LINKS HD!!:
-For last night’s HOOPS HD REPORT Video Podcast – CLICK HERE
-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE
-For John Stalica’s Latest Bracket Projections after the busy week that was Feast Week – CLICK HERE
NEWS AND NOTES:
-Not a busy night last night after a flurry of activity during the previous week. Troy hung with Arkansas for about 30 minutes, but the Razorbacks got control in the latter part of the second half and won 74-61.
-Northwestern, after looking really good in their tournament last week and nearly knocking off Auburn, did NOT look good or nearly knock off Pitt yesterday. Pitt absolutely blew Northwestern out of their own building 87-58.
-Seattle U Stayed with Washington for a half, but the Huskies got control in the second half for the 77-66 win and improved to 6-1 on the year.
-Sam Houston had a horrible second half on the road at Nevada and suffered their first lost of the year 78-60. Still, Sam Houston is a team to keep an eye on. They have those wins at Oklahoma and at Utah.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-UC SANTA BARBARA AT DUQUESNE. Okay, I know…how the HELL are we highlighting this?? Well, both teams have just one loss. We were really big on the Gauchos coming into the season and if they can string together some road wins like this it an put them on pace to make a run at the bubble, and while Duquesne hasn’t passed any huge tests yet, their only loss was at Kentucky, and with the A10 being down they may be positioned to win a lot more this year than what we’re used to seeing.
-CHARLOTTE AT DAVIDSON. Davidson comes into this with just one loss and while they don’t have any big wins that jump out at you, it hasn’t all just been home buy wins either. Charlotte comes in at 5-2 and is still looking for their first road win. There is a bit of heat to this rivalry as well, so it’s always fun to watch.
-SYRACUSE AT ILLINOIS (ACC/Big Ten Challenge). They really need to redo some of hte match-ups. Illinois should roll in this one.
-MISSOURI AT WICHITA STATE. This is the first road game and first real test of the season for Mizzou. They’re unbeaten, but about 100 teams would also be unbeaten against the schedule they’ve played. Wichita State slipped up in their season opener, but they’ve been pretty solid since then and if anyone in the American is going to have any life this season, it may be the Shockers.
-BAYLOR AT MARQUETTE (Big East – Big 12 Battle). Baylor is clearly the superior team, but Marquette has shown they can be tough to beat at home, and a win like this would bring them some national attention.
-GEORGIA TECH AT IOWA (ACC/Big Ten Challenge). I’m not all that big on Georgia Tech, but they do come in with a modest 4-2 record, and if they can pick up a win on the road in a game like this against a pretty good Iowa team then they will have certainly gotten our attention.
-WAKE FOREST AT WISCONSIN (ACC/Big Ten Challenge). Wake is 6-1, but hasn’t really been tested. Wisconsin also has just one loss and it was in overtime to Kansas, so this is a team that’s probably much better than what many were expecting and will likely not be easy to beat at home today.
-VIRGINIA AT MICHIGAN (ACC/Big Ten Challenge). Michigan has slept through their alarm so far this season. They don’t really have any notable wins and haven’t looked all that good in some of the games they have won. Virginia looked fantastic in their exempt event and comes into this one ranked 3rd in the nation. Still, this is the first true road game of the year for the Hoos, and winning on the road is tricky.
-UC IRVINE AT SAN DIEGO STATE. I’m really looking forward to this one! UC Irvine has just one loss on the year, and it came at UCLA, so they have shown they can play well well. They already have a win at Oregon, and if they could some how get this one it would REALLY get people’s attention and start to solidify them as a Tournament caliber team. San Diego State is in the rankings and coming off some pretty good wins in Maui.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Furman vs Appalachian State – two pretty solid UTR teams. Furman is playing in their first true road game
-Maryland @ Louisville (ACC/Big Ten Challenge) – Maryland is in the rankings, and even though this is a road game, it is a very liberal use of the word “Challenge.”
-Montana @ Southern Miss – Southern Miss is looking to stay unbeaten
BUY GAMES:
-Long Island @ Saint John’s – Johnnies are still unbeaten
-Bellarmine @ Kentucky
-SC State @ East Carolina – ECU may have something going this year
-Old Dominion @ Charleston – Charleston is 6-1 on the year with some pretty nice wins and is inching closer and closer to cracking the top 25
-UMass @ South Florida – UMass comes in with four straight wins and is looking for their first road win
-William & Mary @ NC State
-Norfolk State @ Houston
-Cal State Northridge @ Boise State
-Westminster (nonD1) @ BYU