-Thursday and Friday were/are all pretty uneventful nights, but Saturday is a very busy day! It’s also the first day where there no overlap with college football, so college hoops has the spotlight to itself!! Here is a rundown of all of Saturday’s action!
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-TULANE VS MISSISSIPPI STATE (Atlanta GA). Tulane is off to their best start in recent memory as they are out to a 6-1 start and their only loss was a really close game to Bradley. This will be their biggest test of the year, though. Mississippi State fell out of the rankings after a very surprising upset loss to Southern and playing this one in Atlanta is a good chance for them to bounce back from that.
-SYRACUSE AT GEORGETOWN. It’s a Classic Big East rivalry that still has some heat to it, but the key word there is “some.” Both teams have respectable records, but nearly all the wins have been home buy games, so this would be the most notable win so far for whichever team pulls it out.
-PENN VS KENTUCKY (Malone’s Classic). The game is in Philadelphia, but the crowd will likely be split, or perhaps even pro-Kentucky. Penn already has a win against Villanova, and Kentucky is coming off a loss to UNC Wilmington, so the Wildcats don’t want to just overlook the Quakers.
-ILLINOIS AT TENNESSEE. This is just a really good out of conference campus match-up between two top 20 teams. It doesn’t feel like we get many of those anymore! Tennessee has three losses, but all of them were against top ten teams, and they’re unbeaten at home. Illinois’s only loss was to Marquette and they’re coming off a win against a really good Florida Atlantic team where they shot the ball incredibly well. Still, to get this one on the road against Tennessee would probably be their biggest win of the year to date and go a long way toward cementing them as a protected seed.
-SOUTH CAROLINA AT EAST CAROLINA. South Carolina came up just short against rivals Clemson earlier in the week, but they’re still 7-1 on the year and appear to have a tournament-caliber team. Having said that, this is is the kind of road game they need to be able to win. East Carolina is a very respectable 6-3 on the year with all six wins coming at home, but it’s still the kind of road game an at-large caliber team needs to be able to win.
-ALABAMA VS PURDUE (Hall of Fame Series, Toronto ON). I think Alabama is a top 25 caliber team, and I think Purdue is the best team in the country despite the fact that they’ve lost a game already, so today’s match up is fascinating.
-KANSAS STATE AT LSU. K State had a key player dismissed from the team earlier this week and that will definitely impact the play of their team from here on out. It’s never easy to win a game like this on the road, so more than anything this is a test to see what K State now looks like without such a key player.
-GRAND CANYON AT LIBERTY. Both are Under the Radar top ten teams, and both have an outside shot of landing inside the bubble. I think that will be more true for Grand Canyon can somehow manage a win today. They are coming off a home win against San Diego State, but winning at home, even against a top 25 team, probably isn’t as hard as winning against a team as good as Liberty on Liberty’s floor. This is perhaps the game I’m most excited to watch today!
-AUBURN VS INDIANA (Holiday Hoopsgiving, Atlanta GA). I really like this Auburn team and I don’t think the loss at Appalachian State will end up being all that damaging, especially if they can follow it up with a win in a game like this. Indiana is 7-1, and while I’ve been critical about their quality of play so far, they are coming off a road win at Michigan, and if they can get this win today they’ll have me believing in them.
-WISCONSIN AT ARIZONA. I like this Wisconsin team, I think they were once again undervalued in the preseason rankings, and they do have a really nice win against Marquette who is one of the best teams in the nation. As much as they’ve been tested, playing on the road against the #1 ranked team is as big as a test can possibly be. If Wisconsin can somehow win this, they should shoot up the rankings and be firmly in the discussion for a protected seed.
-ARKANSAS VS OKLAHOMA (Tulsa OK). Arkansas is loaded with talent and has a nice win over Duke, but they still are a little inconsistent. This is a major test for them, and if they were to get it the value of their resume would go through the roof. Oklahoma comes in at 8-0, but hasn’t been tested nearly as much as Arkansas has. Even though the crowd in Tulsa should favor the Sooners and give them a semi-home game this is probably still their biggest test of the year up to this point.
-CLEMSON VS TCU (Hall of Fame Series, Toronto ON). Both of these teams are unbeaten, but Clemson’s schedule has been tough whereas TCU’s has been one of the weakest in all of D1, and they barely escaped with a controversial ending against Georgetown earlier this year. This is the first real test for the Horned Frogs, and it will be interesting to see what they can do.
-STEPHEN F AUSTIN AT WYOMING. I don’t think this is a game where either team will be close to the bubble, but it’s still a good game, and for now SFA has had some decent wins and this would be another one on the road, and Wyoming may be good enough to make a little bit of noise in the Mountain West.
-NEW MEXICO VS SANTA CLARA (Jack Jones Classic, Henderson NV). Both teams have bloated records, but while Santa Clara made a little noise with their win against Oregon neither team looks to have a win as good as this one would be yet, so it’s a good resume building opportunity for two teams that could use it.
-MISSOURI AT KANSAS. Missouri is off to a decent 7-2 start and has won both their road games so far, but this is a much bigger challenge. Since this series was renewed Kansas has won both the games in blowouts, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see them blow out the Tigers again.
-OHIO STATE AT PENN STATE (Big Ten). Ohio State can improve to 9-1 overall, but this is their first true road game of the season. Still, it’s a game the Buckeyes should win.
-SAINT MARY’S AT COLORADO STATE. I have to believe that eventually Saint Mary’s will hit their stride and start playing like the top 25 team that we all expected them to be, but they sure as hell haven’t done it yet. Colorado State, on the other hand, has looked amazing this year and will end up as a protected seed if they keep it up. They should be able to hold serve at home in this one.
-CINCINNATI AT XAVIER. Cincinnati comes in at 7-0, but the majority of their wins have been home buy games and their one road win was in overtime at Howard, so this is still probably the biggest test of the year for the Bearcats. Having said that, Xavier has been very underwhelming overall with losses to Oakland and Delaware at home. The storyline going into this matchup is weaker than what we are used to seeing from this rivalry. And, I still say Gold Star is better!!!
-BYU AT UTAH. This one is always a war!! BYU comes in ranked 14th in the nation and is unbeaten with some fairly nice wins, but beating their rivals on the road probably be their biggest feel-good win of the season so far. Utah is looking for a signature win of thier own to help boost their resume, and they barely survived against Southern Utah the other night, so this is a big one for them as well. It means a lot both on and off paper, which makes it the best kind of game!
-JAMES MADISON AT OLD DOMINION (Sun Belt). What used to be an old CAA rivalry is now a Sun Belt rivalry! It’s the conference opener for both teams. JMU is unbeaten and looking for their third road win of the season.
-UCLA AT VILLANOVA. Both of these teams have shown high levels of potential and Nova has some fairly decent wins on their resume, but both also have a lot of work to do. UCLA played Marquette and Gonzaga close, but didn’t win either game and then nearly lost to UC Riverside their last time out. They could really use a big win like this on their resume. Nova has beaten Memphis and North Carolina, but they’ve lost three straight, and have losses to teams like Drexel. They need this win to help stabilize their resume. There should be a sense of urgency for both teams coming into this one.
-NEVADA VS DRAKE (Jack Jones Classic, Henderson NV). Nevada comes into this game at 7-0 and has a decent win against Washington, but hasn’t had any really big tests yet. Drake has only lost one game, and while they might not be a “really big” test, they’re still a good team. This is a resume building opportunity for two teams whose schedules don’t necessarily provide them with an abundance of opportunities, which makes this an important game for both of them.
-RUTGERS AT SETON HALL. Another rivalry game that’s always really exciting, and that is once again between two teams that could really use this win.
-UTEP AT OREGON. This is a fairly decent UTEP team, but it’s the kind of game Oregon needs to be able to win almost 100% if the time if they want to show that they belong inside the bubble. At-large caliber teams don’t lose games like this at home.
-UC IRVINE AT SAN DIEGO STATE. This is a much better game than what it will probably get credit for. UC Irvine still has an outside shot at getting inside the bubble, but they probably need this win to go along with their win at USC in order to make it happen. The Eaters have lost two straight, and while both were on the road to fairly good teams, they need another win on the road against a fairly good team to get their resume where it needs to be. San Diego State is ranked in the top 25 and probably belongs there despite their road loss to Grand Canyon. They’re not easy to beat on their floor.
-ARIZONA STATE AT SAN DIEGO. This is the first true road game for the 6-2 Sun Devils, and it may not be easy against the Toreros who are unbeaten at home.
-GONZAGA AT WASHINGTON. This is another rivalry game, and it’s a big test for the Zags. They’ve been tested already, but this is their first true road game and it’s against a Washington team that’s played pretty well this year. All three of their losses were highly competitive games against really good teams, and a win tonight at home over a brand name rival could really give them a boost of momentum.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES/BUY GAMES:
-Saint Peter’s @ Duqeusne (Friday, Dec 8th)
-Arkansas Pine Bluff @ UConn
-FGCU @ Minnesota
-Valparaiso @ Virginia Tech
-California @ Butler – a win for Butler gets them to 8-2 on the year
-UMass Lowell @ UMass – Lowell won this game last year, and is off to a good 6-2 start this year, so UMass better not overlook them.
-Troy @ Dayton
-Florida State vs South Florida (Orange Bowl Classic) – Florida State can get to 5-3
-Central Michigan @ Creighton
-Colgate @ Vermont – two UTR teams that will likely be conference frontrunners
-Southern Indiana @ Indiana State – The Trees can get to 9-1 on the year, which is amazing since this is just their 4th home game
-Charlotte @ Duke – Charlotte is a decent team, but is likely way overmatched today, especially on the road
-Houston Christian @ Texas
-Hofstra @ Saint Louis – Hofstra is starting to make a little bit of noise, and this is a winnable road game, which would get them to 7-2 on the year
-Louisiana @ Louisiana Tech – I love this rivalry. It appears that LA Tech is the better team, and can get to 8-2 on the year if they can get this win at home
-Jackson State @ Houston
-Western Oregon (nonD1) @ Boise State
-UNC Asheville @ Western Carolina – a match-up between two pretty good UTR teams
-Richmond vs Florida (Orange Bowl Classic)
-Siena @ Saint Bonaventure (Big Four) – The Bonnies are 6-2 and this should be a winnable game for them
-Eastern Washington @ Air Force – A win for AFA gets them to a respectable 8-2 on the year
-Coppin State @ George Washington – A win for GW gets them to a respectable 8-2 on the year
-Canisius @ Pittsburgh
-Akron @ Northern Kentucky – I still like this Akron team and they can get to a respectable 6-3 on the year and pick up their second road win
-SEMO @ Purdue Fort Wayne – PFW can get to an impressive 10-1 on the season with a win
-South Dakota State @ Wichita State – South Dakota State has been a little disappointing this year, but should do well once league play starts. Still, they’re probably overmatched tonight by 7-2 Wichita State
-NJIT @ Wake Forest
-Notre Dame @ Marquette – the Irish have not looked all that good and this one may end up looking like a buy game
-Northwest Nazarene (nonD1) @ Utah State