NEWS AND NOTES:
-Yesterday was eventful, but the biggest surprise (at least to me)was Oklahoma’s 86-68 win at Wake Forest. I had been praising this Wake team for how well they had played against both Michigan and Texas Tech losing one of those games in overtime and another by just 3. I thought for sure they’d beat what appeared to be a so-so Sooners team at home, but they were run out of their own building.
-After a few early stumbles, Florida probably played their best game of the year yesterday at Duke despite the fact that they didn’t actually win the game. They lost 67-66 and fall to just 5-3 on the season, but to play them that close at Cameron is a huge sign of potential for the rest of the year. If the Gators play like that the rest of the way they won’t lose too many more.
-UConn got what is perhaps their biggest win of the year by knocking off Kansas on the road 61-56. They have a couple of other wins that are very good, but considering that this was a true road game at Phog this one is probably their best one.
-North Carolina played and won their first true road game of the year as they knocked off Kentucky at Rupp Arena 67-64. Kentucky is now just 5-3 on the year with all of their wins being home buy games. The Wildcats have a tough stretch coming up and have multiple opportunities to start building their resume, but to date they’ve built absolutely nothing.
-USC remains unbeaten and got a nice 82-77 road win at Oregon in their conference opener last night. It was also the first true road game of the year for the Trojans.
-Iowa, who had been unbeaten, got absolutely pulverized at Michigan State 71-52 in their first real heavyweight test of the year. I still think Iowa is a good team, but I think they’re top-40 good and not top-10 good.
-Miami FL picked up a really nice 75-66 win at Ole Miss for their first true road win of the year. No one was all that excited about the Canes coming into the season, but they’ve been playing well and certainly looked good on the road last night.
-Georgia absolutely blasted Florida State 107-73 in Tallahassee. No one thought the Noles were a great team, but they did appear to at least be formidable so for Georgia to just blow them off of their own floor really says a lot about the Dawgs.
-Syracuse snapped a three game losing streak by knocking off a really good Tennessee team 62-60 in the Carrier Dome. It was Tennessee’s first true road game of the year, and while they’ll need to pick up a few true road wins between now and the end this wasn’t a loss that will damage them too much.
-Marquette needed overtime to get by Valparaiso in a home buy games. This may be the loudest alarm yet that Marquette just isn’t any good this year.
-Missouri suffered their first loss of the year to a somewhat underwhelming Notre Dame team 76-71. Mizzou has a solid record, but they’ve played a not-so-solid schedule and I’m not at all sold on them yet, especially after yesterday.
-UC San Diego kept it close at Nevada and had a chance to win, but couldn’t quite get over the top in the final minute and Nevada held on 76-71 to hand a pretty good UCSD team their first loss. We’ll discuss them on Under the Radar tonight.
-South Alabama handed New Mexico State their first loss of the year in a 77-75 thriller out in Katy, TX. It wasn’t a true road win for the Jaguars, but it was still a really good win pretty far away from home, and it gets them to a very impressive 8-1 on the season.
-California keeps racking up wins. They knocked off Utah (who admittedly isn’t that good) 79-72 yesterday to get to 7-1 on the season.
-Saint Louis is good. Like, perhaps top 25 good. It will take the voters a while to realize it because it always does, but they blew out a pretty good LMU team on their floor 91-70. SLU now has wins away from home against a very good Santa Clara team, and a blowout win against a pretty good LMU team that likely won’t lose any more home games to teams not named Gonzaga.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-LOUISVILLE AT ARKANSAS. Both these teams have been tested and Arkansas has yet to win a game that wasn’t a home buy game. This is big for them because it’s a chance to start building their resume. This is Louisville’s first true road game, so it’s a chance for them to add that piece to their profile. It should be a fun one!
-CLEMSON AT ALABAMA. Clemson is a probable tournament team and Alabama is a probable protected seed, so this is a resume building opportunity for both teams, particularly for Clemson. It will be fun to watch Clemson’s defense take on Alabama’s potent offense.
-RICHMOND AT BELMONT. I highlight this because I think both teams are good and while it’s unlikely that either ends up around the bubble, it’s also not entirely impossible. This would probably be the biggest win of the season for either team up to this point, so it’s a pretty big game. It’s also just a fascinating matchup.
-SMU AT VANDERBILT. This is a really tough test for an SMU team that is really good and is coming in unbeaten, but hasn’t played in a game as tough as this one is likely to be. Vandy is also a perfect 8-0 and just won the Battle 4 Atlantis after blowing out a pretty good Saint Mary’s team in the championship game.
-NC STATE AT AUBURN. Both teams are good, both will likely go on to have big years, but both still need to build up their profiles and today is an opportunity for both of them to start to do that.
-VIRGINIA AT TEXAS. This is the first true road game for the Hoos, and perhaps their biggest test of the year up to this point. Texas has played a couple of tough games, but lost both of them. This would be their first non-buy-game-win if they’re able to pull it off.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Indiana @ Minnesota (Big Ten) – should be a winnable road game for an Indiana team that’s looked really good this year
-Southern Illinois @ High Point – High Point will likely be favored in all of their remaining games and if they win out I can’t imagine them not being inside the bubble
-Marshall @ UNC Wilmington – both teams are off to solid starts, and UNCW in particular is off to a very respectable 7-1 start. They haven’t played much away from home, though
-Austin Peay @ Kent State – a win for Kent State gets them to 8-1 on the year
-Hofstra @ Columbia – for the second year in a row Columbia is having a fantastic OOC season and can improve to 8-1 on the year with a win
-Central Connecticut @ Seton Hall – this is a buy game, but it’s one worth mentioning. CCSU is having a great year and already has wins against Boston College and Rutgers. Seton Hall is surpassing all expectations with a big win over NC State and their only loss being a close one to USC. This will be an interesting one to watch
-LSU @ Boston College – this is LSU’s first true road game and they are looking to remain unbeaten on the season
-Northern Colorado @ Omaha – a win for NOCO would get them to 8-1 on the year and be their 4th true road win, which is rather impressive
-California Baptist @ BYU – it’s a buy game, and Cal Baptist is probably way overmatched, but they are also probably the best team in the WAC and it will be interesting to see what they can do against such a tough opponent
-Northwestern @ Wisconsin (Big Ten) – Northwestern is off to a better start than expected and Wisconsin has been a bit of a disappointment (at least in their last few games). Both teams could really use this one
-Utah Valley @ San Diego State – San Diego State has not just stumbled out of the gate, but has completely fallen over. They need to start stringing together wins. This is a game they should win, but it’s no guarantee.
-UCLA @ Washington (Big Ten) – this is a tough road test for the Bruins. It’s their first true road game of the season, it’s a conference game, and it’s against a Washington team that’s looking for a signature win
BUY GAMES/CRAP GAMES:
-Coppin State @ West Virginia
-Brandeis (nonD1) @ Yale
-Alcorn State @ Iowa State
-UMBC @ Georgetown
-Eastern Kentucky @ Illinois State – we kind of wrote Illinois State off, but they are starting to rebound some
-Utah Tech @ Santa Clara
-North Alabama @ San Francisco
