BREAKING NEWS!!! NJIT, HOOPS HD’S FAVORITE TEAM, BEATS MICHIGAN!!! CLICK HERE TO READ!!,
PUPPET RAMBLINGS
-Some big action last night. Florida looked like we thought they would frequently look like and then some in hte first half at Kansas, but Kansas came back and got the win in the second half. That’s a big quality win for them.
-Kentucky beat Texas in a real defensive mud fight, which is the second time this season the Cats have beaten a highly ranked team without really having to break a sweat to do it.
-UConn fell at home to Yale. Yale has every indication of being able to keep pace with Harvard, and given the two profiles, Yale appears to have the best overall win. We may end up seeing two Ivy League teams inside the bubble and in the field.
HIGHLIGHTED MATCH-UPS
-GONZAGA AT ARIZONA. Strong match up between two teams that are good enough to end up on the #1 line. Whenever these two get together it seems to turn out awesome.
-NJIT AT MICHIGAN. Our adopted team has a tall order today on the road against a Michigan team that started off good and appears to be getting better.
-OKLAHOMA STATE AT SOUTH CAROLINA. Okie State is unbeaten, but not heavily tested and this is their first true road game.
-USC UPSTATE AT GEORGIA TECH. This is a buy game, but Upstate is off to a good start, and Georgia Tech only has one loss, so it’s a litmus test early on for both of them.
-RUTGERS AT SETON HALL. Conference realignment has cooled this rivalry somewhat. Actually…no it hasn’t Seton Hall can improve to 7-0 and knock off their hated rivals all in one day.
-WISCONSIN AT MARQUETTE. Wisky is coming off a tough home loss to Duke, and takes on an improving Marquette team that can pick up a huge win both on and off paper today.
-SAINT JOSEPH’S AT VILLANOVA. This appears to be a huge mismatch, but sometimes in heated rivalry games, especially early in the year, a team like Joe’s can get a big win and change the flow of their season.
-VIRGINIA AT VCU. A tough road game for Virginia against a VCU team that has underwhelmed so far, but that also has a tendency to underwhelm early and catch fire right about now.
-GREEN BAY AT MIAMI FL. It’s a buy game, but it is perhaps Green Bay’s last real chance at the kind of win that can get them into the NCAAs without needing to win the conference tournament.
-AMERICAN AT ILLINOIS. It is a buy game, but we still really like this American team’s chances to win the Patriot League, so there is a little intrigue here.
-UCF AT FLORIDA STATE. Both teams are kind of in opposite positions that we thought’d they’d be. A win for UCF gets them to 7-1 on the year, and Florida State comes in at a very mediocre 3-4.
-EASTERN MICHIGAN AT DAYTON. It’s a buy game, but EMU comes in unbeaten, albeit against very weak teams, and Dayton has just one loss.
-ARIZONA STATE AT TEXAS A&M. Both teams come in with respectable records against predominantly weak teams. If either wants to be taken seriously, they need to win games like this.
-MISSISSIPPI STATE AT TULANE. We’re not really big on either team yet, but both come in with just one loss.
-SOUTH FLORIDA AT DETROIT. If USF can get this win, they’ll improve to 6-2 on the year with two true road wins.
-NORTHWESTERN AT BUTLER. Butler is off to a surprisingly good start. I’d say this is their eighth or ninth surprisingly good start in the last ten years or so. I wonder when it will finally stop being a surprise. They’re in the rankings hosting 5-2 Northwestern.
-UC DAVIS AT IDAHO. Davis is unproven, but also unbeaten. A win gets them to 7-0.
-SAINT JOHN’S AT SYRACUSE. Both teams have done better than I think we’ve expected them to so far. The Johnnies were liked by most of the media, but not by us. Having said that, they have just one loss and a chance to get a huge quality road win against a former conference rival today.
-SAINT LOUIS AT WICHITA STATE. SLU has a good record, but they don’t have a big win like this on their profile yet.
-HAWAII AT BYU. Both teams come in with just two losses. Hawaii’s wins aren’t that impressive, but they’ve looked good at times. If they can pull this off on the road it will boost their profile through the roof.
-PENN STATE AT MARSHALL. A win for Penn State gets them to 8-1.
-WILLIAM AND MARY AT HIGH POINT. Both teams come in 5-2, and are two of the better teams in their conferences.
-WAKE FOREST AT NC STATE (ACC). NC State can improve to 7-1 on the year, and take down their conference rivals.
-HARVARD AT VERMONT. This could be a tough road game for a really good Harvard team. FOR MORE ON THAT GAME, CLICK HERE AND READ ABOUT CHAD’S UTR GAME OF THE DAY
-ALABAMA AT XAVIER. Bama comes into this with just one loss. If they can get a quality win in a true road game, it will put them on the radar.
-RHODE ISLAND AT SOUTHERN MISS. I like this Rhody team, but I’ll like them a lot less to make the tournament if they can’t pick this one up on the road.
-NEW MEXICO AT VALPARAISO. It’s not often Valpo gets to host a team like this. They’re 8-1, have been one of the better looking teams in the HL, and I think they improve to 9-1 today.
-UTEP AT NEW MEXICO STATE. An old conference rivalry that continues to be a rivalry. UTEP needs a win away from home.
-OREGON STATE AT PORTLAND. A win for Portland gets them to an impressive 7-1.
-EASTERN WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE. Eastern Washington landing inside the bubble is a long shot, but with that said they keep winning and they can add a road win to their profile, while improving to 7-1 today.
-BOISE STATE AT SAINT MARY’S. We like both these teams, and we think they’ve both passed some quizzes, but no real big exams yet.
-SIUE AT CENTRAL MICHIGAN. Buy game. CMU can improve to 6-1
-UMBC AT IOWA. Buy game.
-WINTHROP AT MARYLAND. Buy game
-NORTH FLORIDA AT PURUDE. Buy game. The Boilers can improve to 7-1
-PINE BLUFF AT MICHIGAN STATE. Buy game.
-STETSON AT DAVIDSON. Buy game. A win gets Davidson to 6-1
COLGATE AT OHIO STATE. Buy game
-SAVANNAH STATE AT INDIANA. Buy game.
-GEORGE MASON AT NORTHERN IOWA. Not a buy game, but may as well be.