Under the Radar Game of the Day – Saturday, December 6

Harvard at Vermont, 7:00 PM, free streaming at uvmathletics.com

The UTR Game of the Day returns to Burlington, Vermont for the second time this week, as the Catamounts, fresh off a dominating win over conference rival Hartford, welcome one of the top Under the Radar teams in the entire country to town.  Vermont has improved its record to 4-3 on the year and enters tonight’s game ranked just outside the KenPom top 100.  They could be within that top 100 if they are able to ride their home court to another big victory against the Harvard Crimson.

Harvard began the season ranked in the top 25, then promptly lost their first D1 game of the year to Holy Cross.  The Crimson have rallied since that loss, picking up wins over Florida Atlantic, Houston, UMass and Northeastern.  This is a very deep and very talented Harvard team, led by Wesley Saunders, and complemented excellently by the likes of Siyani Chambers, Kenyatta Smith and Steve Moundou-Missi.  Harvard’s KenPom rating is currently 32 and it would not be a shock to see them back in the Top 25 polls very soon.  Of course, that assumes the Crimson can keep winning.  And a road victory at a tough place to win, such as Vermont, will definitely be a strong positive on their resume when it is evaluated by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee — even if the average fan would not give it as much credit.  Harvard does need to be careful in Burlington tonight, especially with the chance of looking ahead to crosstown rival Boston U on Monday night in their last game before a two week break for final exams.