News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Monday, Nov 22

NEWS AND NOTES:

-For Jon Teitel’s coverage of the Roman Main Event – CLICK HERE

-I say this multiple times every November, but it is definitely true.  NOVEMBER IS THE BUSIEST MONTH OF THE SEASON!!  It’s not even close.  March is the most climactic month of the season, but November is the busiest.  If you really love college hoops, you can gorge on it in November.  That’s why sometimes it takes a little longer to get the daily write-up posted.

-Arizona isn’t in the rankings, but they are about to be.  They are off to about as good of a start as any team could be off to, and last night they blew it open against Michigan for an 80-62 win.  If you weren’t a believer in the Wildcats, then you probably should be now.

-Villanova lost their second close game to a top six team as they fell to Purdue 80-74.  This is a game where Nova actually had a lead for a lot of it, but Purdue kept it close, and got control of it at the end.  This was a really well played game by both teams, and while Nova has two early season losses, losing at UCLA in overtime and to Purdue in a close game hardly even constitutes a setback.  They can still have a monster year, and they’ve got ample opportunities at big wins.  As for Purdue, they had a great weekend!  They beat two ranked teams away from home!

-Tennessee got an impressive 89-72 win over North Carolina in the third place game of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off.  The fact that it was a third place game means nothing.  All the committee will treat it as is a neutral floor game between two (presumably) good teams.

-Saint Bonaventure had sleepwalked through some of their early buy games, but they were wide awake yesterday.  They blew it open against Marquette 70-54 in the Charleston Classic.  This was a Marquette team that had been playing really well prior to that game.

-Utah State picked up a nice win against Oklahoma in the Myrtle Beach Invitational.  Utah State will have more chances at quality wins than what under the radar teams get later on in the season, but not as many as most power conference teams, so it’s important for their resume that they get them now.

-Furman, who won at Louisville and nearly won at Belmont, had a somewhat damaging home loss to Navy yesterday 77-66.  Or…what it??  This Navy team has now won at Virginia and at Furman, and their only losses are at Virginia Tech and at Louisville.  So…as preposterous as this may seem…Navy has an outstanding resume just a couple of weeks in!

-West Virginia knocked off Clemson in the Charleston Classic to pick up another nice neutral floor win and move head coach Bob Huggins to 4th on the all time wins list for college coaches.  WVU, once again, has a good team.

-Colorado State pretty much led Creighton tip to buzzer in their 95-81 win in the Paradise Jam.  This is a really good Colorado State team who should be cracking the rankings soon, and who should be high in the rankings before the year is over.

-Missouri got a nice win over SMU in the Jacksonville Classic.  I don’t know yet if this is a good win for Missouri (who is noticeably better than when Kansas City ran them over) or a really bad loss  for SMU.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-VERMONT VS OAKLAND (Gulf Coast Showcase).  These are two really good UTR teams with an outside shot at landing inside the bubble.  Oakland already has a nice win against Oklahoma State and while Vermont doesn’t have the big win on their resume yet, they do have what will probably turn out to be a decent win at Northern Iowa, and their only loss was at Maryland.

-TEXAS A&M VS WISCONSIN (Maui Invitational).  TAMU is a potential dark horse this year, and if they can make some noise in this tournament they could end up being more than just a dark horse.  Wisky is a likely NCAA Tournament caliber team as well.

-BROWN VS COLORADO (Paradise Jam).  Brown could make some noise in the Ivy League this year, and has actually looked good early on.  Colorado is a likely tournament team that’s trying to add some neutral floor wins to their resume.

-BUTLER VS HOUSTON (Maui Invitational).  Butler has had some great teams in recent years.  This year they have looked a little less than great so far, but a strong showing in this tournament can completely turn that around.  Houston, once again, looks like they can be a protected seed.

-CREIGHTON VS SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (Paradise Jam).  Both teams are coming off losses, but both have the chance to pick up what should be at least a notable neutral floor win today, and get an even better chance in their third game.  The selection committee doesn’t care that it’s in the loser’s bracket.  To them it’s the same as any neutral floor game.

-OHIO STATE VS SETON HALL (For Meyer’s TipOff).  Really good early season match-up from a Seton Hall team that’s off to a good 3-0 start, and an Ohio State team that, while coming off of a loss, still has the make up of a top ten caliber team.

-ILLINOIS VS CINCINNATI (Hall of Fame Classic).  This is the first real test for Cincinnati who is off to a 3-0 start.  Illinois is high in the rankings and will likely remain there for most of the season.

-HOFSTRA AT RICHMOND.  Hofstra’s record is just 1-3, but considering that they took Arkansas to overtime and lost by just 2 at Maryland, I think Hofstra will still end up having a big year.  Richmond is coming off a tough loss to Drake and is looking to rebound from that.

-BELMONT AT LSU.  We think this Belmont team is really good, and if they can get some notable wins early on they can play their way inside the bubble.  Well, this is a chance for them to pick up a notable win early on.

-ARKANSAS VS KANSAS STATE (Hall of Fame Classic).  Arkansas is in the rankings, and Kansas State is off to a 2-0 start.  This will easily be their biggest test of the season up to this point, though.

-WYOMING AT GRAND CANYON.  We weren’t overly excited about either of these teams, but both have looked good early on, and both are coming in 3-0, so it’s a game worth keeping an eye on.

-GEORGE MASON VS WASHINGTON (Crossover Classic).  This is a much better than expected (at least by me) George Mason team that already has a big win at Maryland and who can pick up some more wins away from home in this event.

-PROVIDENCE VS NORTHWESTERN (Roman Legends Classic).  Both teams are coming into this one unbeaten and Providence already has a notable win on their resume.

-SAINT MARY’S VS NOTRE DAME (Maui Invitational).  I don’t think we are to the point of being all in on either team, but both do come into this without a loss (and perhaps without a test), and this event is their test.  It’s also an opportunity to add notable wins to their resume, so it’s worth staying up for.

BUY GAMES AND OTHER GAMES WORTH MENTIONING:

-Toledo vs Charlotte (Nassau Championship) – Two UTR teams that are off to good starts
-Kent State vs James Madison (Naples Invitational) – JMU can get to 5-0 with a win
-Akron vs Fordham (Gulf Coast Showcase) – very liberal use of the word “Showcase” but we do like this Akron team
-East Tennessee State vs Murray State (Naples Invitatioanl) – two decent UTR teams
-Cornell @ Penn State – Cornell can get to 5-0 with a win and pick up their 3rd road win
-Albany @ Kentucky
-Western Illinois @ Northern Kentucky – The Leathernecks are off to a 3-1 start with a win at Nebraska and can pick up their second road win today
-Lafayette @ Rutgers
-Nevada @ South Dakota State – SD State is a really good UTR team
-Charleston Southern @ Georgia Tech
-Virginia vs Georgia (Roman Legends Classic) – Winnable neutral floor game for UVA
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ Ohio U – I still think this Ohio U team can play their way into the bubble
-UCLA vs Bellarmine (Good Sam Empire Classic)
-Colorado State vs Northeastern (Paradise Jam) – a win for Colorado State keeps them unbeaten
-California vs Florida (Fort Meyers TipOff) – winnable neutral floor game for Florida
-Missouri vs Florida State (Jacksonville Classic) – Neither team is in the rankings, but I don’t think Florida State will be out of them for long.
-Western Michigan @ Iowa – a win for Iowa gets them to 5-0
-The Citadel @ Duke – Citadel did win big at Pitt, but this is a much taller order
-Oregon vs Chaminade (Maui Invitational)
-Winthrop @ Washington State – Wazzu can get to 5-0
-UC Riverside @ UTEP – two fairly decent UTR teams
-Morgan State @ San Francisco – The Dons can get to 6-0, but all games have been at home
-TCU vs Santa Clara (SoCal Challenge) – both teams unbeaten
-Gonzaga vs Central Michigan (Good Sam Empire Classic) – a likely huge mismatch
-Dixie State @ USC
-Pepperdine vs Fresno State (SoCal Challenge) – Fresno can get to 4-0