NEWS AND NOTES
-For the latest Hoops HD Report – CLICK HERE
-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Belmont and Western Kentucky – CLICK HERE
-We had a lot of tournament teams feasting on cupcakes last night. Having said that, Indiana, who has at times looked like a tournament team, did not look like one yesterday at home against Fort Wayne. The game was close for about thirty minutes, and then Fort Wayne just completely blew the Hoosiers off the court. This followed up an Indiana win against Notre Dame where it appeared they were turning things around.
-Boise State was another team we’ve been high on that just failed to show up last night. Much credit to SMU for blowing the Broncos off the floor.
-Texas nearly choked on their cupcake as well, but held on to beat Tennessee State by a point in a game that you shouldn’t go back and watch if you like offense.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-UCF AT STETSON. They say you need road wins, and this is the easiest way for UCF to pick one up. They should improve to 8-3 on the year and 2-0 in true road games.
-MARSHALL AT XAVIER. This is a buy game and it could end up being a blowout, but Marshall does come into the game at 8-3 and Xavier had to sweat out their game over the weekend against East Tennessee State.
-SOUTH CAROLINA AT CLEMSON. South Carolina has had their struggles, but they’re still 8-2 on the year and are just one big win away from being slingshot into the NCAA Tournament talk. Clemson is coming off a big and much needed win against Florida, and beating their rivals at home should give them even more momentum.
-BUFFALO AT SYRACUSE. Syracuse is not at all the dumpster fire that we’d thought they’d be, and they’re actually coming off a nice come from behind win on the road against rival Georgetown. They’ve played a string of good UTR teams at home this year, and tonight they have another one in Buffalo. The Orange should win, but they can’t just overlook the Bulls.
-NORTH FLORIDA AT BALL STATE. Ball State has won four in a row, and that streak could continue to grow as every game in front of them for the foreseeable future appears to be winnable.
-NORTHERN KENTUCKY AT TEXAS A&M. NKU is one of the better teams in the Horizon League, but they have yet to win a true road game and this is their last big chance to get a high quality win. TAMU is gunning for a #1 seed and while NKU is good, they’re way overmatched in this one.
-AUBURN AT MURRAY STATE. We praised this Auburn team on last night’s Hoops HD Report, and they’ve got a very intriguing game tonight against a Murray State team that is not easy to beat at home. This wouldn’t be a brand name win for Auburn, but it could end up being a win that’s highly valued by the committee, especially if Murray State continues to win at the clip they have been and can get into the RPI top 75. Even if Auburn loses this game, it’s not all that damaging to their resume. Murray looks to be the best team in the OVC and if they blow through the rest of their season they could be flirting with the bubble.
-GEORGIA TECH AT GEORGIA. Clean Ol’ Fashioned Hate!! Georgia Tech has had their good moments, and they’ve had a rather unforgettable bad moment. In order to get things turned around it would take something like beating a rival on the road. Georgia is 7-2 and certainly has potential, but they’re also coming off a rather surprising and damaging loss over the weekend. Both teams need this to help build their momentum.
-STEPHEN F AUSTIN AT MISSOURI. SFA may win the rest of their games after today, and if they somehow manage to win this game today they’ll have a solid win on their profile to go with their bloated record. They just picked up a nice win at LSU, but this one will be even tougher given that Mizzou is better.
-MERCER VS ALABAMA (Huntsville, AL). Alabama is cruising and will improve to 8-3 on the year if they’re able to hold serve.
-TULSA AT OKLAHOMA STATE. This is not a buy game, but it could end up looking like one before it’s over. Oklahoma State has been a lot better than we expected, they got a really nice win over the weekend, and they shouldn’t have too much trouble tonight.
-SOUTH DAKOTA AT UCLA. Don’t be surprised if South Dakota is able to pull off the upset. UCLA has struggled, and South Dakota looks to be one of the better teams in the Summit League.
-NORTHERN COLORADO AT WYOMING (Front Range). We at Hoops HD love the Front Range!! Both teams come into this game with just three losses, and both have shown signs of life this year, so it should be a fun one.
-DAYTON AT SAINT MARY’S. This is a really good series for both programs. It’s unfortunate that Dayton is in a complete rebuild mode this year and isn’t likely to be able to keep up with the Gaels. That being said, Dayton is still one of the tougher opponents that SMC has played so far.
-UC DAVIS AT NEVADA. I’m really looking forward to this one. UC Davis is one of the better teams in the Big West and is out to a surprisingly good start. This would be huge if they could get a win like this on their resume.
BUY GAMES
-Savannah State @ Virginia
-Northwestern State @ Oklahoma
-Pine Bluff @ Cincinnati
-Dartmouth @ Notre Dame
-Robert Morris @ NC State
-The Citadel @ Ohio State
-Binghamton @ Penn State
-Presbyterian @ Virginia Tech
-South Carolina State @ Charleston
-Arkansas State @ Wichita State
-Florida Atlantic @ Texas Tech
-Lewis (nondiv1) @ Northwestern
-Sam Houston State @ LSU
-Oral Roberts @ Arkansas
-Cal Poly @ SMU
-SELA @ Louisiana
-Morehead State @ Butler
-Longwood @ Arizona State
-Bethune Cookman @ Washington
-Princeton @ USC