NEWS AND NOTES:
-It was one of the crazier nights of the season so far! And none of the craziness involved the Champions Classic. Kansas jumped out to an early lead on Duke, but Duke came back and then jumped out to a lead of their own and held it for the rest of the game for an impressive 78-66 win. Michigan State dominated Kentucky in impressive and exciting fashion and were basically in control the whole way for an 83-66 win.
-Winthrop had a 5pt lead on Arkansas with about a minute to go, but Arkansas came up with three consecutive defensive stops and three consecitive baskets on the offensive end. In the final seconds after Arkansas went ahead 84-83, two players got tangled, fell to the floor, and had to be separated. After all that was sorted out Winthrop had the last possession and a chance to win the game, but came up short again. Arkansas survived a thriller and Winthrop nearly pulled off a massive upset.
-Troy and San Diego State were tied at the half, tied at the end of regulation, and tied at the end of the first overtime in what had to be one of the most exciting games of the year so far. Troy appeared to have things wrapped up at the end of regulation with a 4pt lead, but San Diego State hit a half-court-3 at the buzzer to force overtime. Troy kept battling and pulled off an amazing 108-107 upset win and pick up their third true road win of the season.
-Washington needed overtime to get by Southern 99-93. This is a game where Southern actually had the lead most of the way, but just couldn’t hold on for the entire 40 (and then 45) minutes. It was yet another near upset on the night.
-Ole Miss got a bit of a scare from Austin Peay, but held on to win 72-65.
-Boise State got a big scare from Wichita State, but held on to win 62-59 in a game that felt like they really couldn’t afford to lose.
-Rhode Island got a big 86-77 win at Yale. This was probably a more important win than what most people realize. Yale isn’t likely to lose too many home games the rest of the way, and while this is a setback for the Bulldogs they still may be good enough to make a run at the bubble. As for Rhody, it’s their best win of the year so far and may be one of the best overall wins for the whole Atlantic 10 up to this point.
-Buffalo remains unbeaten after holding off a fairly solid (and previously unbeaten) Vermont team 94-90. We weren’t expecting much out of the Bulls this season, but they may be able to make some noise in the MAC.
-Florida State pulled away from UT Martin in the second half and held on to win 87-73. It was the first loss of the year for UTM after picking up a couple of impressive wins prior to this game.
-UC Davis won at Nevada 75-71 in yet another home buy game loss for the Mountain West.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-ARIZONA AT UCONN. Just another top ten matchup that involves UConn. Both these teams are actually ranked in the top four and both have won big games to earn those rankings. Arizona had a big win over Florida in the season opener, and UConn recently beat a top ten BYU team. This is another game that can be a #1 seed caliber win for whoever ends up pulling it off, especially for Arizona. Beating top five teams on the road tens to look good on a resume.
-DAYTON AT MARQUETTE. This game has a sense of urgency to it. Neither team has won anything outside of home buy games, Marquette in particular hasn’t looked all that good (although I know it’s early) and both could use some notable OOC wins on their resumes.
-SOUTH FLORIDA AT OKLAHOMA STATE. The Cowboys have yet to play a game away from home, but they blew out Texas A&M last week and look to be a lot better than I initially thought. South Florida ain’t bad either. They’ve only won home buy games, but they played a really good George Washington team really close in their holy loss. A win like this would be a huge boost for the Bulls if they’re somehow able to pull it off.
-LIPSCOMB AT BELMONT. It’s the Battle of the Boulevard!! This isn’t just one of the great Under the Radar rivalries in college basketball, it is one of the great rivalries in college basketball period!!! Belmont is 3-0 on the year, whereas Lipscomb has struggled at just 1-3, but this is seemingly always a great game!
-ALABAMA VS ILLINOIS (Chicago IL). Alabama is continuing their murderous OOC schedule. They’ve already picked up a huge win at Saint John’s, and their only loss was to top ranked Purdue in a very competitive game. Illinois also has a big win against Texas Tech on their profile and while this game isn’t on campus the crowd should very much favor the Illini in this one. It’s two potential/probable protected seeds lookin to pick up a massive resume building win.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Middle Tennessee @ Michigan – Middle Tennessee is unbeaten. Michigan is as well, and they should remain that way after today, but they haven’t exactly been handling the unranked teams they’ve beaten the way you’d think the 6th (now 7th) ranked team in the nation would
-Harvard @ Penn State – both teams have good records against bad schedules. This may be Penn State’s toughest test so far
-South Alabama @ Jacksonville State – a regional matchup between two unbeaten UTR teams. South Alabama has a nice win at Toledo and picked up two more in the Showdown in Saint Pete.
-Youngstown State @ Toledo – Youngstown State has had some tough road tests already and nearly knocked off Saint Bonaventure over the weekend. This is another tough road game and would be another big win for the Penguins
-Villanova @ La Salle (Big 5) – Nova is off to a respectable 3-1 start with the only loss coming against BYU in a game where they really battled. This would be their first road win of the year if they’re able to pul it off
-VMI @ Richmond – this one should be fun! It’s two contrasting styles between two teams that are off to good starts and could go on to have big years. VMI could be a dark horse in the SoCon, and Richmond is undefeated (albeit also unchallenged) so far.
-Wyoming @ Sam Houston – this is the first road test for a Wyoming team that’s off to a good 4-0 start and is showing signs of being one of the surprise teams in the MWC this year
-UC Irvine @ Utah Valley – this is the first true road game for UC Irvine. They won more road games a year ago than anyone else in the nation.
-Arkansas State @ Saint Mary’s – The Gaels should win this one at home, but Arkansas State isn’t a bad team at all at 3-1. It’s perhaps the best team SMC has played this season so far
BUY GAMES AND GAMES OF EQUALLY LOW APPEAL:
-Bryant @ Virginia Tech
-Bellarmine @ Notre Dame
-UMBC @ George Washington – GW should stay undefeated
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ Maryland
-North Dakota @ Creighton
-Jackson State @ Auburn
