-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Iona and FGCU, CLICK HERE
-Our new Bracket Projections will be posted after today’s games.
PUPPET RAMBLINGS
-The unexpected not only continues to happen, but continues to happen in unexpected ways. Two nights ago, Eastern Kentucky blasted Miami FL out of their own arena. EKU winning was unexpected. EKU winning by 28 was them winning in an unexpected way. They followed up that great win with a loss at Florida Atlantic, who is unbeaten at home, but is still the kind of game you’d expect EKU to win, especially after what they did to Miami just a few nights ago.
Speaking of Miami, their big win at Florida isn’t looking so big, so you have to wonder if there will be a place for them in the bracket at all. They ended up losing rather handily to Providence last night.
-Temple beat Kansas. That was unexpected. But furthermore, Temple literally curb stomped them. A 77-52 final. This improves Temple to 8-4, and none of their losses other than Saint Joe’s are all that bad. Perhaps they’re playing their way toward the bubble.
-Texas Southern won at Michigan State the other night. I’m not sure, but I think it was mentioned on the latest Bracket Racket Podcast. You can watch and/or listen to that by CLICKING HERE.
-Green Bay, a team we like and are really trying to promote as a potential at-large caliber team, is making that next to impossible. They fell on a neutral floor to a UC Irvine team that is good by Big West standards, but not by at-large bid standards, and those are the kinds of games teams simply cannot lose if they want to make the case they belong inside the bubble.
-Colorado State remains unbeaten and has cracked the rankings. I believe it is well deserved. It’s also time for their fans to start showing up at the games. TCU is also unbeaten and in the rankings. I do not believe this to be deserved at all seeing as how other than their win at Ole Miss not a single win came against a team that is likely to make a postseason tournament unless they buy tickets. This will take care of itself, though. If they’re good enough, they’ll win in conference and stay there. If if they’re not, they will lose badly and fall off the face of the Earth. I must admit, though, for a program that has been very poor for a very long time, at least they’ve managed to build up some momentum.
-Old Dominion is not in the rankings, but certainly should be. They improved to 10-1 last night with their win over William & Mary. They have managed wins against VCU, LSU and Georgia State, which is far more than TCU has done.
-Saint John’s handily beat a good Long Beach State team. Long Beach’s OOC schedule was so brutal, that had they won last night I think they would have been in a position to play their way inside the bubble despite only being 6-7. They already have wins against Kansas State and Xavier, and to tack on another notable win away from home with a brutal OOC schedule, that may have been enough to get them into the field if they ran away with the Big West Conference. Saint John’s continues to look better and better and better as the season goes on.
-Wofford is good, but was blown to bits by West Virginia. I’m not surprised the Mountaineers won, but I’m a little surprised they won so handily against a pretty good Wofford team.
-Wisconsin won another road game. They beat a pretty good Cal team, and continue to look like a #1 seed caliber team.
-Tulane came in to Washington last night with a bloated record, but it wasn’t that eye catching since their schedule had been so weak. They actually played really well against the Huskies last night, though, and led for a good portion of the game. Perhaps they’re going to be a force in the American. Unfortunately for them they almost needed last night’s win because the rest of their profile is not impressive.
-Nebraska continues to look like Nebraska did before Tim Miles got there. They, once again, lost a game to a team that isn’t likely to make the NCAA Tournament. Hawai’i took them down 66-58 They really needed that one because they have now been relegated to the loser’s bracket of the Diamondhead Classic.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-GEORGE WASHINGTON VS COLORADO (Diamondhead Classic). This is a game between two teams with potential, but that have not lived up to that potential just yet. It has a pivotal feel to it as both teams really need notable wins.
-NJIT AT VILLANOVA. It’s a buy game, but NJIT’s postseason hopes can go through the roof if they pull off the upset. Having said that, Nova’s hopes for a #1 seed can fall through the floor if they allow that to happen.
-STANFORD AT TEXAS. Texas is very strong this year and can add another decent win to their profile, whereas Stanford needs some meet on their resume.
-HOLY CROSS AT PITTSBURGH. Holy Cross has been disappointing lately after looking so good in the first part of November. Still, they’re not a team that Pitt can just overlook.
-LOUISIANA TECH AT NC STATE. LA Tech is out of strikes. They need to win this game, and pretty much win out, if they want to land safely inside the bubble.
-GEORGIA TECH AT DAYTON. This is a rather bubblicious looking game as both teams come in at 8-2, but Dayton has lost a key player for the season and Georgia Tech is playing in just their second true road game.
-WICHITA STATE AT HAWAII (Diamondhead Classic). Hawai’i is a respectable 6-1 at home this season and is coming off a win against Nebraska. Wichita is good, but they need to be on upset alert.
-NEW MEXICO AT GRAND CANYON. I wasn’t too excited about New Mexico this year, but a win gets them to 9-3 and makes htem 3-0 on the road.
-HOUSTON AT TEXAS TECH. Texas Tech can improve to 10-2, but all ten wins will have come at home.
-ARIZONA AT UNLV. Arizona again walks into a snake pit to take on a pretty good UNLV team who needs a notable win, and is unbeaten at home.
-BOISE STATE VS LOYOLA IL (Las Vegas Classic). Both teams have just two losses and can pick up what could turn out to be a notable neutral floor win.
-CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE AT LOUISVILLE. Buy game.
-WAGNER AT CINCINNATI. Buy game.
Highlighted Games and Puppet Ramblings for Tuesday, Dec 23rd
-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Iona and FGCU, CLICK HERE
-Our new Bracket Projections will be posted after today’s games.
PUPPET RAMBLINGS
-The unexpected not only continues to happen, but continues to happen in unexpected ways. Two nights ago, Eastern Kentucky blasted Miami FL out of their own arena. EKU winning was unexpected. EKU winning by 28 was them winning in an unexpected way. They followed up that great win with a loss at Florida Atlantic, who is unbeaten at home, but is still the kind of game you’d expect EKU to win, especially after what they did to Miami just a few nights ago.
Speaking of Miami, their big win at Florida isn’t looking so big, so you have to wonder if there will be a place for them in the bracket at all. They ended up losing rather handily to Providence last night.
-Temple beat Kansas. That was unexpected. But furthermore, Temple literally curb stomped them. A 77-52 final. This improves Temple to 8-4, and none of their losses other than Saint Joe’s are all that bad. Perhaps they’re playing their way toward the bubble.
-Texas Southern won at Michigan State the other night. I’m not sure, but I think it was mentioned on the latest Bracket Racket Podcast. You can watch and/or listen to that by CLICKING HERE.
-Green Bay, a team we like and are really trying to promote as a potential at-large caliber team, is making that next to impossible. They fell on a neutral floor to a UC Irvine team that is good by Big West standards, but not by at-large bid standards, and those are the kinds of games teams simply cannot lose if they want to make the case they belong inside the bubble.
-Colorado State remains unbeaten and has cracked the rankings. I believe it is well deserved. It’s also time for their fans to start showing up at the games. TCU is also unbeaten and in the rankings. I do not believe this to be deserved at all seeing as how other than their win at Ole Miss not a single win came against a team that is likely to make a postseason tournament unless they buy tickets. This will take care of itself, though. If they’re good enough, they’ll win in conference and stay there. If if they’re not, they will lose badly and fall off the face of the Earth. I must admit, though, for a program that has been very poor for a very long time, at least they’ve managed to build up some momentum.
-Old Dominion is not in the rankings, but certainly should be. They improved to 10-1 last night with their win over William & Mary. They have managed wins against VCU, LSU and Georgia State, which is far more than TCU has done.
-Saint John’s handily beat a good Long Beach State team. Long Beach’s OOC schedule was so brutal, that had they won last night I think they would have been in a position to play their way inside the bubble despite only being 6-7. They already have wins against Kansas State and Xavier, and to tack on another notable win away from home with a brutal OOC schedule, that may have been enough to get them into the field if they ran away with the Big West Conference. Saint John’s continues to look better and better and better as the season goes on.
-Wofford is good, but was blown to bits by West Virginia. I’m not surprised the Mountaineers won, but I’m a little surprised they won so handily against a pretty good Wofford team.
-Wisconsin won another road game. They beat a pretty good Cal team, and continue to look like a #1 seed caliber team.
-Tulane came in to Washington last night with a bloated record, but it wasn’t that eye catching since their schedule had been so weak. They actually played really well against the Huskies last night, though, and led for a good portion of the game. Perhaps they’re going to be a force in the American. Unfortunately for them they almost needed last night’s win because the rest of their profile is not impressive.
-Nebraska continues to look like Nebraska did before Tim Miles got there. They, once again, lost a game to a team that isn’t likely to make the NCAA Tournament. Hawai’i took them down 66-58 They really needed that one because they have now been relegated to the loser’s bracket of the Diamondhead Classic.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-GEORGE WASHINGTON VS COLORADO (Diamondhead Classic). This is a game between two teams with potential, but that have not lived up to that potential just yet. It has a pivotal feel to it as both teams really need notable wins.
-NJIT AT VILLANOVA. It’s a buy game, but NJIT’s postseason hopes can go through the roof if they pull off the upset. Having said that, Nova’s hopes for a #1 seed can fall through the floor if they allow that to happen.
-STANFORD AT TEXAS. Texas is very strong this year and can add another decent win to their profile, whereas Stanford needs some meet on their resume.
-HOLY CROSS AT PITTSBURGH. Holy Cross has been disappointing lately after looking so good in the first part of November. Still, they’re not a team that Pitt can just overlook.
-LOUISIANA TECH AT NC STATE. LA Tech is out of strikes. They need to win this game, and pretty much win out, if they want to land safely inside the bubble.
-GEORGIA TECH AT DAYTON. This is a rather bubblicious looking game as both teams come in at 8-2, but Dayton has lost a key player for the season and Georgia Tech is playing in just their second true road game.
-WICHITA STATE AT HAWAII (Diamondhead Classic). Hawai’i is a respectable 6-1 at home this season and is coming off a win against Nebraska. Wichita is good, but they need to be on upset alert.
-NEW MEXICO AT GRAND CANYON. I wasn’t too excited about New Mexico this year, but a win gets them to 9-3 and makes htem 3-0 on the road.
-HOUSTON AT TEXAS TECH. Texas Tech can improve to 10-2, but all ten wins will have come at home.
-ARIZONA AT UNLV. Arizona again walks into a snake pit to take on a pretty good UNLV team who needs a notable win, and is unbeaten at home.
-BOISE STATE VS LOYOLA IL (Las Vegas Classic). Both teams have just two losses and can pick up what could turn out to be a notable neutral floor win.
-CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE AT LOUISVILLE. Buy game.
-WAGNER AT CINCINNATI. Buy game.