NEWS AND NOTES
-The Big Ten officially got underway tonight. They start early now that they’ve extended their schedule. Wisconsin and Iowa was a top 25 match-up that did not disappoint as Wisky got yet another huge road win on their resume. Seeing as how Iowa was ranked #14th this is easily their best win of the season so far. Wisky is one of those unranked and un-hyped preseason teams that is now climbing pretty high in the rankings now that the season is underway. And for that matter, so is Iowa. And, so is Texas!! But, about that…
-The biggest headlines of the night probably belong to Radford, who went into Texas and came out with a huge road win. It was close the entire way, and Radford actually had a bit of a lead built up that Texas chipped away at, but couldn’t quite get over the hump. Radford had a win earlier this season at Notre Dame. That win was big because anytime a UTR team can beat a brand name P5 team on the road it’s a big deal, but so far Notre Dame has looked like an NIT team at best. Texas was ranked in the top 20, and had absolutely earned that ranking, so this was a huge win for Radford. As far as them landing inside the bubble, we’ve still got a long way to go, but it’s possible.
-Mississippi State had a nice come from behind victory at Dayton. The Flyers are in trouble. They could end up totally crushing the Atlantic Ten, but because the league is so weak this year they’d still be lacking notable wins. They really needed this one tonight.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
We have 16 solid hours of basketball today starting at 8am!! I really wish Hawaii was playing at home tonight, because that would have extended it to 18 hours!! Today is jam packed, and pretty much every Saturday for the rest of the year will be like this!!
-BUFFALO VS SAN FRANCISCO (Basketball Hall of Fame Belfast Classic). At the beginning of the season I would have never circled this match-up, but with an unbeaten and nationally ranked Buffalo team taking on an unbeaten San Francisco team that’s looking for it’s first really nice win, this is now a highlighted game. Should be fun!
-SAINT JOHN’S VS GEORGIA TECH (Game in Miami FL). The Johnnies come into this game without a loss, and although none of those wins have me jumping up and down, a few of them have been decent, and they have won it all.
-LOUISVILLE AT SETON HALL. We’ve seen Louisville play well against good teams this year, and earlier this week we saw them pick up a big home win against Michigan State. This is their first true road game of the season. Seton Hall has been up and down as well, but they’re coming off of three strait wins out at the Wooden Classic, so they have some momentum built up.
-UNC GREENSBORO AT KENTUCKY. This UNCG team is a lot better than what most people realize, and this Kentucky team is highly talented, but that has been sleepwalking a little bit this season. It is a very intriguing match-up. As excited as everyone is about Wofford, UNCG won the SoCon last year and returned most of their key players. Their only loss was a close one to LSU, so Kentucky better not overlook them.
-NORTHWESTERN AT INDIANA (Big Ten). Indiana got dump-trucked in their last game against Duke, but that’s perhaps not even discouraging. They’ve played pretty well in all their other games, and should be tested by a Northwestern team that’s off to a 6-1 start. I think both teams are looking to make a statement, and this is an opportunity.
-GONZAGA AT CREIGHTON. Gonzaga has looked like the best team in the country despite the fact that a key player in injured, and Creighton has looked pretty good. It’s a huge home game for the Bluejays and it should be a great atmosphere.
-KANSAS STATE AT MARQUETTE. Marquette has looked decent this year, but they are still a long way from reaching their ceiling. A win over a highly ranked team would be a huge step forward. K State comes into this game at 6-0, but this is their first true road game and probably their biggest test of the year.
-TEXAS TECH VS MEMPHIS (Game in Miami FL0. Texas Tech is good, and Memphis isn’t good yet, but probably will be soon. The Red Raiders, who once again started the season with almost no hype at all, are out to a 6-0 start and are currently ranked #20th. Expect that ranking to continue to climb.
-VILLANOVA VS LA SALLE (Big Five, Game at the Palestra). Villanova is ranked in the top 25!! Villanova is the defending National Champion!! La Salle….is…..playing Villanova today!!!
-COLORADO STATE AT COLORADO (Front Range). We at Hoops HD love the Front Range!!! And, let’s not overlook this Colorado team. They’re off to a 4-1 start and knocking off their rivals at home will certainly help build up that momentum even more.
-SAN DIEGO STATE AT ILLINOIS STATE (MWC/MVC Challenge). Both teams need this win. Both are off to decent starts at best, but that’s all you can say about them. It doesn’t feel like they’re caught up with the pack of teams that will compete for spots in the NCAA Tournament, and whoever loses this game will be even further behind.
-SAVANNAH STATE AT GARDNER WEBB. THE TEAM OF THE PEOPLE!!!!!! They have what we feel is a winnable road game, which would keep them at the top of the MEAC for most current div1 OOC wins.
-PURDUE AT MICHIGAN (Big Ten). Purdue is coming off a very close loss at Florida State, but still appears to be very good. Michigan is coming off an anything-but-close win against North Carolina. They are breathing fire right now with two blowout wins against ranked teams on their resume, and as good as Purdue is, they may end up getting blown out as well.
-LOYOLA CHICAGO AT UIC. A bit of a desperation game here for Loyola. They’re a modest 4-3 on the season and really need to get their motor started if they want to land inside the bubble. Today’s game is winnable, but it’s not a cakewalk. UIC is unbeaten at home, and they’ll be up for this one seeing as how Loyola was in the Final Four last year.
-NEVADA AT USC. USC is good. USC is not usually an easy place to win. Their problem is that Nevada is AWESOME. Nevada is ranked #5th, and although I personally do not feel they are the fifth best team in the country, I do feel they are one of the ten best teams in the country. They can remain unbeaten and pick up their second true road win today.
-PENN STATE AT MARYLAND (Big Ten). This is going to be a good one. Penn State is coming off a huge home win against a very good Virginia Tech team….but that was at home. They’re walking into a snake pit today to take on a Maryland team that isn’t easy to beat at home. They’re also looking to rebound from a home loss against a very good Virginia team.
-TULSA AT UTAH. I highlight this because of Tulsa wins this game and gets to 6-2 with a road win like this on their resume, we will sit up and take notice.
-VANDERBILT VS NC STATE (Game in Miami FL). Both teams come in with just one loss, and both have exceeded any preseason expectations they may have had. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if both these teams ended up in the NCAA Tournament, and that this turns out to be a resume building game for whoever wins it.
-RHODE ISLAND AT PROVIDENCE. We LOVE this rivalry! It is far more intense than what anyone outside the state of Rhode Island realizes, and many of the recent games have been close, hard fought, and fun to watch! The problem is that there is absolutely no indication at all that this year’s edition will look like that. Rhody is not good. In fact, they’re bad. Providence is decent now, and will likely continue to improve. It may be rather lopsided.
-BUTLER AT SAINT LOUIS. This is an important game for SLU. They are one of the few A10 teams that looks like they might be an NCAA Tournament team. If they are, then they should be expected to be able to beat top 40 teams at home. I’m not even sure if Butler is a top 40 team, but what I do know is that if SLU really is a tournament caliber team then this is the kind of game they need to be able to win. Butler only has one loss, but they don’t have anything on their resume that really wows me yet. A win today would change that.
-STANFORD AT KANSAS. This isn’t a buy game, but Kansas is one of the two best teams in the country and Stanford….isn’t. It may end up looking like a buy game before it’s over.
-TEMPLE AT SAINT JOSEPH’S (Big Five). Temple is 6-1, and while they don’t have any huge wins yet, they have shown some potential. A road win against a Big Five rival will at least keep their momentum going.
-GEORGIA STATE AT LIBERTY. This is a really fun UTR game that we are going to go ahead and highlight. It’s unlikely that either team will be inside the bubble, but we may see one or both teams in the NCAA Tournament with auto-bids. Georgia State is off to an impressive start, and Liberty comes into this with just one loss.
-LIPSCOMB AT MIDDLE TENNESSEE. This game isn’t nearly as intriguing as it would have been a year ago. Lipscomb clearly looks like the superior team, and they’re going after their fourth road win of the season and trying to improve to 6-1 on the year.
-CINCINNATI AT UNLV. Cincinnati is probably a tournament team. They may be good enough to be wearing white in the Round of 64 as the better seeded team. UNLV has a nice brand name, but this year’s team is terrible. It’s never easy to win true road games, but right now I’d say a UNLV win would be more of an indictment on Cincinnati than it would be a quality win for Vegas.
-NORTHERN COLORADO AT WYOMING (Front Range). We at Hoops HD love the Front Range!! And….this is a Front Range game!! Ummm…Northern Colorado is kind of a surprise team in the Big Sky that can improve to 5-1 and pick up their third road win. That’s all I got. Sorry.
-EAST TENNESSEE STATE AT WOFFORD (SoCon). A really good early season Under the Radar game between two of the better teams in the SoCon. It’s a conference game, so this one counts!!
-NEW MEXICO AT BRADLEY (MWC/MVC Challenge). Both teams have a lot of work to do, but if they can put together a long string of wins they will end up getting the attention of the committee.
-FIU AT ARKANSAS. FIU is off to a very surprising 7-1 start, but they’ve not played in a game that will test them anywhere close to as much as this one will today. Arkansas has just one loss on the year, and that was an overtime game against a Texas team that is currently in the rankings, so chances are they’re going to end up being a lot better than what many of us were expecting.
-BAYLOR AT WICHITA STATE. Both teams are off to a slow start and both have a lot of ground to make up. That gives this game kind of a pivotal feel even though it’s still early.
-OREGON AT HOUSTON. Houston is unbeaten, but for the most part also untested. There still doesn’t appear to be that much buzz around the program, but that may start to change if they’re able to win this one. Oregon is still in the rankings, but after their loss to Texas Southern earlier this week that may not last for much longer, especially if they drop this game as well.
-NORTHERN IOWA VS SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (Game in Minneapolis). South Dakota State is almost out of strikes. They basically need to win out or come close to it in order to get inside the bubble.
-WASHINGTON STATE AT NEW MEXICO STATE. Both teams come into this game with just one loss, but New Mexico State has looked like the more impressive team so far. I’m still not all that big on Wazzu, but my opinion will certainly change if they’re able to win this one.
-BYU AT WEBER STATE. This could be a tough road test for BYU against a Weber State team that comes in at 4-2 and could make some noise in the Big Sky.
-TEXAS SOUTHERN AT ARIZONA STATE. With wins at Baylor and at Oregon, you can’t just dismiss this as another buy game for Texas Southern. Arizona State is unbeaten. If Texas Southern gets a third scalp and manages to blow through the SWAC, then you have to start thinking of them as a bubble team. That’s assuming a lot, though. This will not be an easy game to win.
-UTAH STATE AT UC IRVINE. This is one of the better, and perhaps more important, games of the day. Both teams have just one loss, and both have managed some decent wins. Neither have played their way into the national consciousness yet, but both are on pace to have big years and this will probably end up being a big win for whoever pulls it off.
BUY GAMES (and other games worth mentioning, but not higlighting)
-Oakland @ Xavier
-Cleveland State @ Toledo – Toledo only has one loss this year
-Belmont @ Green Bay – Belmont looking to remain unbeaten and pick up their 4th road win
-Marshall @ Ohio – Marshall is looking to improve to 6-1 on the year
-Youngstown State @ West Virginia
-Charlotte @ Charleston
-Western Carolina @ Furman – SoCon game
-Florida Atlantic @ Bethune Cookman – FAU is out of the gate fast, and can improve to 7-1 with a win
-Central Connecticut @ Virginia Tech
-Houston Baptist @ LA Tech
-Stetson @ Duke
-Missouri State @ Oregon State
-Tennessee State @ Western Kentucky – WKU better win this or they’re in trouble
-Iona @ VCU
-Quinnipiac @ Stony Brook
-Fordham @ Manhattan – Fordham can improve to 6-1 with a win over their rival
-Davidson @ UNC Wilmington – Davidson’s first true road game. Can improve to 7-1
-Wake Forest @ Richmond – Wake can improve to 5-2 and pick up their first true road win
-Yale @ Miami FL – game part of an MTE.
-Prairie View @ Murray State
-Cornell @ Syracuse
-Abilene Christian @ Pepperdine – ACU can get to 8-0 and win their third road game
-Long Beach State @ San Diego