NEWS AND NOTES:
-Seton Hall trialed Michigan most of the game, but kept it within reach. Then down the stretch The Hall started reaching more, and more, and more. Then they got the lead and ended up holding on to it when time ran out for a huge road win against 4th ranked Michigan. At the end of any college basketball season you can usually count the number of times a top five team lost at home on one hand. Granted, it’s early, and who knows if Michigan will end up in the top five, but my point is that this was a hugely impressive win for Seton Hall!
-BYU picked up a hugely impressive win against Oregon, who they blew off the floor. The game was in Portland, so it wasn’t quite the same as a home game, but it was a pro-Oregon crowd, so it was a really surprising and impressive win for the Cougars.
-Nebraska fell to Creighton in the other Gavitt Games game. The Big Ten has won a lot of buy games, but has yet to win anything else. Their next win of note will be their first
-Saint Louis had looked good early on, and there were questions about Memphis (at least from me) regarding how well they’d be able to play together. Well…the answer is…pretty well!! Memphis blew SLU off the court last night, and looked very much deserving of their #11 ranking.
-Alabama had to sweat out South Alabama, and actually trialed late in the game, but finally got control in the final couple of minutes for the 73-68 win.
-Virginia is making the loss to Navy look like less and less of a fluke. To be fair, Houston is an excellent team, but they just manhandled the Hoos last night in a 67-47 win that didn’t even feel like it was that close when watching it.
-North Carolina picked up a nice early season road win at Charleston 94-83. I don’t mean that as a backhanded compliment. Those are the kinds of road games that NCAA Tournament teams should be able to win most of the time, but they aren’t easy games to win, and while they can win most of them, they usually can’t win all of them. Give the Heels some credit for winning on the road against an under the radar team that probably won’t lose too many games at home this year.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-GEORGE MASON AT MARYLAND. We weren’t expecting all that much out of George Mason this year, but they do come into this one 3-0 and have the chance (albeit a very difficult one) to make a huge statement about how they belong in the national picture. Maryland is also 3-0, but this will be their toughest test of the season up to this point.
-BOSTON COLLEGE AT RHODE ISLAND. We aren’t expecting big things from either team, but as of now both are unbeaten and this would be an early season momentum building win.
-MICHIGAN STATE AT BUTLER (Gavitt Tipoff Games). The Big East has won every game of the Gavitt Games so far, but this appears to be one that’s slanted in the Big Ten’s favor. Michigan state, like the rest of the Big Ten, is still looking for their first win of note.
-TOLEDO AT OAKLAND. We will highlight this one because Toledo is unbeaten (albeit untested) and Oakland is 1-1 with a win at Oklahoma State, so while neither of them may be inside the bubble come March, at Present they are both off to a good start, so we’ll keep highlighting them until they give us a reason not to.
-NORTHERN IOWA AT ARKANSAS. I don’t know what happened to the Northern Iowa team that won 23 games two years ago. All those players are back, but they haven’t looked good at all in their first few games. We had this one circled as a big chance for them to pickup a quality win, and it still is, but based on how they’ve played it could end up looking like just another ordinary buy game. Arkansas has a fantastic team this year and is well deserving of their top 25 ranking.
-VCU AT VANDERBILT. Vandy is currently 2-0 and while we think VCU has some potential, they already have a somewhat head-scratching loss. It’s early, but this game still has a feel of urgency to it for both teams.
-NC STATE VS OKLAHOMA STATE (Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase). This game is at the Mohegan Sun, and it’s unfortunate that the story line isn’t a little better. Oklahoma State is (arguably unfairly) ineligible for the NCAA Tournament this year, but can still be viewed as a quality opponent for the teams they play when evaluating their resumes. NC State is unbeaten, but it’s a very unimpressive 3-0. They are looking for their first win of note.
-SAINT JOHN’S AT INDIANA (Gavitt Tipoff Games). Both teams are unbeaten, but they are also untested, so we should learn something about both of them today. The Johnnies have some expectations this year, so this would be a nice early season win for them.
BUY GAMES AND OTHER GAMES WORTH MENTIONING:
-Houston Baptist @ Texas A&M
-Long Island @ UConn
-Drexel @ Saint Joseph’s (Big Five Plus One) – Big Five games are fun! And Joe’s is looking to remain unbeaten
-Lipscomb @ Dayton – it’s a buy game, but Dayton better watch out in this one
-Charleston Southern @ Wake Forest
-Marist @ Princeton – Princeton probably won’t be inside the bubble come March, but they do have some nice early season wins so far
-Saint Peter’s @ Wagner – a win gets Wagner to 3-0, and they’ve already got a nice win at VCU
-Central Arkansas @ Baylor
-Detroit Mercy @ Mississippi State
-Montana State @ South Dakota State – South Dakota State can improve to 3-1
-Tulane @ Florida State
-Omaha @ Kansas State
-Northern Colorado @ Texas – Northern Colorado is likely overmatched, but they are off to a decent 3-1 start
-Missouri State @ Sam Houston – Missouri State already has a surprising loss early and can’t afford too many more strikes
-Prairie View A&M @ Grand Canyon – win gets the Lopes to 3-0
-UC Davis @ Pepperdine – UC Davis can pick up a road win and improve to 3-0
-Little Rock @ LMU – Little Rock can improve to 4-0 with a win
-Bellarmine @ Saint Mary’s
-North Florida @ UCLA
-UC Riverside @ San Diego – a chance for UCR to pick up another road win. They’ve already got one at Arizona State