NEWS AND NOTES
-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day, which is a really good one today – CLICK HERE
-We will be recording our Under the Radar podcast tonight, so be on the lookout for that and be sure to check it out.
-Not a whole lot of news from last night other than Monmouth keeping their hopes for an at-large bid flickering with a notable road win at Memphis. Memphis is much improved this year, and could continue to improve as the season goes on, but at this moment in time it’s hard to say just how much credit they’ll get for that win by the time March rolls around. Still, it is much better to have won it than to have lost it.
-LSU had to sweat out NC Central. That’s not encouraging, but as of now they’ve been holding serve and don’t have any mud on their profile just yet. They don’t have a lot of gems on it either, so….
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-LOUISIANA LAFAYETTE AT GEORGIA. This is a buy game, but the Ragin Cajuns come into this game with a very impressive 8-2 start and can add a somewhat notable road win to their profile if they’re somehow able to pull this off.
-UNC WILMINGTON AT CAMPBELL. This is one of those games that seems silly to highlight, but you can’t call it a buy game since UNCW is on the road. Campbell is the kind of team they shouldn’t have too much trouble with, and it will be the 4th true road win for UNCW so long as they don’t stub their toes.
-EAST TENNESSEE STATE AT MISSISSIPPI STATE. Mississippi State is much improved in the second year of Ben Howland, but as much as they’ve improved it still appears as though they have a long way to go. They will likely be challenged, and perhaps even beaten, at home tonight by an East Tennessee State team that’s one of the better UTR teams.
-MIDDLE TENNESSEE AT BELMONT. Middle’s profile is shaping up to be good enough to get them noticed and considered by the selection committee. They won’t have any singular wins that really blow you away, but they’ll have an abundance of decent and notable wins on there. Belmont, who is usually very good at home and is perfect this year, would be another scalp of note for Middle Tennessee, who is looking for their third true road win and their tenth overall win. They are an at-large caliber team on the court, and I think when it comes to what is on paper their profile will end up reflecting that as well.
-UC IRVINE AT NEVADA. UCI, like much of the Big West, has been rather disappointing this year, but they still look to be one of the better teams in the conference. Nevada looks to be one of the two best teams in their league as well, and perhaps one of just two teams with an outside shot at landing inside the bubble, which means they can’t slip up in games like this.
-GRAND CANYON AT ARIZONA. Last year’s Team of the People, and a team that’s looking like they’ll challenge for first place in the WAC this year, has a huge test tonight against an Arizona team that is battling injuries, but is still managing to hold serve and put together a decent profile.
BUY GAMES
-Tennessee Wesleyan (nondiv1) @ Chattanooga
-Chicago State @ Northwestern
-Fairleigh Dickinson @ Rutgers
-Southern @ Baylor
-Milwaukee @ Ohio U
-LIU Brooklyn @ Minnesota – (semi upset alert on this one)
-McNeese State @ SMU
-Alabama State @ Tennessee State
-Arkansas Pine Bluff @ Oklahoma State
-Green Bay @ Wisconsin – Technically not a buy game due to this being a regular series, but for all practical purposes it is this year
-Nicholls @ Texas Tech
-Western Kentucky @ Saint Mary’s
-UC Santa Barbara @ UCLA