ARKANSAS VS GONZAGA (Maui Invitational). Gonzaga has lost to Dayton and beaten a div2 team, so they really need a win today to get something out of this tournament. The rest of their OOC schedule isn’t as strong as what we’re used to seeing. Arkansas had a nice win against Minnesota and a win today would be huge as well.
-DREXEL VS ARIZONA (Preseason NIT). I like this Drexel team, but think they’re way overmatched today by an Arizona team that’s playing like a #1 seed. Drexel plays in a weak conference and won’t have the chances to pick up quality wins, so if they could pull off the upset today it would be huge.
-ALABAMA VS DUKE (Preseason NIT). Alabama appears to be a team that could make the NCAAs, and Duke is, once again, looking like they’ll end up on the #2 or #1 line, but they have struggled lately. If Bama can pull the upset today, they will go from being viewed as a fringe tournament team to a solid tournament team.
-BAYLOR VS SYRACUSE (Maui Invitational). Both teams are off to terrific starts, but I just don’t think Baylor has looked like a legitimate top 25 team yet. The key word is “YET.” If they win tonight that will change.
-CALIFORNIA VS DAYTON (Maui Invitational). In a nutshell, this is a neutral floor game between two tournament caliber teams looking to build their resumes. Dayton led Baylor the whole way in the semifinal game, but ended up losing in the final seconds. Cal played well against Syracuse, but ended up losing as well. Cal is not in the rankings, but I believe they’re a strong team and will end up having a big year.
-WISCONSIN VS WEST VIRGINIA (Cancun Challenge). West Virginia has a really bad loss to Virginia Tech. Having said that, it’s their only loss. A win today would be huge when it comes to boosting the status of their profile.
-EASTERN MICHIGAN AT KENTUCKY. Kentucky had a scare in their last game and Eastern Michigan hasn’t lost yet this season, so there is reason to tune in. People will call the MAC a one bid league, but if a team can pick up wins like this they won’t need to win their conference tournament.
-YOUNGSTOWN STATE AT KENT STATE. Two 6-1 under the radar teams.
-SAINT BONAVENTURE VS LOUISIANA TECH (Gulf Coast Showcase). Two teams that are under the radar that may perhaps stay under the radar, but right now each has just one loss.
-OLD DOMINION VS SAINT LOUIS (Cancun Challenge). SLU suffered their first loss of the season to Wisconsin the other night, but still has a decent profile. They need to take care of 4-2 Old Dominion today in order to sustain it.
-SOUTHERN ILLINOIS VS SAN DIEGO (Gulf Coast Showcase). A win gets San Diego to 7-1 on the year.
-IDAHO AT BOISE STATE. This is a rivalry game, but in this case it appears as though Idaho is way overmatched by the unbeaten Broncos.
-RICHMOND AT AIR FORCE. Richmond played well against North Carolina earlier in the week, and now needs to avoid picking up a loss to a bad Air Force team on the road.
-BALL STATE AT UTAH. A win for Utah gets them to 6-0.
-MINNESOTA AT CHAMINADE (Maui Invitational). Minney missed their chance to pick up a good win. Now, they just need to avoid a bad loss.
-TULSA VS INDIANA STATE (Great Alaska Shootout). Indiana State has one good win already, and should be the favorites to win this tournament. Tulsa has no wins, so this would be a pretty bad loss for the Sycamores if they don’t pull it off.