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NEWS AND NOTES:
-Clemson held of Georgia in overtime 97-94 to win their half of the Charleston Classic. Both teams look like they are possible tournament teams, so this was a game that could prove to be important later on in terms of resumes, seeding, and selection. These early season games oftentimes get lost in the shuffle to the general fan, but they are oftentimes closely looked at by the committee March.
-Butler is worth paying attention to! They are 5-1 after their 80-73 win over Virginia yesterday and the only loss was a close one on the road to a pretty good SMU team. It has been a while since Butler was in any way relevant, but they may be pretty solid this year and could make some noise in the Big East.
-Xavier knocked off West Virginia 78-68 in Charleston to improve to 4-3 on the year. After a pitiful and unimpressive start to the season, Xavier played well in this event. They nearly beat Georgia and got a win over a WVU team that is at least semi-respectable.
-Northwestern is 5-1 after a 79-77 win over South Carolina and a decent overall showing in the Greenbrier Tip-Off.
-Quinnipiac went into Pittsburgh and won 83-75 in a road buy game upest. Pitt is terrible. They haven’t looked good all year. Having said that, Quinnipiac may be better than expect ed and could really end up making some noise in the MAAC this year. This is a good win for them.
-McNeese handed George Washington their first loss of the season down in the Cayman Islands. McNeese had a huge lead built up and GW made a run late, but couldn’t come all the way back and the Cowboys won 92-86. I think GW is a dark horse A10 team that can make a run at the bubble despite their loss in this one, so this is a really good win and a statement win for a McNeese team that lost so much of their team from a year ago.
-UT Martin, who I had been really big on since they racked up a couple of big road wins, lost rather decisively to Southern Miss down in Pensecola, who I have not been big on at all. The final score was 70-60, but at no point did it feel like Southern Miss was not in control of this game.
-Utah State remains unbeaten after blowing Davidson off the floor 94-60 and winning their half of the Charleston Classic. Utah State is off to a great start and is making a case that they belong inside the bubble. They’ve certainly looked better than anyone else from the Mountain West so far.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-LIBERTY VS VERMONT (ESPN Events Invitational). Liberty is perhaps the top Under the Radar team this year and it’s important that they do well in this event and rack up some notable wins away from home. Vermont is off to a slow start, but it starting to play better and is still expected to be the best team in the America East, so this is a nice matchup between two solid UTR teams and a good opportunity for both of them.
-CREIGHTON VS BAYLOR (Players Era Invitational). Both teams are exptected to have big years, but neither has any really big wins yet (although Baylor did beat Washington). This event is a chance for both of them to change that and a win today would be a huge statement for whichever team pulls it off.
-SETON HALL VS NC STATE (Maui Invitaitonal). Seton Hall is unbeaten, but they are also untested and I’m still not buying into them until they can win a big game. Today is their chance to do that. I like this NC State team a lot and think they may bulldoze their way through this event.
-SAINT JOHNS VS IOWA STATE (Players Era Invitational). The expectations for both of these teams is huge this year. Based on where they are ranked many feel they can both end up as protected seeds. Having said that, neither team has done anything to build up their profiles yet, so this game and this whole event are a chance for them to get that started.
-OREGON VS AUBURN (Players Era Invitational). Auburn gave Houston a battle the other week, but they are still looking for their first notable win. For that matter, so is Oregon, who comes in unbeaten, but also untested. This is a chance for both these teams to pick up their first notable wins and favorably position themselves in the event.
-YALE VS AKRON (Paradise Jam). These are the two best teams in the event and it’s good that they’ll end up facing each other in the final. Both are good, and both have outside shots at making a run at the bubble, so that makes today’s game potentially very important.
-GONZAGA VS ALABAMA (Players Era Invitational). Perhaps the most intriguing game of the day. Both teams are highly ranked and both teams have been tested already. These are two teams that may not just be competing for protected seeds, but could be battling it out for #1 seeds.
-SAN DIEGO STATE VS MICHIGAN (Players Era Invitational) – San Diego State is coming off an upset loss to Troy and needs to bounce back. If they can play well in this event, no one will even remember or care about the loss to Troy. Michigan is unbeaten and they’ve been in some big games, but have also struggled just a little bit more than expected. Having said that, this event is a chance for them to really build up their profile and cement their high ranking.
-ARIZONA STATE VS TEXAS (Maui Invitational). Arizona State was not a team I was big on, but they do have a really nice win against Hawaii. Texas’s only loss was to Duke, and there is no shame in that. This event is a chance for both of these teams to pick up some notable early season wins.
-HAWAII PACIFIC (nonD1) AT HAWAII. It’s the game of the day!!!!!! Can Hawaii Pacific pick up their second win against a good D1 team??? We will be glued to the TV tonight!!
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Rhode Island vs Towson (ESPN Events Invitational) – Rhody is 4-1 with a notable win at Yale. A strong showing in this tournament could really boost their profile
-Tennessee vs Rutgers (Players Era Festival) – Rutgers is coming off a loss to Central Connecticut, and while it was their only loss of the season it does not bode well for the future. Tennessee should be able to rack up some notable wins in this event
-Belmont vs Saint Francis (Coconut Hoops) – Belmont can stay unbeaten
-VMI vs Buffalo (Fort Myers Tip-Off) – Buffalo can remain unbeaten on the year and VMI is a dark horse SoCon team that can pick up some notable wins in this event
-Notre Dame vs Kansas (Players Era Invitational) – I’m not all that big on the Irish and think they are way overmatched in this one, but they have the chance to prove me incredibly wrong
-Temple vs UC San Diego (ESPN Events Invitational) – both teams are off to solid starts, and UCSD is actually 4-0 on the year, so the game is worth watching
-USC vs Boise State (Maui Invitaitonal) – USC is unbeaten and Boise State is unbeaten against D1 opponents. The Broncos have actually looked better since their season opening loss to Hawaii Pacific and a strong showing in this tournament would be a nice way to bounce back
-Middle Tennessee vs George Washington (Cayman Islands Classic) – both teams were in exciting games yesterday as GW came from behind to nearly beat McNeese, but couldn’t quite complete the comeback and Middle Tennessee won a close one against Murray State. If GW has any hope at making a run at the bubble they need to pick up wins in this event
-Syracuse @ Houston (Players Era Inviational) – Syracuse is unbeaten, but also untested and they may get blown into the sun this afternoon.
-Ohio U vs George Mason (Sunshine Slam) – George Mason is looking to remain unbeaten
-New Orleans @ Mississippi State – Mississippi State may be tested in this one
-Murray State vs McNeese (Cayman Islands Classic) – McNeese had a really nice win yesterday against George Washington. If they want to make a run at the bubble they basically need to blow thorough their schedule, and that inlcudes winning the games in this event
-LMU vs FAU (Sunshine Slam) – LMU can get to 7-0 on the season
-UNLV vs Maryland (Players Era Invitational) – I’m not all that excited about either one of these teams, but UNLV did pick up a solid win at Memphis and Maryland is a respectable 4-1 with a win at Marquette
BUY GAMES AND GAMES THAT MIGHT AS WELL BE:
-Eastern Michigan @ Louisville
-NJIT @ Cincinnati
-UTRGV @ Illinois
-Radford @ SMU
-Denver vs Arizona
