If you haven’t seen it yet, check out our most recent Under the Radar podcast here….
https://hoopshd.com/2013/11/29/under-the-radar-1129/
SPOTLIGHT GAMES
-BYU AT UTAH STATE. Most outside the region may not realize this, but this is a huge rivalry game. BYU has two losses, but has looked really good this season. Utah State is unbeaten and although they have some decent wins, they don’t have any as good as this one would be. Expect an absolutely electric atmosphere and an intense game for this one.
-IOWA VS VILLANOVA (Battle 4 Atlantis). Both teams have looked great in this tournament and appear to be on their way to big seasons. Iowa’s OOC schedule was weak, so it’s been hugely beneficial that they’ve been able to play and beat good competition in this tournament. Nova picked up a huge win yesterday against Kansas, so like Iowa they’re in pretty good shape early on.
-VIRGINIA VS MISSOURI STATE (Cancun Challenge). Virginia is unbeaten so far. So is Missouri State, but they’re also largely untested. If they can win today it would be a huge statement win that would earn them some attention.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTED MATCH-UPS
-SOUTH ALABAMA AT MIDDLE TENNESSEE. Middle Tennessee has just one loss on the year, but has a razor thin margin for error.
-PITTSBURGH VS DUQUESNE. The City Game. Pitt has looked good, but hasn’t really been tested.
-XAVIER VS USC (Battle 4 Atlantis). Xavier has lost two games in this tournament and will be in rough shape if they drop this one today.
-EVANSVILLE AT OHIO. Both teams have just one loss, but neither has any wins of note yet.
-SAINT JOHN’S VS GEORGIA TECH. Both teams have decent records, but neither have looked all that impressive yet.
-SAN DIEGO AT NEW MEXICO. San Diego has just one loss, but they haven’t really managed a quality win. New Mexico has been tested a little more, but still needs to acquire some big wins.
-PACIFIC VS CAL POLY. Pacific has just one loss (yesterday to Oregon) and may be a team to keep an eye on.
-TENNESSEE VS WAKE FOREST (Battle 4 Atlantis). Neither team was expected to do much this year, but both have looked good at times and have decent records. They both need decent wins, though.
-COLORADO AT AIR FORCE (Front Range). A win for Colorado gets them to 7-1, which is pretty good since we think they’ve gotten off to a slower start than usual.
-RHODE ISLAND AT GEORGE MASON (Atlantic Ten). Kind of an early conference game. Neither team has looked great, but both have looked decent and have just two losses so far.
-PENN STATE VS OLE MISS. Neither team has any wins that really jump out at you, but both have solid records.
-NEW MEXICO STATE AT COLORADO STATE. We talked about this last night, but due to the WAC being as weak as it is, they need to pick up wins like this on the road if they want to be taken seriously.
-JAMES MADISON AT RICHMOND. Richmond is improving and needs to hold serve in these games against lower caliber teams.
-INDIANA STATE VS PEPPERDINE (Great Alaska Shootout). Both have been somewhat disappointing in this tournament, but both have potential and could use this win.
-NORTH DAKOTA AT OREGON. North Dakota should make quite a bit of noise in conference play, but they’re overmatched by a very good Oregon team today.
-SMU VS TEXAS A&M (Corpus Christi Challenge). Both teams have good records but neither has a good win, or a decent win, or a win that barely registers as mediocre up to this point.
-UTEP VS KANSAS (Battle 4 Atlantis). Both teams are looking to rebound from their losses yesterday.
-DRAKE AT NORTHERN ARIZONA. I’m not all the way on the bandwagon by any means, but a win for Drake does get them to 5-1.
-EASTERN KENTUCKY AT NC STATE. NC State has a loss at home to NC Central already, and this EKU team is better than that. They have just one loss on the year and are one of the better teams in the OVC.
-HARVARD VS TCU (Great Alaska Shootout). I’m much more impressed with Harvard than TCU at this point, but if they win this tournament it would be a great start for the Horned Frogs.
ROBERT MORRIS AT GEORGETOWN. RMU is one of the better teams in the NEC and Georgetown has struggled at times, so they can’t just overlook them.
The George Mason-Rhode Island game is technically a non-conference matchup, the final game of a 3 year series put in place before GMU joined the A10. The two teams will play again later this year in a conference game.