UNDER THE RADAR GAME OF THE DAY
Hartford at Vermont, 7:00 PM Eastern, uvmathletics.com
The UTR Game of the Day had a lot of great destinations to choose from tonight, including the huge showdown between Northeastern and Harvard, and an intriguing matchup between Yale and Bryant, not to mention our adopted team (NJIT) on the road at UMass-Lowell. However, it is tough to pass up a trip to one of the most Under the Radar college cities in the country: Burlington, Vermont. You just can’t beat a walk down Church Street Marketplace or along the shores of Lake Champlain. And one cannot go to Burlington without grabbing a meal at the Skinny Pancake, taking a tour of the Magic Hat Brewery, or taking a short drive to the Ben and Jerry’s ice cream factory. If the weather is nice enough, a ferry ride across the lake and a trip to Plattsburgh, NY is worth it just for the chance to grab a couple Red Hots with Michigan sauce.
After all that packed into a day, the best way to cap it off is to attend the first America East conference game of the season as preseason favorite Hartford comes to town to take on the defending regular season champion Catamounts. Vermont is 3-2 so far this year, but undefeated in two home contests coming into tonight’s game. Harftord, on the other hand, enters the game at 5-2, including a road win over a Quinnipiac team that beat Vermont their last time out. The Hawks have never made an NCAA tournament. If they are able to pick up a road win tonight in Burlington, they will definitely be sending an early message to the entire conference that they are a legitimate contender to Dance this season.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
Temple at St. Joe’s — A Philadelphia Big 5 showdown between two teams that need quality wins.
Butler at Indiana State — A road test for the surprising Bulldogs against an in-state rival.
Northeastern at Harvard — A huge Boston showdown between two of the top Under the Radar teams so far this year. Don’t be surprised if Harvard is back in the top 25 soon.
Michigan State at Notre Dame — Two teams that have played even better than expected so far this season.
Virginia Tech at Penn State — Hey, it’s part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Iowa at North Carolina — The Tar Heels look to be too much for the Hawkeyes on paper.
Yale at Bryant — A battle in New England between teams that should be near the top of their conference standings.
Old Dominion at George Mason — ODU is off to a surprisingly good start and will look to add another scalp tonight.
UNLV at Arizona State — I am not yet ready to give up on the Sun Devils, who don’t have any overly bad losses yet. UNLV has not played well, which is not too surprising given their youth.
Villanova at La Salle — The second half of a Big 5 doubleheader on CBS Sports Network, the Wildcats should roll in this one.
Auburn at Texas Tech — The first game of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Ever hear of Can’t Miss TV? This may be Can’t Watch TV.
New Mexico State at New Mexico — A huge rivalry matchup. With the Lobos down this season, this game could go either way.
Virginia at Maryland — If Dez Wells were healthy, this would be a great game. Without him, the Cavaliers should win without too much trouble.
Georgia Tech at Northwestern — Northwestern is undefeated at home, but only by getting a last second win over North Florida and an overtime win against Elon. The Yellow Jackets are slightly (and maybe only slightly) better than those two teams.
Duke at Wisconsin — If you aren’t excited about this game, you probably need to get to the hospital because you may be dead.
San Francisco at Colorado — What David would call a buy game, though the Dons have played tough so far this year.
Montana at California — If Cal is a tournament team, they need to roll the Grizzlies here.
Loyola Marymount at USC — If Andy Enfield is a legitimate head coach, USC needs to roll in this one too.
Idaho at Washington State — Buy game
CS-Fullerton at UCLA — Buy game
Mississippi Valley State at Oregon State — Buy game
Concordia at Oregon — Why does an alleged major program schedule non-D1 regular season games?
Wichita State at Utah — Don’t go to bed after the Duke-Wisconsin game. This should be another great one, and may be one of Wichita’s best non-conference games all season (though they are in the Diamond Head Classic and could get another good game or two there).