-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE
-The NET will be released today for the first time this season. Also today I’ll be posting my latest Bracket Projections sometime this afternoon, and we will be recording the Hoops HD Report later tonight.
-The biggest head-scratching result from yesterday, and perhaps one of the bigger surprises of the season, was Nebraska’s 63-53 win at Creighton. Creighton had looked fantastic, and even when they weren’t hitting shots they still managed to stay with Texas earlier in the week, so the idea that they’d lose at home to a Nebraska team that hadn’t looked all that good at any point was sort of shocking. But, they did, and at no point did the Blue Jays appear to be in control. As for the Huskers, it w as a really nice road win! Top ten teams just don’t lose at home all that often.
-North Carolina fell at Virginia Tech 82-70 in the ACC opener for both teams. VA Tech is pretty good, and won’t lose many at home, so the loss isn’t THAT damaging for UNC in regards to remaining safely inside the bubble, but perhaps it is in regards to earning a protected seed. The Tarheels have now lost four on the season after being the #1 ranked team in the preseason polls.
-Northwestern!! 6-2 on the year, one of those losses was a VERY close game against a very good Auburn team, and yesterday they won on the road at Michigan State. That has the makings of an NCAA Tournament caliber resume. No one expected much out of the Wildcats this season, but they have been producing and it’s time to start taking them seriously.
-Kentucky got a nice 73-69 win against Michigan over in London, which is arguably their best win on paper so far this season.
-Saint John’s suffered their first loss of the season as they fell to Iowa State 71-60. Iowa State is, again, a very good team and much better than what we were expecting in the preseason, so the loss isn’t all that damaging.
-Utah followed up their big home win against Arizona with a 67-65 road win at Washington State. Wazzu isn’t the best team 0n the planet, but that’s still a very good week for Utah. They beat a top five team, they pick up a road win, and are off to a 2-0 start in Pac 12 play.
-Utah State blasted San Francisco on the road 82-64 and is looking like one of the most impressive teams in the Mountain West. They could give San Diego State a run for their money once league play starts.
-KENT STATE AT GONZAGA. Kent State has not been shy when it comes to taking on the heavyweights. While Gonzaga is clearly favored, Kent State is legit. They went on the road to Houston and were right in the entire time, they have some nice wins on their resume, and while Gonzaga is both the better team and the home team, they don’t want to just overlook them.
-TROY AT SAN DIEGO STATE. It’s a buy game, but Troy has shown some signs of life and should make quite a bit of noise in the Sun Belt, so San Diego State can’t just sleepwalk through this one.
-Albany @ UMass – buy game
-UMass Lowell @ Long Island – Lowell can get to 9-1 on the year and pick up their 4th road win
-Simon Fraser (nonD1) @ New Mexico State – buy game
-Ecclesia at Nicholls State – this game is an exhibition! It doesn’t even count as a buy game!