NEWS AND NOTES
-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE
-All of our highlighted games from yesterday were from exempt tournaments, and most of the recaps are included in the write up for today’s games. The Battle 4 Atlantis is all kinds of upside down. We are getting the Arizona vs Purdue match up that many of us were expecting and wanting, but it’s in the 7th place game instead of the title game. Western Kentucky and SMU is another match-up that many thought we would see, but we didn’t expect it to come about because those two were able to knock off Purdue and Arizona. Northern Iowa, along with WKU, has emerged as a viable UTR team that really wasn’t even on our radar when we did the UTR podcast 36 hours ago. (If you missed it, don’t bother listening to it. It was bad. I’m not saying that as a joke. It really was bad).
-The PK-80 has been great, which is kind of like saying the Thanksgiving Day meal was filling, but it has certainly not disappointed. I think Phil Knight should turn 80 every year!!
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-MISSOURI VS SAINT JOHN’S (Advocare Invitational). The Johnnies haven’t been all that relevant in quite some time (and for that matter neither has Mizzou). Both teams come in with good records and can pick up a good early season win.
-NORTHERN IOWA VS VILLANOVA (Battle 4 Atlantis). Northern Iowa may be the surprise team of the year. Furthermore, if Northern Iowa wins this game, they may turn out to be the surprise team of the year. Maybe not just the surprise college basketball team of the year, but the surprise team of the year, period. They’ve managed two nice wins against SMU and NC State, but they’re really swinging for the mo0n today.
-UMASS VS MINNESOTA (Barclay’s Center Classic). Don’t know if there will really be anything classic about this game today, but UMass does come in with a respectable 3-1 record. If they were to somehow pull this off it would change the complexion of their season.
-EAST CAROLINA AT RUTGERS. Rutgers is untested, but they’ve passed every easy open note quiz so far. A win today gets them to 6-0.
-SAINT MARY’S VS WASHINGTON STATE (Wooden Legacy). I must admit that Wazzu is better than I thought. They’ve reached four wins already, which is more than I thought they may get for the entire year. I still think they’re a long way from being good, but they’re not a sub 300 team. SMC is unbeaten and is only slightly more tested, but both teams come in with momentum.
-BYU VS ALABAMA (Barclay’s Center Classic). The story of this game is Texas Arlington, and what they did earlier this week against these teams. They beat BYU, and lost to Alabama after missing a last second shot. Both of these teams could really use a notable win away from home.
-NC STATE VS TENNESSEE (Battle 4 Atlantis). Both teams have managed a notable win already, and are looking to leave this tournament with a second big win on a neutral court which would look really good on their NCAA Tournament profiles, and a lot of momentum going into their future games.
-PORTLAND STATE VS BUTLER (PK-80). Butler better watch out in this game. Portland State is a solid UTR team who came into yesterday’s game unbeaten and although Duke blew it open down the stretch they were right in there for over a half. They’re capable of beating the Bulldogs if Butler overlooks them.
-NORTH CAROLINA VS ARKANSAS (PK-80). I love how both of these teams have played so far and think they’ll both go on to have big years. This is a resume building opportunity for both of them.
-HARVARD VS SAINT JOSPEH’S (Wooden Legacy). It’s early, but you get the sense that both of these teams need to dig themselves out of holes, and losing this game would make that hole even deeper.
-EASTERN MICHIGAN AT INDIANA. This is a buy game, but EMU comes in unbeaten and Indiana has struggled so far (to say the least).
-UCF VS WEST VIRGINIA (Advocare Invitational). I’m looking forward to this match-up and am anxious to see what an unbeaten but (for the most part) untested UCF team can do against a very good West Virginia team.
-LOYOLA CHICAGO VS UNC WILMINGTON (Savannah Invitational). Loyola comes in 5-0 and if they can win this tournament they will be on our radar. They are one of several MVC teams that are off to better than expected starts.
-XAVIER VS ARIZONA STATE (Las Vegas invitational). Both teams come in unbeaten, both teams have been been tested (at least somewhat) and both teams are looking to pick up a really good neutral floor win. This would really help Arizona State, who will still have opportunities but not quite as many, and is looking to land in the world of relevance again.
-DUKE VS TEXAS (PK-80). We really like this Texas team and today is a great litmus test. They’re playing the (deserved) #1 ranked team in the nation. This would certainly be a protected seed caliber win for the Longhorns if they could pull it off.
-PORTLAND VS OKLAHOMA (PK-80). Oklahoma is a good team that lost a thriller yesterday and is just looking to hold serve today and perhaps get the chance at a quality win tomorrow.
-WESTERN CAROLINA AT UT ARLINGTON. We like this UTA team and will continue to watch them. They may be top 40 good. They beat BYU on the road and lost to Alabama after missing a last second shot.
-NEW MEXICO VS TCU (Emerald Classic). TCU is unbeaten and I don’t think they’ll have a whole lot of trouble staying that way.
-GEORGIA VS SAN DIEGO STATE (Wooden Legacy). This is a big game for both teams who really need some notable wins. Georgia is unbeaten, but this is one of their bigger tests so far.
-SMU VS WESTERN KENTUCKY. Western KY played tough against Arizona in the opener and followed that up with a win against Purdue yesterday. SMU got a really big win against Arizona as well, so both teams come into this with a ton of momentum and two really good wins on their resumes. Western Kentucky won’t have nearly as many chances to impress the selection committee, so this is a really big win for them today.
-VALPARAISO VS KENT STATE (Savannah Invitaitonal). Two really strong UTR teams coming into this with really good records so far.
-VIRGINIA VS RHODE ISLAND (NIT Preseason TipOff). Rhody picked up a very big and surprising win against Seton Hall yesterday and could really cap things off in a big way if they’re able to beat Virginia. Both of these teams are likely tournament teams, so this is a resume building game.
-OAKLAND AT KANSAS. This is a buy game, and Oakland hasn’t been as good as we expected so far, but they are back at full strength tonight and while they’re likely very overmatched don’t be surprised if they play better than expected.
-GEORGE WASHINGTON VS KANSAS STATE (Las Vegas Invitational). K State lost a close one to Arizona State yesterday and is just trying to get out of this with a win away from home.
-MILWAUKEE AT WISCONSIN. This is a game that Wisconsin should dominate, and really kind of needs to. They’re just 2-3 on the year and Milwaukee, who comes in at 4-1 and already has a road win, is not a team they want to overlook.
-STANFORD VS OHIO STATE (PK-80). Neither team needs to hit the panic button yet by any means, but both could really use this win.
-ARIZONA VS PURDUE (Battle 4 Atlantis). I don’t recall a single incident where we had a seventh place game that featured two top twenty teams. But, we’ve got one tonight, and if both these teams get it turned around and remain top twenty teams throughout the year, it won’t matter to the committee at all that this was a seventh place game.
-SAINT BONAVENTURE VS MARYLAND (Emerald Coast Classic). We really like this Bonnies team and this is a great opportunity for them to grow their profile.
-OREGON VS DEPAUL (PK-80). Oregon isn’t nearly as good as what they’ve been the past two years, but the are still formidable and can put a decent win or two on their resume before this event is over.
-VANDERBILT VS SETON HALL (Preseason NIT). Seton Hall was surprised by Rhody yesterday, and Vandy was completely blitzed by Virginia. Both teams are looking to get a nice neutral floor win on their resume in the third place game.
-FLORIDA VS GONZAGA (PK-80). This is one of the more exciting games of the day. These teams aren’t just fighting for tournament spots, they’re fighting for protected seeds, and this is the kind of win that protected seeds need on their profile.
-UCONN VS MICHIGAN STATE (PK-80). It’s been a frustrating 13 months for UConn. They can alleviate a ton of that if they can find a way to win this game today.
-NEVADA AT HAWAII. This is a very interesting game between what we think are two really good teams that come in unbeaten. Those of you in the east will need to stay up late, but this one should be worth it.
-MISSOURI S&T AT CAL BAPTIST (Team of the People). Your Team of the People returns to action tonight in the first game of the Cal Baptist Thanksgiving Classic. Click HERE to watch them live as they take on the Miners of Missouri S&T (formerly Missouri-Rolla).
BUY GAMES
-Texas Southern @ Clemson
-Oral Roberts, @ Penn State
-Seattle @ Washington
-North Texas @ Georgia Tech
-Saint Francis U (STFU) @ Louisville
-Winthrop @ Auburn
-NC Central @ Illinois
-The Citadel @ Florida State
-Eastern Washington @ Utah
-Sacred Heart @ Northwestern
-Pepperdine @ Texas A&M