Puppet Ramblings and Highlighted Games for Wednesday, Dec 10th

PUPPET RAMBLINGS

-Illinois played well and fought their way back into it against a very good Villanova team, but just couldn’t get over the hump.  Nova was in the discussion for a #1 seed last year, and will likely be again this year.  They’re that good.

-Indiana and Louisville was one of the most exciting games of the season for the first thirty minutes of it.  The Cardinals finally opened it up and won by a final of 94-74, but Indiana is not a bad team.  I thought they would be, but I was wrong.  Even when Eastern Washington beat them I was not surprised.  I’m impressed enough with the Hoosiers not just because of last night, but because of how they’ve played this year, to think that they’re good enough to make the field of 68.

-Last night, we had three games that appeared to be buy games of little interest that resulted in rather surprising results.  The first was a one loss Eastern Michigan team, who hadn’t played anyone of not AT ALL, who went into Michigan and handed the Wolverines their second consecutive OOC loss.  Nothing against Eastern Michigan and our personal favorite NJIT, but Michigan appears to have some issues.

-Bowling Green, who also had just one loss, went into Dayton and looked absolutely amazing for thirty minutes, and appeared to be on their way to picking up a huge road win.  It’s the type of win the committee likes to see.  They followed that up by scoring just two points in the final ten minutes of the game, but amazingly still had a chance to win in the final seconds.  Dayton held on for a 56-52 win.  Dayton has beaten Eastern Michigan and Bowling Green in their last two games, and although that’s not overly noteworthy, it is slightly more noteworthy than winning just two regular buy games.

-Creighton needed double overtime to take down South Dakota, who we like out of the Summit League, but only by Summit League standards.  Creighton is impossible to figure out.  They look awful in the first have against Oklahoma, but come out and look like gangbusters as they come from behind to win.  Then, they drop a game to a rather weak Ole Miss team, and lose rather handily to an even weaker Tulsa team, so you start to think that it was just a fluke.  Then, they go on the road and win at Nebraska, who is not easy to beat at home.  They follow that up by really needing to sweat out South Dakota.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-KANSAS AT GEORGETOWN.  Tough road test for a Kansas team that is good now, and is likely to improve as the season goes along.  It’s a big opportunity for Georgetown to get a notable win as well.

-RHODE ISLAND AT PROVIDENCE.  This is a bitter rivalry.  Since it’s rare that either team, much less both of them, is in the national spotlight the country may not realize just how intense this rivalry is.  It was looking much more compelling on paper last week before Providence went and lost to teams like Brown, but Rhody appears to be a potential tournament team, and Providence could be as well if they’re able to get things turned around.

-UTAH AT BYU.  There was concern that this series would be put on hold, but I’m glad it wasn’t.  As big of a rivalry as it is, this game means a lot on paper as well despite it not being a conference game.  BYU desperately needs a quality win, and Utah could really use a win of note away from home.

-COLORADO STATE AT COLORADO (Front Range).  We here at Hoops HD LOVE the mythical Front Range Conference!.  Unfortunately it is no longer in tact as not all teams play each other, but many of them do.  Colorado, for instance, plays all but Denver this year.  Colorado State is off to a great start, whereas Colorado has been disappointing.  Another rivalry game that means a lot to both teams on and off paper.

-NORTHERN IOWA AT DENVER.  UNI is now in the rankings and can add another road win to their profile.

-LONG BEACH STATE AT SAN DIEGO STATE.  SDSU looked really bad in their last game and needs to rebound at home against a respectable LBSU team.

-WYOMING AT CALIFORNIA.  Really good and important game tonight between two one loss teams who we could easily see in the tournament.  You get the sense that Wyoming needs it a little more.

-WASHINGTON STATE AT GONZAGA.  This is not a buy game, but chances are it’ll end up looking like one.  Gonzaga and Washington really need to resume that series.  Washington dropping the Zags to play a more national schedule seemingly has not paid off.

-DUQUESNE AT PENN STATE.  I’m still not sold on Penn State, but they are 8-1.

-HIGH POINT AT OHIO STATE.  It’s a buy game, but High Point will be a force in the Big South, so it is perhaps at least worth watching for a little while.

-LOUISIANA TECH AT LOUISIANA LAFAYETTE.  Same story as always for LA Tech.  They cannot afford bad losses.

-WISCONSIN AT MILWAUKEE.  Regional match-up in what will be a showcase home game for Milwaukee, but probably not one they’ll win.

-COLUMBIA AT KENTUCKY.  Buy game.  We think Columbia is an improving program, but only by Ivy League standards.

-NC CENTRAL AT MARYLAND.  We like NCCU to win the MEAC, but not to beat a surprisingly good Maryland team.

-ARKANSAS STATE AT PURDUE.  Buy game.

-FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON AT SAINT JOHN’S.  Buy game.

-INCARNATE WORD AT NEBRASKA.  Buy game.  Incarnate Word has just one loss.

-UC RIVERSIDE AT UCLA.  Buy game.