NEWS AND NOTES:
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-Arizona closed out Alabama in Phoenix last night after taking control of the second half as they picked up the 87-74 win. Alabama has fallen to 6-5, but that record is more of an indication of how strong their schedule has been than it is anything else. I still think the Tide are a good team that will be really strong in the SEC and who will easily make it into the NCAA Tournament.
-UConn was expected to cruise past Seton Hall despite being the road team, but instead were beaten rather handily by the Pirates 75-60 in their Big East opener. Seton Hall improves to 8-4 and now has a highly impressive win on their resume to go along with that record. UConn, who had looked fantastic in virtually every game they had played prior to this one, is obviously still in good shape, but it was a little surprising to see them get beat like they did and to see Seton Hall in complete control late in the game.
-North Carolina handed Oklahoma their first loss of the season with a very impressive 81-69 win in Charlotte. The game was sort of in UNC’s back yard, but it was still an impressive showing by a Tarheels team that has looked really good all year long. I’ve been critical of them in years past, but am all in on them this year.
-Baylor suffered their second straight loss as they fell 78-70 to Duke in Madison Square Garden. I’m still big on this Baylor team, but while their losses have come against strong opponents, they haven’t looked quite as good in either game as we were expecting them to. Still, they looked a lot better last night than they did in the blowout loss to Michigan State. As for the Blue Devils, this was perhaps their biggest single win of the season to date, and it will really help boost the value of their resume.
-Villanova got a HUGE 68-66 win at Creighton last night in their Big East opener. If you take out the Big Five losses to Drexel, Penn, and Saint Joe’s, Nova has looked like a protected seed! Creighton has lost two of their last three, but is still in relatively good shape given how strong their schedule has been.
-Saint John’s beat Xavier rather comfortably 81-66. The Johnnies are now 8-3 on the year and are starting to make a case that they are an NCAA Tournament caliber team. They’ve still got work to do, but they’ve put it within reach.
-Northwestern beat Arizona State 65-46 and didn’t really even need to break a sweat to do it. Outside of the very out-of-character loss to Chicago State, this Northwestern team has looked like a top 25 team all season long, and definitely looked like one last night.
-New Mexico improved to 11-1 with their 78-65 win over UC Irvine. For the Eaters it was a chance to pick up the kind of win that could help land them inside the bubble if they blew through the Big West, but then didn’t win the conference tournament. As for New Mexico, they are off to a very good start of the second year in a row and are definitely a team to pay attention to as they head into Mountain West play.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-NEVADA VS TEMPLE (Diamond Head Classic). Nevada has an impressive 9-1 record and is coming off a nice win at Hawaii (who they may see again in this event). Still, they don’t have any huge wins on their resume so they need to keep stringing wins like this one together. Picking up some more wins away from home in this event should help.
-TCU VS OLD DOMINION (Diamond Head Classic). TCU is 8-1, but their schedule has been among the weakest in the nation and nearly every win has been a home buy game against an exceptionally weak UTR team. This event will at least allow them the opportunity to pick up some wins away from home.
-KENTUCKY AT LOUISVILLE. This has historically been a bitter rivalry, but it has also been such a mismatch these last two years that a lot of the heat has been taken out of it. Kentucky is starting to play better and better, but this is their first true road game, so a win today would give their resume something that they don’t yet have. Louisville is 5-6 and already has more wins than they had a year ago, but they’ve all been home buy games. While Louisville is at home tonight, Kentucky is a lot better than the kinds of teams they’ve beaten up to this point.
-SAINT JOSEPH’S AT CHARLESTON. Joe’s is having an amazing year so far with a 9-2 record, but this is still a big game because it would be just their second true road win of the season, and Charleston is not an easy team to beat on the road. Joe’s is good enough to land inside the bubble, but their margin for error is a little smaller given the conference that they play in. They just don’t get the opportunities at big wins that can offset bad losses.
-WICHITA STATE VS KANSAS STATE (Kansas City MO). Wichita State is off to a respectable 8-3 start, but there isn’t anything on their resume yet to indicate that they are a top 40 caliber team that can land inside the bubble. A win in a game like this could change that. K State is coming off a somewhat surprising home loss to Nebraska, but they still have a solid resume and look like the kind of team that will make the NCAA Tournament, so this would be a huge statement win in a bit of a showcase game (at least regionally) for Wichita State.
-STANFORD AT SAN DIEGO STATE. San Diego State should be able to hold serve at home in this one and get to 10-2 on the year. Stanford is a respectable 5-4, but getting this win on the road is probably over their heads.
-KENT STATE AT OREGON. This match-up is interesting. Oregon is likely a tournament caliber team, but they need to hold serve in games like this in order to sustain their resume. Kent State comes in at 7-3 and has shown they can play at a high level, and a road win like this would really help their resume and would be something that jumps out at the committee as a high caliber win, so it’s a big opportunity for the Golden Flashes.
-GEORGIA TECH VS UMASS (Diamond Head Classic). GA Tech has some decent wins this season, and at 6-3 is much better than we were expecting. They haven’t been that good away from home, though. This event gives them the opportunity to pick up some wins away from home against competition that isn’t exactly top-25-caliber, but is still respectable.
-BOISE STATE VS WASHINGTON STATE (Spokane WA). This isn’t a true road game, but it’s still a test for a Boise State team that’s 8-3 and looking to get some notable wins on their resume. The crowd should be partial toward Wazzu, who comes in at 8-2. Both teams have nice records, but both could use some meat on their profiles, and this would be a nice win for whichever team is able to pull it off.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES/BUY GAMES:
-UT Arlington @ Texas Tech – A win for TX Tech gets them to 9-2 on the year
-Alcorn State @ George Washington – GW’s resume is still a little flimsy, but their overall record is good and a win today gets them to 10-2 overall
-Virginia-Lynchburg (nonD1) @ UNC Greensboro
-Presbyterian @ Wake Forest
-Northern Colorado @ Air Force (Front Range) – We at Hoops HD LOVE the Front Range!! A win for AFA gets them to a very respectable 8-4 on the year
-Niagara @ Syracuse
-American @ Virginia Tech – I’m starting to like this VA Tech team more and more
-Lehigh @ Boston College
-New Orleans @ Ohio State
-Jacksonville @ Purdue
-Tarlton State @ Tennessee – Tarlton State is having a good year, especially for a transitional team, but they’re likely going to be way overmatched tonight
-Gardner Webb @ Akron – Akron needs to keep stringing together wins
-Stony Brook @ Michigan State – Michigan State got off to a very slow start, but appears to be hitting their stride
-Abilene Christian @ Arkansas – Arkansas has a lot of talent, but they sometimes take their opponents for granted, and they don’t want to do that tonight
-Utah Tech @ Colorado
-UNC Wilmington @ Marshall – a win for UNCW gets them to 9-2 on the year, and also gives them their 5th true road win
-UNC Asheville @ Appalachian State – App State is Hot! Hot! Hot! They are actually good enough to land inside the bubble, but they need to keep holding serve in games like this
-Florida A&M @ UCF
-Texas State @ Houston
-Stonehill @ Miami FL
-Ball State @ Minnesota – Minnesota is 8-3, but seven of those wins came in home buy games and Ball State is a lot better than most of the teams they’ve been playing
-Eastern Illinois @ Iowa State
-North Alabama @ Indiana
-Eastern Washington @ Washington – Washington continues to string together wins
-Northern Kentucky @ Saint Mary’s
-Portland @ Hawaii (Diamond Head Classic)