NEWS AND NOTES
-Texas, who just missed the NCAA Tournament a year ago, picked up a huge road win at Purdue yesterday. It’s as big for the image of the program as it is for their current resume. After missing The Dance last year they are probably feeling some pressure to produce this year.
-Earlier in the week Illinois needed overtime to get past Nicholls State. We didn’t think Nicholls would even be one of the better teams in the Southland, so it really made us question Illinois. Yesterday, Nicholls went in to Pitt, who had opened the season with a win against Florida State, and pulled out a win. Now the question is….just how good is Nicholls?
-Nebraska, who was blown out by UC Riverside in their opening game, fell to 0-2 yesterday with a loss to Southern Utah. Southern Utah was one of the worst teams in all of div1 just a few years ago, and while they are MUCH better this year, it’s still a sign that things are plummeting in Nebraska.
By the way, UC Riverside is now 2-0. They beat Idaho at home 58-51. Idaho is awful, and UC Riverside had a much easier time with Nebraska than they did with Idaho.
-Northwestern is another Big Ten team that’s off to a stinker start. They fell at home to Merrimack yesterday, who was playing just their second ever game as a D-1 team. In their first game, Merrimack lost rather handily to Maine. It looks like Northwestern basketball is back to being Northwestern basketball.
-San Diego State got a really big road win against a BYU team that we were expecting to be a tournament caliber team. I know it’s early, but a win like this really does make a statement early on about how good San Diego State may be this year.
-Oregon State, who I feel could be a dark horse in the Pac 12, got a nice win at home against a pretty good Iowa State team yesterday. The Beavers have some early season momentum, which is worth noting because building up momentum at any point in the season just isn’t something that happens to them all that often. Furthermore, the only loss for the Pac-12 so far came in the Colorado-Arizona State nonconference tilt!
-Oklahoma picked up a nice neutral floor win against Minnesota yesterday. The Sooners are looking pretty good and are out to a 2-0 start.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-BOSTON COLLEGE AT SOUTH FLORIDA. Both teams come into this 1-0. South Florida was a team that we thought could be a darkhorse this year, but the injury bug has already hit them. BC got a big win against Wake Forest in their first game and is looking to keep that momentum going.
-WYOMING AT SOUTH CAROLINA. Not expecting a whole lot out of these teams in the long run, but they both come into this one 1-0.
-FLORIDA STATE AT FLORIDA. It’s a rivalry game between two likely tournament teams. Florida State lost to Pitt in their season opener, which was somewhat of a surprise. They’ve got a really tall order today as they go on the road to face a Florida team that’s currently ranked #6th. Even if FSU gets off to an 0-2 start, I think their overall prospects for the season are good.
-MAINE AT HARVARD. Maine won their season opener against Merrimack, but has a much taller order today. This looks to be a good Harvard team, but they’re coming off a somewhat surprising loss to Northeastern and are looking to bounce back.
-VERMONT AT BUCKNELL. Vermont won their season opener at Saint Bonaventure and is looking to pick up their second road win of the season.
-SAINT JOSEPH’S AT OLD DOMINION. Joe’s isn’t expected to do much this year, but they did look fairly decent in their season opener. If they can get this one on the road then they’ll have some momentum built up.
-ILLINOIS AT ARIZONA. Illinois picked up a nice win at Grand Canyon the other night, but they’ve got a much tougher challenge tonight against a very talented Arizona team.
-TOLEDO AT MARSHALL. This is a semi-intriguing UTR game between two teams that are expected to do well in their leagues.
-OAKLAND VS SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (Sunshine Slam). Both teams have a close loss to Delaware and a double digit lead against UTSA – winner of this game gets 2nd place in the Sunshine Slam in Kissimmee, Florida.
-LITTLE ROCK AT ILLINOIS STATE. Both teams 1-0
BUY GAMES
-Niagara @ Rutgers
-Youngstown State @ Louisville – both teams 1-0
-UMES @ Liberty
-Colgate @ Clemson – may be competitive. Colgate is one of the better teams in the Patriot League
-UMass Lowell @ Ohio State
-Detroit Mercy @ NC State
-James Madison @ Virginia – both teams 1-0
-Binghamton @ Michigan State
-UC Santa Barbara @ UCLA – both teams 1-0