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NEWS AND NOTES:
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-Houston got a battle from Syracuse and the Orange actually had a chance to win the game on their last possession in regulation, but the Cougars held on to win in overtime. If there was anything to take away from this game, it’s how much better Syracuse is than what we thought.
-San Diego State is categorically not better than what we thought. Michigan, who I had kind of picked on prior to yesterday, blew them into the sun 94-54 in the Players Era Festival.
-Gonzaga looks like a team that is 1-seed good. They had blown through their schedule going into yesterday and then pulled away from Alabama late for a very impressive 95-85 win. I don’t know how all the tiebreakers work in this Players Era Festival, but in terms of simply building a profile the tiebreakers don’t really even matter. I think Gonzaga has picked up the most impressive win so far.
-Iowa State and Saint John’s came down to the wire with Iowa State holding on 83-82. It’s their biggest win of the year and the Johnnies are still searching for their first non-home buy game win. Having said that, I’m sure by the end of the season they’ll have plenty.
-Auburn handed Oregon their first loss and picked up one of their best wins of the year so far as they held off the Ducks 84-73.
-Baylor remains unbeaten after knocking off Creighton 81-74 and picking up their biggest win of the year so far. Creighton has struggled this season, and will likely continue to struggle after sustaining some key injuries that they now have to deal with.
-The surprise of the day probable came out in Maui as Seton Hall knocked off NC State 85-74, and were pretty much in control for the entire second half. I didn’t realize this until Chad Sherwood pointed it out, but the first loss of the year by a ranked team to an unranked team, and it involved SETON HALL!! Seton Hall, who we thought might be in contention for the Stallings Award, is now unbeaten with a big win against a good team on their profile.
-Arizona State has also been surprising this year. I thought they’d be the Big 12’s doormat, but they are now 5-1 with some pretty good wins, their best of which was probably their 87-86 win over Texas in Maui yesterday.
-USC, who has been in their share of exciting games this year, was in another one yesterday as they held off Boise State 70-67 out in Maui. Since dropping their season opener to a nonD1, Boise State’s sense of urgency has gone up. This is their first loss since that game, and it’s a win that really could have helped them. The silver lining is that they get to play NC State today, and if they can beat the Wolfpack that is a win that would likely age well. USC will go on to face Seton Hall.
Some Under the Radar notes…
-Liberty remains unbeaten after beating Vermont 79-73 in the ESPN Events Invitational.
-Troy fell to Toledo 75-68 in a game that was a bit of a surprise in the Coconut Hoops Tournament
-Buffalo improves to 6-0 after knocking off VMI 78-70
-UC San Diego, who had a big season last year, is now 5-0 after knocking off Temple 91-76 in the ESPN Events Invitational
-McNeese continues to look impressive as they beat Murray State handily yesterday 73-60. The final score was much closer than what the game actually was. McNeese just bulldozed them.
-Yale got a big win against a very good Akron team 97-94 in the Paradise Jam in a game that came down to the final seconds. The Bulldogs are now 6-1 on the year with some fairly decent wins on their profile. Their margin for error is small, but they may be good enough to make a run at the bubble.
-Last but not least, everyone’s favorite team, Hawaii Pacific, fell to Hawaii yesterday 88-76. They will not pick up their second D1 win. They were actually tied in this game in the second half, but just couldn’t keep up with Hawaii.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-IOWA STATE VS CREIGHTON (Players Era Festival). Creighton has struggled this year, and now injuries will probably result in them struggling even more. They’re coming off a loss to Baylor and have an even tougher test today against a very good Iowa State team that just got a big win against Saint John’s, and can continue to build up their profile with big early season wins.
-NC STATE VS BOISE STATE (Maui Invitational). Both teams are coming off losses and both could really use this win today to help them bounce back, especially Boise State who is still trying to offset a season opening loss to a nonD1 team. NC State was just waxed by Seton Hall in one of the more surprising results of the day and needs to have a better showing here.
-SYRACUSE VS KANSAS (Players Era Festival). Kansas was able to knock off Notre Dame yesterday, but Syracuse was probably the more impressive team even though they lost. They took Houston to overtime and had a chance to win at the end of regulation, but came up just short. Still, it was an indication that Syracuse may be a lot better than any of us thought and they’ve got more chances to pick up some big wins in this event.
-SAINT JOHN’S VS BAYLOR. The Johnnies are coming off a close and hard fought loss to Iowa State and are looking to rebound. Baylor knocked off Creighton so they have some momentum coming into this one. Saint John’s, as good as they are, still doesn’t have any wins outside of their home buy games, so today is a chance to pick up their first win with any meaning.
-USC VS SETON HALL (Maui Invitational). About a month ago I would have been shocked had you told me these two teams would be meeting and both would be undefeated at this point. Seton Hall, who showed no signs of being good at all coming into the season, picked up a big win yesterday against NC State and beat them decisively. USC has had some close calls, but they’ve managed win them all and survived against Boise State yesterday. Both teams come into this having exceeded early season expectations and both will look to continue to build on that with a win today.
-TENNESSEE VS HOUSTON (Players Era Festival). Houston barely survived Syracuse, but they did get the win and are still unbeaten. Tennessee blew Rutgers off the floor and while it wasn’t technically a buy game, it may as well have been. This is the first real test of the season for the Vols today, so we should learn something about them.
-GEORGE MASON VS FLORIDA ATLANTIC (Sunshine Slam). George Mason comes in with a perfect record and while they haven’t had any big tests yet, they’ve blown through their games the way you would expect a top 40ish team to do. They also may get a test today from FAU, who is 4-1 and who beat a pretty good LMU team yesterday. This game doesn’t have the brand names that will get people all that excited, but these are two pretty good teams who I think could both go on to have big seasons.
-KANSAS STATE AT INDIANA. Kansas State has just one loss on the year, but I think they’re way overmatched in this one today. Indiana has just looked really good early on and is worthy of their top 25 ranking.
-MICHIGAN VS AUBURN (Players Era Festival). Michigan is unbeaten, but hadn’t been as dominant in some of their games as I thought they’d be. Having said that, they blew San Diego State off the court yesterday and looked much improved. Auburn has been getting better as the year has gone on and could be much improved as well. This should be a good one.
-MARYLAND VS GONZAGA (Players Era Festival). Gonzaga is coming off a huge win against a really good Alabama team and clearly appears to be superior to Maryland, who is good, but not quite as good as Gonzaga.
-OLE MISS VS IOWA (Acrisure Classic). Both teams are unbeaten and perhaps a little undervalued this year. Both are possible/probable tournament teams, so to face each other on a neutral court could turn out to be a game that’s important to the committee later on.
-UCLA VS CALIFORNIA (Empire Classic). These are old Pac 8/10/12 rivals. Cal is 5-1, but UCLA has been the more impressive team and should be favored in this one. But, if Cal can win it, they’ll definitely have our attention.
-SAN DIEGO STATE VS OREGON (Players Era Festival). Both teams are coming off losses and neither team has really won a big game yet this year, so there may be a sense of urgency to this one, especially for San Diego State who won’t have as many chances at big wins later on.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Towson vs Liberty (ESPN Events Invitational) – Liberty is still unbeaten, but they could get a bit of a test from a Towson team that’s looked pretty good lately and who is coming off a nice win against Rhode Island
-Michigan State vs East Carolina (Fort Myers Tip-Off) – Michigan State should roll in this one
-Rutgers vs Notre Dame (Players Era Festival) – there may be some hope for Notre Dame this year, but I’m holding out very little hope for Rutgers. They haven’t looked good at all this season
-Tulsa vs San Jose State (Acrisure Holiday Invitational) – Tulsa is off to a good start this season and this event is a chance for them to continue to establish themselves. They may be the best team in the American this year despite low preseason expectations
-LMU vs Ohio U (Sunshine Slam) – LMU can improve to 7-1 on the year with a win
-UC San Diego vs Bradley (ESPN Events Invitational) – UCSD can remain unbeaten if they can hold off a fairly decent Bradley team
-Middle Tennessee vs McNeese (Cayman Islands Classic) – McNeese has blown through their first two games in this event and as good as they’ve looked I’m kind of expecting them blow through this one as well
-Saint Bonaventure vs North Carolina (Fort Myers Tip-Off) – this appears to be a mismatch, but Saint Bonaventure does come in unbeaten and they have played a couple of decent teams, so the Tarheels better not overlook them
-George Washington @ Murray State (Cayman Islands Classic) – GW was able to bounce back from their loss to McNeese and pick up a win against Middle Tennessee. A win today would still have them in solid shape early on
-New Mexico State vs UC Irvine (Cancun Challenge) – New Mexico State is looking to remain unbeaten on the year
-UNLV vs Alabama (Players Era Festival) – Even though this event is in Las Vegas, Alabama should roll in this one and bounce back from their tough loss to Gonzaga
-Utah vs Grand Canyon (Acrisure Classic) – GCU has struggled early on and while Utah is 5-1 they haven’t really won any games of note yet, and are actually coming off a loss to Cal Poly
BUY GAMES AND GAMES THAT MIGHT AS WELL BE:
-Northern Iowa vs Loyola Chicago (Acrisure Holiday Invitational) – Northern Iowa can stay unbeaten
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ Ohio State
-Boston U @ Penn State
-Cal State Bakersfield @ Florida State
-Old Dominion @ Villanova
-Quinnipiac @ UCF – Quinnipiac did manage a win against Pittsburgh
-Campbell @ Wake Forest
-Mississippi Valley State @ Texas A&M
-South Carolina State @ Missouri
-Winthrop @ Nebraska
