NEWS AND NOTES:
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-Arizona was in control for most of the game against Michigan State, but the Spartans hung in there and made it close at the end. Arizona ended up with a 74-68 win, which is their second win against a ranked team away from home this season (the other being at Duke), so if you’re doing an early season assessment of which teams are picking up #1 seed caliber wins, Arizona definitely makes the list.
-Colorado State faced off against Creighton and blew them out 69-48 in the Hall of Fame Classic. Creighton was ranked 8th, and almost everyone agreed that they belonged in the top ten, so for Colorado State to just blow up and run them off the floor like that was more than a bit of a surprise. The Rams are suddenly looking really good at 6-0 overall, 3 wins away from home, and a blowout win against a top ten team.
-Villanova needed a big win, and got it yesterday in an overtime 83-81 battle against North Carolina. After an early season setback to Penn, and a lot of people questioning whether or not this team could get it done under Kyle Neptune, they’ve rebounded with some really nice wins in the Battle 4 Atlantis and will face a really good Memphis team in the championship game today.
-Memphis outlasted a super talented Arkansas team to remain unbeaten, and while they’re not currently in the rankings, they should be after how well they’ve played in this event even if they don’t win the championship game against Villanova today.
-Florida Atlantic got the 91-86 win against Butler, and while Butler is getting better as a program, they’re not Top Ten/Final Four level good yet. Yet, FAU still struggled against them, and this comes right after a surprising home loss to Bryant. FAU is good. We definitively know that. They were in the Final Four a year ago and virtually the entire roster is back. But, they haven’t looked like a top ten team this past week.
-Oklahoma looked good in their 79-67 win against Iowa in the Rady Children’s Invitational. They are another team that came into the season unbeaten, but have strung together some notable wins and are worth keeping an eye on.
-Virginia Tech is now 4-1 after a pretty nice win over what we think is a pretty good Boise State team. The Hokies are another team that have emerged early with a decent record and some decent wins.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-TEXAS A&M VS FLORIDA ATLANTIC (ESPN Events Invitational). Both teams are ranked in the top 20 and it’s a chance for both of them to pick up a resume-building win today. This game, and this whole event, is more important for FAU because they’ll have fewer opportunities at notable wins once they get into this season, and they’ve already sustained a rather questionable loss to Bryant.
-ARKANSAS VS NORTH CAROLINA (Battle 4 Atlantis). Both teams are coming off losses, and this would end up being a really big bounce back win because it would still likely end up being a big resume-building win for whichever team pulls it off. North Carolina’s only win to date that wasn’t a home buy game was against a Northern Iowa team that is currently winless, and Arkansas’s only win of note was a double overtime game agains Stanford, so perhaps a sense of urgency in this one as neither team has really looked all that good yet.
-PENN STATE VS BUTLER (ESPN Events Invitational). We weren’t expecting much out of either team, but Penn State is 4-1, Butler is 3-2, and both have looked a little better up to this point than we thought they would this season, so…
-EVANSVILLE AT CHATTANOOGA. I know it’s early, but both of these teams are undefeated. I’m not quite a believer in Evansville yet, but if they can go on the road and get this one I certainly will be! This looks like a pretty good Chattanooga team that will be a frontrunner in the SoCon.
-OREGON STATE VS PITTSBURGH (NIT Season Tip-Off). Pitt is coming off a loss to Florida, but they shouldn’t have too much trouble bouncing back today and getting at least one neutral floor win on their resume. Oregon State comes in at 3-2, but I just don’t think they’re going to be anywhere near the postseason come March.
-USC VS OKLAHOMA (Rady Children’s Invitational). Oklahoma is unbeaten and beat a fairly solid Iowa team yesterday. This game today against USC will be their biggest test of the season so far, but it’s the first of many big tests yet to come. USC rebounded yesterday with a win over seton Hallfter struggling in their last two games.
-MEMPHIS VS VILLANOVA (Battle 4 Atlantis). Both teams came into this event needing to do well and pick up some notable wins for their resumes, and up to this point these two teams have done exactly that. Nova knocked off North Carolina yesterday, and Memphis beat a pretty good Arkansas team. It should be fun watching them go up against each other, and it’s probably a little more important to Memphis because their conference and remaining schedule isn’t quite as strong as Villanova’s, but regardless of the outcome both teams will leave this event looking pretty good.
-DAVIDSON AT SAINT MARY’S. Saint Mary’s has underperformed so far this season, and the hill they need to climb to get back on track will be even steeper if they drop another game like this at home today.
-BAYLOR VS FLORIDA (NIT Season Tip-Off). I really like this Baylor team, and Florida has been a bit of a surprise, especially in their last few games, so this should be a really fun game. Since losing by just 3 to Virginia, the Gators have blown out Florida State, and beat a pretty good Pittsburgh team rather handily in the semifinals of this event.
IOWA STATE VS VIRGINIA TECH TECH (ESPN Events Invitational). Iowa State is off to a 5-0 start, but they haven’t been tested much and just barely beat a so-so VCU team in their first game of this event. VA Tech is a team we weren’t expecting much out of this year, but to date they’ve actually looked better than Iowa State. They did drop a game to South Carolina, but they’ve won all the rest and beat a pretty solid Boise State team yesterday.
-SETON HALL VS IOWA (Ready Children’s Invitational). This is a bit of a bounce back game and a chance to help each team at least put some sort of win other than a home buy game onto their resumes.
-MICHIGAN VS TEXAS TECH (Battle 4 Atlantis). After the first couple games we thought Michigan looked pretty good. In the last few games we think they’ve looked disappointing. They did (barely) get the win against Stanford yesterday and can close out this even with another decent win against a Texas Tech team that’s also still looking for their first notable win of the year.
-ALABAMA VS OHIO STATE (Emerald Coast Classic). This game won’t generate the same amount of interest that a match-up in football would, but it’s still a pretty good early season game. Alabama is unbeaten, and I think they’re really good. This is a chance for them to pick up a win against a probable tournament team in Ohio State who has only managed to win home-buy games up to this point, but whose only loss came against a pretty good Texas A&M team. So, there’s something at stake for both teams here.
-VCU VS BOISE STATE (ESPN Events Invitational). We were big on Boise State coming into the year, but they’ve missed some opportunities at notable wins early on, and really need to take care of business against a VCU team that isn’t likely to be on the bubble come March.
-OREGON VS SANTA CLARA (Emerald Coast Classic). A west coach match-up between two unbeaten teams that’s being played in…(checks notes)… FLORIDA! Santa Clara has our attention. We at Hoops HD currently disagree somewhat on how good they actually are, but they come in unbeaten and we are watching. If they can knock off the Ducks, who are also unbeaten, they will certainly be KEEPING our attention!
-NC STATE AT BYU (Vegas Showdown). Both teams come into this one unbeaten, both have the potential to have big years, but both could also use some early season quality wins on their resume, and to date this is the biggest test for both of them so far.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-UNC Greensboro vs Kansas City (Baha Mar Hoops) – UNCG has a big win at Arkansas and can add some more wins away from home to their resume
-Bryant @ Xavier – it’s a buy game, but Bryant already has a somewhat surprising win against Florida Atlantic
-Charleston Southern @ Wake Forest – Wake has not looked all that good and needs to get things turned around
-Brown @ Delaware – Delaware can get to 5-0
-Manhattan @ UConn – UConn is unbeaten and ranked in the top 5
-Nicholls @ Mississippi State – Mississippi State is 5-0, and Nicholls looks to be one of the best teams in the Southland
-Arkansas Pine Bluff @ Ball State – a win for Ball State gets them to 5-1
-Indiana State vs Toledo (Ball Dawgs Classic) – A chance for Indiana State to pick up their 3rd win in this event and improve to 5-1
-Montana @ Houston
-Utah Tech @ Washington State – Wazzu can get to 4-1 with a win
-Rice vs UC Irvine (Ball Dawgs Classic) – UCI can get to 6-1 on the season and their resume is starting to look pretty solid
-Southern Indiana @ Duke
-Pepperdine @ New Mexico
-Marshall @ Kentucky
-Lehigh @ Providence
-George Washington vs Ohio U (Baha Mar Hoops) – GW is unbeaten and should get a decent test today from an Ohio U team that is a likely MAC frontrunner
-Youngstown State @ Dayton – if Dayton has any hopes at all of making a run at the bubble, they pretty much need to win…well…everything
-Hawaii vs UTRGV (Acrisure Invitational) – Hawaii is 3-0
-Alcorn State @ Clemson – Clemson can get to 5-0
-Vanderbilt vs Arizona State (Vegas Showdown) – both teams have potential. Maybe. But both really need to start stringing together notable wins
-Western Illinois @ Illinois
-Arkansas State vs San Diego (Acrisure Invitational) – San Diego can get to 5-1