NEWS AND NOTES:
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-Duquesne held off Bradly 69-67 at home last night, which in and of itself isn’t really impressive or noteworthy. Duquesne probably won’t land inside the bubble, but they are 8-2 on the year. They were my preseason pick to win the Atlantic 10, and while I’ve walked that back given how well Saint Joseph’s and Dayton have been playing, the fact that Duquesne is 8-2 against ANYBODY is a story in and of itself. Last year we talked about how much fun it was to watch Fordham. This year’s story out of this league is Duquesne. They haven’t had a season this good in at least the last thirty years.
-Chicago State has now won four of their last five, all of which were D1 games, after beating UTRGV last night 78-68. Can the Northeast Conference just invite them to play in the conference tournament this year?? Hell, the NEC has teams in it that aren’t eligible for an NCAA Tournament bid! Why not invite another soon-to-be member that IS eligible for it!!??
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-GEORGETOWN AT BUTLER (Big East). Butler is off to a much better than expected 9-2 start, and one of those losses was a competitive game against Florida Atlantic. They’re at home against a Georgetown team that has improved quite a bit and is 7-4 overall, but still has a long way to go. It should be a somewhat routine win tonight for the Bulldogs at home.
-VIRGINIA AT MEMPHIS. Virginia just barely escaped a really big upset in their last game against Northeastern and will need to play much better on the road today against a Memphis team that has looked good all year, has a few nice wins on their resume, and that has cracked the rankings. A win in this one would look good on either team’s resume.
-UNC GREENSBORO AT HIGH POINT. A really strong UTR match-up between a UNCG team that has an outside shot at landing inside the bubble if they can blow through the rest of their schedule, and a High Point team that has been playing really well lately and that won’t be easy to beat at home. This one should be fun!
-WESTERN CAROLINA AT VANDERBILT. WCU is off to a much better than expected start at 8-2 and they may be able to pick up their fifth true road win of the year tonight, which is something to pay attention to.
-FLORIDA VS MICHIGAN (Jumpman Invitational, Charlotte). Michigan has had moments of looking like a good team, but only moments. Overall they’re just 6-5 with a blah resume that they need to build up by stringing together some wins. The Gators have looked better, but still have some room to improve and a win like this on a neutral floor would help.
-MARQUETTE AT PROVIDENCE (Big East). It’s the conference opener for both teams. Providence has been better than expected this year, and they’re at home, but even when you take both of those things into consideration this is still a game Marquette should win. They’re high in the rankings and a legit Final Four contender.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES/BUY GAMES:
-Morehead State @ Indiana – Indiana has looked sort of ‘meh’ all season long, but they did look good in their last game against Kansas despite the loss
-Coppin State @ Games Madison
-Troy @ Ole Miss – Ole Miss should be able to stay unbeaten
-USC @ Alabama State – USC has been somewhat disappointing this year, but this SHOULD be an easy road win for them, which would be their first of the year
-Tennessee State @ Indiana State – Indiana State can improve to 11-1 and it’s time that the country start paying more attention to them
-Winthrop @ South Carolina – Winthrop is a pretty decent team out of the Big South, but this should still be a rather routine win for what’s looking like a really good South Carolina team
-Bridgewater College (nonD1) @ George Mason
-Merrimack @ Cincinnati – Cincinnati is 8-2, but 6 of those wins were home buy games
-Alcorn State @ Drake – a win for Drake gets them to 11-1
-Saint Katherine (nond1) @ San Diego State
-Middle Tennessee @ Saint Mary’s
-Cal State Northridge @ UCLA