NEWS AND NOTES
-Nothing about the Xavier v Cincinnati game was exciting. I think Xavier got up by double digits in the first 90 seconds (or so it seemed), and it was never close or interesting after that. Thank God that after the game Cincinnati Coach Mick Cronin came riding to the rescue!! All we really know for sure is that at the end of the handshakes after the game, he ran at a Xavier player and needed to be restrained. The whole incident lasted for just a few seconds (not wanting to blow this out of proportion), which is fortunate because had he not been restrained and had he not left the floor, yesterday may have ended up being the last game he ever coached. The list of coaches who have gotten in physical altercations with opposing players is small, and the list of coaches who have continued to coach after that is non-existent. He was also spectacular in the postgame press conference by calling the player (JP Macura) out by name and claiming the Macura told him to “eff off” multiple times. So, all and all it was a typical Cincinnati v Xavier game. A boring game with spectacular postgame antics. They call this a great college basketball rivalry, and it is, but after a previous stretch where seemingly every game came down to the wire every year, we’ve had nothing but boring games on the court for what seems to be nearly a decade. Like the brawl a few years ago, most of us learned about yesterday’s incident on social media. The game was boring so we had all changed the station and almost no one saw it live.
-Kansas continues to look extremely impressive. They blasted Syracuse down in Miami yesterday.
-Villanova v Saint Joe’s is another heated rivalry that typically turns out to be a boring sort of rock fight. Yesterday was no different with Nova winning by close to 40.
-Wichita State picked up a HUGE true road win at Baylor yesterday. That is the kind of win that ends up in teams getting protected seeds.
-USC continues to look overrated as they fell huge at SMU yesterday. That’s not a bad loss in and of itself, but to lose by that margin, and to have not looked like a top fifteen team at any point in the season so far, is leading me to believe that USC is not a top fifteen team.
-Look out for Georgia! They picked up their second true road win of the year with a win at Marquette yesterday, and are now 6-1 on the season.
-Washington State, the team that I doubted more than anyone coming into the year, and then quickly jumped on their bandwagon after the 6-0 start, lost rather handily yesterday. At home. To UC Davis.
-Ohio State won easily on the road at Wisconsin yesterday. It’s the first true road win on the year for the Buckeyes, and Wisconsin is continuing to slump. Ohio State fans were so excited about beating Wisconsin yesterday! The city was just one big buzz!!
-Rhode Island FINALLY knocked off Providence to get the upper hand in a rivalry that they haven’t had the upper hand in in quite some time. It was a nice win for Rhody who continues to build a solid profile and look like a solid team despite the injuries.
-Vermont lost their first game since losing the opener at Kentucky when they fell to Bucknell yesterday. Bucknell had a lead for most of the game, but it was very close. Vermont just couldn’t get over the top. When your margin for error is small, which it is for nearly every UTR team, then every loss hurts.
-Houston blasted, and I mean BLASTED, an Arkansas team that I thought was underrated. I’m still sold on Arkansas and am not writing them off just because of one game. My question now is, at 6-1, is this Houston team a lot better than we thought?
-Arizona won an overtime thriller at UNLV to close things out last night. This is a much improved UNLV team, and by the end of the year I think this win will end up looking pretty good on paper.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-TULANE AT NORTH CAROLINA. This may look and sound like a buy game, but it’s not. UNC actually went to Tulane a year ago. Tulane is also off to a very surprising 6-1 start. They don’t have any scalps that are nearly as big as this one would be, but they have been one of the more surprising teams of the season so far.
-UCF AT ALABAMA. UCF has been somewhat of a disappointment this year whereas Alabama has had some close calls, but they’ve had close calls against some really good UTR teams and at the end of the day are an impressive 6-1.
-KANSAS STATE AT VANDERBILT. K State is off to a decent 6-1 start, but this is their first true road game.
-TEMPLE AT GEORGE WASHINGTON. A win for the Owls gets them to 5-1 on the season and will give them their first true road win of the year.
-GEORGE MASON AT AUBURN. The Tigers can improve to 6-1 on the year. All things considered, they’ve actually had a pretty good season as far as what they’re doing on the court. It’s probably their best start to a year since Bruce Pearl arrived on the plains.
-SETON HALL AT LOUISVILLE. Louisville is coming off a close loss at Purdue and is trying to pick up their first win that isn’t a buy game. Seton Hall comes in with a rather impressive 6-1 record, but this is their first true road game and it would be their biggest win of the season to date.
-NORTHWESTERN AT PURDUE (Big Ten). Northwestern is off to a somewhat sluggish start, but they can get things turned around in a hurry if they can pick one up on the road against Purdue in a conference game. They’re coming off of a win against rival Illinois, which in and of itself isn’t that big of a deal, but a win in a rival game can sometimes build up momentum, which is something Northwestern really needs.
-NEBRASKA AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten). Nebraska has a respectable 6-2 record. The problem is they don’t have any decent wins. Michigan State continues to look like a #1 seed and could roll in this one today.
-RUTGERS AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten). Minney has had a good year and shouldn’t have too much trouble at home against Rutgers, who comes in at 6-1, but who also comes in as buy game heroes.
-TENNESSEE AT GEORGIA TECH. Tennessee has been surprising this year in a good way. Georgia Tech is coming off of a loss to Grambling, which is far more surprising in a bad way. This would be the Vols first true road win of the season if they’re able to pull it off.
-BRADLEY AT SAN DIEGO STATE (MWC/MVC Challenge). A really good match up here between two teams with solid records, but who need solid wins to go along with that. It should be fun.
-MARYLAND AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten). This game has a pivotal feel for both teams. Both have had their struggles and could really use it.
-DAYTON AT MISSISSPPI STATE. Mississippi State has had some close calls, but should be able to remain unbeaten on the year against a Dayton team that is rebuilding.
BUY GAMES
-Saint Francis Brooklyn @ Notre Dame
-UNC Asheville @ Clemson
-Mississippi Valley State @ Oklahoma State
-Portland @ Boise State
-Pairie View @ New Mexico State
-Coppin State @ Georgetown
-Omaha @ Washington
-Detroit @ UCLA
News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Sunday, Dec 3rd
NEWS AND NOTES
-Nothing about the Xavier v Cincinnati game was exciting. I think Xavier got up by double digits in the first 90 seconds (or so it seemed), and it was never close or interesting after that. Thank God that after the game Cincinnati Coach Mick Cronin came riding to the rescue!! All we really know for sure is that at the end of the handshakes after the game, he ran at a Xavier player and needed to be restrained. The whole incident lasted for just a few seconds (not wanting to blow this out of proportion), which is fortunate because had he not been restrained and had he not left the floor, yesterday may have ended up being the last game he ever coached. The list of coaches who have gotten in physical altercations with opposing players is small, and the list of coaches who have continued to coach after that is non-existent. He was also spectacular in the postgame press conference by calling the player (JP Macura) out by name and claiming the Macura told him to “eff off” multiple times. So, all and all it was a typical Cincinnati v Xavier game. A boring game with spectacular postgame antics. They call this a great college basketball rivalry, and it is, but after a previous stretch where seemingly every game came down to the wire every year, we’ve had nothing but boring games on the court for what seems to be nearly a decade. Like the brawl a few years ago, most of us learned about yesterday’s incident on social media. The game was boring so we had all changed the station and almost no one saw it live.
-Kansas continues to look extremely impressive. They blasted Syracuse down in Miami yesterday.
-Villanova v Saint Joe’s is another heated rivalry that typically turns out to be a boring sort of rock fight. Yesterday was no different with Nova winning by close to 40.
-Wichita State picked up a HUGE true road win at Baylor yesterday. That is the kind of win that ends up in teams getting protected seeds.
-USC continues to look overrated as they fell huge at SMU yesterday. That’s not a bad loss in and of itself, but to lose by that margin, and to have not looked like a top fifteen team at any point in the season so far, is leading me to believe that USC is not a top fifteen team.
-Look out for Georgia! They picked up their second true road win of the year with a win at Marquette yesterday, and are now 6-1 on the season.
-Washington State, the team that I doubted more than anyone coming into the year, and then quickly jumped on their bandwagon after the 6-0 start, lost rather handily yesterday. At home. To UC Davis.
-Ohio State won easily on the road at Wisconsin yesterday. It’s the first true road win on the year for the Buckeyes, and Wisconsin is continuing to slump. Ohio State fans were so excited about beating Wisconsin yesterday! The city was just one big buzz!!
-Rhode Island FINALLY knocked off Providence to get the upper hand in a rivalry that they haven’t had the upper hand in in quite some time. It was a nice win for Rhody who continues to build a solid profile and look like a solid team despite the injuries.
-Vermont lost their first game since losing the opener at Kentucky when they fell to Bucknell yesterday. Bucknell had a lead for most of the game, but it was very close. Vermont just couldn’t get over the top. When your margin for error is small, which it is for nearly every UTR team, then every loss hurts.
-Houston blasted, and I mean BLASTED, an Arkansas team that I thought was underrated. I’m still sold on Arkansas and am not writing them off just because of one game. My question now is, at 6-1, is this Houston team a lot better than we thought?
-Arizona won an overtime thriller at UNLV to close things out last night. This is a much improved UNLV team, and by the end of the year I think this win will end up looking pretty good on paper.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-TULANE AT NORTH CAROLINA. This may look and sound like a buy game, but it’s not. UNC actually went to Tulane a year ago. Tulane is also off to a very surprising 6-1 start. They don’t have any scalps that are nearly as big as this one would be, but they have been one of the more surprising teams of the season so far.
-UCF AT ALABAMA. UCF has been somewhat of a disappointment this year whereas Alabama has had some close calls, but they’ve had close calls against some really good UTR teams and at the end of the day are an impressive 6-1.
-KANSAS STATE AT VANDERBILT. K State is off to a decent 6-1 start, but this is their first true road game.
-TEMPLE AT GEORGE WASHINGTON. A win for the Owls gets them to 5-1 on the season and will give them their first true road win of the year.
-GEORGE MASON AT AUBURN. The Tigers can improve to 6-1 on the year. All things considered, they’ve actually had a pretty good season as far as what they’re doing on the court. It’s probably their best start to a year since Bruce Pearl arrived on the plains.
-SETON HALL AT LOUISVILLE. Louisville is coming off a close loss at Purdue and is trying to pick up their first win that isn’t a buy game. Seton Hall comes in with a rather impressive 6-1 record, but this is their first true road game and it would be their biggest win of the season to date.
-NORTHWESTERN AT PURDUE (Big Ten). Northwestern is off to a somewhat sluggish start, but they can get things turned around in a hurry if they can pick one up on the road against Purdue in a conference game. They’re coming off of a win against rival Illinois, which in and of itself isn’t that big of a deal, but a win in a rival game can sometimes build up momentum, which is something Northwestern really needs.
-NEBRASKA AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten). Nebraska has a respectable 6-2 record. The problem is they don’t have any decent wins. Michigan State continues to look like a #1 seed and could roll in this one today.
-RUTGERS AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten). Minney has had a good year and shouldn’t have too much trouble at home against Rutgers, who comes in at 6-1, but who also comes in as buy game heroes.
-TENNESSEE AT GEORGIA TECH. Tennessee has been surprising this year in a good way. Georgia Tech is coming off of a loss to Grambling, which is far more surprising in a bad way. This would be the Vols first true road win of the season if they’re able to pull it off.
-BRADLEY AT SAN DIEGO STATE (MWC/MVC Challenge). A really good match up here between two teams with solid records, but who need solid wins to go along with that. It should be fun.
-MARYLAND AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten). This game has a pivotal feel for both teams. Both have had their struggles and could really use it.
-DAYTON AT MISSISSPPI STATE. Mississippi State has had some close calls, but should be able to remain unbeaten on the year against a Dayton team that is rebuilding.
BUY GAMES
-Saint Francis Brooklyn @ Notre Dame
-UNC Asheville @ Clemson
-Mississippi Valley State @ Oklahoma State
-Portland @ Boise State
-Pairie View @ New Mexico State
-Coppin State @ Georgetown
-Omaha @ Washington
-Detroit @ UCLA