NEWS AND NOTES
-For the UTR Game of the Day between UMBC and Saint Francis U – CLICK HERE
-The biggest news of the day happened early on with the San Francisco Dons knocking off #4 Virginia in the Homelight Classic. In about a 48 hour period USF lost their opener to UMass Lowell, rebounded with a hard fought win against Towson, and then closed things off with a win against a top four team. Talk about a drastic turnaround!! They also own the biggest win of the year in the WCC so far at least as far as the rankings are concerned. Gonzaga did knock off Kansas, but Virginia was ranked ahead of Kansas!
-Pepperdine looked like they were going to knock off UCLA, but the game ended up going into three overtimes before the Bruins finally put away the Wave. I believe this would have collectively made the WCC 3-0 against top 25 teams had Pepperdine been able to pull it off.
-Another near upset was Ohio U who went into Illinois and took them to the wall. The lead seesawed back and forth and Ohio U actually went ahead with less than 10 seconds to go after hitting a go ahead (and what was at the time a possible game winning) shot. Illinois then went the length to score with just 2 seconds to go and managed to hold on. It goes without saying that this would have been a monster win for Ohio. This is the kind of win that gets teams like them into the NCAA Tournament without needing to win the conference tournament. But still, the future is VERY bright for the Bobcats and they are definitely worth keeping an eye on this season.
-West Virginia had to overcome a second half deficit to beat a really good Western Kentucky team in the championship game of the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic (can we shorten the name of this event, please? I mean, that’s a lot of words to put on a t-shirt, or trophy, or banner). Despite the loss, WKU did very well for themselves picking up what will likely be two big wins against Northern Iowa and Memphis. I’m sold that they are a tournament caliber team and it wouldn’t shock me to see them in the top 25 before the end of the year.
-Louisville and Seton Hall was another great game that was close all throughout. It came down to the finals seconds and Louisville was able to hold on for a 71-70 win.
-Saint Mary’s had no trouble with South Dakota State. This was the complete opposite of what I was expecting. It’s a really nice OOC win for the Gaels, and a bit of a setback for a South Dakota State team that we thought was a tournament caliber team, but that needed OOC wins to back that up and to avoid needing to win the conference tournament in order to get there.
-VCU is another team that has greatly exceeded expectations so far. They played very well out in the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic and picked up another nice win yesterday against Memphis. Their only loss was to West Virginia, so they are off to a pretty solid start.
-Xavier sweated out another win against a UTR team that came down to the final seconds. They seesawed back and forth with Toledo, but held on for a 76-73 win to remain undefeated.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-UMASS LOWELL VS ILLINOIS STATE (Columbus, OH). With UMass Lowell being 1-0 with a win over San Francisco, who just knocked off Virginia, we will put the spotlight on them! We will keep it on them as long as they keep winning! I don’t know how long that will be, but for now the spotlight is theirs!
-LSU AT SAINT LOUIS. I’m really looking forward to this one as we think both are likely NCAA Tournament teams, and it’s the first real test for either of them this season. OOC wins will likely to be harder to come by this year than in most years so it’s a good opportunity for both teams.
-DREXEL AT PITTSBURGH. It’s the season opener for a Drexel team that we think can win the Colonial, and it looks to be a winnable road game against a Pitt team that lost their opener against Saint Francis U.
-SOUTH CAROLINA VS LIBERTY (Hall of Fame Classic). This is the season opener for South Carolina, who I think can be a darkhorse this year, and they take on a Liberty team that’s off to a decent 1-1 start with a win against Mississippi State and a loss to Purdue.
-RHODE ISLAND VS SOUTH FLORIDA (Mohegan Sun). Rhody is off to an 0-2 start, but they played well in both games and I think there is more reason for optimism than concern. South Florida won their opener but faces a much bigger challenge today.
-LITTLE ROCK VS WESTERN KENTUCKY (Louisville, KY). WKU is off to a very impressive 2-1 start with the only loss being to West Virginia in the championship game of their MTE. What they might also be is tired as this is their four game in four days, and they’re traveling from two timezones away in order to play it. Little Rock was a team I was high on this year, and I still think they could have a big year, but they struggled in their first two games and lost to a good UNC Greensboro team on Friday This is another early season game against a good opponent. As for WKU, a win might land them in the top 25, or at least get them close to it.
-TULSA VS TCU (Hall of Fame Classic). Some of us at Hoops HD (not me) think TCU could be a dark horse. We should learn a little something about them today.
-VIRGINIA TECH VS VILLANOVA (Mohegan Sun). Neither team has lost yet, but Nova has played against top 25 caliber competition, whereas VA Tech has…well…not.
-NOTRE DAME AT MICHIGAN STATE. It’s the season opener for Notre Dame, and they are playing an absolute gauntlet OOC schedule. They normally go to the bakery and load up on cupcakes, but not this year! Michigan State won their opener, but may be tested a little more today.
-EASTERN WASHINGTON AT WASHINGTON STATE. Eastern Washington is the preseason favorite to win the Big Sky, and it wouldn’t shock me at all if they went on the road and beat Wazzu.
-VMI AT PENN STATE. VMI is 1-0, it is Penn State’s first game.
-ARMY VS BUFFALO (Mohegan Sun). Both teams unbeaten.
-TEXAS STATE AT TAMUCC. Both teams unbeaten
-LMU AT MINNESOTA – Both teams 1-0
-NORTH TEXAS AT ARKANSAS. Both teams 1-0
-NICHOLLS AT SANTA CLARA. Both teams 2-0
BUY GAMES
-Belmont vs Queens (nondiv1) (Paradise Jam). Bemlont can get to 3-0, but Queens have given some teams some fits so far
-North Dakota State @ Nebraska
-Coppin State @ Duke
-SC Upstate @ Furman
-Texas Southern @ Oklahoma State
-Louisiana @ Baylor
-Montana @ USC
-Utah Valley @ BYU