News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Monday, Dec 21

A Look at all of today’s college basketball action…

NEWS AND NOTES

-We will be recording our Hoops HD Report later tonight, so be on the lookout for it.

-We will also be posting our latest Bracket Projections, as well as Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day very shortly

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-AKRON VS UC SANTA BARABARA (Las Vegas, NV).  Akron has a long way to go before they’re anywhere near the bubble, but a win does get them to 8-2.

-PROVIDENCE AT UMASS.  UMass has been better than expected so far this year.  But, they’re still terrible.  Providence has just one true road win, so even tough UMass isn’t that good at least this game allows them to add to that total.

-HIGH POINT AT WILLIAM & MARY.  CLICK HERE for Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day 

-GRAND CANYON VS HOUSTON (Las Vegas, NV).  Houston has just one loss, but their eight wins haven’t exactly been noteworthy.  In fact, Grand Canyon would probably be their most notable win to date if they pull it off.  Pulling it off won’t be easy though!  The Team of the People are on a roll!!  They’re coming off a big win at San Diego State and should play well in this tournament.

-SOUTHERN ILLINOIS AT SAINT LOUIS.  Many probably think Southern Illinois is somewhat of a fraud, and I can’t say they’re wrong, but a win today gets them to 11-2, as well as gives them their fourth true road win.

-OREGON VS ALABAMA (Birmingham, AL0.  Alabama has blasted by Dayton and Xavier earlier in the year, but outside of that they’ve looked much better than expected, and that’s despite losing a key player for the season due to injury.  Oregon has looked great at home, but not so much away from home.  They need some notable wins like this away from home in order to round out their profile.

-PEPPERDINE AT GONZAGA (West Coast).  Gonzaga has been decent enough to land inside the bubble if they blow through their conference, but not so good that they look like a top ten team.  They can’t afford too many slip ups because anything less than first place could land them in some trouble.

-SAN FRANCISCO AT SAINT MARY’S (West Coast).  Saint Mary’s has just one loss, but has no wins of note at all.  They’ll need to finish at or near the top to even be considered by the committee, but they may actually be good enough to do it so we’ll keep our eyes on them.

BUY GAMES

-Charleston Southern @ Florida State
-Eastern Kentucky @ West Virginia
-Sacred Heart @ Northwestern
-Appalachian State @ North Carolina
-Youngstown State @ Notre Dame
-Chicago State @ Marquette
-Quinnipiac @ Oregon State