NEWS AND NOTES:
-HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!!! We hope you all have a good, fun, and safe holiday! For those who can’t be with their families and want to be, or can’t avoid being with their families and don’t want to be, or who simply just don’t have any other plans for today…turn on the games, jump on Twitter, and interact with us! We’ll be there!! @HoopsHD
-Oregon has not looked good at all this year. It’s not that losing to Houston is bad, but getting blown out the way that they did to fall to 3-3 is kind of bad. I do think the Ducks will kick it into gear before the end of the year, but it hasn’t happened yet.
-UConn and Auburn played a double overtime thriller down in Atlantis with UConn finally pulling away for the 115-109 win. It was just a high level, back and forth, well played game between two really good teams, and a really nice win for UConn’s resume.
-Seton Hall held on to beat a pretty bad California team in the Fort Meyers Tip-Off…but barely. They really had to sweat out the 62-59 win and avoided what would have probably been a bad loss.
-Florida and Ohio State was another exciting game in the championship side of the Fort Meyers Classic. It was a back and forth affair with the Gators winning at the buzzer 71-68
-Iowa State, who is not a team we thought would do anything this year, knocked off Xavier 82-70 yesterday and basically led from tip to buzzer. Xavier was without some key players, but it was still a surprising result for the Cyclones, and while Xavier has the win against Ohio State, it raises the question as to whether they can play to that level away from home.
-Loyola Chicago and Michigan State came down to the wire in Atlantis with Michigan State making a game winning ally oop on their last possession of the game. Loyola held a lead for much of the game, but just wasn’t holding it when time ran out. While this certainly isn’t a damaging loss for the Ramblers, it was a missed opportunity and they only get so many of those due to playing in an Under the Radar conference. Fortunately, even though they lost, they’ll have a couple more opportunities in this event including today against Auburn.
-Wisconsin knocked off Saint Mary’s to win the Maui Invitational 61-55, but both teams have really good runs in this event and are off to fantastic starts. Whatever questions there were about these two teams have been answered.
-Florida State needed overtime at home to get past Boston University. But, they avoided the near upset with an 81-80 win.
-George Mason has now lost four straight since their win at Maryland. South Dakota State, who to be fair is good, knocked them off 80-76 in the Crossover Classic yesterday. South Dakota State is now a respectable 6-2 on the year.
-There were a few good under the radar teams getting some wins yesterday with Vermont beating Appalachian State in the Gulf Coast Showcase to get to 5-2, and Murray State looking good on the year so far with a win against James Madison in the Naples Invitational to get to 5-1. Middle Tennessee is also out to an unexpected 5-1 start after dominating Mercer in the Cancun Challenge yesterday. Oakland knocked off Delaware in the Gulf Coast Showcase to continue to add wins to their resume, and Toledo is out to a 5-1 start with their win against Coastal Carolina in the Nassau Championship.
-Air Force win a Front Range thriller over Denver 66-65!! WE AT HOOPS HD LOVE THE FRONT RANGE!!!
-The night ended early this morning with two unbeaten teams going at it in the SoCal Challenge as Fresno State knocked off Santa Clara 59-52. Neither team has made an impression nationally yet, but both are worth keeping an eye one.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-UCONN VS MICHIGAN STATE (Battle 4 Atlantis). Both of these teams won in thrilling games yesterday. Michigan State knocked off Loyola Chicago with an ally oop in the final seconds, and UConn needed two overtimes to get by Auburn. Both teams have already managed some good early season wins, and both have the opportunity today build on it even more.
-DAYTON VS MIAMI FL (ESPN Events Invitational). Miami is 3-1 and while they haven’t made any big national splash yet, they’ll get the chance to pick up some notable wins in this event. Dayton is off to a terrible start at just 1-3, which includes some losses in buy games. If they were to do well in this tournament it could turn things around, but that’s easier said than done.
-NORTH TEXAS VS KANSAS (ESPN Events Invitational). North Texas is off to a respectable 2-1 start and they should be able to make some noise in CUSA this year, but this still appears to be a rather big mismatch.
-AUBURN VS LOYOLA CHICAGO (Battle 4 Atlantis). This is an important event for Loyola Chicago because they need some notable wins on their resume. They just missed a big chance yesterday, but the good news for them is that the loss didn’t deny them a chance from picking up what would be a big win today against a really good Auburn team.
-BAYLOR VS VCU (Battle 4 Atlantis). VCU picked up a big win yesterday against Syracuse. Even though it’s still early in the year, you get the sense that it was a win they really needed. Baylor continues to look awesome and could end up winning this whole event, which would certainly sustain their top ten ranking.
-ALABAMA VS IONA (ESPN Events Invitational). This is a rematch from an NCAA Tournament game a year ago. We really liked this Alabama team coming into the year, and they’ve certainly lived up to it so far. Iona is an Under the Radar team that we really like who also comes in unbeaten. While the Gaels may be overmatched today, I think they’re still good enough to pick up some really good wins in this event and help their resume.
-UAB VS NEW MEXICO (Las Vegas Invitational). Both teams come in 4-1, and UAB is an Under the Radar team that we think can land inside the bubble.
-MARYLAND VS RICHMOND (Bahamas Championship). We really like both these teams, but both are also a little slow out of the gate. Maryland has the loss to George Mason, and Richmond has missed some opportunities at notable wins at 3-2. So, you kind of get the sense that this is big for both teams because both could use a notable win.
-ARIZONA STATE VS SYRACUSE (Battle 4 Atlantis). Both teams are coming off losses, but both still have the chance to pick up some big wins in this event.
-BELMONT VS DRAKE (ESPN Events Invitational). You kind of hate that these two got paired against each other. They’re both really good Under the Radar teams, they’re both teams who we think can land inside the bubble, but in order to do that they both need big wins in this event. So, this has a really pivotal feel to it because the winning team will get on the winning side of the bracket and have better chances at big wins in their final two games.
-USC VS SAINT JOSEPH’S (Wooden Legacy). USC can get to 5-0 with a win.
-SAN FRANCISCO VS TOWSON (Las Vegas Invitational). San Francisco is off to an impressive start and can get to 7-0 with a win.
-LOUISVILLE VS MISSISSIPPI STATE (Bahamas Championship). Both teams are expected to be tournament teams. Louisville is starting off a little slow with Chris Mack being suspended and having already lost a game to Furman, but this event is a chance to get it turned around. Mississippi State is unbeaten, but this is their biggest test of the year up to this point.
-GEORGETOWN VS SAN DIEGO STATE (Wooden Legacy). We like this San Diego State team and this event is a chance for them to pick up some big wins.