UPDATE (12:45 PM, EST) – Baylor-Gonzaga has been postponed after a couple of positive COVID-19 tests with the Gonzaga travel party.
NEWS AND NOTES
-The craziest game (or at least finish) of the day was between Marquette and Wisconsin. It was close all throughout, there were several lead changes in the final minute, and Marquette picked up the win after missing what would have been a game winning freethrow, but getting the tip-in on the rebound. Marquette improves to 3-1 and (for now) owns claim to the highest ranked win! Wisconsin was ranked 4th and no one ranked ahead of them has been beaten! That will change today when Baylor and Gonzaga play each other, but at least they get to hold claim to it for a little while!
-Oregon bounced back after a sluggish first game to get a nice win over a Seton Hall team, that’s off to kind of a sluggish start themselves. The Hall has now fallen to 1-3.
-South Dakota State picked up a really nice road win at Bradley. They’ve got a lot of work to do if they want to end up inside the bubble, but if they dominate their conference like should and can pick up a couple more notable wins they should be in the discussion.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-BAYLOR VS GONZAGA (Indianapolis, IN). Not only are these the top two ranked teams, both have already beaten highly ranked teams! Both are proven in addition to being ranked high! It wouldn’t shock me at all if both of these teams ended up on the #1 line. It’s a hugely exciting early season game between two teams that have a lot of weapons. It will be really fun watching them go at each other.
-FURMAN AT CHARLESTON. Furman really hasn’t been tested yet, and perhaps won’t be today either, but this is still probably their toughest game of the season so far, and it’s a chance for them to pick up a road win and improve to 4-0.
-EASTERN WASHINGTON AT ARIZONA. Eastern Washington did not look good in their first game, but they’re still probably the Big Sky frontrunner and are potentially dangerous if Arizona overlooks them.
-SMU AT DAYTON. I’m looking forward to this one. Both teams are unbeaten and I feel that both are potential/likely tournament teams, so this is a big early season game for both of them.
-WASHINGTON STATE AT COLORADO (Pac 12). Both teams are unbeaten, and up until now Wazzu has actually looked a lot better than expected. If they can pick this one up on the road then they will really have our attention.
-NEW MEXICO STATE AT SANTA CLARA. This is the first div1 opponent for New Mexico State, and it won’t be easy. Santa Clara is 4-0 and I still think they can be a bit of a dark horse in the WCC this year.
-SOUTH CAROLINA AT HOUSTON. South Carolina hasn’t gotten off to the best start, but I still think they have a ton of potential. That being said, this is one of the better teams they will face all season. Houston is ranked 10th in the country, and I think they’ll finish the season ranked in the top ten.
-BYU AT UTAH STATE. Bee Hive!!!! BYU did have a somewhat surprising blowout loss to USC, but that’s their only loss of the season and they still look like a really strong team. Utah State is just 1-2, but a win in a rivalry game like this could really energize things for them.
-UIC AT BALL STATE. A win for UIC gets them to 4-0 as well as gives them their second road win.
-NORTHERN KENTUCKY AT CHATTANOOGA. Both teams 2-0
-GEORGIA SOUTHERN AT USC UPSTATE. Georgia Southern can improve to 3-0.
-RICE AT HOUSTON BAPTIST. Rice can improve to 4-0 and pick up their second road win.
BUY GAMES (and games that might as well be)
-Columbia International (nondiv1) @ Mercer
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ VCU
-Radford @ East Carolina
-North Dakota State @ Kansas
-Fairleigh Dickinson @ Providence
-Chicago State @ Northwestern
-Lipscomb @ Arkansas
-Samford @ Belmont – Belmont is unbeaten
-Northern Illinois @ Pittsburgh
-Rider @ Syracuse
-Oakland @ Oklahoma State
-Arkansas Pine Bluff @ Saint Louis