NEWS AND NOTES
-The only game between two ranked teams yesterday was also the craziest game of the day, and will perhaps turn out to be the craziest game of the year. Minnesota had a somewhat comfortable lead over Alabama, when things got heated and a shoving match (it wasn’t nasty enough to be called a fight) broke out in front of Bama’s bench. Seven Bama players instinctively ran out onto the court and things escalated a little more but cooled down quickly after that. The problem was that all seven players were ejected. Shortly after that, Bama had another player foul out and yet another sustain an injury, and it turned into a 5-on-3 contest. From that point on, Bama proceeded to mount a comeback and although they didn’t win, the game was not decided until the final minute of play. For Minney, it is yet another good win away from home (at least on paper). For Bama, it has to be something of a morale boost to play with so much guts in that situation. Another thing about this game is that it was only broadcast on Facebook Live, and it was taking place during the Auburn v Alabama football game, so even most Bama fans were probably unaware of what was going on as it was happening.
-QUADRUPLE OT!!! I believe the count is now two for the season and it’s still November. Penn and Monmouth, both of whom should be at or near the top of their respective conferences, played in a thriller, and when it came to seeing the end of the third and all of the fourth overtime, you had to be there. The reason is that due to technical difficulties at the arena the stream went down.
-I still think predicting that TCU would be a protected seed is evidence that Chad is insane, but they are off to a 6-0 start after winning the Emerald Coast Classic against a pretty good Saint Bonaventure team.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-SAINT JOHN’S VS UCF (Advocare Invitational). Both teams have solid records and have the chance to add another notable win to their profiles.
-TEXAS VS GONZAGA (PK-80). Both of these teams lost thrillers against top ten teams in the semifinal round, but both appear to be solid tournament teams (perhaps even protected seeds) and this is a chance to add a high profile win to their resumes. Gonzaga may benefit from it slightly more because Texas will have far more opportunities in conference play to build a solid resume, but both teams will likely end up having big years.
-OKLAHOMA VS OREGON (PK-80). I keep saying this, but I really like this Oklahoma team and they can add a notable win to their resume today. I think Oregon can improve throughout the year. A win today would likely go a long way, but whether they win or lose I think they’ll be inside the bubble come March.
-BUCKNELL AT STONY BROOK. Bucknell is to a point to where anythings short of winning out may knock them outside the bubble. Having said that, they may be good enough to win out. That would meaning needing to pick up their first true road win today.
-JACKSONVILLE STATE AT MISSISSIPPI STATE. This is an unexpectedly important game between an unbeaten (and for the most part untested) Mississippi State team and a one loss Jax State team that has a blowout win at Richmond and their only loss was at Buffalo. If Jax State can win this you have to start paying attention to them.
-ARKANSAS VS OKLAHOMA (PK-80). Both teams are off to impressive 4-1 starts and are looking like they could both end up landing inside the bubble, which makes this a very good resume building opportunity for both of them.
-BUTLER VS OHIO STATE (PK-80). Chris Holtmann will face off against his own team in a game that features two teams with potential, but (at least not at this point) not two teams that are slam dunk guarantees to make the NCAAs. It’s a game with an interesting story line where, despite it being early, both teams should come in with a sense of urgency.
-EASTERN MICHIGAN AT SOUTH FLORIDA. EMU can improve to a very respectable 5-1 with a win.
-AIR FORCE AT COLORADO (Front Range). We love the Front Range!!! Colorado comes in unbeaten and AFA comes in at 3-1. We weren’t expecting much out of either team this year, but they’re both off to decent starts and the winner can continue that momentum.
-SAINT MARY’S VS GEORGIA (Wooden Legacy). SMC has a very weak schedule, so their margin for error is small. Georgia is nothing special (although to be fair they are off to a 4-1 start), but if they were to beat them on a neutral floor it may turn out to be their best OOC win.
-TEMPLE AT LA SALLE (Big Five). Temple is off to a 3-0 start and they can pick up their first true road win against a Big Five rival.
-NORTH CAROLINA VS MICHIGAN STATE (PK-80). You gotta love top ten matchups in November! Both teams come in with amazing profiles, both are likely protected seeds, and beating protected seeds away from home is what gets teams in the discussion for a #1 seed, so it’s a big, important, and fun early season game.
-MISSOURI VS WEST VIRGINIA (Advocare Invitational). Between the blowout loss to Utah and losing a key player for the season, many have just written off Mizzou, but in speaking in terms of their resume they’ve only lost one game and if they’re able to somehow pick this one up then you have to start thinking of them as an NCAA Tournament caliber team.
-TEXAS A&M AT USC. This is a chance for TAMU to pick up a HUGE road win. Road wins against ranked teams are what gets teams into the discussion for a protected seed.
-DUKE VS FLORIDA (PK-80). Both of these teams won overtime thrillers in their last games and their seasons are already off to terrific starts. If this game isn’t an overtime thriller then I am going to be VERY disappointed!! In all seriousness, the winner of this game will have two wins away from home against (currently) highly ranked teams. That is #1 seed caliber stuff if things hold up.
-WASHINGTON STATE AT SAN DIEGO STATE (Wooden Legacy). Wazzu has been a huge surprise this year. They come in at 5-0 after beating Saint Mary’s in their last game. If they manage to pick this one up then you have to start looking at them like a possible (and perhaps probable) tournament team
BUY GAMES
-Houston Baptist @ Oklahoma State
-UC Riverside @ Michigan
-UIC @ Kentucky
-UC Irvine @ UCLA
-New Mexico Highlands (nondiv1) @ Wyoming