NEWS AND NOTES
-There are two fewer unbeaten teams today. Buffalo fell at Marquette, and Furman went down at LSU. Both play in UTR conferences, and both still have paths to landing inside the bubble if they can hold serve the rest of the year. The thing is that won’t be so easy. While both teams are good, they’re probably not as good as people think (well, maybe Buffalo is), and on top of that the rest of the teams in their conferences are in fact BETTER than what most people think. We shall see how things play out.
-One of those teams is Kent State, who improved to 9-2 on the year last night after their win at Oregon State. It was the first home loss on the season for the Beavers.
-We also have one fewer winless team!! La Salle picked up their first win of the season against Alabama A&M!! Chad Sherwood was there in person to cover the action!!
-Providence picked up what is probably their biggest win of the year so far with a huge road win at Texas. Suddenly, the Friars are 10-3 with two true road wins, one of which is at Texas. Their tourney resume just got a HUGE bump.
-Oklahoma won an overtime thriller at Northwestern to improve to 11-1 on the year. This was also arguably the biggest win of the year so far for the Sooners. As for Northwestern, it is the third soul crushing loss they’ve suffered at home this season.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-WAKE FOREST AT TENNESSEE. Wake is a modest 6-3 on the year, and is probably doing better than what we expected, but they’re not doing so well that they’ll be able to knock off a team that’s looked like a #1 seed on the road.
-GEORGIA AT GEORGIA TECH. It’s a rivalry game, but other than that this one means very little. Should be fun, though!
-UCONN AT VILLANOVA. UConn has been much better than expected this year, and they have yet another chance to pick up a huge caliber win that would indicate that they’re not just good enough to be a tournament team, but good enough to land in the top half of the bracket.
-SAVANNAH STATE AT IOWA. THE TEAM OF THE PEOPLE!! YOUR TEAM!!! They travel to Iowa to continue to prepare for conference play and generate a little more revenue!
-TEMPLE AT DREXEL (Sort of Big Five/City Six). Temple has a pretty good resume at 9-2 and can pick up their third true road win today in a very winnable game against Drexel. (Chad’s Note: This would be true except this is a neutral court game being played at the Palestra. Once again, #StupidPuppet)
-CLEMSON AT SOUTH CAROLINA. Clemson has been disappointing so far this year. This is their first true road game and although South Carolina isn’t all that strong either, it’s still important for Clemson to pick up the road win, beat their rivals, and truthfully avoid a loss to what’s likely a sub-NIT caliber team.
-TEXAS STATE AT ARKANSAS. This is a buy game, but Texas State comes into this with a 10-1 record. They haven’t been tested at all like they will be today against a pretty good Arkansas team, though, so it will be interesting to see how this one plays out.
-SAINT LOUIS VS FLORIDA STATE (game in Sunrise, FL). SLU has shown some signs of life this year, but I wouldn’t say they’ve shown us full blown life. If they are able to knock off Florida State today then it would be one of those pivotal wins that changes the entire complexion of their resume and quite possibly their season.
-UCLA VS OHIO STATE (CBS Sports Classic). UCLA has looked terrible in their last few games, and they may get blown off the floor if they play like that today against an Ohio State team that hasn’t always been perfect, but has just one loss on the year.
-INDIANA STATE VS COLORADO (Diamond Head Classic). Colorado is a very quiet 8-1 on the year, and if they could win this tournament they’d be one of the few bright spots in the Pac Twelve that has been rather lousy overall. They face a pretty good Indiana State team today that they should beat, but that they won’t beat if they overlook them.
-UNC GREENSBORO AT SAMFORD (SoCon). This is a rather meaningful early season SoCon game between two teams that have played really well OOC and come into this with very good records.
-BOSTON COLLEGE AT DEPAUL. Not much has been discussed about either team, and perhaps there is a good reason for that, but both come into this at 8-2 and while both teams’ records are bloated, their SOS is not, so we’ll see what they can do against each other.
-WICHITA STATE AT VCU. This is normally an entertaining match-up, but this year’s edition is a little weak. VCU has some big wins on their resume, but they haven’t always held serve in the games that they should be expected to win. That would include games like the one they’re playing today. Wichita State probably won’t land anywhere near the bubble, but considering how much of a rebuilding it is for them they’re not doing bad at 7-4 overall.
-PENN AT NEW MEXICO. We discussed the other night on our UTR Podcast that we think Penn has a path to landing inside the bubble. That path would include pretty much coming close to running the table the rest of the year, and taking care of business in games like this.
-MURRAY STATE AT AUBURN. Auburn is coming off a loss to NC State, and while they have a test that isn’t quite as tough today, I won’t go so far as to say that this game is easy. Murray State has just one loss on the year, and they’ve blown some pretty good teams off the court, so the Tigers better not overlook them.
-STANFORD AT SAN FRANCISCO. San Francsico has just one loss on the season, and as unusual as this build up may be, they are clearly the better team in this one and they’re at home, so it’s a game they should be expected to win.
-KENTUCKY VS NORTH CAROLINA (CBS Sports Classic). Kentucky has no good wins on their resume. Their best win to date is probably a home win against UNC Greensboro. They need a win in a game like this to jumpstart their season and stabilize their resume, and while this is by no means their last opportunity, there is a somewhat growing sense of urgency for the Wildcats. North Carolina is coming off a huge win against Gonzaga and is looking to add another big win to their resume today.
-SETON HALL AT MARYLAND. Both teams are off to very good starts, and both are likely tournament teams, which makes this a resume building opportunity.
-VANDERBILT VS KANSAS STATE (Game in Kansas City). What Vanderbilt has done this season with the injuries they’ve had to face is very impressive. If they’re able to pick up this win then we’d have to start thinking of them as an NCAA Tournament team. K State is strong, but up to this point they’ve done very little and could use a nice win away from home (although this isn’t very far away from home) to help sustain their resume.
-NEW MEXICO STATE VS DRAKE (Las Vegas Classic). Both teams have impressive records with just two losses, and New Mexico State has proven that they are a strong team. Doing well in this tournament should help to continue to grow their resumes.
-MONTANA AT SOUTH DAKOTA STATE. Montana has been a little disappointing so far, but they are still one of the stronger teams in the Big Sky and could make quite a bit of noise once conference play starts. South Dakota State has been fantastic this year when they have not played in the state of Florida, and when you look at their remaining schedule they are definitely good enough to win out. If they do, which they should, it will be interesting to see what the committee does with them.
-TULSA AT ORAL ROBERTS. Tulsa is 9-3 on the year and has wins against Kansas State and Dayton on their resume, but they’re still not getting a lot of attention. A win today would be their first true road win of the year, which adds even more stability to their resume.
-ILLINOIS VS MISSOURI (Braggin’ Rights Game). This is perhaps the least interesting Braggin’ Rights Game we’ve seen in quite some time. Mizzou just blew out Xavier at home, though, so it could be that they’re getting things turned around.
-KANSAS AT ARIZONA STATE. Arizona State has looked pretty strong this year, but they’re coming off a rather decisive loss to a so-so Vanderbilt team that was rather surprising. They should be really fired up for this game, and it is the first true road game for the Jayhawks, so it wouldn’t shock me to see them play really well and even win it. It’s a good game for Kansas, because it won’t be the first time they play in a road game where it is perhaps the biggest home game of the year for their opponents.
-SAN DIEGO VS WASHINGTON STATE (Las Vegas Classic). Washington State has a fairly decent 7-3 record, but for the most part has still been very unimpressive. San Diego comes in at 9-3 and this is a winnable game for them, which would set them up against the winner of New Mexico State v Drake.
-CHARLOTTE VS TCU (Diamond Head Classic). TCU has just one loss on the year and has been playing a lot better recently. They shouldn’t have too much trouble picking up this win and landing on the winner’s side of the bracket.
-Grambling @ Wisconsin
-South Carolina Upstate @ NC State
-Little Rock @ Georgetown
-Jacksonville State @ West Virginia – WVU better not trip up and lose this one
-Central Pennsylvania (nondiv1) @ Davidson
-William & Mary @ Virginia
-Cal State Fullerton @ Nebraska
-Morgan State @ Old Dominion
-South Carolina State @ Cincinnati
-Eastern Kentucky @ Duquesne
-Arkansas State @ Syracuse
-Air Force @ Michigan
-FGCU @ Florida
-LMU @ UC Riverside – this would be LMU’s 4th true road win and get them to 12-1 overall
-TAMUCC @ Louisiana Tech
-Jacksonville @ Indiana
-Akron at Nevada – We like this Akron team, but they’re overmatched tonight
-Wright State @ Mississippi State
-UC Davis @ Arizona
-UT Martin @ Fresno State
-Cornell @ SMU
-Sacred Heart @ Saint John’s