NEWS AND NOTES:
-The game that I thought was the most interesting going into last night turned out to be an absolute boat-racing. Auburn blew Vermont off the floor 94-43. I still think Vermont will have a great year, and their opening win at UAB will still carry a lot of weight. It isn’t surprising that they lost to Auburn (who I think can be a Final Four team), but I’m a little surprised they were absolutely dominated the way that they were.
-Columbia, who if you’re paying attention isn’t expected to finish in the top half of the Ivy League by very many people this year, went into Villanova and pulled off the 90-80 upset win. We didn’t think Nova would be that good this year, but this is still surprising. Give credit to Columbia! They played a really good game and made big plays down the stretch. I still don’t think they’re as good as Princeton or Yale, but they are probably better than we thought. And Villanova is probably even worse than we thought.
-Virginia had to sweat out Campbell in their first game without Tony Bennet as a head coach. They were never in any real danger of losing, but they didn’t exactly blow the Camels off the floor either in their 65-56 win.
-San Diego State really had to sweat out UC San Diego, and were behind very late into the second half. They did hold on to win 63-58, though. You may recall that last year San Diego State barely escaped an upset as well winning just 63-62. So, for whatever reason UCSD can play with the Aztecs.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
It’s a slow night in terms of highly important games, but we do have a couple of highly interesting games!!
-UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES & PHARMACY IN SAINT LOUIS AT LINDENWOOD. Such a fascinating match-up!! What a choice for an out of conference game!! Lindenwood’s opponent (it takes too long to type the full name) plays in NAIA, was 1-26 a season ago, and most of those games weren’t close. And…this probably isn’t the most ridiculous match-up of the day!!
-MISSISSIPPI UNIVERSITY FOR WOMEN AT MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE. Okay, I have so many questions! For starters, I can confirm that yes, this is a MEN’S basketball game. According to their Wikipedia Page the Mississippi University for Women began accepting male students as long ago as 1982, but I guess never bothered to changed the name of the school. The institution’s current name is more palatable than what it was called at the time of its founding, and that’s the “Industrial Institute and College for the Education of White Girls.” I am not making that up! I’d also like to see those throwback jerseys!! The Mississippi University for Women plays in NCAA D3 and was 7-18 a year ago. Mississippi Valley State is routinely one of the worst D1 teams in the country, but they should be able to win this one.
-SOUTHERN MISS AT UAB. This game actually has a pivotal feel to it for UAB. We thought they’d be a top 40ish caliber team coming into the season, but they lost their opener the other night to Vermont, who we think is good, but were still a little surprised UAB didn’t beat them at home. UAB does not have a strong schedule, so if they don’t finish with a very bloated record then chances are they’ll need to win the conference tournament to make the NCAA Tournament. So even though it’s early, there is a fair amount on the line for the Blazers. Southern Miss did win their opener against Bowling Green, but have a much tougher assignment tonight against a UAB team that should come out incredibly focused.
-MILWAUKEE AT NORTHERN IOWA. This is John’ Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day. CLICK HERE to read his write up on it
BUY GAMES (and other notable games):
-NC A&T @ Wake Forest – both teams 1-0
-Jacksonville @ Florida – both teams 1-0
-Detroit Mercy @ Loyola Chicago – both teams 1-0
-Prairie View @ DePaul – both teams 1-0, but this may be the weakest matchup of unbeaten teams of all time
-Montana State @ Wisconsin – Montana State should make quite a bit of noise in the Big Sky this year, but they’re overmatched in this one
-Southern @ Iowa
-Omaha @ Stetson – both teams 1-0. Neither team appears to be that strong, but it’s probably still a better game than Prairie View vs DePaul
-Niagara @ Michigan State – both teams 1-0
-Florida A&M @ SMU
-College of Biblical Studies @ McNeese – seriously, where do some of these schools find these teams?? McNeese lost their opener, but should blow through tonight’s game
-Chattanooga @ Saint Mary’s – I still think Chattanooga will do really well in the SoCon, but they didn’t look too impressive in their opener and are likely way overmatched tonight
-Idaho State @ USC
-Cal Poly @ California
-Central Arkansas @ Utah