NEWS AND NOTES:
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-Texas basically controlled Gonzaga from tip to buzzer and came out with a decisive 93-74 win. Gonzaga’s defense didn’t exactly look the best. Not to take anything away from Texas, who is a really good team, but in order for Gonzaga to be considered a Final Four caliber team there are certainly some areas where they need to improve.
-Arkansas didn’t have too much trouble with South Dakota State, who was playing their second game in two days. The score was 71-56, but at no point did it ever feel like the Razorbacks were not in control. South Dakota State will likely win a lot of games this year. They were just swinging way over their heads last night.
-Cincinnati wend down the road and across the Big Mac Bridge a few miles, but fell to Northern Kentucky 64-51. This is a good NKU team, but they’re still the kind of team that you would expect a top 40 at-large caliber team to be able to beat on the road. So, Cincinnati still has a lot of work to do.
-Iowa picked up a nice road win at Seton Hall. 83-67 It was a solid road performance and the kind of game teams need to be able to win if they want to make the NCAAs Tournament.
-San Francisco, who we thought would be in complete rebuild mode this year, got a really nice road win against Fresno State 67-60 last night. They’re now 4-0 on the season, and have a nice road win to go along with that record.
-Congrats to Chicago State for their somewhat decisive 87-74 win against Valparaiso last night. Chicago State has now won back to back games against D1 teams. I’m sure that’s happened before, but it can’t have happened all that often in the last several…well…decades or so.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-FURMAN VS PENN STATE (Charleston Classic, Charleston SC). Neither team has lost yet. We really like this Furman team, and some feel that Penn State can be a dark horse in the Big Ten. For UTR teams like Furman, doing well in events like this one can be the difference of whether or not they end up inside the bubble come March.
-COLORADO VS UMASS (Myrtle Beach Invitational, Conway SC). Colorado stubbed their toes with the home loss to Grambling, but made up for it (and then some) with their win against Tennessee in Nashville. They’ve got another winnable neutral floor game today against a UMass team that I think will be good someday soon under new coach Frank Maritn, but probably not today. Still, a good showing in an event like this can catapult a team onto the national map.
-OLD DOMINION VS VIRGINIA TECH (Charleston Classic, Charleston SC). An in-state battle taking place in another state!! ODU doesn’t appear to have much this year, and we think VA Tech might have some potential. But, like we always say, events like these are great opportunities for UTR teams like Old Dominion.
-MURRAY STATE VS TEXAS A&M (Myrtle Beach Invitational, Conway SC). This would have been a fantastic game a year ago, but this year it looks to be a bit of a mismatch. TAMU is ranked in the top 25 and this event is a chance for them to show that they deserve it.
-COLORADO STATE VS SOUTH CAROLINA (Charleston Classic, Charleston SC). Many a Hoops HD really like this Colorado State team, and while South Carolina doesn’t appear to be anything too special (although they are coming into this without a loss), this event is a chance for the Rams to get some good wins away from home and start to build up their resume.
-NEBRASKA AT SAINT JOHN’S (Gavitt Tipoff Games). Some say this is more of a pillow fight than a major clash, but I for one think Saint John’s can surprise some people this year. A home win over Nebraska probably won’t end up counting for that much, but we can still learn something about them in this one.
-WICHITA STATE AT RICHMOND. I believe the Spiders can be a dark horse in the Atlantic Ten, and that they should be able to pick up this win and improve to 3-1 on the year.
-BOISE STATE VS CHARLOTTE (Myrtle Beach Invitational, Conway SC). Boise could potentially make some noise out in the Mountain West this year, and this event is a chance to give their resume some good early wins. Charlotte is unbeaten, but untested. They’ll be tested in this event and have some chances to add a few decent wins to their resume.
-DAVIDSON VS CHARLESTON (Charleston Classic, Charleston SC). Charleston is the host team, and while we weren’t expecting much out of them this year, they did play really well against North Carolina last week, and they have a really good coach in Pat Kelsey. This event is a tremendous opportunity for them. Davidson comes in at 3-0 with a decent win at Wright State under their belts, but they could really boost their resume with a strong showing in this tournament.
-UTAH STATE AT SAN DIEGO. We really weren’t expecting much out of either of these teams, but both come into this unbeaten and both have shown some signs of life in their first three games. It’s Utah State’s first road game, so we should learn something about them.
-MICHIGAN VS ARIZONA STATE (Legends Classic, Brooklyn NY). Michigan had absolutely no trouble with Pittsburgh last night. Pitt is not a good team, but Michigan still played what appeared to be their best game of the season so far. Arizona State just barely got by VCU and could potentially get blown out tonight if they don’t play better than that.
-SAM HOUSTON AT UTAH. Sam Houston already has a win at Oklahoma, and I wouldn’t count them out of this game tonight. If you want to know how teams from one bid/UTR conferences can get bids to the NCAA Tournament, this is how. Utah is also unbeaten, but also untested. This will be their biggest test of the year so far despite it technically being a home buy game.
HOFSTRA AT SAN JOSE STATE. Hofstra has racked up some decent wins already and can add yet another at least decent road win against a San Jose State team that will likely struggle this year, but that is currently unbeaten.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Bryant @ Florida Atlantic – Bryant is 2-0 and looking for their second road win, and FAU just won at Florida
-Towson @ UNC Greensboro – I really like this Towson team and think they can pick up their third road win of the year tonight
-Samford @ Alabama A&M – Samford is 3-0 and looking for their first road win
-Louisiana Tech @ Louisiana – Neither team is expected to do much this year, but this is always a fun matchup
-Tennessee State @ Southern Illinois – Southern Illinois has the big win at Oklahoma State, and Tennessee State comes in 3-0
-Portland @ Air Force – I’m not a full blown believer in Portland yet, but they are 3-1 and this is another winnable road game
-Loyola Chicago @ Tulsa (Myrtle Beach Invitational, Conway SC). Loyola can stay unbeaten and set themselves up for some quality games in later rounds with a win
BUY GAMES:
-Merrimack @ Troy – Troy is 3-0 with a win at Florida State
-Saint Francis U @ Butler
-Kansas City @ Kansas State
-SC State @ Kentucky
-UL Monroe @ TCU
-New Orleans @ LSU
-Northern Illinois @ Georgia Tech – GA Tech 2-0
-UC Riverside @ Creighton
-Long Island @ Marquette
-Utah Tech @ Arizona
-Central Michigan @ Minnesota
-South Dakota @ Mississippi State
-CA Baptist @ Washington