NEWS AND NOTES:
-Gonzaga jumped out to an early lead against Texas, and while The Longhorns did make an occasional run, it was never out of the Zag’s control. It was a very impressive 86-74 win, and Gonzaga once again looks to be the clear #1 team, at least for now.
-Maryland got a bit of a scare from what is shaping up to be a really good Vermont team, but pulled away in the final minutes for a 68-57 win. The win would have been huge for Vermont, but they’ve already managed what should turn out to be a good road win at Northern Iowa, and they’ve got a few more opportunities to rack up big OOC wins, so they have the chance to put together a really good NCAA Tournament resume.
There were more upsets yesterday! At least in terms of Under the Radar teams winning on the road…
-Darmouth basically held a lead against Georgetown the entire way and ended up with a 69-60 win. It is going to be a very long year for the Hoyas.
-UMass Lowell, who we thought would finish in the middle of the America East, went on the road and got a win at Dayton 59-58. They certainly have our attention now.
-Wagner went into VCU and pulled out a surprising 58-44 win. It’s been a bit of a rough start for the Atlantic Ten with UMass getting blown out by Yale, and with VCU and Dayton losing home buy games.
Duquesne also lost at home to Hofstra and Fordham fell to Manhattan, but neither of those results are particularly surprising.
-NC State avoided a near loss to Colgate, but held on to win 77-74 in a game that came down to the final couple of possessions
-USC blew it open early against Temple, but somehow the Owls came back and made it a game. USC still held on to win 76-71, but it’s tough to say if Temple is better than we thought, or if USC just totally blew it once they had control. Perhaps it’s a combination of both.
-UCF is off to a 2-0 start after picking up a notable road win against in-state foe Miami FL.
-Ohio U got a nice road win at Cleveland State to remain unbeaten. Cleveland State is now 0-2, but we still think they are a good team that will make quite a bit of noise as they get a little further into their schedule.
-Shout out to Saint Thomas who picked up their first D1 win as a D1 team! They knocked off Saint Francis Brooklyn on the road 91-73
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-YALE AT SETON HALL. Neither team has lost, and Yale has a blowout win over UMass. They are probably overmatched today, but it could still be a fun game.
-FLORIDA STATE AT FLORIDA. It’s a rivalry game between two likely NCAA Tournament teams. We actually think both teams are a little underrated and undervalued right now. This is a chance for both of them to likely pick up a resume boosting win as well as a bragging rights win.
-MINNESOTA VS PRINCETON (Asheville Championship). Both teams come into this one unbeaten, and are coming off of wins that were somewhat surprising from the first game in this event. We weren’t all that excited about either team coming in to the season, but one of them will leave here today 3-0 with some (at least) semi-decent wins away from home on their resume.
OTHER GAMES WORTH MENTIONING:
-EAST TENNESSEE STATE AT TENNESSEE. This is a buy game, and it may end up looking that way by the time it’s over, but since ETSU looks like they may be able to finish near the top of the SoCon it is worth keeping somewhat of an eye on.
-SOUTH DAKOTA AT DRAKE. Both teams come into this one after having won their opener, and Drake Is a really good team that we think can finish inside the bubble. They may get a bit of a test from the Yotes today, though.
-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT STEPHEN F AUSTIN. South Dakota State is coming off a loss to Alabama where they played really well. It’s early, but they are one of the UTR teams that we think could make a push to land inside the bubble. If they’re an NCAA Tournament caliber team, then this is the kind of road game that they need to be able to win.
-WESTERN KENTUCKY VS SOUTH CAROLINA (Asheville Championship). Both teams are coming off losses In the first round of this event that were somewhat surprising. WKU fell to Minnesota and South Carolina lost to Princeton. This is more of a sense of urgency game early on than it is a chance for either of them to pick up a quality win.
-MORGAN STATE AT GEORGE MASON – Both teams come in at 2-0
BUY GAMES:
-Arkansas Baptist (nonD1) @ Little Rock – Little Rock can get to 3-0
-Rhodes College (nonD1) @ UAB – UAB can get to 3-0
-TAMUCC @ Texas A&M – both teams unbeaten
-Fairfield @ Boston College – BC can get to 3-0
-Canisius @ Saint Bonaventure – Bonnies can get to 2-0
-La Sierra (nonD1) @ UC Riverside
-Drexel @ Syracuse – both teams 1-0
-Peru State (nonD1) @ Colorado State
-Texas State @ Vanderbilt