News, Notes, and Highlighted Games – Monday, Nov 14th

NEWS AND NOTES:

-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE

-So Colorado had quite a weekend.  They lost to Grambling on Friday, and then beat Tennessee, who from all accounts is a consensus top 15 team, on Sunday down in Nashville.  They were in control for pretty much the entire second half before picking up the 78-66 win.  Must be November!

-Davidson is now 3-0, but it wasn’t easy.  They had to sweat out VMI in a home buy game but won 75-71

-We saw two shocking upsets yesterday with Arizona State losing at Texas Southern in overtime 67-66 in the Pac-12/SWAC Legacy.  The SWAC has held their own in that series when they’ve been at home, and an even bigger surprise (at least to me) was SELA winning at Wyoming 76-72.  I really like this Wyoming team, and I think they will solidly be inside the bubble come Selection Sunday, but this loss will likely stand out on their resume, and not in a good way.

-Also a bit of a surprise, after winning at Oklahoma State, Southern Illinois went on the road to Southern Indiana, who is a transitional team, and was blown out of the place 71-53.  It was Southern Indiana’s first ever win as a D1 program.

-Notre Dame is still undefeated, but they continue to struggle in home buy games.  They held off Youngstown State 88-81.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-IUPUI AT CHICAGO STATE (***Centenary Award Watch***).  Also the UTR Game of the Day.  The loser of this game will be an early frontrunner to win the Centenary Award!!  Both of these teams will struggle to finish in the top 360 of the NET, so today’s stakes could not be higher!!  Or…lower.   These are two teams that look to be so indescribably bad that you actually wonder how both of them would perform in their respective state high school basketball tournaments.

-DEPAUL AT MINNESOTA (Gavitt Games).  Neither team is expected to be inside the bubble come March, but as of now both teams are unbeaten.  Both teams are also untested, so perhaps today they can test each other.

-STETSON AT SOUTH FLORIDA.  If Stetson can win this, they’ll be 2-0 with both wins coming on the road.  They looked rather impressive against Florida State in their opener last week so we are definitely keeping an eye on this one.

-RICHMOND AT CHARLESTON.  Richmond won their first two games, and Charleston was right in there with North Carolina this past Friday until the final few minutes of that game.  This would be a really nice road win for the Spiders if they’re able to pull it off.

-GEORGE WASHINGTON AT HOFSTRA.  Both teams are unbeaten, and Hofstra is coming off a pretty good win against Iona, and this is a chance for them to keep that momentum going.

-BELMONT AT LIPSCOMB.  The Battle of the Boulevard!!!!   One of the greatest Under the Radar rivalries in college basketball.  Belmont looks to be rebuilding, and neither team appears to be anywhere near the bubble, but it’s still a fun rivalry that we will always highlight!

-BUTLER AT PENN STATE (Gavitt Tipoff Games).  Another Gavitt Games matchup between two unbeaten, but untested teams.  Penn State MIGHT be a bit of a Big Ten dark horse this year, so I’m curious to see what they do tonight.

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:

-Portland @ Kent State – neither team has lost yet, and Kent State appears to be a top level UTR team
-Navy @ Coppin State – Navy is 2-0 on the season and can pick up their second road win tonight
-Louisiana Tech @ Texas Tech – Texas Tech may get some sort of a test tonight, but they still clearly look to be the superior team
-Northern Colorado @ Baylor – Northern Colorado should make some noise in the Big Sky, but they are way overmatched tonight
-Northern Iowa @ Virginia – I like this Northern Iowa team, but they aren’t likely to give Virginia much of a test
-Oral Roberts at Houston – Oral Roberts will be one of the better teams in the Summit League, but they will likely get absolutely creamed tonight by a Houston team that is perhaps the best in the country

BUY GAMES:

-Maine @ Boston College – BC is 2-0
-Delaware State @ Villanova
-South Dakota State @ Duquesne
-Florida Atlantic @ Florida
-NC Central @ Liberty
-Troy @ Florida State – Florida State still looking for their first win
-UMES @ Charlotte
-Northwestern State @ TCU
-Loyola LA (nonD1) @ Southern Miss – Southern Miss is unbeaten and coming off a win at Vanderbilt
-Idaho State @ Utah
-Monmouth @ Illinois
-Wofford @ Drake – Drake is unbeaten
-Holy Cross @ Creighton
-Weber State @ Colorado State
-Norfolk State @ UCLA
-Utah Tech @ Washington