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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-VCU VS BOSTON COLLEGE (Veterans Classic – Annapolis, MD). Both teams come into this game 1-0, but all signs point to VCU being the superior team. Having said that, if BC were to win it, it would very quickly change our opinions of the Golden Eagles and suddenly put them on our radar.
-NORTH CAROLINA AT KANSAS. It’s our second top ten matchup of the week! I like North Carolina a lot, but I like Kansas more and since they’re at home one would think they would have the advantage in this one. It’s a chance for both teams to get a signature win very early in the season and it’s good for teams to play resume-building games this early on instead of devouring a few cupcakes right out of the gate. It ‘s also better for the fans!
-SOUTH FLORIDA AT CHARLESTON. An interesting game here as South Florida gave Florida a fairly decent showing earlier this week even though the Gators did pull away down the stretch. Charleston started things off with a nice neutral floor win against Southern Illinois. While this may not be a chance for either team to pick up a tier-1 win, it’s still a good early season game and opportunity for both of them.
-UMASS AT WEST VIRGINIA. I don’t have a whole lot of hope that either team will be anywhere near the bubble come the end of the season, but both teams did win their openers, both have very good coaches, and both have a chance at a notable (at least for now) early season win in this one.
-SANTA CLARA VS ARIZONA STATE (Game in Henderson, NV). I was really impressed with what Santa Clara did in their opener in getting a win against what we think is a good Saint Louis team. They have a chance to pick up another notable win against an Arizona State team that also won their opener, but did so rather unimpressively against Idaho State. I’d almost be surprised if Santa Clara didn’t pick this one up. This would make the 2-0 with both wins coming on neutral floors, which is about as good as you can ask for right now.
-PRINCETON VS DUQUESNE (Jersy Jam – Trenton NJ). Princeton won their opening game, but BARELY! Beating Iona by just one point isn’t exactly a top-40-caliber statement win. They should be able to get this one tonight against a Duquesne team that is completely rebuilding and who lost their opener to Lipscomb.
-GEORGE MASON AT MARQUETTE. Both teams breezed through their openers, but both played weak teams. George Mason is probably extremely overmatched in this one, but if they were to get a win they would suddenly catapult themselves into the national spotlight.
-NORTHERN COLORADO AT COLORADO (Front Range). We at Hoops HD Love the Front Range!!! This is a BIG Front Range Mythical Conference battle between two teams that managed to win their openers. Colorado is a program I have quite a bit of respect for, but this year they just don’t seem to have the pieces. Northern Colorado looks like they have a chance to win the Big Sky, and it wouldn’t shock me at all to see them win this one tonight.
-NEW MEXICO VS UCLA (Game in Henderson, NV). Both teams won their openers, but New Mexico had to sweat out Nicholls, whereas UCLA blew out Rider and looked like they deserved their top 25 ranking. This is a much tougher test for the Bruins than Rider was, and New I think Mexico is a probable NCAA Tournament team, but it’s still a game UCLA should win. Having said that, New Mexico has a chance to get a high caliber win on their resume early if they can compete and pull off the upset.
-BRADLEY AT WASHINGTON STATE. Both teams won their openers, and while both teams are sort of outside of the spotlight right now, it wouldn’t surprise me all that much if both ended up having big years. This could be one of those games that at the end of the year we realize was more important than what we thought at the time.
BUY GAMES (and others worth mentioning):
-Cal State Fullerton @ Stanford – Stanford can improve to 2-0
-Army @ Duke – both teams 1-0
-Temple v Monmouth (Jersey Jam) – Temple can improve to 2-0
-Samford @ Cornell – both teams 1-0 and both are expected to do well in conference play
-IU Indy @ Xavier – both teams 1-0
-UMBC @ Penn State – both teams 1-0
-Austin Peay @ Butler – both teams 1-0
-Northern Kentucky @ Purdue – Purdue can get to 2-0
-Morehead State @ Cincinnati – Cincinnati can get to 2-0
-Grambling @ Ole Miss – both teams 1-0
-Georgia Southern @ UNC Wilmington – both teams 1-0
-Davidson @ Bowling Green – a winnable road game for Davidson, which would get them to 2-0, but it’s hardly a guaranteed win
-Siean @ Bryant – both teams 1-0
-Presbyterian @ NC State – NC State can get to 2-0
-Hampton @ George Washington – both teams 1-0
-Murray State @ Pittsburgh – both teams are 1-0, and Murray State has shown some promise. It’s a buy game, but it will be interesting to see how well they compete
-PFW @ UCF – both teams 1-0, and UCF is coming off a real nice win against Texas A&M
-Eastern Kentucky @ East Tennessee State – both teams 1-0
-Saint Francis U @ Clemson
-Central Connecticut @ Saint Joseph’s – Saint Joe’s won their opener, but they better not overlook CCSU who nearly took down Providence earlier this week
-Furman @ Belmont – both teams 1-0
-Georgia State @ Mississippi State – both teams 1-0
-Arkansas State @ Alabama – Arkansas State won their opener and will likely do well in the Sun Belt, but they’re probably way overmatched tonight
-TAMU Commerce @ Texas A&M – TAMU needs to bounce back after losing their opener at UCF
-Houston Christian @ Texas – Texas needs to bounce back after their opening loss to Ohio State
-Yale @ UIC – both teams are 1-0, but Yale looks to be the much better team and should pick up a road win
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ Maryland – both teams 1-0
-SIUE @ Illinois – Illinois can get to 2-0
-FGCU @ TCU – TCU can get to 2-0
-NJIT @ Villanova – Nova needs to bounce back after their home loss to Columbia
-Northwestern State @ Texas Tech – both teams 1-0
-UC Riverside @ BYU – UCR should be able to make some noise in the Big West, but they’re probably overmatched tonight
-Long Beach State @ South Dakota State – South Dakota State had a really nice win against McNeese in their opener and should be able to improve to 2-0
-Tennessee State @ Colorado State – both teams 1-0
-UC Irvine @ LMU – both teams 1-0
-Montana @ Oregon – both teams 1-0. Montana should do well in the Big Sky, but is probably overmatched tonight
-Weber State @ Oregon State – both teams 1-0