss is unbeaten, but this is one of their tougher tests so far. Still, with semi decent wins against Western Kentucky and Georgia, and the fact that this would be their forth true road wins means that they deserve a spot on the radar.
-WESTERN CAROLINA AT EASTERN KENTUCKY. EKU is untested, but a win gets them to 7-0. It’s worth mentioning.
-UC SANTA BARABARA AT SANTA CLARA. Santa Clara has just one loss on the year.
-NJIT AT SAINT JOHN’S. Both teams come in at 4-2. NJIT does not appear to be strong, but they are much stronger than some of their teams that were winless on the season a few years back.
-WESTERN KENTUCKY AT TROY (Sun Belt). A win gets WKU to 6-2 on the year and will be their second road win in conference.
-MISSISSIPPI STATE AT PROVIDENCE. Providence is off to a modest 5-2 start.
WAKE FOREST AT RICHMOND. Richmond hasn’t knocked my socks off when I’ve seen them, but a win today does get them to 6-2.
-RIDER AT DREXEL. Drexel has lost four games by a combined total of 14 points. I think they’re a good team, but at 2-4 their margin for error is now very small.
-UAB AT NORTH CAROLINA. UNC is looking to rebound from the pounding they received up at Indiana.
-VERMONT AT RHODE ISLAND. Vermont has just one loss on the season and can pick up their fourth true road win if they can beat Rhody.
-NORFOLK STATE AT SAVANNAH STATE (MEAC). This may be the only MEAC game that gets highlighted all year, but it is an early season conference game between two of the better teams in the league.
-CAL POLY AT SAINT MARY’S. SMC has been somewhat unimpressive this year so far. Cal Poly upset UCLA a short time ago and should be coming into this with quite a bit of confidence.
NICHOLLS STATE AT MICHIGAN STATE. Michigan State is coming off a loss to Miami, FL. A win gets them to 6-2.
-TEXAS A&M CORPUS CHRISTI AT IOWA. Iowa can get to 6-2 with a win.
-NORTH FLORIDA AT MINNESOTA. Minnesota shouldn’t have much trouble getting to 8-1.
-APPALACHIAN STATE AT MISSOURI. Mizzou should have little trouble in this one.
-NORTHERN KENTUCKY AT OHIO STATE. I hope NKU enjoys their pay check and bus ride and gets to go someplace nice to eat.
-ARKANSAS PINE BLUFF ATOREGON. A win gets the Ducks to 7-1.
-COPPIN STATE AT INDIANA. When I think of all the exciting games today, this is not one that comes to mind.