NEWS AND NOTES
-For Jon Teitel’s All Conference Players of 2019 – CLICK HERE for Part 1, and CLICK HERE for Part 2
-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day between Georgia State and Appalachian State – CLICK HERE
-San Diego State and Wichita State both picked up conference wins yesterday, but in both cases it was a little closer than expected. Both teams were facing unspectacular opponents, and neither won by single digits.
-Utah State was run off the court by a UNLV team that still doesn’t have an overall winning record. They have won their last three games, and may be starting to finally pick up some momentum, but it was a rather shockingly bad loss for a Utah State team that, when you look at them, has only won three games against teams with winning records, and one of those was against Montana State. Barely.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-STEPHEN F AUSTIN AT SELA (Southland). If SFA runs the table in the Southland, which they are clearly good enough to do, they should be in the NCAA Tournament whether they win the conference tournament or not.
-MINNESOTA AT PURDUE (Big Ten). Both teams have shown signs of being good this year, but both have also had their share of pitfalls and still have work to do. I think both are capable of being better than what they’e shown us so far. It’s early, but this game does have somewhat of a pivotal feel to it.
-SAINT LOUIS AT DUQUESNE (Atlantic Ten). Duquesne’s pastry cart of a schedule is starting to catch up to them. After a 10-0 start to the season, they’ve dropped two straight to teams that, quite frankly, aren’t very good. If they want any chance at all, they need a strong showing in the Atlantic Ten, and that means winning games like this. SLU also has a bloated record at 11-2, but they’re somewhat lacking in the area of quality wins, so a road win like this would certainly help them out.
-SAINT JOSEPH’S AT RICHMOND (Atlantic Ten). Richmond is looking to bounce back from two straight losses. A loss tonight would be rather catastrophic.
-FORDHAM AT VCU (Atlantic Ten). VCU needs to keep stringing together wins now that they’re in conference play, and shouldn’t have too much trouble doing that tonight.
-RHODE ISLAND AT BROWN. An interesting crosstown OOC game for Rhody before they begin conference play. A win, which should happen, gets them to 9-3 on the season and 2-2 in true road games.
-WILLIAM & MARY AT HOFSTRA (Colonial). Hofstra is one of the better teams in the CAA and is 7-1 in their last eight games. I can see that streak continuing for quite some time.
-ILLINOIS AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten). Illinois has shown signs of life at times, and signs of being catatonic at others. To a degree, I guess the same could be said for Michigan State, although Michigan State is being held to protected seed standards whereas Illinois is being held to just regular standards. The Spartans should get this one at home, but one never seems to know with these two.
-DAYTON AT LA SALLE (Atlantic Ten). This is a winnable road game for a Dayton team that is good enough to run the table in the Atlantic Ten and end up having an argument for a protected seed. Having said that, La Salle is 9-3 and having a much better year than many expected them to have.
-OREGON STATE AT UTAH (Pac 12). Both teams have good records, and Utah has a really solid win against Kentucky, but both have also dropped games that NCAA Tournament caliber teams just shouldn’t be losing. It’s the conference opener, and I think both teams could potentially be dark horses in the Pac 12, so I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on this one.
-OREGON AT COLORADO (Pac 12). These are two of the better teams in the Pac 12. Oregon is good enough to contend for a #1 seed, and Colorado is good enough to likely land in the top half of the bracket. This will be a really tough road test for the Ducks, and a chance at a resume building win for both teams.
-GONZAGA AT PORTLAND (West Coast). Gonzaga should cruise through this game, and through most of the rest of their schedule.
-UCLA AT WASHINGTON (Pac 12). This isn’t a buy game, but it could end up looking like one considering how poorly UCLA has been playing, and how well Washington has been playing.
-USC AT WASHINGTON STATE (Pac 12). I think USC has a really good chance at making the NCAA Tournament, and if that’s true then this is the kind of road game that they are expected to be able to win. Wazzu isn’t good, but at 9-4 they’re better than what we’re used to seeing them at, so it won’t be a complete cakewalk.
-CALIFORNIA AT STANFORD (Pac 12). Stanford was run off the court by Kansas in their last game, but the chance to beat their rival at home (who is nowhere near as good as they are on the court) is a good way to wash that taste out of their mouths.
-SAINT MARY’S AT SAN FRANCISCO (West Coast). It’s an exciting night of hoops in the Bay Area with two sets of rivals going at it! SMC is clearly the superior team, but it’s never easy to win on the road. This will at least look decent on their resume given that it’s a conference game and a road game, and that San Francisco is rather respectable at 11-4 overall.