NEWS AND NOTES:
For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE
-Lots happened yesterday, but I’ll start off with what was probably the biggest surprise/upset of the day that very few people are aware of. Unbeaten Towson, who had looked fantastic every time they had taken the floor this year, lost to winless Fairfield 74-69. This doesn’t totally derail Towson by any means because it is just one game, but it is still a really bad result and if they end up squarely on the bubble this loss could make the difference as to whether or not they get selected. Seriously…WHAT IN THE HELL HAPPENED!!??
-Tennessee opened it up in the second half against Kansas and won the game 64-50 without even really having to sweat. Sometimes a team just forgets to show up for an early season game, and I guess that’s what happened when the Vols lost to Colorado. They once again look like the top 10 caliber team that we were expecting.
It was a crazy day out in Portland at the Phil Knight Invitational Legacy Classic Thingy that they have going on out in Portland!!
-Iowa State, a team that started off unranked and expected to finish pretty close to the bottom of their league (for the second year in a row), has gotten off to a fantastic start and surprised us all (for the second year in a row). They took down top ranked North Carolina 70-65 out in Portland at the semifinals of the Phil Knight Invitational, which will be a great win on their resume and boost them into the top 25.
-Gonzaga is NOT looking like the top ten team we were expecting. They suffered their second loss of the year as they fell to Purdue (who’s good, but not many were expecting them to be as good as Gonzaga), 84-66 in the Phil Knight Legacy. This is the second showcase game Gonzaga has been blown off the floor. That’s not to say that they won’t improve as the year goes on, but right now they hardly look like a Final Four team. On the other hand, Purdue looked like a fantastic team and should move up in the rankings.
-Also in the Phil Knight Legacy, Duke had to sweat for the second day in a row, but they got by Xavier 71-64. Xavier has played well in their two losses, but at the end of the day they were still losses. They’ll get plenty of chances to pick up big wins this year, though, and if they keep playing like they have been sooner or later they’ll get the wins they need.
-Michigan State bounced back from their loss as they held off an Oregon team that’s really been struggling this year 74-70. Michigan State moves into the 5th place game of the Phil Knight Invitational as Oregon moves into the 7th place game to try and avoid an 8th place finish.
-UConn had one of the more surprising and impressive showings of the day. I was really big on this Alabama team (and still am), and Connecticut just ran them over 82-67 to move on in the Phil Knight Invitational
-Iowa really had to sweat, but they got past Clemson 74-70 after some clock operating mishaps, which weren’t helped at all by a TV crew that inexplicably did not understand that a shot clock, while not displaying tenths of a second (3.7 left on the shot clock still appears as 3), still measures that time. That’s why the clock “didn’t appear to start on time” but actually did. SHEESH!!!! Anyway, another takeaway from this is that Clemson played really well and is perhaps better than we expected, and that those who thought Iowa was a top 25 team are being proved correct.
-Wisconsin held off USC in the Battle 4 Atlantis 3rd place game 64-59. USC dropped a couple of games in this event, but they do appear to be playing better. Wisconsin also played really well and picked up some wins that will end up looking pretty good on their resume.
-Davidson handed San Francisco their first loss of the season in an 89-80 win on their home court. San Francisco had picked up some pretty nice wins already, and while this loss doesn’t hurt them, a win would have certainly added another notable win to their profile. As for Davidson, they’re looking pretty good with just one loss on the year. That’s not something you can say about anyone else in their league right now.
-An Under the Radar team that we haven’t talked much about in the past few…well…decades is Denver, but with their win at New Orleans yesterday they are now 6-1 on the year with two true road wins. Not bad!
-Saint Bonaventure gave Notre Dame their first loss of the season 63-51, which means we no longer have to say that Notre Dame is a good team that hasn’t lost a game yet.
-Oklahoma has improved to 5-1 after their 77-64 win over Seton Hall. Their only loss remains their opener to Sam Houston, and Sam Houston is looking like they are legit good, so maybe the Sooners are as well after all.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-JAMES MADISON VS SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (Savannah GA). James Madison is off to a really strong start and is one of the teams to watch in the Sun Belt this year. South Dakota State is 3-3, but they’ve played a tough schedule and should make quite a bit of noise once they get into Summit League play. In short, this is a good match-up between to good UTR teams, and JMU may be good enough to make a run at the bubble.
-KENT STATE AT HOUSTON. Kent State is a really strong UTR team, and it goes without saying that a win in this one would catapult them into the national spotlight and certainly position them to land inside the bubble. That isn’t likely to happen, though. Houston will almost assuredly move to #1 in both polls with a win today, and it’s very possible that they will remain there for the remainder of the season. A loss to Kent State won’t hurt them at all. They can still make a run at the bubble.
-LOUISIANA AT DRAKE. This is a HUGE game between two unbeaten teams that can make a run at the bubble. Drake hasn’t looked quite like a top 40ish caliber team like we thought they’d be this season, but they have still won all their games and they still have a very high ceiling. Louisiana has been a little more of a surprise, but already has some good wins on their resume. This one is going to be fun, and it’s also a big deal because both teams need wins like this on their resumes, but have limited opportunities to get them.
-IOWA VS TCU (Emerald Coast Classic, Niceville FL). Iowa is unbeaten on the year and coming off a hard fought win against Clemson. TCU has just one loss, but they haven’t looked anything like the team we thought they would so far. They haven’t really faced a big test like this yet either. They’ve just flunked what should have been some easy quizzes. Maybe today the Horned Frogs will snap out of it and look like the top 25 team we were all expecting.
-UC IRVINE VS NEW MEXICO STATE (Las Vegas Classic, Las Vegas NV). This is New Mexico State’s first game since their game at New Mexico was cancelled, so the off the court storylines could come in to play. As far as things go on the court, both teams have just one loss and UC Irvine has racked up some pretty nice wins already. If the Eaters are going to make a run at the bubble then this is the kind of game they need to be able to routinely win. It’s not an easy game to win, but that’s just it. It’s not easy to land inside the bubble either.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Florida Atlantic @ Albany – FAU has some nice wins and just one loss on the season
-SEMO @ Boston U – both teams with just one loss on the season
-Hostra vs UNC Greensboro (Northern Classic) – after getting off to a strong start, Hofstra has now dropped two in a row and needs a win to get back on track
-Cal State Fullerton vs Utah Tech (Grand Forks ND) – CS Fullerton with just one loss this season
-Towson vs South Alabama (Savannah GA) – Towson needs to bounce back after a very surprising loss yesterday
-Clemson vs California (Emerald Coast Classic) – Clemson shouldn’t have too much trouble bouncing back from their loss to Iowa
-Bryant @ Syracuse – it’s a buy game, but Bryant comes in with just one loss and Syracuse hasn’t exactly been setting the world on fire this year
-Montana State vs Quinnipiac (Northern Classic) – Quinnipiac looking to stay unbeaten, and they’ve got to face a Montana State team that should make quite a bit of noise in the Big Sky
-Morehead State @ Marshall – Marshall with just one loss on the year
-East Carolina @ Old Dominion – ECU is out to a bit of a surprising 5-1 start, but this is their first true road game
-North Texas vs Long Beach State (Nassau Championship) – North Texas off to a very quiet 4-1 start and takes on a pretty talented Long Beach State team tonight
-Texas State vs Hawaii (North Shore Classic). Hawaii with just one loss on the season
-Iona vs Santa Clara (Las Vegas Classic) – Iona has just one loss on the year and doing well in this event should help them build their profile
BUY GAMES:
-Houston Christian @ Missouri
-Hampton @ Wake Forest
-Rhodes (nonD1) @ UAB
-Niagara @ Saint John’s
-Central Connecticut @ Rutgers
-UTRGV @ Texas
-SC State @ Western Kentucky
-Mississippi Valley State @ Colorado State
-Presbyterian @ Charlotte
-Columbia @ Providence
-North Dakota State @ New Mexico
-Saint Thomas @ Utah
-Chicago State @ Marquette
-Life Pacific (nonD1) @ UNLV