NEWS AND NOTES:
-In the two feature games of the day (which were actually semifinal games at the Hall of Fame Tip-Off where tomorrow’s 3rd and 1st place games will be the feature events tomorrow) Villanova blew past Tennessee in one of the more impressive showings of the season for any team, and Purdue put away North Carolina. That sets up a top six match-up between Villanova and Purdue, which if both teams end up being as good as we think they will, will end up having #1 seed implications…or at least considerations.
-In the upset of the day, Colgate actually led Syracuse for most of the game, and then ran away in the final couple of minutes for a 100-85 win on the road in the dome. Colgate shot over 41% from beyond the arc against Syracuse’s match-up zone, so it’s safe to say they didn’t struggle with it.
-Baylor blew out Stanford 86-46. They lost some key pieces from last year’s national championship team, but they seem to be quite good again this year.
-Drake and Richmond was an important game between (we think( two NCAA Tournament caliber teams. Richmond led for much of the game, but Drake kept it close and ended up with a 73-70 win. Richmond falls to 2-2, but neither loss was overly damaging and they’ll have some chances to get their resume back up. Drake improves to 3-0 on the year.
-Louisville had to sweat out winless Detroit Mercy. Now, they did get the win, and they may get things turned around as the season goes on, but right now Louisville has not looked anything like an NCAA Tournament caliber team in any of their first four games.
-Chattanooga is 4-0 after a road win at VCU. I know VCU is beat up with injuries, but this is still a good road win for a good, and still unbeaten, UTR team in Chattanooga.
-Liberty, a team we were big on and that we think can still be good, wasn’t good yesterday. They lost to Manhattan (who is a surprising 4-1) 76-60 and fall to just 1-3.
-Tulsa got a nice win out in the Sunshine Slam against a Rhode Island team that had previously been unbeaten to improve to 3-1.
-UC Irvine blew Pepperdine off the court. A win for the Eaters in and of itself isn’t the kind of thing that would jump off the page, but blowing out a team that many thought of as a dark horse in the WCC and improving to 3-1 is kind of worth taking note of.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-VILLANOVA VS PURDUE (Hall of Fame TipOff). This is the third time in this young season where we’ve seen two top ten teams square off, and one of the other times was Villanova’s game at UCLA, that they nearly won. Both these teams are really good. Both are coming in having just knocked off a top 25 team. Both will likely end up as protected seeds, and winning a game like this can make a case that they deserve a #1 seed. Even though it’s November, these games are still hugely important.
-UTAH STATE VS OKLAHOMA (Myrtle Beach Classic). Both teams are off to decent starts, and both can add some quality neutral floor wins to their resume if they’re able to do well in this event, which would ideally mean winning this game and getting on the winners’ side of the bracket.
-PRINCETON AT OREGON STATE. Highlighting this because Princeton is 3-1 with a decent win against South Carolina, and Oregon State has struggled. If Princeton can get this one, they’ll get another (potentially) big notch on their belts.
-TENNESSEE VS NORTH CAROLINA (Hall of Fame Tip-Off). This is the third place game, but that won’t mean a thing on their tournament resumes. The committee will look at this as two top 25 teams (well…if they’re still in the rankings at the end of the year) playing on a neutral floor with a chance for a quality win. Both teams lost to top ten teams yesterday (Purdue and Villanova), but those are hardly damaging losses, and this is a chance for them to bounce back in a big way.
-CLEMSON VS WEST VIRGINIA (Charleston Classic). This is the third place game, but as mentioned earlier that doesn’t mean anything. Both teams have the potential for big years, and both are looking for notable wins to establish themselves, and both have the opportunity to do that today.
-BOSTON COLLEGE VS RHODE ISLAND (Sunshine Slam). We aren’t all that high on either team, but both are off to somewhat respectable starts and can boost their resumes up some if they do well in this event.
-COLORADO STATE VS CREIGHTON (Paradise Jam). We are really big on this Colorado State team, and Creighton comes in at 4-0, so it’s a chance for both of them to pick up a really good early season win.
-SAINT BONAVENTURE VS MARQUETTE (Charleston Classic). Marquette is unbeaten with two really big wins, and should land in the rankings very soon. Saint Bonaventure has high expectations, and while they kind of sleepwalked through their first couple of games, they did have an impressive come from behind win against Clemson the other night. This will be their biggest test of the year so far given how well Marquette has been playing.
-UTAH VS TULSA (Sunshine Slam). We aren’t all that big on either team, and neither has really been all that tested, but both have good early season records, and I suppose they’ll be tested (at least to a point) tonight.
-SMU VS MISSOURI (Jacksonville Classic). We think SMU can end up having a big year, but they haven’t been all that impressive early on and really don’t want to stub their toes tonight against a Missouri team that is also struggling.
-ARIZONA VS MICHIGAN (Roman Main Event). Michigan had a nice win last night against UNLV, but will likely be tested a little bit in this one against an Arizona team who’s coming in 4-0 and who beat a pretty good Wichita State team the other night.
-WICHITA STATE VS UNLV (Roman Main Event). This is the third place game where both teams still have the chance to pick up a decent win for their resumes.
BUY GAMES AND OTHER GAMES WORTH MENTIONING:
-Green Bay vs Weber State (Jersey Mike’s Classic) – Weber State can get to 5-0
-Norfolk State @ Xavier – both teams unbeaten
-Boise State vs Ole Miss (Charleston Classic) – both are off to respectable starts and can get another win away from home today
-Navy @ Furman – really like this Furman team
-Alabama A&M @ UAB
-Morehead State @ Mississippi State
-Southern @ Nebraska
-Merrimack @ Virginia Tech
-Georgia Southern @ Wofford – two UTR teams with good early records
-UNC Greensboro at FIU – two UTR teams with good early records
-LMU @ Florida State – we think this LMU program is improving and could even be a darkhorse in the WCC, but they’re probably overmatched in this one
-Davidson vs East Carolina (Myrtle Beach Invitational) – ECU is 4-1
-Grambling @ Iowa State
-Texas Southern @ NC State
-Louisiana @ Indiana – it’s a buy game, but both teams are 3-0, and IU better not overlook the Ragin Cajun
-Northeastern vs Southern Illinois (Paradise Jam) – Southern Illinois is coming off a nice win against Colorado
-New Mexico State vs Indiana State (Myrtle Beach Invitational) – New Mexico State is coming off a lopsided loss to Utah State and can’t afford to lose this one