NEWS AND NOTES:
Yesterday was a reasonably busy day, but for the most part it was all chalk, but…
-Kansas State got a nice 69-60 win over Wichita State in Kansas City and continues to look like a solid tournament team.
-Washington had to sweat out Eastern Washington, but held on to win 73-66. The game was close all the way up until the final minute or so.
-Washington State improved to 9-2 with a solid 66-61 win in Spokane over a fairly good Boise State team, and..
-Samford is now 11-2 on the year after their road win at Texas Southern. They lost their season opener to Purdue, but have played really well since then. Bucky Ball is alive and well!!!! We love Bucky Ball!!!
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-GEORGE MASON AT TULANE. Both teams still have a lot of work to do. Both have small margins of error and neither has much in the way of notable wins yet, but both have decent overall records at this point. George Mason is coming in at 9-2 and Tulane coming in at 8-2. But, like I said, neither team has anything that comes close to resembling a quality win, so it will be an interesting test for them both today as they go against each other.
-DRAKE AT UAB. UAB has been somewhat disappointing this year and is just 3-3 at home, but it’s still not the easiest place to go and win. Drake is having a very strong year with an 11-1 overall record, but this is only their second true road game, so a win would help build up their resume in regards to the number of true road wins.
-NEVADA VS TCU (Diamond Head Classic). Both teams are coming into this game with just one loss, but both of them (especially TCU) are lacking big time when it comes to quality wins, so this game actually has a bit of a pivotal feel to it. Both teams, especially TCU, will get their chances at big wins later on this season in conference play, but there is still something at stake today.
-GEORGETOWN AT MARQUETTE (Big East). Marquette was beaten rather handily by Providence in their conference opener and needs to bounce back today at home. I still really like this Marquette team, but they didn’t look good their last time out.
-ILLINOIS VS MISSOURI (Saint Louis MO). The Braggin’ Rights Game!!! Missouri has been somewhat disappointing so far this year, but they’ve been good enough to where they’re still in position to boost themselves into the rankings and high up the seedlist if they can turn it around and start winning big games. A win tonight would be a nice way to start that. Illinois, on the other hand, has looked really good with wins over teams like Rutgers and Florida Atlantic, and can add another notable win to their resume tonight.
-MARYLAND AT UCLA. Both teams have struggled this year, both have a lot of work to do, and both could really use this win. In fact both should be coming into this one with a big of a sense of urgency given how slowly they’ve started.
-GEORGIA TECH AT HAWAII (Diamond Head Classic). Georgia Tech has now won five of their last six, and has beaten Mississippi State, Duke, Penn State, and UMass in that stretch. Still, they don’t have a true road win on their resume yet, and while this is part of an MTE it will still be considered a road game. It won’t be easy. Hawaii is a respectable 6-2 on the year with all six of those wins coming at home. Georgia Tech is still being ignored by…well…everyone. If they get this win tonight then I think it means people should start paying a whole lot of attention to them.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES/BUY GAMES:
-James Madison @ Morgan State – JMU should remain unbeaten and pick up their 5th true road win of the year
-Delaware Valley (nonD1) @ Princeton
-TAMUCC @ Texas
-Grambling @ Florida
-Queens @ Clemson
-Elon @ South Carolina
-Mississippi Valley State @ Baylor
-Stetson @ Cincinnati
-Yale @ Kansas – I still think Yale can have a big year in the Ivy League despite a somewhat sluggish start, but they are likely way overmatched in this one
-Chicago State @ Wisconsin – It’s been a lot of fun watching Chicago State string together some wins, but chances are they’re just way too overmatched in this one
-Alabama State @ Auburn
-Houston Christian @ Texas A&M
-Bellarmine @ BYU
-East Tennessee State @ Utah State
-Colorado State @ LMU – this isn’t the easiest game in the world for the Rams to win, and LMU is a very respectable 5-1 at home, but it is a winnable road game