NEWS AND NOTES
-The story of the night last night, and what’s shaping up to be one of the stories of the year, Is Grambling. They went into Vanderbilt, held a lead for most of the game, appeared to be losing it at the end, but battled for a 64-62 win. Grambling is now 5-3 against D1 competition with wins over Arizona State (ASU’s only loss) and now at Vanderbilt. I don’t think they’ll end up landing inside the bubble, and we at Hoops HD always seem to measure teams by the that standard, but this program was one of the worst in all of D1 for decades, and to see them turn it around like they have is spectacular!
-Gonzaga won without too much trouble against Washington.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-PENN STATE AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten). Penn State looks like they may be able to land inside the bubble. A road win in a game like this would certainly go a super long way. Illinois is showing the early signs of being a protected seed.
-OKLAHOMA VS ARKANSAS (Tulsa OK). Oklahoma is 7-2 with some decent wins, but nothing that would be nearly as good as this one would be if they’re able to pull it off. As for Arkansas, they have a nice win over Creighton, but this would also be one of their better wins to date if they’re able to pull it off.
-YALE AT KENTUCKY. this is a buy game, but Yale is a likely Ivy League frontrunner who has looked good so far this season. Kentucky should win, but they don’t want to overlook them.
-GEORGETOWN AT SYRACUSE. This used to be a rivalry that was event television in the heyday of the original Big East, but only Syracuse has shown any faint signs of life the past season and a half. Still, one never knows what can happen in a rivalry game like this (and Stalica insists on highlighting this for some reason), so here we are.
-LOUISVILLE AT FLORIDA STATE (ACC). This game is mentioned only because it may be the only conference game that either of these teams is able to win this year.
-NC STATE AT MIAMI FL (ACC). I still think Miami FL is being undervalued and should be ranked in the top 25. They’re 9-1 and although they don’t have any great wins, they have a smattering of good ones. NC State is an impressive 8-2 , but this would be their best win of the year up to this point, so something at stake for both teams.
-DRAKE AT RICHMOND. This isn’t an easy road game for Drake, but it’s one they got to have, and it’s one they could lose if they don’t play up to their ceiling.
-LSU VS WAKE FOREST (Holiday Hoopsgiving, Atlanta GA). Both teams have good records, and Wake actually has some decent wins. They’re certainly having better seasons so far than what we were expecting. This is a chance for each of them to pick up a decent win on a neutral floor and help build their resumes.
-PURDUE AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten). Purdue is unbeaten and not just looking like a potential protected seed, but looking like a potential #1 seed. It’s not easy to win on the road, but #1 seeds should be able to do it in games like this.
-ALABAMA AT HOUSTON. Both teams are in the top ten, both have some really good games, and both appear to be protected seed caliber teams. Despite this being a home game, it may be one of Houston’s better games on the schedule. They just won’t face as high a caliber of competition once they get into conference play. Alabama’s only loss on the year is to UConn. Beating the #1 team on the road…wins just don’t get any better than that. That’s the kind of win that can distinguish you as a #1 seed.
-DENVER AT UCLA. Denver is off to an 8-2 start, but the teams they’ve been playing aren’t quite on the level of UCLA. Still, it’ll be interesting to see what they can do in a game like this.
-SAN DIEGO STATE VS SAINT MARY’S (Jerry Colangelo Classic, Phoenix AZ). Both teams are good, but you also get the sense that both of them could REALLY use a win like this, especially Saint Mary’s. But both could stand to build up their resumes, and this game is a chance for whoever gets the win to do it.
-KENT STATE AT CLEVELAND STATE. Kent State is a really good team who’s resume could turn out to be a very interesting case. They took both Houston and Gonzaga to the wall, but didn’t get either win. If they can blow through the rest of their schedule, will the committee take them?? Of course, they need to get this one on the road today, which isn’t the easiest road game to win.
-XAVIER AT CINCINNATI. Both teams are 6-3, but both could use some good wins on their resume. Xavier does have the home win against West Virginia, and showed they could play against Duke, Gonzaga, and Indiana even though they lost all three, but they actually do need some wins, and this one being on the road would help their resume. Oh yeah, and this is a rivalry game too!
-GEORGIA TECH AT NORTH CAROLINA (ACC). North Carolina has lost four straight. This is a winnable game at home. They need to win it. That’s really all there is to it.
-UNLV VS WASHINGTON STATE. UNLV is unbeaten with some decent wins, and today they have another game that they should win so long as they don’t overlook Wazzu.
-AUBURN AT MEMPHIS. Memphis is talented, and they do have a nice win against Ole Miss at home, but I’m still not completely sold on them being a tournament caliber team. That being said, if they can win this one, I probably will be! Auburn is unbeaten and really good, so it would be a huge win for Memphis even though they’re at home.
-KANSAS AT MISSOURI. THE BORDER WAR!!!! This rivalry resumed last year, and it was such a blowout that you even wondered if it was worth it. This year Mizzou is unbeaten, and they’re at home, and this may be the biggest home game that they’ve had since the last time they played Kansas on their campus. I’m expecting a bonkers atmosphere. As for Kansas, it’s their first true road game, so it would be a big win on paper as well as being a win over a rival.
-UAB AT WEST VIRGINIA. This is a hugely important game for UAB. They are perhaps good enough to land inside the bubble and not need to win the conference tournament to make the NCAAs. If they can win today, it would be HUGE for their tournament resume. It’s easier said than done, though. This is a very tough WVU team that’s also trying to put together a good tournament resume.
-NEVADA AT OREGON. Oregon is just 4-5 and has been rather disappointing this year. They need to string together some wins in order to get things turned around, and they’ll likely be challenged again tonight. Nevada is 8-2, has looked pretty good, and can win their third road game tonight if they’re able to pull this off.
-ARIZONA VS INDIANA (Las Vegas Clash, Las Vegas NV). Indiana has looked good this year, but this is by far their biggest test of the year. Arizona won the Maui Invitational and beat some pretty good teams while doing it, so they are certainly battle tested. Both teams are potential protected seeds, so this is just a good resume building opportunity for each of them.
-BOISE STATE AT SAINT LOUIS. SLU is coming off a blowout loss at Iona, and this game has a sense of urgency to it. If SLU doesn’t win it, you get the sense that they’re slipping further and further away from the bubble even though it’s only December. If Boise State wins it, it’s a solid road win (their first of the season) and they improve to 8-2 on the year, and suddenly more eyeballs from the committee are going to be on them.
-CREIGHTON vs BYU (Las Vegas). It’s normally tough to win at BYU, but they are really down this year. A tournament caliber team, and certainly a team that’s good enough to get a protected seed, should be good enough to win this one on the road. (Note from Stalica: This one is actually in Vegas, so BYU would actually get a little more credit for this win should they upset the Jays. That said, Creighton is going to be going into this game in a bad mood after getting outhustled and outfought at home against archrival Nebraska back on Sunday.)
-TCU AT SMU. The basketball version of the Iron Skillet!! TCU is clearly the superior team, and should roll in this one even though they’re on the road.
-UTAH STATE VS LMU (Jack Jones Hoopfest, Las Vegas NV). Utah State is unbeaten on the year with some pretty good wins. Picking this one up against a fairly decent LMU team that’s won six out of seven with some notable wins in that stretch. This appears to be a game between two teams that are on their way and who are looking to continue to build up their resumes.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Tulane vs Buffalo (Holiday Hoopsgiving) – Tulane is off to only a modest start and needs to start stringing together wins
-UC Irvine @ South Dakota – two pretty good UTR teams. UC Irvine needs wins like this if they want any chance at landing inside the bubble
-Lamar @ Southern Miss – a win for Southern Miss gets them to 9-1
-Seattle U @ North Dakota – a win for Seattle gets them to 7-1 on the season, and gives them their third true road win
-UL Monroe @ Northwestern State – a bit of an in-state rivalry. Northwestern State’s resume (at least for now) is solid and a win gets them to 8-2.
-San Jose State @ Santa Clara – it’s a winnable home game for Santa Clara, which would get them to 8-2 on the year
-Butler @ Califorinia – this is a winnable road game for Butler, which would get them to 8-3 on the year and give them their first true road win
-Villanova vs Boston College (Newark NJ) – It’s a winnable road game for Nova, which would even their record at 5-5 on the year
-Grand Canyon @ North Texas – North Texas has sort of been overlooked this year, but they’re worth keeping an eye on. A win gets them to 8-2 and they could be dangerous in CUSA. (UTR Game of the Day)
-Marshall @ Robert Morris – Marshall can pick up their 3rd road win and improve to 9-1 on the year
-UC Santa Barbara @ Pepperdine. Both teams are good enough to make some noise in conference, but both could use some good OOC wins as well
BUY GAMES:
-Long Island @ UConn
-Arkansas Pine Bluff @ Texas
-Albany @ Providence
-Valparaiso @ Ole Miss
-Sacred Heart @ Pittsburgh
-UTSA @ New Mexico – New Mexico looking to stay unbeaten on the year
-Brown @ Michigan State
-Saint Francis Brooklyn @ UMass Lowell – not a buy game but might as well be
-UMES @ Duke
-New Hampshire @ Saint John’s
-Wright State @ Western Kentucky
-Loyola Chicago @ Clemson
-Samford @ Louisiana – a win for Louisiana gets them to 8-1