NEWS AND NOTES
-Despite being just five days into the season, we’ve already seen five games that matched up two top fifteen teams. I normally count the number of top fifteen OOC match ups we see in an entire season, and it is usually between ten and fifteen. Just five days in, we are already halfway there. All of those games have been incredibly exciting with the exception of one…
-Kentucky is good. Kentucky is very good. We should all be very afraid. They absolutely curb-stomped Michigan State last night in what is the single most impressive performance of the season up to this point. Now, having said that, Michigan State, while 0-2, has not suffered a damaging loss, so realistically they aren’t any worse off on paper than teams that have played and won two home buy games. Home buy game wins go to the bottom of a team’s profile and are completely ignored. Just ask anyone who’s been on a selection committee. At the same time, losses away from home to highly ranked teams don’t really ding you either. So, although it feels bad to be 0-2, they’re still in no worse shape than the vast majority of 2-0 teams out there.
-Monmouth, who just missed the NCAA Tournament a year ago and who many feel could be in the discussion again this year, lost a thriller at the buzzer to South Carolina. That’s not good for Monmouth. They have limited chances this year, and a road win against a South Carolina team who’s typically pretty good at home would have gone a long way.
-Kansas ended up with a big win against Duke. If you’re Duke, you’re really not too concerned, though, especially when you consider they’re not at full strength. As far as Kansas goes, it was still a high quality win away from home.
-Okay, Baylor is very good. Every year there are teams that start off outside the rankings and then sort of explode onto the scene within the first couple of weeks. Xavier, and even Monmouth, fell into that category last year. This year, that team is Baylor.
-Whatever Georgetown did for the first 38 minutes of yesterday’s game against Maryland, they should keep doing for the rest of the year!! Whatever they did in the final two minutes of yesterday’s game against Maryland, THEY SHOULD NEVER DO AGAIN!! Maryland gets a nice road win against a rival, so this one is gonna feel good both on and off paper. Georgetown, who is coming off a disappointing season, could have really used the huge momentum surge this game would have given them.
-Creighton picked up what had to be one of their biggest feel good wins in a couple years when they knocked off Wisconsin yesterday. If you’re Wiscy, you’re really not sweating this loss. Creighton won’t lose too many at home, and Wiscy will certainly have other chances at big statement wins.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-NORTHWESTERN AT BUTLER (Gavitt Tip-Off). These games have been pretty excited so far. This is a match up between two teams that have yet to lose, but who early on are away from the national spotlight and consciousness. Early momentum can lead to continued success, and the winning team should gain some momentum.
-MIAMI FL AT NORTH FLORIDA. Interesting road game (sort of) for the Miami Hurricanes as they go on the road to take on one of the ASun frontrunners.
-UT ARLINGTON AT FLORIDA GULF COAST. Chad Sherwood’s Under the Radar Game of the Day. CLICK HERE
-FORT WAYNE AT ILLINOIS STATE. Illinois State is coming off a somewhat surprising loss to Murray State, at least if you think they’re as good as we think they’re going to be. They cannot afford a second slip up against what should be a pretty good Fort Wayne team out of the Summit League.
-TULSA AT WICHITA STATE. This isn’t a buy game. In fact Tulsa picked up a huge win against Wichita last year, which had they not done they would have missed the NCAA Tournament. But, this is this year, and the final score may look very much like as if it were a buy game.
-UC IRVINIE AT CALIFORNIA. This is a buy game, but it’s a game that has a reasonable chance of being competitive, so we’ll go ahead and highlight it.
-MOREHEAD STATE AT MARSHALL. Both teams unbeaten.
-IDAHO AT NORTHERN ILLINOIS. Both teams unbeaten.
BUY GAMES
-Umass Lowell @ Indiana
-Seattle @ Notre Dame
-Hiwassee (nondiv1) @ Chattanooga
-Brown @ Rhode Island
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ Minnesota
-New Orleans @ Oklahoma State
-Milwaukee @ Memphis
-Angelo State (nondiv1) @ Houston
-Lamar @ Oregon State
-Fort Lewis (nondiv1) @ Colorado State
-Bristol (nondiv1) @ Utah State
-Prairie View A&M @ Saint Mary’s
-San Diego Christian (nondiv1) @ San Diego State