NEWS AND NOTES
-For our first regular season Under the Radar Podcast – CLICK HERE
-The month of March, beginning with Championship Week(s), is a special time of year for any college basketball fan. The second half of November is a special time of year for DIEHARD college basketball fans because of all the multi-team events (MTEs), or exempt tournaments, or whatever the hell you want to call them. It gives us a lot of unique games in the sense that it’s so many games between so many teams that would almost never play each other under normal circumstances. Most of the tournaments are bracketed, so it’s a chance for teams to ‘win and advance’ (so to speak) and in theory get the chance to play better competition with each win, pick up a lot of good NCAA Tournament resume wins, and play their way onto the national scene. And for teams that don’t win, they still get to keep playing. It’s important to point out that the selection committee does not look at any of these “losers bracket” games, or 5th place games as being anything other than a neutral floor game between the two teams. Less credit is not given to a team that wins a fifth place game than what would have been given to them if they just happened to play on a neutral floor. It’s the same.
There are more basketball games over the next week and a half than there are at any other point during the season. As someone who has been writing up each days games for the past several years, I can confirm that is absolutely the case. Many of these games are in unique settings (small gyms, ball rooms, theme parks, casinos, or wherever). It’s just a very enjoyable and unique period of the season for anyone that’s a diehard fan. And it all begins today!!
-The Big 10 picked up 3 wins against the Big East in the Gavitt Games last night – the biggest surprise was how easily Michigan demolished Villanova in Philly. The Wolverines led by as many as 31 in the first half and handed the Wildcats their worst home loss since Creighton beat Nova by 28 in the 2013-14 season.
-Radford got a big win against Notre Dame last night. Surprising, but not surprising. Even more surprising was IUPUI going into Boston College with their biggest road win in the brief Jason Gardner regime.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-BALL STATE VS VIRGINIA TECH (Charleston Classic). Ball State has looked good in their first couple of games (at least from what I’ve seen), but they’re probably in over their heads today against a VA Tech team that’s ranked in the top 15.
-SAINT JOSEPH’S VS WAKE FOREST (Myrtle Beach Invitational). Saint Joseph’s is one of the very few Atlantic Ten teams that hasn’t looked pitiful this year. If they can do well in this tournament they could catapult themselves onto the radar and add some nice wins to their resume. Wake won their opener, but hasn’t been tested yet.
-UCF VS CAL STATE FULLERTON (Myrtle Beach Invitational). This tournament is an opportunity for UCF to pick up some decent wins away from home, and rebound from a somewhat damaging loss to FAU last week.
-ALABAMA VS NORTHEASTERN (Charleston Classic). A really good game this afternoon between a Northeastern team that we think can contend in the Colonial, and an Alabama team that is trying to recover from the loss of their best player from a year ago, but still has a lot of pieces back. Neither team is really on the national radar yet, but this tournament is a chance for them to pick up some nice wins.
-PURDUE VS APPALACHIAN STATE (Charleston Classic). Hot! Hot! Hot! The Boilers come in without a loss and the Mountaineers are coming off of a close to Alabama, but Purdue clearly appears to be the superior team.
-VALPARAISO VS WESTERN KENTUCKY (Myrtle Beach Invitational). It is really important for WKU to pick up some big wins in this tournament. Although C-USA is off to a strong start, their chances at quality wins in the second half of the season are going to be limited, so if they want to be in the safe zone for an at-large then this tournament is crucial.
-SYRACUSE VS UCONN (2K Classic, MSG). The Old Big East rivals are back for this ACC vs American showdown!! This is the first real test for either team after a couple of buy game tuneups. We’re expecting a lot more out of Syracuse than UConn this year, but this is a chance for UConn to really make a statement early.
-SOUTHERN MISS AT TROY. Southern Miss can improve to a somewhat surprising 3-0 and pick up their second true road win.
-OHIO STATE AT CREIGHTON (Gavitt Tipoff Classic). Ohio State already has one really nice road win, and will really be out of the gate fast if they’re able to pick up a second one. Creighton is a little bit down this year, or so it appears, but this is a chance for them to make a statement as well.
-DAVIDSON VS WICHITA STATE (Charleston Classic). Wichita had a rough start to the season, but rebounded with a nice neutral floor win against Providence. Davidson won both their buy games, but it wasn’t easy, and they’re going to face much bigger tests in this tournament.
-BELMONT AT LIPSCOMB. The Battle of the Boulevard!! This BETTER be the UTR game of the day!! Two rivals. Two really good UTR teams that will likely be conference frontrunners.
-FRESNO STATE AT TCU. Both teams come in without a loss, although TCU got a really big scare against Bakersfield in their last game.
-PENN STATE AT DEPAUL (Gavitt Tipoff Games). Neither team has a loss yet, and Penn State has looked pretty good. This is a chance to add a road win that is at least semi-notable to their resume.
-OREGON VS IOWA (2K Classic). Like so many teams in these events, these two come in having won their buy games, but not having been tested yet. This is their first chance to add some meat to their resume.
-TEXAS A&M AT GONZAGA. A very late tipoff tonight, but we have a match-up that would have been a great game a year ago. Unfortunately for TAMU it’s not a year ago, and they’re on the road against a Gonzaga team that we think is a Final Four caliber team.
BUY GAMES (and other games worth mentioning, but not writing up)
-Central Arkansas @ Pittsburgh
-Monmouth @ West Virginia
-Mississippi Valley State @ Utah
-Oral Roberts @ BYU
-UC Irvine @ Santa Clara. – Irvine can improve to 4-0 on the year
-Detroit @ California
News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Thursday, Nov 15th
NEWS AND NOTES
-For our first regular season Under the Radar Podcast – CLICK HERE
-The month of March, beginning with Championship Week(s), is a special time of year for any college basketball fan. The second half of November is a special time of year for DIEHARD college basketball fans because of all the multi-team events (MTEs), or exempt tournaments, or whatever the hell you want to call them. It gives us a lot of unique games in the sense that it’s so many games between so many teams that would almost never play each other under normal circumstances. Most of the tournaments are bracketed, so it’s a chance for teams to ‘win and advance’ (so to speak) and in theory get the chance to play better competition with each win, pick up a lot of good NCAA Tournament resume wins, and play their way onto the national scene. And for teams that don’t win, they still get to keep playing. It’s important to point out that the selection committee does not look at any of these “losers bracket” games, or 5th place games as being anything other than a neutral floor game between the two teams. Less credit is not given to a team that wins a fifth place game than what would have been given to them if they just happened to play on a neutral floor. It’s the same.
There are more basketball games over the next week and a half than there are at any other point during the season. As someone who has been writing up each days games for the past several years, I can confirm that is absolutely the case. Many of these games are in unique settings (small gyms, ball rooms, theme parks, casinos, or wherever). It’s just a very enjoyable and unique period of the season for anyone that’s a diehard fan. And it all begins today!!
-The Big 10 picked up 3 wins against the Big East in the Gavitt Games last night – the biggest surprise was how easily Michigan demolished Villanova in Philly. The Wolverines led by as many as 31 in the first half and handed the Wildcats their worst home loss since Creighton beat Nova by 28 in the 2013-14 season.
-Radford got a big win against Notre Dame last night. Surprising, but not surprising. Even more surprising was IUPUI going into Boston College with their biggest road win in the brief Jason Gardner regime.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-BALL STATE VS VIRGINIA TECH (Charleston Classic). Ball State has looked good in their first couple of games (at least from what I’ve seen), but they’re probably in over their heads today against a VA Tech team that’s ranked in the top 15.
-SAINT JOSEPH’S VS WAKE FOREST (Myrtle Beach Invitational). Saint Joseph’s is one of the very few Atlantic Ten teams that hasn’t looked pitiful this year. If they can do well in this tournament they could catapult themselves onto the radar and add some nice wins to their resume. Wake won their opener, but hasn’t been tested yet.
-UCF VS CAL STATE FULLERTON (Myrtle Beach Invitational). This tournament is an opportunity for UCF to pick up some decent wins away from home, and rebound from a somewhat damaging loss to FAU last week.
-ALABAMA VS NORTHEASTERN (Charleston Classic). A really good game this afternoon between a Northeastern team that we think can contend in the Colonial, and an Alabama team that is trying to recover from the loss of their best player from a year ago, but still has a lot of pieces back. Neither team is really on the national radar yet, but this tournament is a chance for them to pick up some nice wins.
-PURDUE VS APPALACHIAN STATE (Charleston Classic). Hot! Hot! Hot! The Boilers come in without a loss and the Mountaineers are coming off of a close to Alabama, but Purdue clearly appears to be the superior team.
-VALPARAISO VS WESTERN KENTUCKY (Myrtle Beach Invitational). It is really important for WKU to pick up some big wins in this tournament. Although C-USA is off to a strong start, their chances at quality wins in the second half of the season are going to be limited, so if they want to be in the safe zone for an at-large then this tournament is crucial.
-SYRACUSE VS UCONN (2K Classic, MSG). The Old Big East rivals are back for this ACC vs American showdown!! This is the first real test for either team after a couple of buy game tuneups. We’re expecting a lot more out of Syracuse than UConn this year, but this is a chance for UConn to really make a statement early.
-SOUTHERN MISS AT TROY. Southern Miss can improve to a somewhat surprising 3-0 and pick up their second true road win.
-OHIO STATE AT CREIGHTON (Gavitt Tipoff Classic). Ohio State already has one really nice road win, and will really be out of the gate fast if they’re able to pick up a second one. Creighton is a little bit down this year, or so it appears, but this is a chance for them to make a statement as well.
-DAVIDSON VS WICHITA STATE (Charleston Classic). Wichita had a rough start to the season, but rebounded with a nice neutral floor win against Providence. Davidson won both their buy games, but it wasn’t easy, and they’re going to face much bigger tests in this tournament.
-BELMONT AT LIPSCOMB. The Battle of the Boulevard!! This BETTER be the UTR game of the day!! Two rivals. Two really good UTR teams that will likely be conference frontrunners.
-FRESNO STATE AT TCU. Both teams come in without a loss, although TCU got a really big scare against Bakersfield in their last game.
-PENN STATE AT DEPAUL (Gavitt Tipoff Games). Neither team has a loss yet, and Penn State has looked pretty good. This is a chance to add a road win that is at least semi-notable to their resume.
-OREGON VS IOWA (2K Classic). Like so many teams in these events, these two come in having won their buy games, but not having been tested yet. This is their first chance to add some meat to their resume.
-TEXAS A&M AT GONZAGA. A very late tipoff tonight, but we have a match-up that would have been a great game a year ago. Unfortunately for TAMU it’s not a year ago, and they’re on the road against a Gonzaga team that we think is a Final Four caliber team.
BUY GAMES (and other games worth mentioning, but not writing up)
-Central Arkansas @ Pittsburgh
-Monmouth @ West Virginia
-Mississippi Valley State @ Utah
-Oral Roberts @ BYU
-UC Irvine @ Santa Clara. – Irvine can improve to 4-0 on the year
-Detroit @ California