NEWS AND NOTES:
-Xavier looked like they were asleep during stretches of their first three buy games, but they were wide awake yesterday as they beat Wake Forest rather handily 75-60, and looked good doing it.
-Notre Dame went on the road and blew Georgetown out of the gym 84-63. I know it’s Georgetown, and that the Hoyas have been awful the last several years, but they appeared to be getting better (and still might be) so it was still a bit of a statement for the Irish to win so dominantly in a true road game.
-East Carolina remains unbeaten after their double OT 78-77 win against George Mason. I don’t expect to see them inside or near the bubble come March, but as for now they are off to a good start.
-Hofstra is now 4-0 with wins against Seton Hall and UMass on thier resume as they knocked off the Minutemen 75-71 on the road yesterday. They are starting to establish themselves as a top level Under the Radar team. Their next two are at Florida State and at Houston, and if they can get just one of those you have to consider that they’re putting quite a few early notable wins on their resume.
-Last, but not least, Columbia is off to a 5-0 start, which I believe makes them the first team to get to 5 wins on the year. They have a long stretch of winnable games ahead of them and have been one of the more exciting stories so far this season.
.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-NEW MEXICO AT SAINT JOHN’S. You could say this one is a family affair!! (Okay, bad joke). This is the first test for Saint John’s, whereas New Mexico already has a nice win at UCLA. If the Lobos can go across the country and pick up a second true road win against a ranked team then their tournament resume will already have a very solid foundation. (Fact Check: New Mexico beat UCLA on a neutral court in Henderson, Nevada. Today would be considered their first true road win of the season.)
-SAINT MARY’S VS NEBRASKA (Sioux Falls, ND). Both teams are unbeaten and untested. Saint Mary’s has probably faced tougher teams than Nebraska in their home buy games, but they were still home buy games. Both have potential and we should learn something about them today.
-CLEMSON AT BOISE STATE. This is the first real test for Clemson who has won three buy games coming into this one, and a chance for Boise (who has a loss at San Francisco) to pick up their first win of note. We feel that both teams could be NCAA Tournament teams, and this is a chance for each of them to pick up their first non-home-buy-game win of the season.
-AUSTIN PEAY AT TENNESSEE. This is a buy game, but it also has a little intrigue considering both teams are unbeaten and Austin Peay already has a road win at Butler. Tennessee is much better than Butler, so this is a real long shot for the Govs, but they’re still a good team and it will be interesting to see what they can do against a team like Tennessee.
-UTAH AT MISSISSIPPI STATE. Both teams are coming into this one at 3-0, but this is the first game for each team that isn’t a home buy game, so we should learn something about both of them today.
-LIBERTY AT CHARLESTON (Field of 68 Tip-Off). All the games in this event have been incredible so far. Charleston is coming off a dramatic double OT win against Florida Atlantic and Liberty is coming off a mere single OT loss against that same FAU team. While these games have been on Charleston’s home court, getting off to a 4-0 start would be great for the Cougars. (Also the UTR Game of the Day)
-TROY AT OREGON. I think Troy is really good. They are coming off a loss at Arkansas, but they were in that game for a fair amount of the way, and while facing the Ducks is a very tough road test, it does feel more winnable than their game at Arkansas was, and if they can get a win in a game like this it will get the attention of the selection committee. Oregon comes in at 3-0, but has only played in home buy games and actually needed overtime to get by Portland in their last one, so this is hardly a cakewalk for the Ducks.
-CALIFORNIA AT USC. It’s a vintage Pac 12 game!! It’s a classic ACC/Big Ten Challenge game!! USC is unbeaten, but also untested, and one might argue that after today they’ll still be untested. Not much is expected from Cal this year.
BUY GAMES (and other notable games):
-Princeton @ Merrimack – Princeton needs to bounce back from their loss to Loyola Chicago and pick up their 2nd road win
-Coppin State @ Miami FL
-Harvard @ Colorado
-UC Davis @ Stanford
-UC Santa Barbara @ San Jose State – UCSB can remain unbeaten and pick up their 2nd true road win
-Tarleton State @ Baylor
-Saint Thomas @ Arizona State
-UMass Lowell @ Washington