HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!!! This is probably a Thanksgiving you will always remember, and the reasons for that are due to the circumstances we are dealing with and all wish were over. Regardless of what you do today I hope you’re able to enjoy part of the holiday, even if that only involves turning on college basketball and tweeting with us.
NEWS AND NOTES
-Let me start with this. My impression from yesterday is one of pleasant surprise. There were no fans, and it was different, but for the most part it felt like college basketball. I was concerned that it wouldn’t, and there may be times this year where it doesn’t, but having the games on yesterday and being on Twitter with the rest of the Hoops HD gang, and bantering back and forth throughout the day really did feel like college basketball.
In addition to that, I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of play. There were no preseason games or scrimmages, and a lot of teams had inconsistent practice schedules or had a hard time getting into their routines, but the games we saw yesterday were well played, especially for it being the first day of the year. It didn’t look like a bunch of guys on the playground playing pickup ball like I thought it might. Now, as far as a recap of the games…
-WE’VE ALREADY HAD OUR FIRST QUADRUPLER OF THE SEASON!! These are rare!! You’re lucky if you get two or three throughout an entire season. Some seasons you don’t get any. But, we’ve already had one!! Georgia State went in to Georgia Tech picked up the quadruple overtime win against their crosstown foes. This is a Georgia State team we were high on and felt like they could do quite a bit of damage in the Sun Belt, so it was good to see them pick up the win yesterday against a Georgia Tech team that, despite the loss, is improving.
-We nearly saw a huge upset with Boston College staying right with Villanova, and even having a lead late into the second half. Nova was my preseason pick to win it all, and I think we were all expecting them to be a Final Four team, whereas is…well…BC, but the Eagles showed us that they may have something this year and are definitely worth paying attention to.
-West Virginia held off a good South Dakota State team and picked up a win that they’ll probably end up getting a lot more credit for than what most people realize once the season is over.
-Arizona State had to sweat it out against a Rhode Island team that’s rebuilding right now, but held on for the win and will face Villanova later today.
-Drake is a team that we felt would be around the middle of the Missouri Valley this year. They went into Kansas State and picked up a nice early season win. We all think K State is terrible, but it’s still a nice win for a UTR team that we didn’t think would be anywhere near the top of the standings.
-Saint Francis U is a team that we thought would be around the middle of the Northeast Conference. They went into Pitt yesterday and picked up the win. I wish I could say that this is more of a case where STFU deserves credit than it is of Pitt deserving shame, but…no. Pitt deserves quite a bit of shame!!
-The biggest comeback of the year so far goes to UIC, who trailed at Northern Illinois by more than 20 in the second half, but came back to get the win.
-VCU was a team that we thought would be toward the bottom of the Atlantic Ten this year, but they looked impressive yesterday in a win against Utah State, and have the chance to really make a splash today against West Virginia.
-Memphis ran Saint Mary’s off the floor. They fell behind early, but that didn’t last long. The Tigers basically dominated the final 35 minutes of that game and face off against a really good Western Kentucky team today.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-BRADLEY AT XAVIER (Xavier Invitational). A lot of people are keeping their eyes on Bradley because they’ve won back-to-back MVC Tournaments. A win today would really get everyone’s attention. Xavier had no trouble at all with Oakland yesterday. They weren’t expected to have any trouble, but from what I saw Xavier looked really good.
-WESTERN KENTUCKY VS MEMPHIS (Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic). Both of these teams looked really impressive yesterday. Memphis didn’t even sweat Saint Mary’s, and Western Kentucky beat a really good Northern Iowa team. We knew they were both talented but our big question revolved around would they be able to harness that talent and play together throughout the season. This is a really good opportunity to add quality wins to the resume, which is especially important for WKU since they don’t see a lot of top level competition once they get into conference play.
-KANSAS VS GONZAGA (Fort Meyers, FL). Gonzaga is the preseason #1 and Kansas is ranked way up there as well. Both are Final Four candidates and it’s always fun to see an early season game like this. These are the kinds of games teams need to play in and win if they want to end up with a #1 seed.
-NEVADA AT NEBRASKA. We aren’t all that excited about either one of these teams, but both come into this game at 1-0.
-VCU VS WEST VIRGINIA (Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic). We weren’t all that excited about VCU coming into the season, but they did look really good yesterday in their win against Utah State, and can really make a splash on the national scene if they can beat a really good West Virginia team today.
-AUBURN VS SAINT JOSEPH’S (Fort Meyers Tip Off). Auburn is expected to be in rebuilding mode this year, but just like anyone else if they can prove themselves if they can string together some early season wins (which they really shouldn’t have any trouble doing today)
-NORTHERN IOWA AT SAINT MARY’S (Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic). Both teams are coming off losses and looking to rebound. I think both are capable of making the NCAA Tournament and picking up a win today would be huge. I don’t want to say this game has a pivotal feel to it because it’s still very early, but it kind of does. The winner gets a nice win on their resume, and the loser drops down to 0-2.
-BOSTON COLLEGE VS RHODE ISLAND (2K Empire Classic). BC gave Villanova all they wanted yesterday and actually had a lead late into the second half and were in a position to win the game all the way up until the end. You gotta feel pretty good about them going forward, especially if they can bounce back from that and pick up a win today.
-UTAH STATE VS SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic). I’m still really big on this South Dakota State. They opened things up with a loss yesterday to West Virginia, but that’s hardly a discouraging loss. If they can finish out this event by picking up a couple of wins they’ll be in good shape moving forward.
-PURDUE VS CLEMSON (Space Coast Challenge). Both teams are coming off wins yesterday and have the chance to pick up another decent win and jump out to a 2-0 start today.
-VILLANOVA VS ARIZONA STATE (25 Empire Classic). These are the two teams we were expecting to see, but both had to sweat out their games yesterday in order to get here. Nova trailed Boston College well into the second half, and Arizona State didn’t exactly blow out Rhody. But, they both got the wins, which is what matters, and we have yet another good top 25 matchup to look forward to tonight.
BUY GAMES
-Chicago State @ Illinois
-La Salle @ Saint John’s
-SIUE vs LSU – Biliken Classic
-New Orleans @ BYU