Below is a rundown of all of today’s action and a look back at a busy day yesterday.
NEWS AND NOTES
-Butler began this season unranked and without much of a spotlight on them. We’ve seen this before. In fact, more often than not for the past 15 years now Butler does not start off in the rankings and is believed to be at the end of their run. Well, yesterday they beat 8th-ranked Arizona to stay unbeaten, and are almost certian to be a national story now.
-Baylor also began the season unranked. They now have wins against Oregon, VCU, Michigan State, and Louisville, whom they overcame a 20 point deficit in the second half to come back and beat. That’s as impressive a start as any other team out there right now.
-Gonzaga had some trouble in their first real test of the season against Florida in a quasi-road environment, but held on to win and will face a strong Iowa State team tomorrow.
-Temple, who none of us expected anything out of, picked up another huge and surprising win yesterday against West Virginia in the NIT. They actually had a 20 point lead and almost blew it, but they held on to win. Since losing to New Hampshire and UMass, the Owls have looked like a top 25 team in knocking off both Florida State and West Virginia.
-USC picked up another nice win at home agianst SMU to remain unbeaten. Watch out for the Trojans this year – they now have a noteworthy win at home to go along with their win at Texas A&M last week.
-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Akron and Mercer – CLICK HERE
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-NORTHERN IOWA AT XAVIER. These two just met in the championship game of the Tire Pros Invitational, and this is technically a non bracketed exempt game that’s part of that event. Xavier is already in good shape, and if UNI could pull off the upset it would probably be their biggest win on their profile all year long.
-YALE AT VERMONT. Both teams have looked good early, but both have a small margin for error in regards to landing either on the bubble, or in the bubble, come March.
-SOUTH CAROLINA VS SYRACUSE (Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational). Both teams come in unbeaten, and South Carolina is coming off a big home win against Michigan. I know it’s early, but both look like they could be tournament teams, and this is a chance for them to pick up a quality neutral floor win. For Syracuse, it is their first real test of the season.
-CHATTANOOGA AT KENNESAW STATE. We highlight this only because we feel Chattanooga is about out of at-large strikes. The rest of their games this year are winnable, and they pretty much need to win all of them.
-PENN STATE AT GEORGE WASHINGTON. Both teams have shown signs of life early on this season, but both still have a lot of work to do in regards to building a tournament caliber profile.
-LOYOLA CHICAGO AT NC STATE. Both teams come into this game with just one loss. NC State doesn’t have any huge wins yet and may not want to overlook a Loyola team that’s off to a pretty good start and looking to pick up a notable win of their own.
-CHARLOTTE AT DAVIDSON. This is a crosstown rivalry that actually has a meaningful storyline this year. Both teams come in at 3-1, and both need big wins. This one will help both on and off paper.
-RICE AT INCARNATE WORD. Rice is off to a really good start. A win in this one gets them to 5-1, and would also be their third true road win of the year.
-MEMPHIS VS IOWA (Emerald Coast Classic). Both teams are coming off a loss and are looking to salvage the trip down to the Emerald Coast by picking up a notable neutral floor win.
-UT ARLINGTON AT FORDHAM. Fordham is looking for their sixth straight win. They’ll have to take down the preseason Sun Belt favorites in order to get it.
-EAST CAROLINA VS AIR FORCE (Savannah Invitational). Both teams are coming off a loss, but are still off to fairly decent starts this year, and this is a chance to pick up what could be a notable neutral floor win.
-NORTH DAKOTA AT WRIGHT STATE. It isn’t likely that either team will be in the bubble talk at the end of the year, but each only has one loss coming into this game.
-PROVIDENCE VS VIRGINIA (Emerald Coast Classic). Providence is off to a surprisingly good start with just one loss, and Virginia has been blasting through everyone on their schedule. If Providence can somehow win this then they’ll really get the attention of the nation, but that is much easier said than done.
-RICHMOND VS BOSTON COLLEGE (Barclays Center Classic). Richmond fell in overtime to Maryland yesterday and needs to at least pick up this win today in order to keep themselves in the early picture.
-MIDDLE TENNESSEE VS TOLEDO (Challenge in Music City). Middle Tennessee picked up a huge win against a very good UNC Wilmington team yesterday, and can improve to 5-1 with a win over a pretty good Toledo team today, which would give them a rather impressive early profile.
-KANSAS STATE VS MARYLAND (Barclays Center Classic). Both teams enter this game unbeaten. For K State it is their first real test, whereas Maryland has already won at Georgetown and beat what looks to be a fairly decent Richmond team yesterday. Still, it would be one of the bigger wins for either team up to this point.
-TCU VS WASHINGTON (Global Sports Classic). TCU is off to a quiet 5-0 start. If they win this game against a Washington team that’s looked pretty good since dropping their season opener, TCU will suddenly be a lot less quiet.
-IONA VS NEVADA (Great Alaska Shootout). A win for Nevada would be their sixth straight since dropping the opener against a very good Saint Mary’s team. There are also rumblings that this 39th version of the Great Alaska Shootout championship could be the final one ever played, so there may be some historical significance attached to this game.
BUY GAMES
-Appalachian State @ Duke
-Lipbscomb @ Cincinnati
-NJIT @ Purdue
-Loyola MD @ Creighton
-Cornell @ Houston
-Utah Valley @ BYU
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ Michigan
-Chicago State @ Notre Dame
-Tulane @ Georgia Tech
-Seattle @ UCF
-Houston Baptist @ Marquette
-Reinhardt (nondiv1) @ Tennessee State