NEWS AND NOTES
-Louisville led Michigan State for most of the game, but Sparty mounted a second half comeback and it looked like Louisville might be letting another one slip away. After a missed Michigan State freethrow at the end of regulation, the game went into overtime and Louisville pulled it out. Beating a ranked team at home may be the most feelgood moment that entire department (not just the basketball team) has experienced in years. Two years ago they self imposed a postseason ban, last year they missed the tournament, their football team has crashed into a mountain, and they are still under the cloud of the FBI investigations that may be looming. But, they had a good moment last night with a new coach and a lot of new players that had nothing to do with their previous troubles, so good for them!
-In a much anticipated rematch from last year’s Sweet Sixteen, Nevada won impressively at Loyola Chicago in front of a crowd that was absolutely jacked for the game. Loyola has been somewhat disappointing this season, but Nevada has looked impressive every time they have taken the floor.
-Penn State got a big win against a Virginia Tech team in a game that was close all throughout. This Penn State team has a lot of potential, and they took a huge step forward last night.
-For over a year, we’ve been beating up on Pitt. They lost at Iowa last night, but I was far more impressed with them than anything else. Iowa is a very good team that earned their ranking after winning some big wins, and who was at home, and who had a lot of momentum built up. Pitt led for most of the game and had a chance to win it. This likely won’t end up being a damaging loss, and if they play like that the rest of the year Pitt will win a lot of games, and come up with the good wins they need to make the NCAA Tournament. They are no longer the sludge-fire that they were a year ago.
-In UTR news, Stony Brook is now 6-1 with four true road wins. They are a team to keep an eye on. We will discuss them, Texas Southern’s win against Oregon which was the most improbable win that I can ever recall, and a lot more when we record our Under the Radar podcast tonight.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-GEORGIA STATE AT TULANE. Field Trip!!!! It’s an afternoon game early in the day that a lot of school children will be at. They’ll should be treated to a fairly decent line up between a Tulane team that is improving, and a Georgia State team that is already good.
-VCU AT OLD DOMINION. This is an old Colonial rivalry that still burns pretty hot. VCU is off to a good 5-1 start, but this is their first true road game of the season
-BRADLEY AT IUPUI. Bradly is off to a good 6-1 start, but doesn’t have a true road win yet. They should get this one, but IUPUI is a surprising 4-2 with a win at Boston College, and a really good showing at Xavier in a loss, so while the Braves should win it won’t be an easy win.
-SYRACUSE AT OHIO STATE (ACC/Big Ten Challenge). Syracuse has not produced away from home, and has been a little disappointing this year. Ohio State, on the other hand, is off to a fantastic start with two really good wins already and the chance to add another notable win to their resume.
-RUTGERS AT MIAMI (ACC/Big Ten Challenge). Both teams have just one loss and are trying to build up some momentum as we approach the end of November.
-VIRGINIA AT MARYLAND (ACC/Big Ten Challenge). This is an old ACC rivalry that, in my opinion, should still be an ACC rivalry. Virginia is off to a great start as we all expected. Maryland is also off to a great start, and not all of us were expecting that. Both teams are in the rankings, neither team has a loss, and Maryland should be jacked to be playing this game at home, so it should be fun.
-SAN DIEGO AT OLE MISS. San Diego is off to a good 5-1 start, and this appears to be a winnable road game for them.
-BYU AT ILLINOIS STATE. This is an important road game for a BYU team that has looked pretty good at times, but really needs some meat on their resume. Illinois State is a solid team that plays well at home, and the committee should throw some credit BYU’s way if they’re able to pull this off.
-MONTANA AT CREIGHTON. This is one of the games that I’m most looking forward to tonight. Montana has just one loss and will really shoot up the relevance ladder if they’re able to pull off a road win like this. Creighton has also played well this year and picked up a real nice win against Clemson last week.
-HAWAII AT UCLA. UCLA needs to take care of business at home against a decent but not great Hawaii team.
-NEW MEXICO STATE AT UTEP. Another chapter in this rivalry. New Mexico State can improve to a very respectable 5-1 and pick up their second true road win. Not bad for a team that was supposedly having a rebuilding year.
-NORTHERN COLORADO AT DENVER (Front Range). WE LOVE THE FRONT RANGE!!! In all seriousness, Northern Colorado is off to a really good start and can improve to 4-1 on the season tonight.
-PURDUE AT FLORIDA STATE (ACC/Big Ten Challenge). Both teams are ranked in the top 20, and both have some pretty good wins on their resumes. This is a fun, early season match up that allows both teams that chance at a resume building win.
-GEORGIA TECH AT NORTHWESTERN (ACC/Big Ten Challenge). I’m still not all that big on either team’s longevity this year, but at this moment both have just one loss, and both have a chance to keep that momentum going.
-NORTH CAROLINA AT MICHIGAN (ACC/Big Ten Challenge). This Challenge has given us some good games this year, but this is the most intriguing. It’s a Michigan team that’s played its way into the top ten after picking up some huge wins, and a North Carolina team that’s looking to bounce back from it’s seemingly annual early season loss.
-UC IRVINE AT SAINT MARY’S. I really like this UCI team, and they have a chance to get a decent win that the committee will notice if they’re able to pull this off tonight.
BUY GAMES (and other games worth mentioning, but not highlighting)
-Eastern Kentucky @ Tennessee
-Miami OH @ Xavier
-Rider @ West Virginia – we like this Rider team by UTR standards, but this is a very tall order
-Richmond @ Georgetown
-Stetson @ South Florida
-South Carolina State @ Charleston
-Alabama State @ Akron
-William & Mary @ Marshall
-Liberty @ Navy – Liberty can get to 6-1
-North Alabama @ Toledo
-Saint Peter’s @ Auburn
-UMKC @ South Dakota State
-UTRGV @ Houston
-Cleveland State @ DePaul
-Monmouth @ Kentucky
-Portland @ Colorado
-Omaha @ Arizona State
-Northern Iowa @ Utah State
-Valpo @ UNLV
-Long Beach State @ USC