NEWS AND NOTES
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-Just a few days ago I had praised Iowa for how well they’d played this season, particularly at MSG where they beat Oregon and UConn. They’ve now lost their first two Big Ten games. Both were tall orders, and the game at UConn over the weekend was really exciting. Last night’s game at Michigan State was not. I believe the Spartans led by as much as 30 at one point. Oh well, moving on to another team that I also spoke highly of, particularly after a close road loss at Iowa…
-Pittsburgh, after having one of the worst seasons for any P5 team in recent memory a year ago, ran out to a 6-0 start and collected a nice win against Saint Louis. They went down swinging at Iowa, and then blew out a Duquesne team that was having a much better than normal season. Then they had an easy game last night against Niagara. AND THEY LOST!!! They trailed by double digits late in the game, and came back to have a chance to win, but couldn’t get it done. This is all kinds of shocking. Some of these UTR teams are a lot better than people realize. Niagara is not one of those teams. They came into the game at 2-4, and had home losses to Grambling and Saint Francis Brooklyn. By all accounts they played in a bad league, and were not expected to do well in that bad league. But, last night they won at Pitt. Did Kevin Stallings buy a ticket? That’s the only explanation.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-FURMAN AT ELON (SoCon0. Furman has cracked the top 25, but they really had to sweat out Western Carolina in their conference opener last week, so I’m not gonna just take it for granted that they’re gonna win this one easily.
-OKLAHOMA VS NOTRE DAME (Jimmy V Classic). Both teams have bloated records, but neither has really impressed me all that much yet. That being said, you can’t just overlook that both are coming in with just one loss and that this would be a notable win (at least for now) for whichever team pulls it off.
-MIAMI FL AT PENN. Miami already has one loss to an Ivy League tema and is trying to avoid losing their third game in a row. This game won’t be easy. Penn is tough this year, and they should have a nice crowd tonight at home.
-INDIANA AT PENN STATE (Big Ten). Indiana is coming off an exciting home win against Northwestern, but has a tall order tonight against a Penn State team that we still think has a high ceiling, but that hasn’t really played up to it yet. They’re coming off a loss and are looking to pick up a conference win at home.
-PROVIDENCE AT BOSTON COLLEGE. These two old Big East rivals go at it tonight, and it’s a win that both teams could really use. BC has just one loss, but this would probably be one of their best wins of the season so far. Providence is playing in their first true road game and this is a win that would look pretty good both on and off paper.
-RADFORD AT JAMES MADISON. Radford is 6-1 with road wins at Notre Dame and Texas. This would be their fourth true road win of the season if they’re able to pull it off.
-NORTHERN KENTUCKY AT CINCINNATI. Very interesting storyline to this game. The two schools are in different states, but I believe are actually less than eight miles apart. Cincinnati played their home games at NKU last year while their arena was being renovated. NKU comes into this game with just one loss, and has looked really good in their last couple of games, so they will definitely be playing with confidence. If they were to pull this off it’s the kind of win that would make the committee sit up and take notice.
-WOFFORD AT KANSAS. This is a buy game, and Kansas should win rather easily, but Wofford is a very good UTR team. I’d say they’re a lot better than the Stanford team that just took Kansas to overtime.
-CAMPBELL AT ABILENE CHRISTIAN. You know what? We will highlight this. Why the hell not. Abilene Christian comes into this game with just one loss and has been one of the more surprising UTR teams this year. Campbell has an NBA caliber player in Chris Clemons, so they are always fun to watch, and the Camels are looking for their first road win.
-LIPSCOMB AT BELMONT. The Battle of the Boulevard!!!!! Part Two!!! Belmont is coming off a rather surprising loss (at least to me) to Green Bay. They are still a very strong team that actually won at Lipscomb earlier this season. Lipscomb has wins at TCU and SMU under their belt. Their only loss was that home game to Belmont that was previously mentioned, so they will be looking for a bit of revenge tonight. This is always a fun game to watch. It’s definitely worth tuning in to.
-MICHIGAN AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten). Michigan has been destroying the planet this year, and that could very easily continue tonight against a decent but not great Northwestern team.
-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT MEMPHIS. We were big on South Dakota State coming into this season, and have been pretty hard on them after they dropped the two games in Florida, but other than the one bad week they’ve looked pretty good. If they play up to their capabilities, this game is not out of reach.
-NEW MEXICO AT NEW MEXICO STATE. Can New Mexico complete the sweep and improve to a rather impressive 7-1 on the year? New Mexico’s only loss was to New Mexico State and they’ve won two true road games, so I wouldn’t completely count them out.
-FLORIDA VS WEST VIRGINIA (Jimmy V Classic). Both teams had expectations coming into the year, and as of now neither has really played up to them. This game kind of has a sense of urgency to it because both teams really need a win of note on their resume.
BUY GAMES
-New Hampshire @ Seton Hall
-Northeastern @ Syracuse
-Saint Peter’s @ Clemson
-Winthrop @ Davidson
-Detroit @ Dayton
-Fordham @ Maine – you may not realize this, but a win will get Fordham to 7-1
-UNC Asheville @ Auburn
-McNeese @ Mississippi State
-Lamar @ Houston
-Georgia State @ Alabama
-UT Arlington at Missouri
-UTEP @ Marquette
-South Dakota @ Colorado