NEWS AND NOTES:
-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE
-Alabama played a tough first half against Houston, and then fell behind early in the second half, and I think everyone’s thinking at the time was that Houston would control the rest of the game. Well, they didn’t. Alabama fought back, then pulled even, then pulled ahead, and then stayed ahead for the 71-65 win. To date, it’s the single most impressive win that any team has managed this season. They beat the #1 team on their floor. Wins don’t get any better than that. Last year at about this time, Alabama beat Gonzaga out in Seattle. I guess December is just Alabama’s month!
-Penn State over Illinois was another shocking result. We knew Penn State was good, but for them to go into Illinois and absolutely control that game the way that they did was not something we were expecting. Penn State picked up the 74-59 win, and to say that they look like a tournament caliber team would be an understatement.
-Purdue needed overtime, but survived at Nebraska 65-62 and will almost unquestionably remain ranked in the top 4.
-The Boarder War (or whatever they’ve renamed it) between Kansas and Missouri resumed last year. In both games Kansas was pretty much up by about 20 when the game tipped off. Yesterday, they went into Missouri who was unbeaten, and within minutes had complete control of the game despite a bonkers crowd. It wasn’t bonkers for long. Kansas absolutely rolled (again!) 95-67.
-Arkansas got a battle from Oklahoma over in Tulsa, but picked up the solid 88-78 win. Arkansas is a talented team that appears to be gelling more and more as the season goes on.
-Arizona controlled Indiana for most of the game out in Las Vegas, and held on for an 89-75 win. Every time the Hoosiers appeared to be mounting a run, Arizona would answer. The Wildcats have a VERY impressive resume with some big time neutral floor wins right now.
-Kentucky got a battle from a Yale team that’s really good, but held on for the 69-59 win. This game was very close late into the game, and Kentucky is probably receiving some criticism for not dominating this one, but I don’t think most of those critics understand just how good Yale actually is. We said yesterday that we thought this might be close.
-We were starting to nail BYU’s coffin shut, but yesterday they picked up a hugely important and hugely surprising win over Creighton 83-80. This is a bit of a setback for the BlueJays who have fallen to 6-4 after once being ranked in the top ten (and looking like a top ten team), but it is perhaps a season saving win for a BYU team that really needed it. Ryan Kalkbrenner was out of the game due to non-Covid illness for Creighton, though.
-Saint Mary’s also needed a really big win. Saint Mary’s also got a really big win. They knocked off San Diego State 68-61 in Phoenix and that suddenly changes the entire complexion of their resume. As for San Diego State, they’re still a good team, but they suddenly aren’t looking like the top 25 team that we all thought they were. When you lose to multiple teams that aren’t ranked, then you yourself probably shouldn’t be ranked either.
-Miami FL had to come from behind to beat NC State, but picked up the 80-73 win. Both teams still have work to do, but both have also shown that they have the potential to be good teams (especially Miami), and we need to keep our eyes on both of them.
-I am no longer touting Drake. They lost yesterday, by 30, to Richmond. It’s hard to make a case that they belong inside the bubble when they get blown out by a team that doesn’t appear to be anywhere near it.
-LSU improved to 8-1 after beating a good Wake Forest team in a really exciting 72-70 game. The Tigers are now worthy of some praise and attention.
-Xavier absolutely dominated the first half against crosstown rivals Cincinnati, but Cincinnati came back in the second half, made some big shots, and actually tied the game in the final minute. A foul with less than two seconds to go, and a technical foul after calling timeout when Cincinnati had no more, allowed Xavier to win it at the line and escape with an 80-77 win. It was a nice road win for Xavier, and their first of the season.
-Oregon, for perhaps the first time all season, looked like the Oregon team that we were all expecting to see in the preseason. They pretty much controlled a really good Nevada team for a 78-65 win, and pulled their record to an even 5-5. They are getting out of the starting gate a little late, but there is still plenty of time for the Ducks to end up having a big year.
-Boise State got a really nice win out at Saint Louis 82-80. It’s their first true road win of the season, and it’s a pretty good one and it improves the Broncos to 8-2 overall. As good as this was for Boise State, things are looking really bad for Saint Louis. They’re now 7-4 on the season after losing their second consecutive game, and haven’t looked anything like an NCAA Tournament team.
-Memphis picked up what was probably their best win of the year so far knocking off Auburn 82-73. Memphis was at home, but it was still good for them to play that well against a highly ranked team and show that their talented players could play that well together. This one may mean just as much off paper as it does on paper. If nothing else, it silenced one of their critics. ME! (Note from Stalica – the win was actually in Atlanta. It’s actually the most notable win by anyone in the American this year – even Houston doesn’t have a Top 25 win yet, much less a win against a team just outside of the Top 10.)
-UNLV remains unbeaten after knocking off Washington State 74-70. We figured UNLV might be tested int his one, and they were.
-Utah State also remains unbeaten on the year after knocking off a fairly decent LMU team 79-67.
-Seattle U is now 7-1 on the year with three true road wins and the only loss being at Washington. They knocked off North Dakota on the road yesterday 80-78.
-UMass Lowell improved to 11-1 with their 68-59 win over Saint Francis Brooklyn.
-West Virginia got a battle from UAB, but held on to win 81-70. They played each other last year as well, and both games were fun to watch.
-Marshall won their ninth straight game since losing their opener, and picked up their 3rd road win, as they knocked off Robert Morris 69-60.
-Western Kentucky is now 8-1 after really having to sweat out Wright State, but holding on for the 64-60 win.
-Louisiana is now 8-1 on the year after they beat Samford 75-58.
-Additional note from Stalica: With Central Connecticut State’s win against Dartmouth yesterday, we are now down to 2 remaining winless teams in Division 1. Both Louisville and California are still winless and both got blown out against Florida State and Butler, respectively.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-IONA VS SAINT BONAVENTURE (Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational, Brooklyn NY). Iona made quite a bit of noise after their blowout win against Saint Louis, but they still have a lot of work to do (and a very small margin for error) if they want to end up inside the bubble.
-OKLAHOMA STATE VS VIRGINIA TECH (Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational, Brooklyn NY). Virginia Tech is 9-1 on the year, and while they don’t have any wins that completely blow you away, they have a lot of decent ones and are probably being undervalued a bit. Oklahoma State was my preseason dark horse, and so far they have failed. A win today could really do a lot to turn their season around, though.
-NEW MEXICO STATE AT DUQUESNE. New Mexico State is still dealing with all the off the court issues surrounding the program. Duquesne is a very respectable 7-2 on the year and has yet another winnable game today.
-MARQUETTE AT NOTRE DAME. Both teams are good, both have managed some decent wins, and both are looking for another one that would look good on their resumes. I wouldn’t go so far to call this a big rivalry, but it is a series with some history and it does have at least a little bit of heat to it.
-MARYLAND VS TENNESSEE (Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational, Brooklyn NY). Both teams are high in the rankings, both have managed some really good wins this year, and both are putting together the types of profiles that protected seeds typically get. This is the kind of game teams need to win in order to get a protected seed.
-OREGON STATE AT TEXAS A&M. TAMU still has a lot of talent and a lot of potential, but they have been disappointing so far. They really can’t afford to lose this one at home. Oregon State doesn’t look like a tournament team, but they are better than what we were expecting and are good enough to beat teams that overlook them.
-WISCONSIN AT IOWA (Big Ten). This is a very good Wisconsin team, and quite frankly it’s almost laughable that they’re not in the top 25 right now. Earlier this week they beat a highly ranked Maryland team, and that followed up an overtime win on the road against a really good Marquette team. Today, they’ve got another tough road test against an Iowa team that’s also good and that’s probably on an emotional high after their blowout win against rivals Iowa State.
-SETON HALL AT RUTGERS. Rutgers comes in at 6-3, and in their last game they lost on a desperation 3 at the buzzer at Ohio State that somehow went in. Still, this Rutgers team is really good and I have to think big wins will start coming. They should win this one against rivals Seton Hall today at home.
-HOFSTRA VS UMASS (Basketball Hall of Fame Inviational, Brooklyn NY). Hofstra is a fairly tough team out of the Colonial and UMass is off to a decent 7-2 start. They still have a ton of work to do in order to be considered a tournament team, but they’re having a much better year than what many of us were expecting.
-MISSISSIPPI STATE AT MINNESOTA. Mississippi State comes in 8-0 and ranked in the top 25. This is their first true road game of the year, though. It’s the kind of game that a tournament caliber team should be able to win, so we’ll see what they can do.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Tarleton @ UCF – This is a good UCF team and a win gets them to 7-2
-Central Connecticut @ Fordham – a win for Fordham gets them to 11-1 on the year
-North Greenville (NonD1) @ Charleston – Charleston is getting closer and closer to the top 25
-Prairie View @ Northwestern
-Incarnate Word @ Kansas State
-Indiana State @ Southern Indiana – Indiana State can improve to 10-1 on the season and pick up their third road win
-Navy @ Towson
-McNeese @ Iowa State