HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!!! I say this every year, and it’s the truth, there are way more good college basketball games than any level of good football games on Thanksgiving Day! Today is certainly no exception.
NEWS AND NOTES
-NC State pulled off the biggest surprise of the year and perhaps won one of their biggest games in years. They went from not looking like any sort of serious NCAA Tournament contender to looking like a really solid team against Arizona. They led for much of the game and opened it up in the final minutes. A great win for the Wolfpack’s profile!
That wasn’t the only surprise in that tournament. Villanova hung on to beat Western Kentucky, but Purdue also landed on the loser’s side of the bracket when they fell in overtime to Tennessee. This sets up a possible fifth place game between two ranked teams, and a championship game that may look rather boring.
-Wichita State led Notre Dame for almost the entire game, and was up by double digits for a fair amount of that time, but in the final minutes (or minute) Notre Dame closed the gap and got the lead in the final seconds. It was a really nice win for the Irish. As for Wichita State, the loss stings but doesn’t injure them. They’ll have more opportunities later on in the year.
Chaminade won the 7th place game against Cal in a game that was an absolute blowout!! My God! How bad is Cal?
-Cincinnati blew out what I thought was (and still think is) a good Wyoming team. Almost no one saw the game due to such limited availability, but I’m sold on the Bearcats. They are REALLY good this year!
-Belmont lost a thriller at the buzzer at Providence. It was a game that seesawed back and forth, and it looked as though Belmont had hit a shot in the final seconds to win the game, but in three seconds Providence pushed it up the floor and hit a three to win it. This would have been a great win for Belmont since they have so few chances at quality wins in conference play. They could still land inside the bubble, but they pretty much have to win out in order to do it.
-UNLV picked up a REALLY impressive win by blowing out Utah. Both teams came in unbeaten, and Utah had looked pretty good in their blowout win against Mizzou. UNLV is a team to watch this year.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-MISSOURI VS LONG BEACH STATE (Advocare Invitational). Mizzou has learned that they will be without Michael Porter Jr. for the rest of the year. They really appeared to have things turned around and while they are still much improved they likely won’t be as good as we thought they could be. Still, this tournament is a chance for them to pick up some nice wins.
-TENNESSEE VS VILLANOVA (Battle 4 Atlantis). Tennessee Picked up a really nice and surprising win against Purdue in overtime yesterday, which in one sense denied us of a top twenty match-up, but in the other gives them the chance to land on the winners side of the bracket and continue to rack up big OOC wins. Nova had a little trouble with Western Kentucky in their game, but not by much.
-SAINT JOHN’S VS OREGON STATE (Advocare Invitational). Both teams are looking to have turnaround years and this tournament is a chance for both of them to pick up some nice wins away from home.
-PORTLAND VS NORTH CAROLINA (PK – 80). This tournament will feature some fantastic competition!! This game is probably not among the most fantastic that we will see.
-NC STATE VS NORTHERN IOWA (Battle 4 Atlantis). NC State picked up a really nice win against Arizona, which in one afternoon made them the potential surprise team in college basketball this year. They take on a UNI team that’s also looking much better than expected after they knocked off SMU.
-SAINT MARY’S VS HARVARD (Wooden Legacy). Harvard has been very disappointing this season, and SMC’s schedule has been rather disappointing as well. Both teams need to do well in this tournament due to a lack of opportunities at statement wins, and in Harvard’s case a (so far) lack of ability.
-VIRGINIA VS VANDERBILT (NIT Preseason Tipoff). Virginia has clearly looked like the more impressive team so far and can add two more wins to their profile this weekend if they play like they have been.
-PORTLAND STATE VS DUKE (PK 80). Portland State comes in undefeated with some pretty nice wins by UTR standards. They’re going to be tested on an entirely different level today, though.
-XAVIER VS GEORGE WASHINGTON (Las Vegas Invitational). Xavier has pretty much blown through their schedule this year (including a nice win at Wisconsin) and it wouldn’t surprise me to see them blow through this tournament as well.
-ARKANSAS VS OKLAHOMA (PK-80). I like both of these teams a lot and think they’re both better than their current ranking (or lack thereof). This is going to be one of the more exciting games of the day.
-RHODE ISLAND VS SETON HALL (NIT Preseason TipOff). Rhody will be without a key player in this game and as good as they are at full strength they’re probably overmatched in this one. Seton Hall comes in 4-0 and can start to build their profile if they take care of business.
-UCF VS NEBRASKA (Advocare Invitational). UCF is unbeaten, but also unproven up to this point. Playing well in this tournament can certainly change that.
-SAINT JOSEPH’S VS WASHINGTON STATE (Wooden Legacy). Wazzu comes in with a perfect record, but I’d be very surprised if they ended up leaving this event with one. If they do then I’ll be forced to admit that they’re not the worst non UTR team in hoops this year.
-PURDUE VS WESTERN KENTUCKY (Battle 4 Atlantis). It’s a little strange seeing Purdue on the loser’s side of the bracket, but between them and Arizona they still have the chances at picking up some really good wins in this event.
-BUTLER VS TEXAS (PK-80). Texas comes in unbeaten and we think very much improved. They certainly have the chance to show us that in this tournament.
-KANSAS STATE VS ARIZONA STATE (Las Vegas Invitational). Both teams come into this game unbeaten, but both really need some quality wins on their resume if they want people (and more importantly the committee) to think they are legit. We should learn something about both of them today.
-WEST VIRGINIA VS MARIST (Advocare Invitational). West Virginia should have little to no trouble landing on the winners side of this bracket and being set up to pick up some big wins in the future.
-UCONN VS OREGON (PK-80). Both teams come in unbeaten and unproven. In fact right now we’re still questioning how good both of them are. This tournament should tell us.
-ARIZONA VS SMU (Battle 4 Atlantis). This was a game that many of us were expecting to see, but perhaps not on this side of the bracket. That really doesn’t matter, though. The games look the same on a tournament resume no matter what side of the bracket they fall on, and it’s a chance for both of them to pick up a nice neutral floor wins.
-FLORIDA VS STANFORD (PK-80). Stanford hasn’t been nearly as good as we thought they’d be so far. They were just blown out by North Carolina at home and haven’t shown any real signs that they’re capable of doing well in this. Florida, on the other hand, has looked really strong and could really explode onto the national scene if they pick up some big wins in this tournament.
-MICHIGAN STATE VS DEPAUL (PK-80). Michigan State shouldn’t have too much trouble landing on the winner’s side of the bracket in this one.
-OHIO STATE VS GONZAGA (PK-80). Both teams come in unbeaten and untested. Gonzaga appears to be the much better team, but we’ll learn something about both of them tonight as well as through the rest of the weekend.
-SAN DIEGO STATE VS SACRAMENTO STATE (Wooden Legacy). San Diego State really needs to blow through this event in order to not disappoint the selection committee.
News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Thanksgiving Edition!!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!!! I say this every year, and it’s the truth, there are way more good college basketball games than any level of good football games on Thanksgiving Day! Today is certainly no exception.
NEWS AND NOTES
-NC State pulled off the biggest surprise of the year and perhaps won one of their biggest games in years. They went from not looking like any sort of serious NCAA Tournament contender to looking like a really solid team against Arizona. They led for much of the game and opened it up in the final minutes. A great win for the Wolfpack’s profile!
That wasn’t the only surprise in that tournament. Villanova hung on to beat Western Kentucky, but Purdue also landed on the loser’s side of the bracket when they fell in overtime to Tennessee. This sets up a possible fifth place game between two ranked teams, and a championship game that may look rather boring.
-Wichita State led Notre Dame for almost the entire game, and was up by double digits for a fair amount of that time, but in the final minutes (or minute) Notre Dame closed the gap and got the lead in the final seconds. It was a really nice win for the Irish. As for Wichita State, the loss stings but doesn’t injure them. They’ll have more opportunities later on in the year.
Chaminade won the 7th place game against Cal in a game that was an absolute blowout!! My God! How bad is Cal?
-Cincinnati blew out what I thought was (and still think is) a good Wyoming team. Almost no one saw the game due to such limited availability, but I’m sold on the Bearcats. They are REALLY good this year!
-Belmont lost a thriller at the buzzer at Providence. It was a game that seesawed back and forth, and it looked as though Belmont had hit a shot in the final seconds to win the game, but in three seconds Providence pushed it up the floor and hit a three to win it. This would have been a great win for Belmont since they have so few chances at quality wins in conference play. They could still land inside the bubble, but they pretty much have to win out in order to do it.
-UNLV picked up a REALLY impressive win by blowing out Utah. Both teams came in unbeaten, and Utah had looked pretty good in their blowout win against Mizzou. UNLV is a team to watch this year.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-MISSOURI VS LONG BEACH STATE (Advocare Invitational). Mizzou has learned that they will be without Michael Porter Jr. for the rest of the year. They really appeared to have things turned around and while they are still much improved they likely won’t be as good as we thought they could be. Still, this tournament is a chance for them to pick up some nice wins.
-TENNESSEE VS VILLANOVA (Battle 4 Atlantis). Tennessee Picked up a really nice and surprising win against Purdue in overtime yesterday, which in one sense denied us of a top twenty match-up, but in the other gives them the chance to land on the winners side of the bracket and continue to rack up big OOC wins. Nova had a little trouble with Western Kentucky in their game, but not by much.
-SAINT JOHN’S VS OREGON STATE (Advocare Invitational). Both teams are looking to have turnaround years and this tournament is a chance for both of them to pick up some nice wins away from home.
-PORTLAND VS NORTH CAROLINA (PK – 80). This tournament will feature some fantastic competition!! This game is probably not among the most fantastic that we will see.
-NC STATE VS NORTHERN IOWA (Battle 4 Atlantis). NC State picked up a really nice win against Arizona, which in one afternoon made them the potential surprise team in college basketball this year. They take on a UNI team that’s also looking much better than expected after they knocked off SMU.
-SAINT MARY’S VS HARVARD (Wooden Legacy). Harvard has been very disappointing this season, and SMC’s schedule has been rather disappointing as well. Both teams need to do well in this tournament due to a lack of opportunities at statement wins, and in Harvard’s case a (so far) lack of ability.
-VIRGINIA VS VANDERBILT (NIT Preseason Tipoff). Virginia has clearly looked like the more impressive team so far and can add two more wins to their profile this weekend if they play like they have been.
-PORTLAND STATE VS DUKE (PK 80). Portland State comes in undefeated with some pretty nice wins by UTR standards. They’re going to be tested on an entirely different level today, though.
-XAVIER VS GEORGE WASHINGTON (Las Vegas Invitational). Xavier has pretty much blown through their schedule this year (including a nice win at Wisconsin) and it wouldn’t surprise me to see them blow through this tournament as well.
-ARKANSAS VS OKLAHOMA (PK-80). I like both of these teams a lot and think they’re both better than their current ranking (or lack thereof). This is going to be one of the more exciting games of the day.
-RHODE ISLAND VS SETON HALL (NIT Preseason TipOff). Rhody will be without a key player in this game and as good as they are at full strength they’re probably overmatched in this one. Seton Hall comes in 4-0 and can start to build their profile if they take care of business.
-UCF VS NEBRASKA (Advocare Invitational). UCF is unbeaten, but also unproven up to this point. Playing well in this tournament can certainly change that.
-SAINT JOSEPH’S VS WASHINGTON STATE (Wooden Legacy). Wazzu comes in with a perfect record, but I’d be very surprised if they ended up leaving this event with one. If they do then I’ll be forced to admit that they’re not the worst non UTR team in hoops this year.
-PURDUE VS WESTERN KENTUCKY (Battle 4 Atlantis). It’s a little strange seeing Purdue on the loser’s side of the bracket, but between them and Arizona they still have the chances at picking up some really good wins in this event.
-BUTLER VS TEXAS (PK-80). Texas comes in unbeaten and we think very much improved. They certainly have the chance to show us that in this tournament.
-KANSAS STATE VS ARIZONA STATE (Las Vegas Invitational). Both teams come into this game unbeaten, but both really need some quality wins on their resume if they want people (and more importantly the committee) to think they are legit. We should learn something about both of them today.
-WEST VIRGINIA VS MARIST (Advocare Invitational). West Virginia should have little to no trouble landing on the winners side of this bracket and being set up to pick up some big wins in the future.
-UCONN VS OREGON (PK-80). Both teams come in unbeaten and unproven. In fact right now we’re still questioning how good both of them are. This tournament should tell us.
-ARIZONA VS SMU (Battle 4 Atlantis). This was a game that many of us were expecting to see, but perhaps not on this side of the bracket. That really doesn’t matter, though. The games look the same on a tournament resume no matter what side of the bracket they fall on, and it’s a chance for both of them to pick up a nice neutral floor wins.
-FLORIDA VS STANFORD (PK-80). Stanford hasn’t been nearly as good as we thought they’d be so far. They were just blown out by North Carolina at home and haven’t shown any real signs that they’re capable of doing well in this. Florida, on the other hand, has looked really strong and could really explode onto the national scene if they pick up some big wins in this tournament.
-MICHIGAN STATE VS DEPAUL (PK-80). Michigan State shouldn’t have too much trouble landing on the winner’s side of the bracket in this one.
-OHIO STATE VS GONZAGA (PK-80). Both teams come in unbeaten and untested. Gonzaga appears to be the much better team, but we’ll learn something about both of them tonight as well as through the rest of the weekend.
-SAN DIEGO STATE VS SACRAMENTO STATE (Wooden Legacy). San Diego State really needs to blow through this event in order to not disappoint the selection committee.