NEWS AND NOTES:
-Apologies for the brief hiatus. We didn’t have a write up yesterday. I was in jail for something stupid, and Chad Sherwood was not able to get me out!! Maybe if I had a better lawyer, we’d have had a write up yesterday!!!
-We’ve been dogging Memphis all year for being a talented team that doesn’t play well together. Yesterday, they played unbelievably well together! They beat Alabama 92-78, and truth be told they dominated the game even more than the score indicated. I don’t know what switch was flipped, but if they can sustain that and play like that the rest of the year, look out!!
-Furman stayed with North Carolina for a half, but only a half. UNC got control in the second half and ended up with a 74-61 win.
-Monmouth now has seven true road wins, including one at Cincinnati. This is a good team, and I really hope the committee is watching. They won at Yale yesterday 69-60, which admittedly isn’t the same as winning at Gonzaga, but it’s still a lot harder than winning a home buy game, and a 7-2 road record should get anyone’s attention.
-Creighton had been looking fantastic, and Arizona State had been looking pitiful. So, naturally Arizona State got the 58-57 win on the road at Creighton. The Sun Devils have now won three straight after a rather abysmal 2-6 start. Perhaps they’ve turned the corner.
-Oregon State lost at home to UC Davis, and is now just 1-9 on the year. They have NOT turned the corner!
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-CHATTANOOGA AT BELMONT. These are two really good UTR teams that have a shot at landing inside the bubble, which makes this a hugely important game. Belmont has some notable wins already, and Chattanooga comes in with an impressive 9-1 record.
-UCF AT TEMPLE (American). UCF has a respectable 6-2 record and although they still have a lot of work to do, if they were to string together some wins they could play their way into the picture.
-MARSHALL AT OHIO U. Both teams are on the outside of the bubble right now, and chances are that’s where both will end up, but both are good and if they could rampage through the rest of their seasons they could end up on the board.
-SOUTH DAKTOA STATE AT MISSOURI STATE. These are two UTR teams that are pretty good, but that have also underachieved a little bit this year.
-MIDDLE TENNESSEE AT OLE MISS. Middle Tennessee’s schedule has not been a gauntlet, but they’re still 8-2 and much better than what many of us expected this year. Ole Miss is a modest 6-3 and needs to string together some wins to get themselves into the picture, but that happening is not out of the question.
-UC IRVINE AT USC. It’s a buy game, but UC Irvine is one of the better teams in the Big West, so they may be able to compete with this USC team. Having said that, USC is having a fantastic year and is deservedly ranked in the top ten.
-UTAH STATE AT WEBER STATE (Beehive). Weber State has a bloated record and is likely the best team in the Big Sky, but this would easily be their biggest win of the year if they’re able to pull it off. It’s not the easiest road game for Utah State, but this is the kind of game you expect tournament caliber teams to be able to win.
-NEW MEXICO STATE AT WASHINGTON STATE. New Mexico State is a very strong UTR team that could really use a win like this on their resume. Wazzu has had a nice year so far, but still has some work to do. This is one that I’m looking forward to.
BUY GAMES:
-Howard @ Georgetown
-Tennessee Wesleyan (nonD1) @ Murray State
-Nicholls @ Wisconsin
-Morehead State @ Xavier
-Northern Colorado @ Arizona
-Portland @ Oregon – Oregon better watch out in this one
-Lipscomb @ Florida State
-Alabama State @ UCLA