NEWS AND NOTES:
-There is one team in the Atlantic Ten that looks like they belong solidly inside the bubble, and that team is Davidson! They picked up a HUGE win at Alabama last night, which completely makes their resume at the moment. The Wildcats are now 9-2 on the year with a win against what looks to be a protected seed caliber team away from home. At least…we think. Since the big win against Houston, Alabama has looked sluggish at best. They were beaten handily by Memphis, had to sweat out Jacksonville State in a buy game, and lost last night to Davidson.
-Xavier controlled the first half at Villanova, but then Nova completely dominated the second half for a 71-58 win. The game was pretty close in the final minutes, but Nova opened it up and got the win. Perhaps they’re coming out of what has been a bit of a sluggish period for them.
-Samford got a big win at Ole Miss. They basically controlled the entire second half and had what appeared to be a safe lead down the stretch, but Ole Miss fought back, got back into it, and actually appeared to have hit a game winning shot at the buzzer, but after further review (MUCH review actually…throughout the entire game) it showed that the shot was not in time and that Samford got the win. The Bulldogs are now 10-2 on the season with a nice road win on top of that.
-Utah got a nice win against Fresno State 55-50. We kind of had our eyes on Fresno State, and we still do, but a glaring issue with them is that they are 0-3 in true road games.
-NC State lost a home buy game to Wright State 84-70 and is now just 7-5 on the year. I believe we are done with NC State for the time being.
-UConn picked up their first true road win of the year, and it was a big one as they knocked off Marquette 78-70 to even their Big East record out at 1-1.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-SOUTHERN ILLINOIS AT SAN FRANCISCO. Southern Illinois has been a bit of a disappointment this year, but they are in a stretch where they’ve won five out of their last six. San Francisco has had a fantastic year at 11-1, and their last two games have been battles with a one point loss to Grand Canyon, and a one point win on the road at Arizona State.
-WYOMING VS STANFORD (Diamond Head Classic). Wyoming has just one loss on the season, but needs to add some meat to their resume and the Diamond Head is a chance to do that. Stanford has been playing better, but still has a ton of work to do, and a good showing in this tournament could really help them out.
-MURRAY STATE AT AUBURN. Murray comes in with an impressive 10-1 record and they have a nice win at Memphis. You have to start thinking of them as a possible tournament team, and if they’re able to win tonight at Auburn they’ll be even further inside the bubble.
-WESTERN KENTUCKY AT KENTUCKY. With the Louisville v Kentucky game being cancelled (for now) this was a late addition. WKU beat Louisville in their last game, but this one is on the road and will be a much bigger challenge. The other cool thing about this game is that all the proceeds from it are being donated to the victims of the recent tornadoes that clobbered the state of Kentucky.
-ARIZONA AT TENNESSEE. Tennessee is unbeaten at home and is having a fantastic year. Arizona is unbeaten overall and has played their way up to the #6 ranking. It’s a big showcase game between two teams that have a good chance at ending up as protected seeds, so this would be a high caliber win for either of their resumes.
-MIDDLE TENNESSEE AT CHATTANOOGA. It is unlikely that either team will land inside the bubble, but this is still a pretty good UTR match-up.
-CLEMSON AT VIRGINIA. Right now it looks as though both teams are on the outside looking in and both have work to do.
-HOFSTRA AT MONMOUTH. Monmouth is off to a 10-2 start and has a few decent wins. They will have to blow through the rest of their schedule to land inside the bubble, but they are good enough to do it. They better not overlook this Hofstra team, though, who recently picked up a big win against Arkansas and that’s won six of their last seven.
-BOISE STATE AT WASHINGTON STATE. Both teams have a path to landing inside the bubble, but both have a lot of work to do. Therefore, both could really use this one tonight.
-VIRGINIA TECH AT DUKE (ACC). VA Tech has a few good things on their resume, but nothing that’s in the same universe as what winning at Duke would be like.
-ILLINOIS VS MISSOURI. Braggin’ Rights Game!! This is usually a really fun game. This year it appears to be a bit of a mismatch, though. Illinois looks like a solid tournament team, and so far Mizzou hasn’t even looked like they belong in the NIT.
-DIXIE STATE AT SOUTHERN UTAH (Beehive). We at Hoops HD love the Beehive!!!
-BYU VS SOUTH FLORIDA (Diamond Head Classic). BYU shouldn’t have too much trouble in this one. But, it’s one they have to win to get the better match-ups on the winner’s side of the bracket.
-MISSOURI STATE AT SAINT MARY’S. SMC has shown every sign of being a solid tournament caliber team. After a sluggish start, Missouri State has won their last four, but could really make a statement if they were able to get this one.
BUY GAMES (or games that might as well be):
-Johnson & Wales (nonD1) @ Davidson
-TAMUCC @ Notre Dame – TAMUCC is looking like the top team in the Southland right now
-Alabama State @ Texas
-Eastern Washington @ Texas Tech
-Stony Brook @ Florida
-Army @ South Carolina
-Bucknell @ Richmond
-Green Bay @ Minnesota
-Chicago State @ Drake
-Youngstown State @ West Virginia – Youngstown State is a respectable 7-3 with 3 road wins
-Northern Kentucky @ Indiana
-Prairie View A&M @ Wichita State
-North Alabama @ UCF
-Mississippi Valley State @ UAB
-Texas State @ Houston – Texas State is an impressive 9-2
-Lipscomb @ LSU
-Alcorn State @ Oklahoma
-UC San Diego @ San Diego State