NEWS AND NOTES:
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We basically had 14 hours of awesome basketball yesterday.
-North Carolina had a much tougher time with Portland than what many were expecting, but they held on for the 89-81 out in Oregon and move on in the Phil Knight Invitational.
-Over in the Phil Knight Legacy, Duke struggled even more with Oregon State barely holding on for a 54-51 win. Portland strikes me as being a lot better than Oregon State, so this would have been a really surprising upset loss. But Duke does win and advances to the winners side of the bracket.
-Also out in Oregon, Alabama picked up a really solid win against a very good Michigan State team 81-70. Alabama has been ranked all year and has received quite a bit of respect, but they still may be even better than what people thought. It wouldn’t shock me at all to see them go on and win this event.
-Wisconsin and Kansas went into overtime with Wisconsin having a chance to win at the end, but Kansas holding on for a 69-68 win and moving on to the championship in the Battle 4 Atlantis. Even though they lost, I think Wisconsin has shown they are MUCH better than what many expected this year.
-NC State followed up their near upset with Kansas with a fairly decisive win over Dayton in the Battle 4 Atlantis. We learned from this game that NC State is probably better than what we thought, and Dayton isn’t quite as good. At least not yet. Dayton may be better once they’re back at full strength.
-UConn blasted Oregon 83-59. UConn continues to look really good and Oregon continues to look like a team that is probably NIT-caliber at best.
-Iowa State needed overtime, but got by Villanova 81-79 and is now on the winning side of the bracket in the Phil Knight Invitational. The Cyclones are unbeaten, are once again exceeding expectations, and if they can continue to win in this even they will REALLY be exceeding expectations! Again!
-Seton Hall held off Memphis 70-69 in the ESPN Events Invitational in a game that was close all throughout. They move on to the championship game, whereas Memphis drops their second game of the season and is still looking for their first notable win.
-Last, and DEFINELY not least, Washington went into Saint Mary’s and came out with an overtime 68-64 win. Considering that it was a road game against a good team that is VERY tough to beat at home, this is arguably Washington’s biggest win in years. Overnight they went from being what we thought was an also-ran to perhaps picking up the biggest win any Pac 12 team has managed to this point and looking like they could be one of the better teams in the league. I guess our friend Rocco Miller had a good Thanksgiving!!
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-USC VS WISCONSIN (Battle 4 Atlantis). Both of these teams lost overtime thrillers yesterday as USC took Tennessee to the wall and, despite the loss, looked as good as they have all season, and Wisconsin had a shot at the end of overtime to take down Kansas, but came up just short. Both teams have shown they can play at a high level after not getting a whole lot of accolades coming into the season, and whoever wins this one today will likely get quite a bit of credit for it come March.
-SAN FRANCISCO AT DAVIDSON. San Francisco already has some really good wins on their resume and have been a bit of a surprise this year. Davidson has some notable wins as well with their only loss being to Charleston. It’s a good game between two teams that are looking to continue to build up their profiles.
-PORTLAND VS VILLANOVA (Phil Knight Invitational, Portland OR). Nova has sputtered out of the gate and is continuing to sputter. They need to play at a higher level if they want to safely make the NCAA Tournament. They will also be challenged today by a Portland team that, while not super good, is still better than what most people realize and who stayed with North Carolina for pretty much the entire game yesterday.
-DUKE VS XAVIER (Phil Knight Legacy, Portland OR). In Xavier’s two tests this year, they had a chance to beat Indiana and ended up pulling away from Florida in the final minutes yesterday. They will be tested again today by Duke, who believe it or not is still looking for their first win of any sort of significance. They fell to Kansas in a close game earlier this season, so they’ve shown they can play, but so far their best win was probably yesterday’s win against Oregon State, and it wasn’t exactly a clinic that they put on.
-NORTH CAROLINA VS IOWA STATE (Phil Knight Invitational, Portland OR). Both teams are unbeaten. Not much was expected out of Iowa State this year, but where have we heard that story before? They knocked off Villanova in overtime yesterday, and get a shot at top ranked North Carolina who, while top ranked, has struggled in some games that you would expect a team that’s ranked that high to breeze through, and arguably doesn’t have a win this season yet as good as this one would be.
-IOWA VS CLEMSON (Emerald Coast Classic, Niceville FL). Iowa has shown quite a bit of promise and they come into this both unbeaten and in the top 25. Clemson has just one loss and has a chance today to really make a statement, put a good win on their resume, and basically shape the narrative people have of their team. Are they an also-ran, or can they play with top level teams?
-KANSAS VS TENNESSEE (Battle 4 Atlantis, Nassau Bahamas). Tennessee’s loss to Colorado earlier this season was a bit of a surprise, but they’ve played their way into the championship of this event, and if they can knock off Kansas today it would more than offset that loss and make a huge statement that this is still a top 15/protected seed caliber team. Kansas had to sweat out both of their first games, but they managed to get it done and already have several really good wins on their resume. This is a big resume boosting opportunity for both teams, and it’s likely one of many that they’ll both have this season.
-OKLAHOMA VS SETON HALL (ESPN Events Invitational, Kissimmee FL). Both teams come into this with just one loss, both have some decent wins on their resumes (especially after yesterday), and both have the chance to pick up another one today (at least for now).
-CONNECTICUT VS ALABAMA (Phil Knight Invitational). Both are ranked in the top 20, both are unbeaten, both have shown they can beat good teams already, and both are perhaps better than their current ranking. It wouldn’t shock me to see them both end up as protected seeds, so this game is a big resume boosting opportunity.
-BUTLER VS NC STATE (Battle 4 Atlantis, Nassau Bahamas). NC State has played well in this event, and can get out of it with two pretty good wins and a loss to Kansas that, quite frankly, won’t hurt them at all. The Wolfpack may be on the road to a higher level of success this year than what we initially thought.
-PURDUE VS GONZAGA (Phil Knight Legacy, Portland OR). Both teams are in the rankings and both have high expectations this year. Many thing Gonzaga is once again a Final Four caliber team and many think Purdue can contend for a protected seed.
-OREGON VS MICHIGAN STATE (Phil Knight Invitational, Portland OR). Both teams are coming off losses to high caliber teams, but Michigan State already has some big wins and can easily shore themselves up with a win today. Oregon hasn’t gotten their motor started yet this year and needs a win in a game like this both to get a good win on paper, but also to give themselves some confidence and momentum.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Siena vs Ole Miss (ESPN Events Invitational) – Ole Miss is off to a 5-0 start and can pick up some decent (albeit not great) wins away from home in this event
-Texas A&M @ DePaul – TAMU has been sluggish for most of the season and should have a sense of urgency coming in to today. They need not lose this one!
-Quinnipiac vs Stephen F Austin – Quinnipiac is unbeaten so far this season, but will be tested a little more strongly in this event than they have up until now
-Loyola Chicago @ Harvard – Harvard with a chance to get to 5-1
-Louisiana Tech @ Samford – Samford is unbeaten on the year, but should get a little bit of a test today
-BYU vs Dayton (Battle 4 Atlantis) – it’s the 7th place game, neither team has looked all that good this season, and both just need to avoid going 0-3 while getting something of note on their resume
-TAMUCC vs UTEP – We’ll note it because it is a likely Southland frontrunner against a UTEP team that only has one loss
-Saint Bonaventure @ Notre Dame – Notre Dame hasn’t looked all that impressive, but they have managed to win all their games
-Nebraska vs Memphis (ESPN Events Invitational) – It’s still early, but both teams are starting to fall behind the pack and could use a win today to help keep up
-North Texas vs San Jose State (Baha Mar Hoops) – Neither team has any huge wins of note, but both come into this with just one loss
-Oregon State vs Florida (Phil Knight Legacy) – Both teams have some catching up to do, and today’s game has a pivotal feel to it
-UV Irvine vs Nicholls (Las Vegas Classic) – UC Irvine has looked really strong so far, and Nicholls, while off to a slow start, could e a Southland frontrunner.
-Hofstra vs Middle Tennessee (Northern Classic) – Hofstra’s only loss was at Saint Mary’s, and they can continue to build up their resume by doing well in this event
-Tulsa @ Oklahoma State – Oklahoma State needs to start stringing together wins soon
-Sacramento State vs Hawaii (North Shore Classic) – Both teams have shown some promise early on and could prove to be good UTR teams. This is one we have our eyes on
-Grambling vs UTSA (San Antonio Shootout) – Grambling had the big win against Colorado earlier, and UTSA has just one loss
-West Virginia vs Portland State (Phil Knight Legacy) – It’s important that West Virginia holds serve in this one
-San Diego vs New Mexico State (Las Vegas Classic) – both teams have just one loss, and it’s New Mexico State’s first game since their game at New Mexico was cancelled
-California vs TCU (Emerald Coast Classic) – TCU should be able to hold serve and improve to 4-1
BUY GAMES:
-Coastal Georgia (nonD1) @ James Madison
-Jackson State @ Indiana
-Coppin State @ Maryland
-Fairfield @ Towson – Towson is good and can/should remain unbeaten
-UMES @ Virginia
-Jacksonville State @ New Mexico – New Mexico is still unbeaten
-Lafayette @ Penn State
-Charleston Southern vs Virginia Tech
-Lindenwood @ Illinois