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NEWS AND NOTES
-Marquette had about as good of a bounce back as any team could have when they took down Creighton on the road 89-84. Marquette has now beaten two teams that were in the top ten at the time of the game, and are still both solidly in the top 20, so maybe they now deserve a little more recognition than what they’re getting.
-Last year Rutgers was good, but struggled on the road. Last night they had no trouble putting Maryland away and winning their conference opener, picking up their first road win, and remaining unbeaten on the year.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-SAINT BONAVENTURE AT AKRON. The Bonnies are a potential tournament team that are finally getting the chance to play a game. And, it won’t be easy. Akron is just 1-0 and hasn’t played much themselves, but is capable of making quite a bit of noise in the MAC and winning in their building is not the easiest thing to do.
-STANFORD AT CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE. Another somewhat unusual road game that we probably wouldn’t see in a non-pandemic world, but Stanford is trying to pick up their second road win of the year against a CSUN team that’s off to a decent 3-1 start.
-CLEMSON AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC). This isn’t a game that we thought we’d be highlighting back in November, but both teams are off to incredible start with Clemson being unbeaten and in the rankings and VA Tech coming off their only loss of the season after having beaten Villanova a few weeks back.
-MINNESOTA AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten). Minney comes in at 6-0, but hasn’t really been tested at all. Illinois still looks to be a top level team despite the two losses, which were also to top level teams.
-CHARLOTTE AT DAVIDSON. This is a rivalry game, but perhaps more importantly on paper it’s the kind of game that Davidson really can’t afford to lose. They’re 3-2 and both losses were close games to good teams, so they do have some potential this year.
-WESTERN CAROLINA AT VCU. It’s a buy game, but an interesting one. WCU is 5-1, but hasn’t played in many games as tough as this one, and VCU can’t afford a slip up here.
-LOYOLA CHICAGO AT WISCONSIN. This is perhaps a mismatch, but it’s still an interesting game a Loyola Chicago team that’s a likely frontrunner in the Missouri Valley, and a Wisconsin team that’s a clear top 25 team that could end up as a protected seed.
-GEORGIA STATE AT FLORIDA STATE (ACC). Georgia Tech followed up an 0-2 start with two big wins, so Florida State won’t want to overlook them in their conference opener.
-FURMAN AT ALABAMA. This game is far more important than what most people realize. We feel Furman is one of the better UTR teams out there and that they may be good enough to end up inside the bubble at the end of the season, but to do that they need to be able to win games like this. Alabama is also a potential tournament team who needs wins like this on their resume.
-EASTERN WASHINGTON AT SAINT MARY’S. EWU is just 1-3, but they’ve been competitive against a brutal schedule so SMC better not overlook them. The Gaels have looked good this season as well and need a win to sustain that momentum.
BUY GAMES (or games that might as well be)
-Houston Baptist @ Rice
-Appalachian State @ Tennessee
-SC State @ Liberty
-SELA @ Texas A&M
-Indiana State @ Saint Louis
-Long Beach State @ UCLA