NEWS AND NOTES:
-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE
-Houston is the top ranked team, and I do think they’re the best overall team, or at the very least the team that has the most overall potential. Having said that, they don’t always win pretty. For the second game in a row they were in a rock fight, but held on to beat Saint Mary’s 53-48 and the Gaels were right in there until the very end of the game. Speaking of rock fights…
-Virginia had to sweat out Florida State at home, which was a surprising in and of itself that a team that has looked as bad as FSU could remain in the same neighborhood as Virginia, but the Hoos survived and got the 62-57 win.
-Rutgers, who had looked good all season, now has a good win on their resume to back it up. They beat Indiana rather handily 63-48. It was a home game for Rutgers, but it’s still a win they’ll get a decent amount of credit for. As for the Hoosiers, it was their first loss on the year.
-Last year Fordham was 16-16, and I remember thinking that was an almost inexplicable improvement for a program that has been absolutely terrible for decades. Yesterday, they picked up a 95-90 win at Tulane, which is a team we had some expectations for this year, and improved to 8-1 on the year. The national media hasn’t picked up on them yet, and perhaps they’re still a long way from being considered a top 40ish tournament caliber team, but the fact that Fordham is 8-1 against ANYBODY should be a big story! The Atlantic Ten has not looked all that good this year. They may end up being one of the better teams in the conference! Fordham!! Is this a sign that it is the End of Days??
-And Duquesne, also from the Atlantic Ten and also with a long history of being really bad, beat Ball State yesterday 78-77 to get to 7-1 on the year with the only loss being at Kentucky.
Fordham and Duquesne!! Atlantic Ten Frontrunners!! Just like we all predicted!!!
-Notre Dame, who absolutely blew out Michigan State earlier in the week, lost at home to Syracuse 62-61. Because of course they did.
-Villanova, who got off to a 2-5 start, did look a lot better yesterday against a fairly decent Oklahoma team and got a 70-66 win, but they need to string together several more in order to get things turned all the way back around.
-Marquette, who blasted Baylor earlier this week, hosted rival Wisconsin yesterday with all the momentum in the world on their side, but the Badgers came in, played well early, kept it close the entire way, almost lost it in the end but it did go to overtime, and then got the win in overtime. For the Badgers it was a road win against a rival who had been playing really well. That’s a DAMN good win! The committee should (and almost assuredly will) give them a lot of credit for that one.
-Xavier, who came into the game against West Virginia yesterday with three losses, but all three were close games against highly ranked teams, finally got a notable win on their resume as they knocked off WVU 84-74. West Virginia actually had a lead for most of the game, and it was close all throughout the second half, but Xavier battled and picked up the win. The atmosphere at this game was incredible. WVU coach Bob Huggins used to coach Xavier’s crosstown rivals Cincinnati, and judging from yesterday’s game the X fans have not forgotten him! I’d LOVE it if this became a regular season!
-Coming into the season I was kind of big on Davidson. Yesterday Davidson went on the road to Delaware and lost 69-67, which drops them to 6-3 on the year. I am no longer all that big on Davidson.
-Toledo, another team I was super big on coming into the season and felt we may even see them in the top 25 before the year was over, went into George Mason yesterday and lost 80-73. This is their third loss of the season, and all three came against teams that aren’t likely to be anywhere near the NIT. I am no longer big on Toledo.
-YOTES ALERT!!! South Dakota, who was a team we thought would make sone noise in the Summit League but that had struggled some this season, went to BYU and picked up a 69-68 win. South Dakota actually opened up a big lead in the first half, and maintained it through much of the second half, but BYU came back and almost avoided the upset.
-Northern Colorado got a big upset win at Colorado State 88-83 in that Front Range rivalry game. Colorado State now falling down to 6-3 and can’t really afford too many more losses like that.
-Marshall has now won seven straight after knocking off Ohio U 83-69, and is looking like they may actually be good enough to make a run at the bubble.
-Yale is now 8-1 on the year with the only loss being at Colorado. Their 77-72 win at Stony Brook yesterday was their second road win of the season.
-Uncle Buzz and Texas A&M continue to struggle. They fell at home to Boise State yesterday 86-71. We are about to go into Christmas Break, which means no classes and no restricted practice time, and sometimes that’s when we see teams that haven’t been as good as we thought finally start to look like what we thought they would, and given how good of a coach Buzz Williams is and how talented TAMU appears to be I’m thinking we may see that this year with them. But so far they’ve just stunk.
-UC Irvine, an Under the Radar team we’ve been very big on, lost at home to a very weak Fresno State team yesterday 77-65. So…that’s discouraging. They certainly didn’t need that.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-MICHIGAN VS KENTUCKY (London Showcase, London England). One storyline for this is a big game between two likely tournament teams that are off to slower starts than they were hoping for, but still have a ton of potential, and a win today would be a big step toward getting things turned around. Another storyline is that it is a college basketball game in London that’s taking place during England’s World Cup Soccer game. So…national interest over in England for this will be spectacularly low.
-MIAMI FL AT LOUISVILLE (ACC). I really like this Miami team and this is perhaps the most winnable conference road game they’ll ever play. Louisville comes in at 0-7 and is showing absolutely no signs of getting any better.
-NORTH CAROLINA AT VIRGINIA TECH (ACC). North Carolina is 5-3 on the season after starting off being the top ranked team in the preseason, but all of those losses were to heavyweights. That being said, they’re REALLY going to be tested today. They’re on the road against a Virginia Tech team that’s 7-1 and looking for a statement win of their own.
-SAINT JOHN’S AT IOWA STATE (Big East-Big 12 Battle). I said before the season started that I thought the Johnnies would be good this year. They come into this game at 8-0, but still haven’t gotten all that much respect. Well, if they get this win on the road, people will notice. Iowa State didn’t have any expectations either, but with some big wins in their MTE they are up to 23rd in the rankings and have an impressive 6-1 overall record.
-COLORADO AT WASHINGTON (Pac 12). Colorado continues to look like one of the most schizophrenic teams in the nation. They may beat a top ranked team, or lose to a sub200 team. Washington is looking much better than expected, and can improve to 7-2 on the season if they can pick up a win in this conference home game today.
-SOUTHERN MISS AT NORTHWESTERN STATE. We are going to go ahead and highlight this game. Both teams are having MUCH better years than expected. Both have managed some notable wins with Southern Miss winning at Liberty and at Vanderbilt, and Northwestern State getting the big win at TCU. Southern Miss can remain unbeaten and pick up their third road win if they can pull this one off.
-MINNESOTA AT PURDUE (Big Ten). Minnesota is off to a modest 4-3 start, and Purdue is off to an incredible 7-0 start with several big wins already on their resume and a deserved top five ranking to go along with it. They shouldn’t have too much trouble holding serve in their conference opener.
-OREGON AT UCLA (Pac 12). Oregon has been a bit of a disappointment this year, but they are still as talented as they were coming into the season, and if they can get a win in a game like this it can turn their season around. UCLA has two losses, but both were to top ten teams and they were competitive in both games, so it’s hardly indicative of them not being good.
-NORTHWESTERN AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten). Northwestern is a fairly respectable 5-2 on the year, and has looked really good at times, but I think they’re overmatched in this one, especially considering that they’re on the road. Michigan State has really tested themselves early and already has some big wins.
-UTAH STATE AT SAN FRANCISCO. I gotta give credit to the folks at Hoops HD who were big on this Utah State team. They come in at 6-0, and while they haven’t faced any monumental challenges, not all their wins ahve just been home buy games either. They’ll go on the road to face a San Francisco team that’s also exceeding expectations after going through a big roster overhaul from a year ago. At 6-1 they’re looking like a possible tournament team again this year.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Bryant @ Cincinnati – Bryant is off to a good start, already has a big win over Syracuse, and will be a America East frontrunner. Cincinnati needs to be on upset alert
-Youngstown State @ Wright State (Horizon League) – two of the better teams in the HL, so it may be worth keeping an eye on
-Samford @ UCF – I like this UCF team, and while Samford does have a head-scratching loss, I think they can make quite a bit of noise in the SoCon
-South Alabama @ UAB – UAB can get to 7-1 on the year, and continues to look good enough to make a run at the bubble
-Stetson @ Florida – Stetson is an impressive 4-2 and already has a win at Florida State, so the Gators do not want to overlook them
-TAMU Commerce @ Denver – Denver can get to 8-1 with a win
-Utah @ Washington State (Pac 12) – Utah is coming off a decisive home win against Arizona, and can improve to 7-2, pick up another conference win, and pick up their first road win, if they’re able to win this one today
-SEMO @ Missouri – Mizzou is unbeaten and will likely remain that way
-Nebraska @ Creighton – it’s a rivalry game, but this year it also appears to be a huge mismatch. Creighton should roll
-California @ Arizona (Pac 12) – Arizona should have no problems bouncing back from their loss at Utah
-Alcorn State @ Tennessee – buy game
-Oregon State @ USC (Pac 12) – USC cannot afford to lose this one
-Stanford @ Arizona State (Pac 12) – Arizona State can improve to 8-1