NEWS AND NOTES:
-For John Stalica’s Under the Radar Game of the Day between Howard and James Madison – CLICK HERE
While there were certainly some exciting games yesterday, nothing overly cataclysmic happened. Most people were probably watching football instead anyway.
-Bradley is now 2-0 with wins over UAB on the road, which is tough to do, and an overtime win at home against a Utah State team that’s rebuilding, but that’s still a whole hell of a lot better than a lot of teams they could have played in a buy game. The Braves now have our attention.
-UNC Asheville, my preseason Big South pick and a team that I said I thought might be able to make some noise nationally, played their second game yesterday and for the second time was completely blown off the floor. UNC Wilmington (who to be fair is another really good team out of the CAA) just went into Asheville and dominated the entire game 83-66. I still think UNCA will be good once they get into the Big South, and if anything I’m starting to keep more of an eye on UNCW, but I will also admit that UNCA is not as good as I thought they would be. At least they haven’t show in it so far.
-It’s not easy to win at places like Cleveland State, but as we at Hoops HD like to say, it’s not easy to make the NCAA Tournament. Ohio U is a good team (or so we think), and they lost a game at Cleveland State yesterday 82-78 that we knew would be tough for them to win, but these are the kinds of games teams that end up making the NCAA Tournament have to be able to win.
-Kent State followed up their overtime thrilling loss against James Madison with a solid win at home against Fresno State 79-69. The Golden Flashes are not an easy team to beat on their floor.
-Notre Dame looks to be really bad. I want to make that perfectly clear. But Western Carolina actually doesn’t. That’s a strange thing to say because WCU has seemingly always been bad, but they’re actually a dark horse in the SoCon this year. Their 71-61 win in South Bend yesterday wasn’t really a fluke or a surprise.
-DePaul also looks really bad. They lost at home to Long Beach State yesterday 77-73, and unlike Western Carolina Long Beach State is NOT a team that’s expected to make much noise in their respective conference this year.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-MARYLAND VS UAB (Asheville Championship). This is the third place game, but on the team sheets and to the selection committee that won’t be mentioned anywhere. It will appear as any other neutral floor game would. UAB is off to a rough start having close losses in both their games against pretty respectable teams, and Maryland is looking to bounce back after a surprising upset loss to Davidson. Both teams could use a win like this on their resume, and I think as the season goes on both will end up with very respectable records.
-SAN JOSE STATE AT TEXAS TECH. Not much is expected out of either team this year, but both come into this one without a loss. It’s also fair to say that both are coming in without a test, but nevertheless neither team has lost. Yet.
-DAVIDSON AT CLEMSON (Asheville Championship). Clemson is here after a nice win over UAB, and Davidson is here after a surprising win against Maryland. I believe Clemson is a solid NCAA Tournament caliber team, and picking up another win away from home would be a really solid start to the building of their tournament resume.
-SAN FRANCISCO AT BOISE STATE. We like this Boise State team, and they are off to a 2-0 start. We weren’t quite as big on the Dons as we have been in recent years, but if they can some how pull this one off on the road then they’ll certainly have our attention.
-WEBER STATE AT SAINT MARY’S. Weber State is the near consensus favorite to win the Big Sky and they come into this one after winning their season opener. They’re probably in way over their heads in this one, though. SMC is tough to beat at home, they come in ranked 23rd and probably should be higher, and they didn’t really have to sweat against a really good New Mexico team in their last game.
-NEVADA AT WASHINGTON. I don’t think either of these teams will be in the picture come March, but both come into this one without a loss and have the chance to get what would for now be a notable win.
BUY GAMES AND OTHER NOTABLE GAMES
-Bryant @ Rutgers – Rutgers looking for their first win (EDIT: and by first he means second)
-Eastern Washington @ Cincinnati – I still think EWU will be good once they get into Big Sky play. Cincinnati trying to improve to 3-0
-Idaho State @ Iowa State
-Lehigh @ North Carolina
-Friends (nonD1) @ Wichita State
-Sam Houston @ Oklahoma State – Sam Houston could make some noise in CUSA, and Oklahoma State is still looking for their first win
-Howard @ James Madison – it’s the home opener for JMU and I hope the place is sold out. They’ve had a fantastic start to the year to say the least!
-Gardner Webb @ Baylor
-NC Central @ Georgia – Georgia is 1-1 and has looked better than expected so far
-UC Riverside @ Portland – Portland can get to 3-0 with a win
-Northern Arizona @ Grand Canyon
-Yale @ LMU – I’m really big on this Yale team, and this should be a winnable road game for them. It’s one they need if they want to make a run at the bubble
-Army @ Indiana
-UC Davis @ Montana – The first road game for UC Davis after a 2-0 start