NEWS AND NOTES
-Arizona State had a shot at the buzzer that would have tied the game against Virginia, but missed it. The game was an absolute rock fight, but Virignia’s defense continues to suffocate basically anything that comes up against it, and they went on to win 48-45.
-Louisville held on to beat Akron 72-66. They were never in danger of losing the game, but they didn’t exactly bury them either. I know Akron ain’t bad, but Louisville is ranked #2 in the nation. They have a nice win at Miami FL and five buy game wins on top of that. Their next game against Western Kentucky in Nashville will probably be their biggest challenge of the season up to that point. There are certainly bigger ones later on.
-Florida snapped out of whatever early season funk they were win by knocking off Xavier and winning The Charleston Classic. Florida had a lead as big as 15pts in the second half, but Xavier fought back and actually had a shot in the final seconds to tie the game, but it didn’t go down and the Gators held on. I now think that the Gators just hit the snooze bar when the season started, and that’s why they looked sub-par in their first four or five gamse. They’re awake now!
-Utah State held on to win against North Texas in yet another game that was more of a challenge than you would expect, but they did get the win.
-Baylor picked up a really nice win against Villanova down in Myrtle Beach, and that is easily the biggest win of the season for the Bears up to this point. Nova is still looking for their first really big win, although they did get a pretty good one against Mississippi State.
-Colorado stayed unbeaten after beating their Front Range rivals in the Las Vegas Something-or-Other tournament. If you didn’t see this game, don’t bother to go back and watch it!
-Ron Hunter is off to a fantastic start at Tulane. They knocked off Utah yesterday to improve to 5-1 on the year, and picked up a few neutral floor wins in the process. By no means do I think Tulane has improved to the point of being a tournament caliber team, but they have improved. It will be fun to watch what Ron Hunter does with this program in the coming years.
-LSU picked up a nice neutral floor win down in Jamaica against a Rhode Island team that had been playing pretty well.
-Saint John’s got by a UMass team that had done a little better than expected out of the gate to improve to 5-2.
-Duquesne blew out LMU in the finals of the Junkanoo Jam to remain unbeaten on the year.
-Bowling Green picked up their second really nice win in 24hrs after coming from behind to beat Cincinnati down in the Paradise Jam. BGSU is now 5-1 on the season with neutral floor wins against Western Kentucky and Cincinnati. This is a really fun team to watch and we will certainly have our eyes on them moving forward.
-Clemson needed overtime, but got by TCU, which was the first loss for the Horned Frogs and Clemson’s fifth straight win since they lost their season opener.
-UConn blasted past Miami FL to finish with two wins down in the Charleston Classic. Their only loss was the double overtime thriller to Xavier, so UConn is certainly looking much improved this season.
-Vermont fell at home to Rider. This is right after we were singing their praises and saying that we thought they were an at-large caliber team. They are still very good, and nothing against Rider, but this was a rather inexplicable loss.
-Last, and probably least, Evansville snapped a three game losing streak with a triple overtime win, against Morgan State, in the 7th place game of the Island of the Bahamas Showcase. They haven’t exactly been lighting the world on fire since their big win at Kentucky. I’m now ready to simply call that win a fluke.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-COLORADO STATE VS NEW MEXICO STATE (Cayman Islands Classic). I still think that at the end of the season New Mexico State will be a top 25 caliber team. The problem is that they’ve been so beat up with injuries that they’re out to just a 2-3 start against so-so competition, so one of the games that they need to win is that last conference tournament game because without it they won’t make The Dance. They have a chance to even up their record today and pick up some wins away from home in this event.
-GRAND CANYON VS ILLINOIS STATE (Paradise Jam). A matchup between two teams that have really underachieved so far this season. At least one of them will walk out of here with a semi-decent win away from home.
-GEORGIA VS DAYTON (Maui Invitational). Both teams come in unbeaten, but up to this point Dayton hasn’t won anything but home buy games. Georgia at least has a nice win against Georgia Tech under their belts. It’s a chance at a notable neutral floor win and a chance to move on and likely play better competition in the next two rounds, which means more opportunities.
-FORDHAM VS WESTERN KENTUCKY (Paradise Jam). Both teams have just one loss. This is a very talented WKU team, but that has a rather small margin for error so they’re going to want to pick this one up and add another neutral floor win to their resume. Fordham may rescind back into being Fordham, but at least for now they are 4-1 and if they were somehow able to win this game then they’d have more early season momentum built up than they have in quite some time.
-VIRGINIA TECH VS MICHIGAN STATE (Maui Invitational). VA Tech comes in with a somewhat impressive 5-0 record. They haven’t played top level competition, but we were expecting them to be in such a rebuilding mode that the 5-0 start still looks pretty good. Michigan State has won three straight since losing their opener to Kentucky and can pick up some really nice wins in this event.
-GEORGE MASON VS OLD DOMINION (Cayman Islands Classic). George Mason is out to a 5-1 start and if they can do well in this event then they will continue to build on what is a pretty good early season resume. They may be at team to keep an eye on throughout the season.
-CINCINNATI VS VALPARAISO (Paradise Jam). Cincinnati lost to Bowling Green the other night and is just trying to pick up another win in this event. Valpo has played pretty well this season, so it may not be a cakewalk.
-PITTSBURGH VS KANSAS STATE (Fort Myers Classic). K State is off to a 4-0 start, but this will probably be their biggest test of the season so far. Having said that, Pitt, while better this year, hasn’t exactly been setting the world on fire. If K State is a tournament caliber team then this is the kind of game that they need to be able to win.
-KENT STATE AT OHIO STATE. It’s a buy game, but Kent State is unbeaten and one of the better teams in the MAC. This is a huge opportunity for them to pick up a quality win, but it’s far easier said than done. Ohio State is ranked in the top ten, and they’ve certainly earned it based on some of the games they’ve won.
-BUTLER VS MISSOURI (Hall of Fame Classic). The game is in Kansas City, and features two teams that are out to pretty good starts. Mizzou’s only loss was a close one at Xavier, and it was close despite the fact that they really didn’t play well. Butler has dealt with injuries, but has still won all of their games and appears to be better than expected this year. This should be a really fun match-up.
-WISCONSIN VS RICHMOND (Legends Classic). Richmond is 4-0, and I do think the Spiders have a decent team this year, but this is far and away their toughest test of the season so far. Wisconsin has won four straight since losing their season opener in overtime and can build on their resume during this event.
-ARKANSAS AT GEORGIA TECH. Arkansas is unbeaten and can pick up a pretty nice road win today against a Georgia Tech team that has played well at times.
-WASHINGTON STATE VS NEBRASKA (Cayman Islands Classic). This game is only highlighted because of the Stallings Award implications that it has. That is the award that Hoops HD gives out each year to the worst non-UTR team!
-LA SALLE VS MURRAY STATE (Gulf Coast Showcase). If Murray State wants any chance at all of landing inside the bubble then they are going to need to continue to rack up wins.
-NEVADA VS BOWLING GREEN (Paradise Jam). Bowling Green has already picked up two pretty decent wins against Western Kentucky and Cincinnati. If they can get a third then their resume is suddenly looking very good, at least for the month of November. More importantly, they are creating a path for themselves to land inside the bubble if they can continue to make noise throughout the season.
-BRADLEY VS NORTHWESTERN (Fort Meyers Tip-Off). Bradley is 4-1 and has a winnable game today against Northwestern.
-KANSAS VS CHAMINADE (nondiv1) (Maui Invitational). Kansas has a chance to pick up some really good wins in this event. After today.
-AUBURN VS NEW MEXICO (Legends Classic). Auburn comes in unbeaten, but this game will hardly be a cakewalk. New Mexico has just one loss, and it was a close one at UTEP. New Mexico has been kind of dormant for the past several season, but if they can get a win in a game like this then their fanbase and program will be re-energized.
-STANFORD VS OKLAHOMA (Hall of Fame Classic). Both teams come into this game without a loss, and while both have looked good there are still question marks about both of them. Still, it’s a good early season match-up between two teams that have played well up to this point.
-BYU VS UCLA (Maui Invitational). As we discussed on a previous Hoops HD Report, this is a really big game because the winner gets a quality win on a neutral floor and gets to go on to most likely play Kansas. The loser gets Chaminade in the loser’s bracket and really only ends up with one chance at a decent win before the end of the event.
BUY GAMES
-Chattanooga @ Tennessee
-Alabama State @ VCU
-Chicago State @ Florida State
-SELA @ Vanderbilt
-Louisiana Tech @ Indiana
-Tennessee State @ San Diego State