NEWS AND NOTES:
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-VCU gave NC State a battle on the the road and had a chance to win until the final minute or so of the game, but NC State held on 85-79. VCU falls to 2-2 with the two losses being close games to Utah State and NC State. Neither of those losses are damaging, but at the same time this team needs to pick up notable wins in order to land inside the bubble and their chances to do that are limited. In fact the remainder of their schedule just doesn’t look to have many opportunities that are as good as the two that they’ve lost. This is a good VCU team, and they absolutely can make the NCAA Tournament, but they have a thin margin for error the rest of the way.
-Tulsa appeared to have Kansas State beat at the Octagon as they went up 83-78 with less than 50 secs to play, but two freethrows, two forced turnovers, and two made jumpshots in the final minute gave K State the win. This was a big missed opportunity for Tulsa and one that may take a little while to walk off, but this Tulsa team will likely not be the doormat of the American this year. As for K State, I’m still trying to decide whether or not I think they’re good. They’re unbeaten, but they haven’t played anyone that would likely finish anywhere close to the top half of the Big 12.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-MICHIGAN STATE VS KENTUCKY (Champions Classic, New York NY). Michigan State already has a big win against Arkansas and a win today would be their first big scalp away from home. Kentucky battled against Louisville and mounted a second half comeback on the road in a hostile environment, but came up short. It’s an early season resume building opportunity for both teams and it should be a fun one.
-UT MARTIN AT FLORIDA STATE. UT Martin is off to a 3-0 start with wins at UNLV and at Bradley. If they go on the road and beat the Seminoles today, you have to start thinking of them as a team that’s good enough to land inside the bubble. That would make for three solid true road wins in the first three weeks of the season, but it would also suggest that they are capable of blowing through most of the rest of their schedule and putting together a solid profile. It’s early, but they have our attention. As for Florida State, they nearly won at Florida, so let’s not overlook the Noles either.
-KANSAS VS DUKE (Champions Classic, New York NY). Duke looks like a team that’s good enough to go back to the Final Four and already has a decisive win over Texas this year. Kansas is good, but they may not be quite as good as Kansas typically is. They did lose at North Carolina earlier this year, but they’ve managed to blow through their buy games and get another shot at a huge win tonight. If they can beat Duke, I’ll take back what I said about them not being quite as good and start to look at them as a team that can win the Big 12 and make a run at the Final Four.
-WICHITA STATE AT BOISE STATE. This game is interesting. Wichita State is off to a 3-0 start, but this is their first true road game of the year so while we can’t yet proclaim them to be a team to watch this year, a win today would bring us a lot closer to proclaiming that. Boise State got their noses bloodied on opening night, but they’ve won three straight since then. They need to keep winning in order to offset that loss.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Vermont @ Buffalo – both teams are 4-0. Vermont has been a little underwhelming but they’ve managed to win all four. Buffalo has been a bit of a surprise, but also hasn’t had any huge tests yet
-NJIT @ Drexel – mentioned only because if NJIT can get to 4-1 and pick up their third true road win of the year it may make them one of the bigger early surprises of the season
-Eastern Kentucky @ Kent State – an intriguing matchup between two solid UTR teams
-Montana @ Texas A&M – TAMU is off to a rough start and needs to be on upset alert against a pretty solid Griz team tonight
-Rhode Island @ Yale – Rhody is off to at least a respectable start, and Yale is one of the top UTR teams who I think is good enough to make a run at the bubble. The Bulldogs need this one at home tonight
-Stephen F Austin @ Fresno State – this is a winnable road game for SFA. They can stay unbeaten and pick up their second true road win of the season
-New Orleans @ Pepperdine – New Orleans can improve to 3-1 on the year with all those wins coming on the road and the only loss being at LSU. That is a hell of a good start!
-Troy @ San Diego State – San Diego State should blow through this one, but Troy should make some noise in the Sun Belt this year and the Aztecs better not completely overlook them
BUY GAMES AND BUY GAME EQUIVALENTS:
-American @ Rutgers
-Navy @ North Carolina – Navy is the Patriot League favorite, but is overmatched today
-New Haven @ Seton Hall
-New Hampshire @ Providence
-Radford @ South Carolina
-Princeton @ Iona – Iona can stay unbeaten
-Jacksonville @ George Mason
-Georgia Southern @ Georgia Tech
-Winthrop @ Arkansas
-Alcorn State @ LSU
-Austin Peay @ Ole Miss
-Chicago State @ Minnesota
-Northern Illinois @ Northern Iowa – UNI can improve to 4-0
-Arkansas Pine Bluff @ SMU
-SEMO @ Iowa
-PFW @ Utah
-Monmouth @ Syracuse
-Rider @ Texas
-Southern @ Washington
-Northwestern State @ San Francisco
-UC Davis @ Nevada – Nevada better not overlook them
-Idaho State @ Santa Clara
-Louisiana @ Stanford
-Presbyterian @ California
-Sacramento State @ UCLA
