NEWS AND NOTES
-The Bracket Racket is back!!! The band is back together!! If you’ve listened to all of our podcasts and still can’t get enough, check these guys out. They’ve all been on Hoops HD before, Galen Clavio actually played a huge part in getting this whole place rolling, and they interact with us so much that it feels like that while we may not be roommates, we are college suite mates that share the same common area – CLICK HERE
…and I give them a shout out for two reasons. 1) they do a great job, and 2) LITERALLY NOTHING ELSE OF NOTE HAPPENED LAST NIGHT!!
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-SAVANNAH STATE AT GEORGIA. THE TEAM OF THE PEOPLE!!! Savannah State played an exciting brand of basketball and made several runs at Texas A&M the other night despite being behind. They showed some signs of life, and it will be interesting to see what they do against a Georgia team tonight that we don’t think is quite as good as TAMU.
-SOUTHERN ILLINOIS AT KENTUCKY. Kentucky was blown through the roof in their opener against Duke. They’re back at home against a far more manageable opponent tonight, but this is a VERY good Southern Illinois team. We like this team so much that we think they can make the NCAA Tournament, and if they can pick up a few wins in games like this they won’t need to win the conference tournament to do it. I have to give props to Kentucky. They always schedule an early game against a very good UTR team. They hosted Vermont early in the season last year.
-NORTH CAROLINA AT ELON. UNC is going after their second true road win of the season. Not a bad start! Elon won their opener, but has a rather tall order tonight.
-DREXEL AT EASTERN MICHIGAN. It wasn’t easy or pretty, but EMU won their first game and we still like their chances in the MAC.
-WICHITA STATE VS PROVIDENCE (Veterans Classic – Annapolis, MD). It’s gonna be a long year for the Shockers and picking up their first win today won’t be easy. Providence can improve to 2-0 with a win.
-LOUISIANA AT TENNESSEE. Both teams 1-0. Tennessee looking for their first D-I win.
-LEHIGH AT MIAMI FL. Lehigh won their first game on the road decisively against Monmouth. This is a buy game and may not be all that interesting, but it will shoot Lehigh through the roof if they’re somehow able to win it.
-STONY BROOK AT SOUTH CAROLINA. Both teams come in 1-0, and Stony Brook is coming off an exciting road win against George Washington.
-MISSOURI AT IOWA STATE. Both teams come in with a win, but neither was really tested. Mizzou is battling injuries, but should get better as the year goes on. This is a big game for both teams because it will give them some momentum, but also give them a nice early win on their resume.
-STANFORD AT UNC WILMINGTON. This is a good chance for Stanford to put a road win on their resume against a beatable UNCW team that’s coming off a very exciting loss to Campbell in their opener.
-NORTHEASTERN AT HARVARD (Bean Pot). Northeastern is coming off a rather heartbreaking loss at home to rival Boston U, where they had what appeared to be a pretty comfortable lead in the second half, but couldn’t hold on to it. They go on the road to face a Harvard team that we think is good. The Crimson won their opener against MIT, but is still looking for their first D-I win.
-ARKANSAS VS TEXAS (Armed Forces Classic – Fort Bliss). We really like this Texas team! As for Arkansas, well, we really like this Texas team! Arkansas is in a bit of a reset mode, but if they can pull off the surprise win tonight then that may be an indication that they’re capable of getting reset in a hurry.
-OLD DOMINION AT SAINT JOSEPH’S. ODU won their season opener, but has a much taller order tonight against a Saint Joe’s team that we think could be a bit of a dark horse in the A10.
-UNC GREENSBORO AT LSU. This is a buy game, but we really like this UNCG team and think they can make quite a bit of noise in the SoCon this year. This would be a huge statement win for them if they’re somehow able to pull off the upset. LSU is better, but the Tigers better not overlook them.
-OKLAHOMA AT UTRGV. A bit of an unusual game for the Sooners to open their season with. But, it’s a winnable road game, so on paper it’s better than playing it at home.
-BUFFALO AT WEST VIRGINIA. I know Buffalo lost some big pieces from their team a year ago that made the Round of 32, but I still really like them. They ran away from Saint Francis U in their opener, but have a much taller order today against a very good West Virginia team. The Eers better not overlook them, though.
-UTEP AT NEW MEXICO STATE. This is a rivalry game between two teams that are coming in 1-0. New Mexico State doesn’t appear to be quite as strong as what we are used to seeing, and UTEP has a ways to go before they are rebuilt, but the winner of this game will have some early momentum built up after the first week.
-GEORGIA STATE AT MONTANA. This is an UTR game, but it’s worth highlighting because it’s a Georgia State team that we feel is the best in the Sun Belt, and a Montana team that we feel is among the best in the Big Sky.
-WASHINGTON AT AUBURN. Washington had a nice win to open the season against a pretty good Western Kentucky team, and now travels most of the way across the country to take on an Auburn team that’s coming off a win in a buy game and ranked really high. This is a really good early season test for both teams, as well as a chance to add a good win on their resume.
-UC IRVINE AT TEXAS A&M. I really like this UCI team and think they have a shot at picking this one up on the road. Both come into this one 1-0.
-UTAH VALLEY AT BYU. A nice regional pseudo-rivalry match-up. Utah Valley won their opener, and while BYU didn’t win at Nevada, they made a really good account of themselves.
-YALE AT CALIFORNIA (Shanghai China). It’s the season opener for both teams. Truth be told we aren’t expecting all that much out of either one of them, but who knows? One of them will get to start things off with a win.
BUY GAMES (and games worth mentioning, but not highlighting)
-Bowling Green @ Saint John’s – both teams 1-1
-Gardner Webb @ Virginia Tech
-NC Central @ Clemson
-Fairleigh Dickinson @ Rutgers
-VMI @ Pittsburgh – both teams 1-0
-Dartmouth @ Davidson – both teams 1-0
-Longwood @ Richmond – Longwood is 1-0
-Detroit @ Temple
-Charleston Southern @ Florida
-Hampton @ VCU – both teams 1-0
-American @ George Mason
-New Hampshire @ UMass – both teams 1-0
-Vermont @ Boston U – BU had a nice road win in their opener
-Northern Kentucky @ Northern Illinois – both teams 1-0
-Austin Peay @ Mississippi State – APSU is 1-0
-Jacksonville State @ Samford – a season opener for a Jax St. team that we think will be good in the OVC
-Coastal Carolina @ Campbell – both teams 1-0
-North Florida @ Penn State
-Lamar @ Georgia Tech
-James Madison @ East Carolina – both teams 1-0
-Kennesaw State @ Kansas State
-Montana State @ Indiana
-Rice @ Penn – both teams 1-0
-Furman @ Loyola Chicago – both teams 1-0
-Maryland @ Navy (Veterans Classic) – winnable road game for the Terps
-Eastern Washington @ Oregon
-Mississippi Valley State @ Texas Tech
-McNeese @ Arizona State
-Pacific @ Nevada – both teams 1-0
-Long Beach State @ UCLA