It’s the Saturday before Christmas, and like most Saturdays it is a very busy day in college basketball. With it being the Holidays, it is important for all of us to remember what’s really important. And, what’s really important…IS COLLEGE BASKETBALL!! Below is a rundown of all of today’s action, as well as a quick look back at yesterday….
NEWS AND NOTES
-THE TEAM OF THE PEOPLE!! Grand Canyon went on the road and won against San Diego State! We hear all about The Show, and how awesome they are, and rightfully so. It wasn’t quite as wild with so many students being on Christmas Break, but still. GCU is on Christmas Break as well, AND they’re the road team. By the end of the game, GCU’s fans were clearly the most audible. If one of the reasons for the transitional period is to help programs assimilate to div1, then I conclude that GCU has been fully assimilated! Their fans went on the road into what’s normally a very hostile environment, and out cheered San Diego State. They also defeated San Diego State. If that’s not being fully assimilated to div1 then I don’t know what the hell is! LET THE LOPES PLAY!!!! #LopesWaiver
-Angry Frank and South Carolina remain unbeaten after winning on the road against in state rival Clemson last night. It took a few years, but he really seems to have this program going. Hopefully SC fans come out and force and support what really is a good team that should be dancing in March. It’s been a long time since they’ve had a team that’s as good as this one appears to be.
-For Chad Sherwood’s Under the Radar Game of the Day, which features the greatest mascot in the history of college sports, and perhaps in the history of ALL sports – CLICK HERE
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-UTAH VS DUKE (New York, NY). Duke already has quite a few notable wins on their profile and this would certainly be another one if they could pull it off. Utah is a very respectable 8-2, but they don’t have a win anywhere close to this caliber, and struggled in their last road game at Wichita State.
-AUBURN AT XAVIER. Auburn continues to improve, but they still don’t have all the weapons they need just yet. They’re coming off a road loss to Middle Tennessee and could be in for a very long day against a top ten caliber Xavier team.
-GEORGIA TECH AT GEORGIA. Georgia has a good team, but has gotten off to a very sluggish start and needs to build up some momentum. I hadn’t expected much from Georgia Tech this year, but they’re at a somewhat impressive 7-2 and if they pick this one up on the road they’ll be in really good shape as OOC play winds down.
-WICHITA STATE AT SETON HALL. Wichita is back at full strength and has been playing like the team we thought they would. They have a lot of work to do, but they are more than capable of doing it. Seton Hall is a very solid 8-2, which makes this a win of substance for whoever pulls it off.
-VILLANOVA AT VIRGINIA. Both of these teams are likely to end up with protected seeds, so this would be a very high profile win for whoever pulls it off. It’ll be interesting to watch Nova’s outside shooting matched up against a very tough UVA defense.
-MICHIGAN STATE AT NORTHEASTERN. Northeastern is a respectable 7-3 with a nice win at Miami FL, but they’ve still underperformed compared to how good we thought they’d be. Having said that, when they play up to their ceiling, they are really good. I don’t know if they’re good enough to knock off a top ranked Michigan State team, but this is a fantastic and rare showcase home game for them.
-NORTH CAROLINA VS UCLA (Brooklyn, NY). Since losing their opener to Monmouth, UCLA has actually been playing exceptionally well and has quite a few noteworthy wins already. North Carolina has looked solid, but they’ve yet to win a true road game (although they do have neutral-court wins over Northwestern and Kansas State in Kansas City). If UNC pulls this off, it enhances their profile with a likely win over an NCAA Tournament team away from home.
-INDIANA VS NOTRE DAME (Crossroads Classic). You get the sense that both these teams have been disappointing so far this year, and could really use a big win in a rivalry game to get things turned around. I know it’s early and I know this isn’t a conference game, but both teams need to come in with a sense of urgency to win it, especially Indiana.
-ILLINOIS STATE AT SAINT JOSEPH’S. Illinois State has been wildly inconsistent this year, whereas Saint Joe’s is out to a rather impressive 7-2 record. We didn’t expect much from the Hawks, but they’ve held their own during the OOC portion of the season.
-CREIGHTON AT OKLAHOMA. I wasn’t as big on Oklahoma as most coming into the year, but I’m a believe now. I think they’re a Final Four caliber team. Creighton has also been much better than I expected at 7-3, but they’re probably overmatched on the road today.
-NORTHWESTERN AT DEPAUL. It hasn’t always been impressive, but Northwestern’s paper is currently very solid. A win today gets them to 10-1 on the year.
-CHARLESTON AT MIAMI FL. I know this is a buy game, but because Charleston is out to an unbelievably surprising 7-2 record and already has a very lopsided win against LSU, we’ll go ahead and highlight this. I think Miami is likely too much for them, but if they win today I think they earn the title of biggest shocker of the year.
-KENTUCKY VS OHIO STATE (Brooklyn, NY). It isn’t likely to be pretty. It really isn’t. Ohio State hasn’t even looked like an NIT team this year.
-COLORADO STATE AT KANSAS STATE. K State is an impressive 7-2 and are very close to being even better than that. It’s strange to say, but Bruce Weber has done a really good job this year. They should be able to pick up the win against a Colorado State team that’s kind of in a rebuilding mode.
-CINCINNATI AT VCU. VCU has looked good at times on the court, but on paper they are very weak and need to start picking up some wins soon if they want to be in the picture. Cincinnati a good win against George Washington already and this would be another decent win for them if they can pull it off.
-DRAKE VS IOWA (Big Four Classic). This is kind of a mismatch, and it shouldn’t be tough for Iowa to pick up the neutral floor win.
-BUTLER VS PURDUE (Crossroads Classic). Whereas the first Crossroads game between Notre Dame and Indiana is two underperforming teams looking to turn it around, these are two very good teams who have looked great this year, especially Purdue. It’s a rivalry game off paper, and it’s a chance to pick up a high quality win on paper. It should be fun.
-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT FGCU. South Dakota State isn’t quite on the bubble yet, but they are a very good team and we’re starting to play close attention to them. If they can blow through most of the rest of their schedule, which they’re good enough to do, they’ll likely be in the discussion
-WESTERN ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO STATE. The win at Wisconsin isn’t looking as impressive, but WIU is still 7-2 on the year and in a position to be in the discussion if they blow through the rest of their schedule.
-NC STATE AT MISSOURI. NC State has a lot of work to do, and it would be very ill advised to lose this game. Missouri is not a strong team, but they have won all five of their home games.
-NORTHERN IOWA VS IOWA STATE (Big Four Classic). Northern Iowa is in rebuilding mode, and like a lot of young teams they look great on some nights (beat UNC), and awful on other nights. Iowa State is highly ranked, but they aren’t exactly highly tested. They needed a huge come back at home against Iowa just last week, and could be in for another fight today IF they overlook UNI. If Northern Iowa pulls the upset then it’s the kind of win that makes a statement to the selection committee.
-PRINCETON AT MARYLAND. I know this is a buy game, but with Princeton at 6-2 we’ll go ahead and highlight it.
-IONA AT RHODE ISLAND. Iona isn’t a great team, but they’re good enough to beat anyone who overlooks them and have been playing much better since dropping their first two games of the season. Rhody has adjusted to not being at full strength, but they still have a ton of work to do if they want to show they are a tournament team.
-OKLAHOMA STATE VS FLORIDA (Orange Bowl Classic). Florida has played well, but they still don’t have any hugely notable wins on their profile yet. If they keep improving, they will get there, though, and knocking off a decent Oklahoma State team would be a plus.
-MERCER AT ARKANSAS. We highlight this one because Mercer is out to a respectable 8-2, and although Arkansas isn’t a great team, it’s still a chance to see if Mercer is good enough to win against a brand name team on the road.
-NEW MEXICO STATE AT UTEP. This is the second leg of this OOC rivalry. UTEP is a mile from the bubble right now, and short of winning out they’re probably not going to end up in the picture, but this is a chance to build up some momentum in the home stretch of OOC play.
-BAYLOR AT TEXAS A&M. This is a former Big Twelve Rivalry that had built up quite a bit of heat just prior to TAMU leaving the league. It won’t be the same as a conference game with students packed into the arena, but it’s still an interesting game between two ranked teams that will likely enter the NCAA Tournament on the first ballot.
-UNLV AT ARIZONA. UNLV has looked impressive enough up to this point. This is a huge test, but if they were to pick up the win, they would pretty much erase any and all doubt (at least for now) that they are a solid tournament caliber team. Arizona is still likely to end up as a protected seed and is very tough to beat at home.
-TULSA VS OREGON STATE (Portland, OR). Both these teams have good records and both have profiles that could use some work. So, it’s a big game for both teams.
-TENNESSEE VS GONZAGA (Seattle, WA). Gonzaga still looks like a solid tournament team, but they don’t look like a protected seed, much less a top ten team, like we thought they would at the beginning of the year. Still, they should be able to win this game handily. If they trip up in this one they may be in some trouble.
-TEXAS AT STANFORD. Texas is coming off a huge win against UNC, and can continue to build their tournament profile if they can pick up their first true road win today.
BUY GAMES
-Cornell @ Syracuse
-Western Kentucky @ Louisville. This is a H & H series, but it will look very much like a buy game
-UNC Asheville @ Georgetown
-Saint Peter’s @ George Washington
-Montana @ Kansas
-Maine @ Fordham
-South Carolina State @ Saint Bonaventure
-Houston Baptist @ Arizona State
-Missouri State @ Valparaiso (not an actual buy game, but it’ll look like one)
-East Carolina @ Houston
-Arkansas Pine Bluff @ Texas Tech
-Oakland @ Washington
-Florida Atlantic @ Florida State
-Youngstown State @ Michigan
-Furman @ Dayton
-Coppin State @ California
-Rider @ Providence
-Wofford @ Vanderbilt
-Rice @ New Mexico
-Hampton @ Colorado