NEWS AND NOTES:
-I counted, and as of the time I’m writing this UConn is playing eight games this year against current top 12 teams and could face more in the Big East Tournament. That’s over 25% of their schedule. That’s an entire conference schedule in football. They didn’t get it done at Kansas, but it was hard to not be impressed with how well they played in that game, and they did get it done against North Carolina last night 87-76. This game was hardly a blowout, but throughout pretty much all of it it felt as though UConn was in control. The Huskies have certainly gone out and played, and they’ve certainly passed their tests.
-Illinois shot a stupidly high percentage from the floor against Florida Atlantic, and had a lead for pretty much the entire second half, but despite their hot shooting, and an amazing 59pts in the second half, they could not put the Owls away. It wasn’t until about the final minute of the game where the finally got control and held on for a 98-89 win at the Jimmy V Classic.
-Evansville had been one of the bigger surprises in all of college basketball in getting off to a 7-1 start, and I still think they can end up having a decent year overall, but BYU blew them into the sun last night with a 96-55 win. I think the Cougars were up by 20 when the game tipped off.
-Providence had also been having a really good (and much better than expected) start to the season, but ran into a buzz saw against a really good Oklahoma team in Norman last night. The Sooners picked up the really impressive 72-51 win.
-Grand Canyon improved to 7-1 on the season and picked up their first ever win against a top 25 team as they knocked off San Diego State 79-73. The atmosphere was incredible, and to me this is the kind of thing that college basketball needs more of and that top 25 caliber programs should be more willing to schedule. In the long run, this loss isn’t likely to hurt San Diego State all that much. You know why? Because they ARE a top 25 caliber team!! They’ll have the chances to get the wins. they need to in order to demonstrate that, and will still end up very solidly in the field. Same with Auburn, who lost a similar type game at Appalachian State a few days ago. Those losses don’t hurt a team’s profile or season nearly as much as what a lot coaches are afraid of. SO PLAY MORE OF THEM!!! What are you afraid of?? At the end of the day, Auburn is still Auburn, San Diego State is still San Diego State, and Appalachian State is still App State, and GCU is still GCU.
-The CAA continues to win big games! Last night Delaware went in to Xavier and pretty much owned them in the second half of the game and picked up the 87-80 win. Delaware had no trouble getting to the basket and getting good looks on seemingly every crucial offensive possession.
-Princeton is 9-0 for the first time in well over a century!! Congrats to the Tigers after their 81-70 win over Drexel.
-Villanova continues to play well when they’re not playing Big 5 teams, but they came up short last night at Kansas State in a game they kind of blew. They had a chance to win at the end of regulation, but took too much time to get into their offense and get a good shot off. In overtime, they led by 4pts late, but a late 3 pointer put K State ahead and then Nova failed to score on their final possession so the K State escaped 72-71. Still, it was a good effort in a tough environment, and I still think Nova is going to end up having a good year and making the NCAA Tournament.
-Georgia Tech has proven they can beat good teams at home. In their last two home games they managed wins against Mississippi State and Duke. They’ve also proven that they can’t beat mediocre teams on the road. They were pretty much never in the game against Georgia last night and lost 76-62.
-Indiana got a really nice 78-75 win at Michigan. I was critical of them because all their wins had been home buy games, and they had struggled in a lot of those, but now they’re 7-1 on the year with a win at Michigan. That just looks and sounds a lot better!
.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-RUTGERS AT WAKE FOREST. Both teams are off to somewhat slower starts than they had hoped, but both are still good teams that could have big years and this is potentially a nice resume-building opportunity for both of them.
-MEMPHIS AT VCU. I think this is a good Memphis team, and I do think they’ll land inside the bubble, but it’s also worth noting that they don’t have quite as many chances at big wins as teams from the P5/Big East have. It’s not easy to win at VCU, but it’s the kind of game that an at-large caliber team should be able to win.
-TEXAS AT MARQUETTE (Big East-Big 12 Battle). Marquette is coming off a road loss to Wisconsin, which may have bruised their egos a little bit, but the overall health of their team and resume is just fine. They’re facing a really good Texas team today, and it’s a chance for the Longhorns to pick up a huge quality road win if they can pull it off, but that’s much easier said than done.
-SOUTH CAROLINA AT CLEMSON. It’s a rivalry game between two undefeated teams that are off to much better starts than what we typically see. In fact, this is perhaps the greatest storyline the basketball version of this rivalry has ever had! It should be fun!
-LIPSCOMB AT BELMONT. This game is not likely to have any sort of impact on the bubble or the NCAA Tournament whatsoever, but we at Hoops HD will ALWAYS highlight The Battle of the Boulevard!!
-UC SANTA BARBARA AT NEW MEXICO. I kind of like both of these teams, but there is no ignoring that neither has passed a big test yet. UCSB has won four straight since getting off to an 0-2 start, and has the chance to pick up a big road win tonight. New Mexico is 7-1, but their one loss was rather handily to a Saint Mary’s team that’s…well…been terrible this year and none of their wins so far are all that notable. So, I guess this is somewhat of a test for both of them.
-NEBRASKA AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten). This isn’t the kind of game that I would normally feel it was necessary to mention, but Nebraska is 7-1 (although six of those wins were home buy games) and this is their first true road game.
-SAN DIEGO AT UTAH STATE. San Diego is a modest 6-3, but still hasn’t won on the road. Utah State has looked really good so far and a win tonight gets them to 8-1.
-PITTSBURGH AT WEST VIRGINIA. It’s the Backyard Brawl!!! Or, in the case of this year, the Backyard Pillow Fight!!! Actually, I still think Pitt may end up having a good year, but they haven’t shown out in a big way just yet.
-SMU AT ARIZONA STATE. Both teams have modest records, but both still have work to do and both could use this win tonight.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES/BUY GAMES:
-Long Island @ Miami FL
-Youngstown State @ Ohio U – Ohio U is off to a pretty good start, they can get to 6-2 with a win today, and should be one of the better teams in the MAC
-UMES @ NC State
-Duquesne @ Marshall – Duquesne is a respectable 5-2 on the season so far, but is still looking for their first road win
-UMass @ Towson – UMass is off to a somewhat quiet 4-1 start, but is also still looking for their first road win
-Sacred Heart @ Saint John’s
-Miami OH @ Ohio State
-American @ Saint Joseph’s
-Jacksonville @ UCF
-Rice @ Houston
-Saint Louis @ Drake – a win for Drake gets them to 8-1 on the year
-Purdue Fort Wayne @ Southern Indiana – still keeping an eye on PFW. A win gets them to 9-1 overall, and 3-1 on the road
-Omaha @ Texas Tech
-Denver @ Colorado State (Front Range) – Colorado State is in the rankings and should be able to remain unbeaten
-DePaul @ Texas A&M
-UC Davis @ Nevada – Nevada can get to 7-0 with a win
-UNLV @ Dayton – UNLV has been somewhat disappointing this year, whereas the Flyers have looked pretty good. A win get Dayton to 7-2 overall
-UC Riverside @ Washington State – Wazzu can get to 7-1