NEWS AND NOTES:
-North Carolina pulled away from Kansas after a dominant second half to win 87-74 in Chapel HIll. Both teams will likely be in the rankings for most of the season, so it’s a notable win for UNC’s profile even though it’s early and even though they were at home.
-The Maryland v Georgetown rivalry has finally resumed!! And yesterday’s edition of it was rather underwhelming. I kind of felt cheated!! It was sloppily played in an arena that wasn’t full and didn’t resemble the high energy crowds we had seen during the Gavitt Games. Nevertheless, Georgetown picked up a really nice road win 70-60 and their season is off to a good start for the first time in seemingly forever.
-Utah State picked up a nice neutral floor win against VCU 80-77. Utah State appeared to be in control of the game, but VCU made a late run and almost came all the way back to win it all. We think both of these teams could end up in the NCAA Tournament, so this was an important neutral floor matchup for both of them.
-PENGUIN FEVER LIVES!!! In one of the biggest surprises of the day, Youngstown State went into Grand Canyon and pulled off a 90-81 road win after holding a lead for most of the game. GCU almost never loses at home, and they’re expected to have a big year this year. It’s hard to say whether Youngstown State is a team we really need to start following or if we just big-time overestimated Grand Canyon, but for now it’s a great win for the Penguins! And, Grand Canyon is in the Mountain West this year, and this is yet ANOTHER surprising home buy game loss for an MWC team.
-Yale blew Navy off the floor 97-68. Navy isn’t a team that we thought would land inside the bubble, but they are the favorites to win the Patriot League and Yale just went on the road and blew them out. We knew this was a good Yale team, but they may be even better than we thought.
-Oakland actually hung with Purdue and only trailed by 5 with less than 8mins to go. The Boilers held on to win 87-77 but it was a really impressive showing by the Golden Griz.
-Missouri got a big battle from SEMO and actually trailed for much of the second half. With less than five minutes to go SEMO was ahead. It wasn’t until the final minute that they finally got control of the game and held on 89-84. After losing badly to Saint Louis in their first game, this was a rather impressive showing for SEMO.
-Oregon is 2-0!! They started off with a 1-pt win over Hawaii and last night they held on to beat…(checks notes)…RICE!! 67-63. This is perhaps the most underwhelming 2-0 start we’ve seen from Oregon in quite some time.
-Cal Baptist, who is the favorite to win the WAC, but…okay…sure…went on the road and beat UC Irvine very handily. I know UC Irvine is having to rebuild their roster, but they still looked like one of the best teams in the Big West and they almost never lose at home, so it’s a great win for Lancers who will soon be in the Big West!!
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-ALABAMA AT SAINT JOHN’S. Both teams are high in the rankings and both are being projected as probable protected seeds. Both also lost a lot off of their rosters from a year ago, and while it’s obvious both are talented we haven’t seen these teams play together against a high quality opponent yet. We will definitely get to see that today.
-SAN FRANCISCO AT MEMPHIS. This is a very important early season game for both of these teams. Both are good enough to make the NCAA Tournament, but neither has an abundance of chances to get big wins throughout the season the way the P4 conference teams do, so there is a fair amount of stakes to this game.
-ARKANSAS AT MICHIGAN STATE. Both teams are in the rankings and both have high expectations for this season. Arkansas in particular is super talented, but can they get a win like this at this point in the season? It’s one of many resume boosting opportunities for both these teams.
-OKLAHOMA AT GONZAGA. These are two likely tournament teams, especially Gonzaga, and both are looking for a resume boosting win right out of the gate. If Oklahoma could somehow win this it should catapult them into the top 25.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Princeton @ Akron – Princeton is expected to struggle this year. It will be interesting to see what they do in their season opener, which is a true road test
-Penn State @ New Haven – for New Haven this is a showcase home game against a (sort of) P4 team. It’s interesting enough to note
-South Florida vs George Washington (Uncasville CT) – I like this GW team and think they can make the NCAA Tournament this year. These are the kinds of games they are expected to win in order to earn it
-Drexel @ Saint Joseph’s (Big 5) – both teams are 1-0 and it’s a Big Five game!!
-Towson @ Houston – this game is a mismatch, but it’s still an interesting matchup. I like this Towson team and they can win the CAA. I just don’t think they’re anywhere near as good as Houston, but it’s still a good game for both teams to play
-William & Mary @ Norfolk State – it’s an odd game to highlight, but I like both teams and think both have a shot at winning their conferences. It’s W&M’s first road game, and a chance for Norfolk to get to 3-0 on the season
-Vanderbilt @ UCF – both teams are 1-0, and this is a pretty good Vandy team with what should be a winnable road game for them
-Utah Valley @ Boise State – Utah Valley is the favorites to win the WAC and they’re looking for their first road win of the season. Boise State is looking to bounce back from losing to a D2 team in their season opener
-Providence vs Virginia Tech (Uncasville CT) – I’m not all that big on either one of these teams, but it’s a chance to get a notable neutral floor win early in the year, which would be a decent start
-Queens @ Villanova – it’s a buy game, but Queens is picked to win the ASun and Nova played really well in their opener against BYU, so it’s worth mentioning
-Chattanooga @ UNLV – I like this Chattanooga team a lot, and UNLV lost their season opener to UT Martin, who I don’t think is as good as Chattanooga, so the Runnin’ Rebs better be on upset alert
BUY GAMES AND OTHER BLAH GAMES:
-Alcorn State @ Minnesota – Alcorn battled at South Alabama
-Florida International @ Nebraska – both teams 1-0
-Delaware State @ Syracuse
-Western Carolina @ Duke
-Texas State @ Tulane – Tulane is 1-0 and may make some noise in the American
-Marshall @ Toledo – Marshall is looking for their 2nd road win
-UMBC @ Dayton – both teams 1-0
-Northern Kentucky @ Tennessee
-Lafayette @ Texas – Texas looking for their first win
-Monmouth vs La Salle – both teams 1-0
-UT Arlington @ New Mexico – both teams 1-0
-Cal State Fullerton @ Wyoming – both teams 1-0
-Eastern Washington @ Colorado
-Montana @ Stanford – both teams are unbeaten and Stanford may struggle
-Canisius @ Saint Bonaventure (Big 4) – The Bonnies can stay unbeaten
-Averett (nonD1) @ High Point
-IU Indy @ Butler – crosstown matchup
-Florida Atlantic vs Charleston (Lynchburg VA) – both teams unbeaten
-East Carolina @ Richmond – both teams 1-0
-Prairie View @ Wichita State – both teams unbeaten
-Weber State @ Utah (Bee Hive) – both teams 1-0
-Bellarmine @ Kansas State
-Tennessee State @ Belmont – both teams 1-0, and Belmont may be pretty good this year
-Holy Cross @ BYU
-Arkansas Pine Bluff @ LMU – LMU can get to 3-0
-Houston Christian @ UC San Diego – both teams 1-0
-Pacific @ Nevada – both teams 1-0
