NEWS AND NOTES
-Boise State is looking impressive out of the gate. They blasted Illinois State today in the Puerto Rico Tipoff and have advanced to the championship game. We weren’t all that big on them coming into the season, but one week in I’d say they look like the most impressive Mountain West team so far. (emphasis on SO FAR).
-Tulane remains unbeaten after blasting Colorado State. By no means am I ready to declare them to be a great team, but they’ve shown more signs of life this first week than they have since I can remember.
-Virginia picked up a nice road win at VCU and were particularly impressive in how they closed out the game. It’s the kind of early season win that should help them both on and off paper.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-TEXAS TECH VS BOSTON COLLEGE (Naismith Hall of Fame Tipoff). When you want to tip off the hall of fame, then by all means get BC and Texas Tech on the phone!! Both teams come in unbeaten, and BC may actually have something this year. At the very least they appear to be much improved.
-HARVARD AT MANHATTAN. Harvard has a thin margin for error and simply cannot afford to lose too many more games to sub-NIT caliber teams. Manhattan, to be fair, is 1-0 on the season.
-FURMAN AT BUTLER. It’s a buy game, but we think Furman will be near the top of the SoCon standings and the come into this game having won their first two.
-LA SALLE VS NORTHWESTERN (Hall of Fame Tipoff). Northwestern has struggled in all three of their games this year and is actually coming off a loss to Creighton. La Salle’s expectations weren’t all that high (at least not by us), but they do come into this with three wins. They can make a splash on the national scene if they pull this out today.
-MIDDLE TENNESSEE AT TENNESSEE STATE. Middle is coming off a home loss to crosstown rival Belmont, but they could still end up having a big year and have a chance to pick up their second true road win today.
-LIBPSCOMB AT TEXAS. I know this is a buy game, and Lipscomb not being at full strength yet makes it even more of a buy game, but it is a good Lipscomb team that will be near the top of the ASun taking on a Texas team that’s in bounce back mode.
-FAIRFIELD AT PURDUE. It’s a buy game, but both teams are unbeaten and Fairfield is expected to be near the top of the MAAC, so we’ll highlight it.
-OAKLAND AT TOLEDO. Oakland comes in 2-0 and is an UTR team that could turn out to be a fringe bubble team. That means being able to win games like this on the road. Toledo is 2-0, but if Oakland really is a top forty caliber team then this is the kind of game they need to be able to win.
-CHARLESTON AT CHARLOTTE. Charleston was blasted by Wichita State, and didn’t really look that good in their opener either, but they still have a high ceiling of potential. Having said that, they need to come into this game with a sense of urgency, even if it is November.
-BUCKNELL AT MARYLAND. Bucknell had some chances to really start to build a solid profile early. So far they’ve come up short. None of their losses are bad, but if they want any hope of being on or inside the bubble then they need to be able to win a couple of games like this one.
-UT ARLINGTON AT BYU. UTA is a likely Sun Belt frontrunner, and BYU is coming off a rather nice win at Princeton. Both come into this unbeaten.
-UTAH STATE AT GONZAGA. This is Gonzaga’s biggest test so far, and it probably won’t be much of a test.
-NEVADA AT PACIFIC. Nevada is 3-0 on the year and is looking to pick up their second true road win.
-LONG BEACH STATE AT OREGON STATE. Oregon State came up way short in a rather unimpressive showing against Wyoming a little while ago, but as the season goes on they should improve. We weren’t expecting all that much out of Long Beach, but they come into this 2-0 and if they can win this one they’ll have a fair amount of early momentum going for them.
BUY GAMES
-UMES @ Georgetown
-William & Mary @ UCF
-NJIT @ Seton Hall
-FAMU @ Mississippi State
-Binghamton @ Evansville – Evansville can improve to 4-0
-Jackson State @ Saint Bonaventure – Bonnies still looking for their first win
-Idaho State @ Washington State
-Houston Baptist @ Belmont
-Texas Southern @ Syracuse
-Morgan State @ West Virginia
-Pine Bluff @ SMU