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NEWS AND NOTES
-Ole Miss and Memphis played a thrilling game with Memphis managing to hold on at home to give Ole Miss their first loss. Of course, it’s worth noting that Memphis isn’t the same team now that they will be in January when Wiseman returns to the lineup, but it was still an impressive showing for an Ole Miss team on the road, and a decent win for Memphis.
-DePaul remains unbeaten after picking up a 72-67 win at Boston College. This was DePaul’s second true road win of the season, so they are off to a very good start and are not looking like the doormat of the Big East. The Blue Demons have a very winnable game at home against Central Michigan and a road game at The Barn on Friday against Minnesota.
-Penn State got a scare from Yale and needed to come from behind to beat them, but held on for the 58-56 win and is still unbeaten on the year.
-Providence lost at home to Penn. Penn also beat Alabama so they aren’t bad, but Penn has also lost to teams like Rice and Lafayette, making them perhaps the most schizophrenic team of the season so far. As for Providence, this is the second loss that really makes you scratch your head and wonder about them.
-Belmont had a chance to pick up what would have been a nice road win at Saint Louis, but they couldn’t get it done. SLU is now out to an impressive 5-1 start and may be a team that can make some noise in the Atlantic Ten.
-SMU is another team that needs to be on peoples’ radars. They picked up their second true road win of the year as they beat UNLV, and have improved to 5-0 on the season. I’m not anointing them a tournament team, but I am saying they are a team that we need to watch right now.
-Since beating Kentucky, Evansville has beaten a div2 team and lost three straight div1 games. Yesterday’s loss to George Washington may have been the worst one of all. I now think that Evansville is a sub-par team that had one unbelievable day. At the end of the season they’ll probably be somewhere below the middle of the MVC. But hey, for a few days they got to own college basketball!!
-Under The Radar, Part 1 – Texas Southern picked up a solid win at Northern Kentucky last night in double overtime. The Tigers managed to come back from a 6-point deficit in the final minute of regulation and outlasted a Norse team that had two of their starters foul out of the game in overtime. Texas Southern again reminds us why they will be a threat to win the SWAC this year.
-Under The Radar, Part 2 – Should we finally pay attention to Sacramento State? The Hornets overcame an 11-point deficit to win 77-72 at Pepperdine and move to 4-0 for only the third time since 1991 (the beginning of their D-1 era). In D-1 play so far, they also have wins against UC-Riverside and crosstown rival UC-Davis.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-TULANE VS UTAH (Myrtle Beach Invitational, 5th Place). Both teams enter this game at 4-1 and have the chance to add a neutral floor win to their resume.
-ARIZONA STATE VS VIRGINIA (Hall of Fame Tip-Off, Championship). Arizona State has won three straight since losing their opener, but none of those games were anywhere close to as big as this one would be. Virginia comes in at 5-0 and already has some decent wins on their resume.
-MISSISSIPPI STATE AT COASTAL CAROLINA (Myrtle Beach Invitational, 3rd Place). Mississippi State is off to what is seemingly a quiet 5-1 start, but looks to be an NCAA Tournament caliber team and can add a road win to their resume today. It’s part of a tournament, but it’s on Coastal Carolina’s floor. It may not be easy. Coastal blew out Utah in their first game and then took Baylor to the wall on Friday.
-MIAMI FL VS UCONN (Charleston Classic, 3rd Place). UConn lost a thriller to Xavier on Friday night, but will still be in relatively good shape if they can pick up another decent win away from home. The same holds true for Miami. Neither team was considered a slam dunk NCAA Tournament team, but both are off to decent starts and both could use a win like this on their resume.
-VMI @ UNC GREENSBORO (SoCon). VERY oddly timed SoCon game, but it is a conference game, and UNCG is one of the three teams that we think can win this league, so we are going to highlight this for that reason.
-UMASS VS SAINT JOHN’S (Hall of Fame Tip-Off, 3rd Place). UMass is off to a better than expected start, but is coming off a loss to Virginia. That’s hardly a damaging loss, though, and if they can pick up this neutral floor win against the Johnnies then they’ll be looking pretty good on paper for the month of November.
-VILLANOVA VS BAYLOR (Myrtle Beach Invitational, Championship). It’s two ranked teams who are likely first ballot NCAA Tournament teams with a chance to pick up a quality win on a neutral floor, which is a resume boosting opportunity.
-VALPARAISO VS NEVADA (Paradise Jam, Semifinal). Valpo has just one loss on the season and is coming off a nice win (at least we think) against Grand Canyon. Nevada has evened their record at 3-3 and is just trying to hang on through the rough adjustment period. Like so many exempt tournament games, it’s a chance at a notable neutral floor win for both teams.
-UTAH STATE VS NORTH TEXAS (Jamaica Classic at Montego Bay, Round-Robin). Utah State is coming off an exciting come from behind win against LSU and is still unbeaten on the season. North Texas has struggled this year and is likely overmatched in this one.
-DUQUESNE VS LMU (Junkanoo Jam, Round-Robin). Duquesne can improve to 6-0 and pick up their third win away from home. They haven’t really beaten anyone that will jump out at the committee, but they are a much improved team and worth keeping an eye on the rest of the way.
-CINCINNATI VS BOWLING GREEN (Paradise Jam, Semifinal). This could be a fun one. Cincinnati looks like a solid tournament team, and Bowling Green is one of the favorites out of the MAC that’s coming off an exciting win against Western Kentucky. This is a really good chance for them to pick up a quality win away from home against a quality team. Cincinnati needed to come from behind and hold on to beat Illinois State in their first game.
-COLORADO VS WYOMING (MGM Resorts Main Event, Semifinal) (Front Range). We at Hoops HD Love the Front Range!!!! This is a rather unique edition seeing as how the game is in Las Vegas. Colorado is unbeaten and is looking to stay that way against a Wyoming team that will likely struggle all season long.
-LIBERTY VS KANSAS CITY (Island of the Bahamas Showcase, Championship). Liberty will likely win this event. That’s the good news. The bad news is that they probably won’t beat anyone along the way that will impress the committee.
-FLORIDA VS XAVIER (Charleston Classic, Championship). It hasn’t always been impressive, but Xavier has won all of their games and has made it to the championship game as many were expecting them to do. Florida got off to a kind of slow start to the season, but they’ve won both their games in this event without too much trouble and a win against Xavier will really snap them out of it, and give them a quality neutral floor win for their resume. It’s a resume building opportunity for both teams.
-TCU VS CLEMSON (MGM Resorts Main Event, Semifinal). Neither team has any wins that really jump out at you, but TCU is unbeaten and Clemson has won four straight since losing their opener. It’s a neutral floor test for both teams.
-RIDER VS VERMONT (Hall of Fame TipOff – Naismith Bracket, Championship) – game in Uncasville, CT at the Mohegan Sun Arena. Vermont can improve to 6-1 on the year.
-SAN DIEGO AT WASHINGTON. This will probably end up looking very much like a buy game by the time it’s over.
BUY GAMES
-Long Island @ Texas Tech
-North Florida @ Creighton
-Cal Poly @ Iowa
-Akron @ Louisville – Akron has just one loss, but is likely overmatched
-Lamar @ Kentucky
-North Dakota @ Minnesota
-Long Beach State @ Arizona