News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Saturday, Nov. 21st

NEWS AND NOTES

-It was a very eventful afternoon in the Virgin Islands.  First, Tulsa, who was fresh off their big upset win against Wichita State, fell behind by 19 points to Ohio U.  It looked like Ohio, who was unbeaten on the year, was going make a splash on the national stage by picking up a quality win away from home, remaining unbeaten, and getting the chance to play another quality team in the next round.  But, Tulsa came roaring back for a 90-88 win.  The Golden Hurricane remain unbeaten, they’ll face Indiana State today, and if they can manage to win this tournament they’ll probably get quite a bit of attention from the Top 25 voters.

Later in the afternoon, Hofstra upset what we feel is a good Florida State team to remain unbeaten on the year.  We felt there were three really good teams in the Colonial this year, but Hofstra was not one of the three.  They’ll face South Carolina today for a chance to pick up another good early season win away from home.

-Georgetown appears to be getting progressively better.  They started off with a loss to Radford, then nearly upset Maryland, and then actually did win against Wisconsin.  They’ll face Duke on Sunday in the championship game, who got all they could handle from a really good VCU team.

-Ohio State ended up getting more than all they could handle from UT Arlington in what was probably the biggest surprise of the day.  It’s the first time Ohio State has lost an out of conference game to an unranked team in I don’t know how long.  The Buckeyes are young and have a lot of work to do.

-Miami FL had blown past everyone they had played coming into today, and we felt they’d get their first real challenge against Utah in the Puerto Rico Tip Off.  We were wrong.  They totally blew past Utah as well, and will face Butler on Sunday in a very compelling championship game.  I know it’s early and this may not end up meaning a lot, but Miami FL’s win today was the most impressive and decisive win against a highly ranked team so far.

-Last but not least, Xavier was a team I was big on, but that hadn’t looked impressive at all in their first two games against weak teams.  They went into Michigan, played with a lot of intensity, and ended up winning decisively.  The Musketeers really appear to have something this year.  If they play well in the Advocare Classic this week they’ll end up in the rankings very quickly.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-OLD DOMINION VS PURDUE (Hall of Fame Tip Off).  Both teams come in unbeaten, but also untested.  We really like this Old Dominion team, but if they want to solidify themselves as an at-large caliber team it is very important that they do well in this tournament because their chances at quality wins are limited.  Even though the season is just a week old, this game has a very pivotal feel for the Monarchs.

-NORTH FLORIDA AT LOUISVILLE.  This is a buy game, but North Florida won their opener very convincingly against Illinois, so there is reason to think they can test Louisville.  Both teams come into this game unbeaten, and although Louisville may appear to be superior, North Florida has played the tougher schedule up to this point.

-WILLIAM & MARY AT DAYTON.  Both these teams are probably much better than what most realize.  Both have blown through their competition up to this point, including a convincing road win against NC State for William & Mary, and a blowout win against Alabama for Dayton.  This is one of the better games of the day, so it should be fun.

-CHARLESTON AT DAVIDSON.  Both teams come in unbeaten, although Charleston is likely to fall fast.

-BELMONT AT EVANSVILLE.  Belmont is off to an okay start, but they need to pick up wins like this if they want to end up inside the Bubble.  Evansville won their opener and we still think they can be a dark horse.

-NORTHEASTERN AT LIPSCOMB.  Northeastern hasn’t looked that impressive so far, but they haven’t lost yet.

-NORTH CAROLINA AT NORTHERN IOWA.  This is a somewhat unusual road game for the Tarheels, and it’s a huge showcase game for the Panthers.

-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE VS TCU (Cancun Challenge).  Both teams come in at 2-0.  South Dakota State is one of the teams we like to do well in the Summit League, and we’ll get a chance to learn something about them in this tournament.

-FLORIDA VS SAINT JOSEPH’S (Hall of Fame Tipoff).  I keep waiting for Saint Joseph’s to hit the skids and fall apart, but they haven’t lost a game yet and this is a chance to kind of catapult themselves onto the national radar so to speak.  Both teams come in unbeaten.

-CHATTANOOGA AT ILLINOIS.  Chattanooga has one notable win against Georgia already.  If they can pick up this one they’ll walk away with a very impressive early profile.

-NEW MEXICO AT USC.  I don’t expect either team to be in the picture by the end of the year, but as of now both are unbeaten.

OREGON STATE AT UC SANTA BARBARA.  Oregon State is unbeaten and is trying to pick up their second road win.

-PENNSYLVANIA AT WASHINGTON.  Both teams are unbeaten.

-UALR AT SAN DIEGO STATE.  UALR comes in unbeaten, but they haven’t played in a game as challenging as this.  San Diego State has the loss to Utah, but we’re expecting them to have a big year.

-ORAL ROBERTS AT JAMES MADISON.  JMU’s only loss is at West Virginia.  I think they’re good enough to end up on or near the bubble, but they have a very small margin for error and need to take care of business in games like this.

-FLORIDA STATE VS DEPAUL (Paradise Jam).  Florida State was upset by Hofstra in the first game, but still has a good team and plays the kind of schedule that will allow them to get back on track.

BUY GAMES

-UMass Lowell @ Notre Dame
-Emporia State (nondiv1) @ Wichita State
-UNC Asheville @ Texas A&M
-Elon @ Syracuse
-Brown @ Providence
-Cleveland State @ Rhode Island
-Furman @ UConn
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ Gonzaga