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NEWS AND NOTES:
-It doesn’t seem to matter how good or bad the teams Troy plays against are. They will take that team to overtime!! Last night was their fourth overtime game of the year, and their third multiple overtime game. That’s gotta be some sort of record for the first month of the season. They lost to West Georgia 93-89.
-McNeese had looked great in their in-season event, but did not look good yesterday. They lost their conference opener at Incarnate Word 71-67 in a game that was maddening to try and watch because they never had the score bug on the screen. McNeese MIGHT get onto the bubble if they win out, but that won’t be easy.
-Kansas State is just not good. I don’t want to disparage Bowling Green because this was a really good win for them, but in a game that was a buy game K State looked like the team that was bought. Bowling Green rolled 82-66.
-California Baptist jumped out to an early lead on Colorado and held it for about 30 minutes, but the Buffs came back and got control late and ended up with a solid 78-70 win to remain unbeaten. Cal Baptist is a good team, but this was one they sort of needed if they wanted to make a serious run at landing inside the bubble.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-IOWA AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten). Both teams are unbeaten, but Michigan State is clearly the team that’s been tested more. Having said that, if Iowa could get this win, then holy crap does it make their resume look a ton better!!
-TENNESSEE AT SYRACUSE. Syracuse is a modest 4-3 overall. They’ve als0 lost three straight and haven’t really won any games of note. Tennessee is their fourth straight ranked opponent and you get the sense that there is a sense of urgency to it for the Orange. As for Tennessee, it is their first true road game of the year, so there is something at stake for them as well.
-NEW MEXICO STATE VS SOUTH ALABAMA (Katy Tx). New Mexico State is unbeaten on the year, but this will likely be their toughest test so far seeing as how it is against a solid team away from home.
-OKLAHOMA AT WAKE FOREST. Wake is a really good team that has yet to get any notable wins, but the future prognosis is a good one. Their two losses were to highly ranked teams and both were very close games. Oklahoma is decent, but Wake should be able to handle them and get what would at least be a semi-notable win on their profile
-FLORIDA AT DUKE. Florida is a damn good team, but they haven’t really shown out this year as far as getting high quality wins yet. They lost to Arizona in the opener and fell to TCU in their in-season tournament last week. None of those losses are bad, but none of their wins have been all that great yet either. If they win today, it would certainly qualify as a great win, but winning at Duke is one of those games that’s harder to win than an Elite Eight game. You’re not only playing an Elite Eight caliber team, but you’re playing them in a true road game.
-CONNECTICUT AT KANSAS. Another tough test for both these teams, who are by no means strangers to tough tests. This is actually UConn’s first true road game, so if they get a win it will make their already fairly impressive profile look even better. Kansas is coming off a fantastic come from behind win against Tennessee and should come into this one with a lot of momentum after going 3-0 in the Players Era Festival.
-MIAMI FL AT OLE MISS. Both these teams have shown signs of potential and both could end up inside the bubble, but both also need to start building up their resumes and tonight is a chance for each of these teams to do that.
-GEORGIA AT FLORIDA STATE. Basically the exact same note as above. Both have shown signs of potential, both could have big years, but both need to start building up their resumes and tonight is a chance to do that.
-NORTH CAROLINA AT KENTUCKY. Kentucky doesn’t have any wins of note yet, and seeing as how they’re at home against a team that qualifies as “notable” and who is also playing their first true road game, you get the sense that this is one that Kentucky really needs to win. For the Tarheels, it would be another good win on their resume, especially when you consider that it’s on the road.
-UC SAN DIEGO AT NEVADA. UCSD is unbeaten, but this is probably one of their toughest tests of the year so far. Nevada is solid and it won’t be easy to win on their floor, but it’s one that UCSD is good enough to win.
-SAINT LOUIS AT LMU. This is the first true road game of the season for SLU, who is off to a very solid 6-1 start and who managed a big win over Santa Clara in their in-season tournament. This will be a tough road test against a really good LMU team that’s 7-2 overall and 4-1 at home. It’s a hard game to win, but like we always say, if you want to land inside the bubble you need to win games that are hard to win.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-George Washington @ Army – a somewhat odd road game for GW, but it’s also their first true road game of the year
-William & Mary @ Duquesne – this game is moderately interesting. W&M is fun to watch and is off to a good start to the season and Duquesne is a surprisingly respectable 5-2 on the year while being a perfect 5-0 at home
-East Tennessee State @ Dayton – I think this Dayton team is really good. I like ETSU as well, but they’re probably swinging over their heads in this one. Still, the Flyers do not want to overlook them
-Virginia Tech @ South Carolina – Both teams have respectable records, but both need to string together more wins in order for them to get into the spotlight
-Texas A&M @ Pittsburgh – TAMU got off to a sluggish start, but they are starting to look better. This should be a winnable road game for them (which would be their first) because Pitt is just sluggish all around
-Purdue @ Rutgers (Big Ten) – it’s the conference opener for Purdue, and this appears to be a winnable road game for the Boilers
-Sam Houston @ Oklahoma State – this is a buy game and it’s one that Okie State should win and stay unbeaten, but they better not overlook Sam Houston
-Missouri @ Notre Dame – Missouri is undefeated and has a true road win, but they really haven’t been tested yet, and probably won’t be tonight either.
-Utah at California – old Pac 12 rivals. Cal is off to a really good 6-1 start and is perfect at home. Utah has been disappionting, but is still 6-2 overall
BUY GAMES/CRAP GAMES:
-Charleston Southern @ UT Martin
-Campbell @ Penn State
-IU East (nonD1) @ Miami OH
-Cornell @ George Mason
-Eastern Michigan @ Butler
-SUNY Maratime (nonD1) @ Yale
-Houston Christian @ North Texas – this actually has the potential to be semi-interesting
-Wagner @ Maryland
-Valparaiso @ Marquette – Marquette is running out of strikes
-Sacramento State @ Baylor
-Nicholls @ Creighton
