NEWS AND NOTES
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-LSU is one of the biggest surprises of the season, at least as far as I’m concerned. They beat what is by all accounts a pretty good Michigan team yesterday, and have looked good in some of their earlier games as well. I was dogging them pretty hard 24 hours ago. Will Wade and CO have shut me up.
-Baylor picked up a really nice neutral floor win against Wisconsin in a game where the Badgers fell way behind, but came back to make it close and actually had a chance to win in the final minutes.
-Creighton beat UCLA and now has two wins against ranked teams that had no business being ranked. Now, that could all change tonight if they knock off Baylor, who has all the business in the world being ranked.
-Syracuse blew out Oakland. I take two things away from that game. Syracuse is better than I thought, and Oakland (who I know was without a key player) is worse than I thought.
-Missouri took down nondiv1 Emporia State 67-62 in what was a true statement win!! Granted, the statement isn’t exactly favorable, but it was a statement!!
-Utah picked up a nice win against Ole Miss out in Las Vegas in a game that I really wish would have tipped off earlier. I’m really tired this morning because of how late the game ended.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-IOWA VS SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (Cayman Islands Classic). Iowa fell to Louisiana yesterday and now just needs to get out of this with a couple of wins so their profile won’t be completely ranked. They face South Dakota State, who lost to a pretty good Wyoming team and is one of the stronger UTR teams this year.
-MARQUETTE VS WICHITA STATE (Maui Invitational). Marquette had a nice win against VCU in their opener, and Wichita overcame an 18pt second half deficit against Cal to come back and win. Both teams look to continue to build their profiles with notable OOC wins away from home.
-LOUISIANA VS WYOMING (Cayman Islands Classic). I really like this Wyoming team, and they should be able to win this game and advance to the championship game. If they are somehow able to beat Cincinnati then they will emerge from this tournament looking like a top 40/NCAA Tournament caliber team.
-PITTSBURGH VS OKLAHOMA STATE (Legends Classic). We highlight this game only to say that we are not highlighting this game. Okie State is off to a somewhat respectable 3-1 start. They face a Pitt team that isn’t really respectable at all.
-VCU VS CALIFORNIA (Maui Invitational). Both these teams are falling behind the pace and even though it’s as early as it is you get the sense that this is a game that both of them really need to win. There should be a sense of urgency for both teams.
-UMKC VS GEORGIA SOUTHERN (Gulf Coast Showcase). Georgia Southern is 4-0 with wins at Wake Forest and another against Missouri State in this tournament. If they win it then they will be on our radar.
-PENN STATE VS TEXAS A&M (Legends Classic). Penn State has been one of the bigger surprises this season, and TAMU has been one of the more impressive teams this season who is starting to put together what could turn out to be a protected seed caliber profile. If Penn State can win this then you have to start thinking of them as a solid NCAA Tournament team.
-LOUISIANA TECH VS GEORGE MASON (Cancun Challenge). I think George Mason has looked about as good as anyone else in the A10 so far with their only loss being at Louisville in their season opener. LA Tech comes in to this event with no losses and can make a splash if they can pick up some quality wins away from home.
-RICHMOND VS CINCINNATI (Cayman Island Classic). Richmond had looked so bad prior to yesterday’s win against UAB that it was actually kind of a surprise that they won the game. To say that Cincinnati sweated out Buffalo in their game yesterday is overstating it, but they didn’t exactly put them away wither. The winner gets another neutral floor win on their profile and advances to the championship game.
-WISCONSIN VS UCLA (Hall of Fame Classic). Both teams came up short yesterday, but as far as the committee is concerned the fact that this is a third place game is entirely irrelevant. It’s a neutral floor game between two probable NCAA Tournament teams and would count as a quality win.
-FLORIDA GULF COAST AT MIDDLE TENNESSEE. This will likely end up being Chad’s UTR Game of the Day. It’s a matchup between two UTR Top Ten teams.
-SAMFORD AT VALPARAISO. Samford has been somewhat disappointing so far, but it’s still early, they can still turn it around, and they could still end up being one of the better teams in the SoCon. They take on a currently unbeaten Valpo team on the road today.
-MICHIGAN VS CHAMINADE (nondiv1) (Maui Invitational). Michigan was beaten by a much better than expected (at least by me) LSU team yesterday and just needs to avoid what would be a really damaging loss today.
-FRESNO STATE VS EVANSVILLE (Cancun Challenge). Evansville comes into this unbeaten and looking to add something other than just buy game wins to their profile. Fresno State’s only loss came against a really good Arkansas team.
-UT ARLINGTON AT ALABAMA. UTA comes into this game without a loss and a very impressive win at BYU to go along with it. If they can manage to follow that up with a win tonight then they’ll be on pace to end up as a top 40/NCAA Tournament caliber team.
-DAVIDSON AT NEVADA. Both teams are unbeaten, both teams are good (we think), and both teams need quality wins.
-BAYLOR VS CREIGHTON (Hall of Fame Classic). Creighton already has two notable wins, but this would certainly be their most notable if they could beat what appears to be a very strong Baylor team. Baylor took care of Wisconsin yesterday in the semifinals and is looking for an early season win of note as well.
-NOTRE DAME VS LSU (Maul Invitaitonal). I’m really looking forward to this game considering that LSU is a lot better than I thought they were. If they can somehow pull this one off then you’re talking about a team that not many were expecting to be anywhere close to NIT caliber to them probably cracking the top 25 next week.
-WESTERN NEW MEXICO VS CAL BAPTIST (Division II/Team Of the People). The HoopsHD Team of the People is currently ranked #14 overall in D-2 hoops and #1 overall in the West region. The Lancers are unlikely to be challenged by Western New Mexico going into their own Thanksgiving tournament.
BUY GAMES
-Southern Illinois @ Louisville – both teams 2-0
-Houston Baptist @ Virginia Tech
-Bryant @ Rutgers
-Texas Southern @ Kansas
-Alabama A&M @ Minnesota
-Niagara @ BYU. Niagara has lost two straight since winning their opener at Saint Bonaventure
-Pacific @ Air Force – AFA can improve to 4-0