NEWS AND NOTES
-HAPPY COLLEGE BASKETBALL SEASON EVERYBODY!!!!
CLICK HERE for the Hoops HD Preseason Bracket Projections Video Podcast
CLICK HERE for Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day
-The days of watching meaningless exhibitions that are so lopsided that you stop watching before halftime are over!! We now have mostly meaningless (but not entirely) buy games that will be so lopsided that you’ll stop watching before halftime is over!! But, we have some REALLY good games as well, including a top ten match-up, a top five match-up, two really good UTR teams with chances to get big time wins right out of the gate, a big in-state rivalry game between two pretty good teams, and more!
-I say this every year, and I will say it again. Technically everyone starts out at zero. Regardless of what we’re saying about each game, we are ultimately just supposing. Both Duke and Kentucky could in theory end up winning less than ten games making tonight’s matchup completely meaningless, whereas there may be games that we haven’t even listed that end up being hugely important. If the SWAC gets out there and wins 80 percent of their OOC games, then they’ll send half their conference to the NCAAs. If the ACC gets out there and loses 80 percent of their games, it will be a one bid league. Everyone begins at zero. None of the preseason rankings mean anything. What ultimately happens in regards to the NCAA Tournament will ultimately be entirely decided by what happens on the court. Last year there were seven preseason top 25 teams that missed the NCAA Tournament, and that was actually fewer teams than normal. On the flip side there were three teams that did not receive a single vote in the preseason top 25 last year that ended up as protected seed, and a fourth team in Clemson that was right there with a #5 seed and ultimately made the Sweet Sixteen. Regardless of where a team is ranked now, in the eyes of the committee and the computer rankings they are all starting off at zero.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-WISCONSIN LUTHERAN (non-D1) AT GREEN BAY. This is a very meaningless game. It really can’t be any more meaningless and still be considered meaningful. But, it is the first regulation game of the 2018-2019 season, so we will go ahead and highlight it.
-MICHIGAN STATE VS KANSAS (Champions Classic). Nothing like a top ten match up on Day 1!!! Kansas is ranked #1, and nearly everyone at Hoops HD feels that they are not overrated. This is a chance for both teams to pick up a huge win on a neutral floor, which will look good on the resume come March. Can anything top this match-up??…..
-DUKE VS KENTUCKY (Champions Classic). Nothing like a top FIVE match up on Day 1!! Kentucky is ranked #2 and nearly everyone at Hoops HD feels that they are not overrated. This is a chance for both teams to pick up a huge win on a neutral flor, which will look good on the resume come March.
-SAINT FRANCIS U AT BUFFALO. Probably not a big game, but we really like this Buffalo team and think they can contend for an at-large bid, and STFU is one of the better teams in the NEC.
-RIDER AT UCF. Very interesting game here even if it is a bit of a mismatch. Rider is our preseason pick to win the MAAC, and UCF is a team that we think can play their way into the Top 25. While UCF should be heavily favored, they Rider is good enough to stay with them if UCF overlooks them.
-NORTH CAROLINA AT WOFFORD. This one should be a fun one. We really like this Wofford team. If they can pick up some big wins, which we feel they are good enough to do, then it isn’t outrageous to think they can land inside the bubble. They host a North Carolina team that they managed to beat on the road a year ago. To UNC’s credit and Roy Williams’s credit, they don’t shy away from games like this. It is a huge showcase game for a very good Wofford team that typically does not get games like this on their campus. Should be fun!! And, if UNC wins it, it will likely end up as a quadrant 1 win.
-EAST TENNESSEE STATE AT GEORGIA STATE. Should be a fun UTR game between two teams that we think will do well in their conferences.
-MIT (non-D1) AT HARVARD. These two seemingly always open the season against each other, and I love it!
-NORTH ALABAMA AT SAMFORD. Welcome to D-1 basketball North Alabama!!! Well, sort of. They have a four year transition ahead of them.
-LA SALLE AT TEMPLE (Big Five). La Salle welcomes in a new coach, and Temple begins the farewell season of Fran Dunphy, who is a Big Five legend. It’s fun seeing teams open the season with games like this. We feel Temple is a fringe bubble team this year, so winning a rivalry game on opening night will certainly give them some momentum.
-LOUISIANA TECH AT WICHITA STATE. Yunno, both these teams were really good just a few years ago! This year…well…both these teams were really good just a few years ago! Wichita State has an excellent program, but this year’s edition of it is in complete rebuild mode, so it may be a long season.
-BOSTON U AT NORTHEASTERN (Bean Pot). Another intriguing UTR game. We really like this Northeastern team and think they are the favorites to win the Colonial.
-GRAND CANYON AT SOUTH DAKOTA STATE. CLICK HERE to read Chad’s write up
-FLORIDA AT FLORIDA STATE. This is the kind of game we want to see on opening night!! It’s a rivalry game between two likely tournament teams! Bragging rights are on the line, and a good resume win is on the line! Opening night should be a big night! I applaud both of these teams for doing it right. People aren’t as big on the Gators as they were last year, but that can all change tonight if they can get a road win of this caliber under their belts right out of the gate.
-UMBC AT MARQUETTE. I know this is a buy game, but what’s unique about this is that one of these teams was in the Round of 32, and it ain’t the team that’s buying. It’s the team that’s being bought. UMBC did something incredible last year, but even had they not knocked off #1 seeded Virginia, they would have still done something incredible considering how much they’ve improved in the last three seasons. Marquette is a likely tournament team, and they should win tonight without too much trouble, but it’s still a much more interesting match-up than what we will see in most buy games.
-NORTH DAKOTA STATE AT NEW MEXICO STATE. A good UTR match-up between two solid programs who appear to be rebuilding a little bit this year.
-WEBER STATE AT SAN DIEGO. Two more really good UTR teams. This is a good first game for both teams.
-IDAHO AT UC IRVINE. We’re highlighting this game only because I’m really big on this UC Irvine team and think they may be good enough to make a run at the bubble. Probably not, but maybe.
-WESTERN KENTUCKY AT WASHINGTON. This is a fantastic early season game between what I think are two Top 25 teams. I know WKU isn’t ranked that high yet, but it wouldn’t shock me at all if they’re in the rankings before the end of the season. They play in C-USA, so their opportunities to get big wins later in the year will likely be limited, so this is a very important game for them tonight.
-BYU AT NEVADA. We think Nevada will likely end up with a protected seed and maybe even contend for a spot in the Final Four. We aren’t as big on BYU, but a win tonight will certainly change that.
BUY GAMES
-Chicago State @ Indiana
-Siena @ Providence
-Wagner @ Seton Hall
-Loyola MD @ Saint John’s
-Towson @ Virginia – Towson has had some pretty good teams, but probably not this year
-Lenoir Rhyne (non-D1) @ Tennessee – fun fact: Rick Barnes is a Lenoir-Rhyne alum
-Morgan State @ Villanova
-Eastern Washington @ Syracuse – Eastern Washington is pretty good, but they’re probably overmatched
-The Citadel @ Clemson
-Fairfield @ Purdue
-Cleveland State @ Davidson
-UMass Lowell @ UMass
-Bryant @ Rhode Island
-Gardner Webb @ VCU
-South Carolina Upstate @ South Carolina
-Youngstown State @ Pittsburgh
-UIC @ Notre Dame
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ NC State
-Delaware @ Maryland
-Incarnate Word @ Texas Tech
-Tennessee Tech @ Memphis
-SEMO @ Saint Louis
-Eastern Illinois @ Texas
-Alabama State @ Iowa State
-Central Arkansas @ Missouri
-Omaha @ Minnesota
-Mississippi Valley State @ Nebraska
-Coppin State @ Wisconsin
-Winthrop @ Vanderbilt – perhaps more interesting than most buy games
-Southern U @ Alabama
-Cal State Fullerton @ Arizona State
-Norfolk State @ Michigan
-SELA @ LSU
-Western Illinois @ Creighton
-IUPUI @ Xavier
-UMES @ Georgetown
-Idaho State @ Gonzaga
-South Alabama @ Auburn
-Fort Wayne @ UCLA
-UNKC @ Loyola Chicago
-Texas Southern @ Baylor
-Seattle @ Stanford
-Pine Bluff @ San Diego State
-Portland State @ Oregon
-Robert Morris @ USC