HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!! Here is your Holiday dose of hoops for tomorrow and the day after!!
NEWS AND NOTES
-Rutgers looked fantastic in the first half at Ohio State, but then totally fell apart in the second half. It was their first win of the season, but they’re still in good shape. It was also a nice win for Ohio State who picked up their first win against a ranked team this year.
-Xavier and Creighton gave us another Big East thriller between two ranked teams. The lead seesawed back and forth and Xavier had a chance to tie the game on their final possession, but missed a 3pt shot and suffered their first loss of the season. Creighton got another nice win for their resume as they picked up their first win against a currently ranked team.
-Providence had been looking good, and Butler had been struggling, but the Bulldogs flipped the script and picked up a bit of a surprising win against the Friars.
-Northwestern followed up their big win against Michigan State with another big win against Indiana. The Wildcats, who weren’t expected to do anything this year, are suddenly looking like a top 25 team.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES (Friday)
-WISCONSIN AT MICHIGAN STATE. Both teams are high in the rankings, both are probable protected seeds, and both are in the hunt to win the Big Ten. This game will impact all of that. Michigan State is looking to bounce back from a somewhat surprising loss to Northwestern and avoid dropping to 0-2 in B1G play.
-MARYLAND AT PURDUE (Big Ten). It is too early to definitively say this, but I get the sense that both of these teams are on the outside looking in and still have a lot of work to do. A win today would be a nice start.
-MICHIGAN AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten). Michigan is unbeaten and this is a winnable conference road game, so they should be able to stay that way.
-IOWA AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten). I’m looking forward to this one. Iowa is high in the rankings and Minnesota has an impressive 7-1 record and is coming off a nice win against Saint Louis. It will be interesting to see what Minney can do against a top five team at home.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES (Saturday)
-KENTUCKY AT LOUISVILLE. It’s one of the most bitter rivalries in all of college basketball. Kentucky has a tendency to start off the season a little slow, and it’s usually in their game against Louisville that they seem to snap out of it and begin playing like a solid top ten team. This year they’ve started off a lot slower than normal, but a big win in a rivalry game could help give their season the jumpstart it needs. Louisville hasn’t won this game very often lately and is looking to snap that losing streak. They’re also trying to improve to 6-1 on the year and add another notable win to their resume (although right now it’s not looking all that notable).
-HOUSTON AT UCF (American). Houston is unbeaten on the season and has basically been dominating their opponents. Not much was expected out of UCF, but they’ve won their last two games against Cincinnati and Florida State, so they should be coming into this one with quite a bit of confidence.
-OHIO STATE AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten). This game is much more intriguing than it looked like it was going to be a week ago. Northwestern has beaten Michigan State and Indiana in their last two games and is suddenly looking like a top 25 team. This team came out of nowhere! They just walked right out of Lake Michigan! Ohio State is coming off a nice win against Rutgers, is in the rankings, and his having a nice season of their own.
-GONZAGA VS VIRGINIA (Fort Worth, TX). Another heavyweight match-up for top ranked Gonzaga. On the court it should be fun to watch Gonzaga’s outstanding offense go up against Virginia’s pack-line defense. Virginia’s only loss was to San Francisco, but this would by far be their biggest win of the season up to this point, and perhaps their biggest win all year, if they’re able to pull it off.
-INDIANA AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten). Indiana comes in to this with a modest 5-3 record and some good wins, but they still have a lot of room to improve. Illinois is still high in the rankings, but they’ve also suffered three losses and are looking to hold serve and sustain the strength of their early season resume.
BUY GAMES (or games that might as well be, all on Saturday)
-Nicholls @ LSU
-Norfolk State @ George Mason