News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Thursday, Nov 16th

NEWS AND NOTES

-For our latest Under the Radar Podcast, where we kick off the #RankUNH movement – CLICK HERE

-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Abilene Christian and New Hampshire – CLICK HERE

-Nothing too cataclysmic happened yesterday.  For a minute I thought we were going to get to talk about a big early road win for Northwestern, and question yet again if this was finally putting them on the path to make an NCAA Tournament, but Butler ended up pulling it out in a thrilling game.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES 

-CLEMSON VS DAVIDSON (Tire Pros Invitational).  Both teams have potential this year, and the momentum and quality wins they can pick up from doing well in this tournament will go a long way.  That means winning today.

-WESTERN MICHIGAN VS VILLANOVA (Charleston Classic).  Villanova appears to be undermatched in this tournament and should run away with it.

-XAVIER VS MISSOURI (Tire Pros Invitational).  Both teams come in without a loss, but Xavier clearly appears to be the better team.  Xavier looks like they may end up with a protected seed whereas Mizzou may struggle to finish in the top 200.

-WAKE FOREST VS UTEP (Charleston Classic).  We weren’t expecting much out of either team, but both are coming into this tournament without a loss and both have the opportunity to make a statement and pick up some quality wins.

-LONG BEACH STATE AT LOUISVILLE.  This is an unbracketed game in the Battle 4 Atlantis, and Louisville is clearly the superior team.  Long Beach is playing their typical killer OOC schedule, but they should be a factor in Big West play later on.

-NORTHERN IOWA VS ARIZONA STATE (Tire Pros Invitational).  Neither team has a loss yet, and like all the rest of the teams they can pick up some notable wins in this tournament.

-MISSISSIPPI STATE VS UCF (Charleston Classic).  We’re not too excited about either team, but as of now neither has a loss.

-SAINT BONAVENTURE AT FLORIDA.  Neither team has a loss yet, and Florida looks like they’re a tournament caliber team.

-PROVIDENCE AT OHIO STATE.  We think Providence is rebuilding, but they did look good in their first game and come into this one without a loss.  Ohio State also comes in unbeaten, but is also untested.

-SMU VS PITTSBURGH (2k Classic).  Both teams are 2-0, and although this is the biggest test for both teams so far, they’ve both looked pretty good up to this point.

-TULANE VS OKLAHOMA (Tire Pros Invitational).  Oklahoma is rebuilding, but they come into this without a loss and have the chance to pick up some wins of note in this tournament.

-LEHIGH AT YALE.  Yale is coming off a big win at Washington, and Lehigh is coming off a near win at Xavier, so it should be a competitive game.

-BOISE STATE AT CHARLESTON (Charloeston Classic).  The host team goes up against a 1-0 Boise State team.

-TROY AT UAB.  It’s early, but Troy can pick up a notable road win and improve to 3-0 if they can pull this off.

-RUTGERS AT DEPAUL.  I’d be shocked if either team is in the picture come March, but as of now neither team has lost a game.

-SETON HALL AT IOWA.  Iowa is rebuilding, and this would give them a huge boost if they can knock off what appears to be a good Seton Hall team.  Both teams come in at 2-0.

-VALPARAISO AT OREGON.  We really like this Valpo team, but despite being 3-0 they haven’t looked as good as we think they can play.  This is a huge long shot, but if they were to manage a win in this game it puts them strongly in play for an at-large bid if they happen to slip up in their conference tournament.  Oregon is looking to rebound from their loss at Baylor earlier in the week.

-MICHIGAN VS MARQUETTE (2k Classic).  Both teams come in at 2-0.  Marquette has looked very good so far and can pick up another notable win in this one.

BUY GAMES

-Arkansas State @ Georgetown (Maui Invite Campus Game)
-Furman @ Georgia (Hall of Fame Campus Game)
-Saint Mary’s MD (nondiv1) @ Maryland
-Pine Bluff @ George Washington
-Eastern Washington @ Texas
-Chicago State @ Wisconsin
-Eastern Kentucky @ Auburn
-Louisiana Monroe @ Colorado
-Coppin State @ BYU
-Weber State @ Stanford – we like Weber to win the Big Sky, but feel they’re overmatched in this one
-San Diego @ UCLA