A Sort-of Seed List

Posted on November 26, 2012 by David Griggs

It is early, and I know this is a mess and is not entirely practical from the sense of accurately measuring just how good teams are at this point in the year. It is, however, practical in the sense that it begins the evaluation process for all the teams out there. I am often teased for keeping an eye on so many teams so early. However, I do believe that beginning to evaluate teams now will result in better and more accurate evaluations as the season plays out.

So, on that note, don’t read too much into this. The rankings are very loose. Like I said, the idea isn’t so much to rank the teams accurately right now, but merely to start examining them.

Projected conference leaders are in ALL CAPS

1. DUKE. With wins against Kentucky, Minnesota, VCU and Louisville on neutral floors, Duke is perhaps the most accomplished team in the country right now.
2. INDIANA. Unbeaten, but not as accomplished as Duke. For that matter, they’re probably not as accomplished as Oklahoma State or Louisville, but their #1 ranking is hard to ignore when doing a seed list.
3. OKLAHOMA STATE. The Cowboys are 5-0 with notable wins against Tennessee, NC State and Akron.
4. LOUISVILLE. Nice wins against Northern Iowa and Missouri, and a close loss against Duke without one of their better players. At full strength, they’re perhaps the best team in the country.
5. FLORIDA. Their profile isn’t outstanding, but they’ve decisively beaten Wisconsin, Middle Tennessee and UCF.
6. Michigan. Unbeaten and highly ranked with notable wins against Pitt and Kansas State.
7. Ohio State. Unbeaten and highly ranked, but no notable wins yet.
8. COLORADO. At 5-0, they’ve handed Dayton, Murray State and Air Force their only losses. They also have a quality win against Baylor.
9. GONZAGA. The Zags are 6-0 and have notable wins against Davidson, Clemson and Oklahoma. As of now, they are the only teams to beat Oklahoma and Clemson. Their profile should continue to improve.
10. Georgetown. They played Florida tough for a half, but we didn’t get to see the second half. They also have a notable win against UCLA. Their only loss was in overtime to Indiana.
11. CREIGHTON. The Blue Jays are unbeaten, high in the rankings, and have a notable against Wisconsin
12. BUTLER. Good neutral floor wins against North Carolina and Marquette. Their losses at Xavier and to Illinois on a neutral floor don’t look like they’ll be too costly.
13. North Carolina. They struggled against some teams that you would expect them to beat, and don’t have a solid win yet.
14. NEW MEXICO. Unbeaten with notable wins against Davidson, Illinois Chicago (for now), George Mason and UConn.
15. Florida State. Opened the season with a loss to South Alabama, but hasn’t lost sense and has a pretty good win against Saint Joe’s.
16. Cincinnati. Unbeaten with notable wins against Iowa State and Oregon.
17. Missouri. Was beaten badly by Louisville, but looked good against Stanford and VCU.
18. Temple. 3-0 with decent wins against Delaware and at Kent State.
19. Michigan State. The Spartans only have one loss and have a good win against Kansas, but they’ve struggled to beat teams like Boise State and Louisiana Lafayette. Still, a win is a win, I guess.
20. KANSAS. They’re 4-1 with a decent win against Saint Louis, but don’t have anything quite as strong as most of the teams ahead of them.
21. Illinois. Not much was expected out of the Illini this year, but they’re unbeaten with a notable win against Butler. Hawaii is the only other team they’ve beaten with a winning record, though.
22. Syracuse. A nice win against San Diego State, but the rest of their schedule has been weak.
23. Wichita State. Unbeaten with a nice win at VCU, and another notable win on a neutral floor against Iowa.
24. VCU. The rams have three losses, but they are against Wichita State, Duke and Missouri. They also have a solid win against Memphis.
25. Pittsburgh. Their only loss is to Michigan in a hard fought game, but they’re currently lacking big wins.
26. Baylor. Their probably better than their current spot on this list, but so far their profile is lacking a big win, and they also underwent a surprising loss to College of Charleston.
27. NC State. They have a nice win against UMass, but haven’t done much else, and really looked bad in their last game against UNC Asheville.
28. Oregon. Just one loss against a pretty good Cincinnati team, and they have a very nice win against UNLV.
29. Saint Joseph’s. They have a notable win against Notre Dame, and their only loss was a close on to Florida State.
30. Kentucky. I fully expect this team to move up the list, but as of now they have a decent win against Maryland, but nothing else.
31. Arizona. Probably a much better team than this, but right now they’re 3-0 and have no wins of note.
32. Notre Dame. 5-1 with a notable win against BYU.
33. OHIO U. this may seem a little high, but I really like this Ohio team. They’re unbeaten and have pretty much blown out everyone. Their most notable win is Richmond, which is not outstanding, but I do think they are a dangerous team. .
34. Unlv. Should be a strong team, but currently their best win is against Iowa State on a neutral floor.
35. Alabama. Unbeaten with decent wins against South Dakota State and Oregon State.
36. Tennessee. Looks to be a strong team at 4-1, but as of now has no wins against anyone with a winning record.
37. Charlotte. They’re 6-0 with a fairly nice win against Oral Roberts. Not much else to speak of in the way of quality, though. They face 4-0 East Carolina this Saturday.
38. Santa Clara. Hard to know what to make of them just yet, but they are unbeaten with a notable win against Saint Louis.
39. Saint Louis. No good wins, but no bad losses…at least not right now. They played Kansas tough, and Santa Clara is unbeaten.
40. Minnesota. Their only loss came against Duke, and they have what should turn out to be decent wins against Memphis and Stanford.
41. Xavier. A real nice win against Butler, but they’ve had to sweat out their other wins that came against some pretty weak teams.
42. California. Unbeaten with a nice win (for now) against Georgia Tech.
43. BUCKNELL. Notable wins against Purdue and George Mason. Their loss against Penn State looks pretty bad, though.
44. Northwestern. The Wildcats are 6-0 with a fairly decent win against Illinois State. There is nothing else on their profile that even comes close to resembling a quality win, though.
45. Illinois State. At 5-1, their only loss so far is to Northwestern
46. Wisconsin. A pretty decent win against Arkansas in their last game, but other than that nothing of note so far.
47. BELMONT. A real nice win at Stanford, but a somewhat surprising loss to Northeastern up in Alaska. The upcoming game against VCU is hugely important.
48. Murray State. A good team, but their best win so far is against Saint John’s. Their only loss is to Colorado, but their weak schedule will work against them.
49. Marquette. No wins of note yet for Marquette
50. MIDDLE TENNESSEE. Their only loss came at Florida, and they’ve managed a notable win at UCF.
51. La Salle. I’m trying to like this La Salle team, but other than a home win against Delaware they haven’t looked impressive. Just one loss, but it came to Central Connecticut. .
52. George Mason. Semi-decent win against Virginia, and their only losses were close games to Bucknell and New Mexico, both of whom are good teams.
53. Georgia Tech. Just one loss so far, and a nice win against Saint Mary’s. SMC has not impressed, though, so it’s hard to say how impressive that win will ultimately end up being.
54. San Diego State. Has beaten up on cream puffs since losing the season opener to Syracuse.
55. Oregon State. They’re 4-1 with their only loss being a close game to unbeaten Alabama, but the jury is still out on them.
56. Dayton. A decent record at 4-1, but there isn’t much in the way of quality.
57. COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON. They a bad loss to Auburn, but a good win against Baylor.
58. Davidson. Another strong team who doesn’t have any bad losses, but as of now they don’t have any really good wins either.
59. Saint Mary’s. They appeared to get off to a good start with a win at Utah State, but since then they’ve been disappointing dropping games to Pacific and Georgia Tech.
60. Byu. At 4-2, they’re definitely worth keeping an eye on, but as of now their best win is probably against Cal State Northridge
61. Clemson. Played Gonzaga tough, but has no wins of note.
62. Virginia Tech. They’re 5-0, but are largely untested.
63. Massachusetts. At 2-2, there are good wins, but no bad losses.
64. Kansas State. 4-1, but without any big wins yet.
65. Oklahoma. They’re 4-1 with a so-so win against West Virginia, but were blown out by Gonzaga who is the only other good team they’ve played.
66. Colorado State. Unbeaten with a fairly decent win against Washington.
67. Iowa State. At 4-2, they’re another team with no good wins and no bad losses. They did play Cincinnati tough on the road, though.
68. Kent State. They’re 4-2 with notable wins (for now) against Drexel and Nebraska.
69. Texas A&M. I’m not too excited about this team, but they are 5-1 and have wins against Louisiana Tech (who has just one loss), Saint Louis and Washington State.
70. Northeastern. They’re 4-2 and are the only team that has beaten Belmont. Not sure how excited we should be about that yet.
71. VALPARAISO. Has a decent win at Kent State, and has just one loss to Nebraska. Nebraska has a decent record now, but common sense will tell you that they’re a bad team, so Valpo is kind of hard to figure right now.
72. Boise State. No good wins at all, but their only loss was a close game to Michigan State.
73. ALBANY. A notable win against Washington is currently setting them apart from the rest of the America East.
74. Iowa. 5-1 against a weak schedule. A semi-decent win on a neutral floor against Western Kentucky is the best thing on their profile.
75. SOUTHERN MISS. They’re 5-0 with semi-notable wins against Georgia and Western Kentucky.
76. Memphis. I fully expect Memphis to climb up this list in a hurry, but as of now they’re 3-2 and have just one win against a team that isn’t winless. Their losses to Minnesota and VCU aren’t bad losses, though.
77. LOUISIANA TECH. They’re 5-1, but have no real wins of note yet.
78. STEPHEN F AUSTIN. Unbeaten with a semi notable win against Tulsa.
79. LOYOLA, MD. Out to a 6-1 record with a semi-notable (for now) win against Albany.
80. Illinois Chicago. Their only loss is to New Mexico, but they have no real wins of note.
81. PACIFIC. They’re just 3-3, but have nice wins against Saint Mary’s and Xavier.
82. Richmond. This team has potential, but at this point they’ve done absolutely nothing and been blown out by the only good teams they’ve played.
83. Seton Hall. They’re 5-1 against a very weak schedule.
84. Rutgers. They’re 4-1, but have yet to beat anyone with a winning record.
85. Arizona State. 4-1, but no real wins of note
86. Arkansas. I’m still watching this team, but they have no good wins at all, and have lost back to back games to Arizona State and Wisconsin.
87. Stanford. May be worth paying attention to . They’re 3-3 with their best win being against Northern Iowa, but they don’t have any horrendously bad losses.
88. Nebraska. Prepare to not see them on these lists in the very near future, but as of now they only have one loss and are the only team that has beaten Valpo.
89. MONTANA. One of the Big Sky preseason favorites They’re 3-1 with their only loss coming to unbeaten Colorado State.
90. Cal State Northridge. Long Beach is still the favorite, but as of now CSN has just one loss to BYU, and semi notable wins against Pepperdine and Tulsa.
91. Cal Poly. On the list because of their win against UCLA. But at 2-2, the Bruins are the only team Cal Poly has beaten that has managed a win.
92. Drexel. At 2-4, Drexel has four losses by four points are less, and has played a tough schedule. At the end of the day, a close loss is still a loss, though. I continue to watch them, but eventually they’ll need to actually win some notable games.
93. Lehigh. Not bad at 4-2, but they were beaten badly against Pitt and Baylor, which are the only two good teams they’ve played.
94. SAVANNAH STATE. They’re 4-3 with no bad losses. They actually looked good against Middle Tennessee, UCF and Florida in the games they did lose.
95. GARDNER WEBB. Not one of the Big South preseason favorites, but they’ve played Illinois and Iowa fairly tough. No one in their conference currently has a winning record.
96. COLUMBIA. No one in the Ivy has a winning record against div1 teams. Columbia is 4-2 overall, and has a semi-notable win against Villanova.
97. SOUTH DAKOTA STATE. I think this team is better than their profile, but as of now they blew it in their opener at Alabama and dropped another one to Hofstra, and have no notable wins on their profile.
98. East Carolina. A semi decent win against Georgia State, but other than that their wins have come against non-div1 teams or winless teams.
99. South Carolina. Angry Frank Martin is 5-1, but has just two wins against teams with winning records.
100. ROBERT MORRIS. Nothing too exciting about them other than a near upset win at Xavier.
101. Smu. They’re 5-1 against a weak schedule.
102. STETSON. The A-Sun already appears to be destined to play in the first round in Dayton.
103. Ole Miss. Unbeaten at 5-0, but just one win came against a team with a current winning record.
104. Lsu. Unbeaten against weak teams.
105. Eastern Kentucky. Unbeaten, but against weak competition.
106. Houston. They’re 4-0 against teams that are a combined 2-15.
107. Texas Tech. They’re 3-0, which will get them on the list, but their opponents are a combined 2-14, which is why they’re below the small conference leaders.
108. Wyoming. 5-0 against teams that are a combined 3-19.
109. PRARIE VIEW. The SWAC has just five div1 wins on the year, and Prarie View’s win over Navy is one of only two that came against teams that aren’t winless, so they get the nod.

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Exempt Tournament Madness!!!

Posted on November 21, 2012 by David Griggs

MAUI INVITATIONAL

-Whatever was wrong with Butler in their rather decisive loss at Xavier has not been wrong with them in this tournament. They hung in with what is by all accounts a strong Marquette team, and ended up winning on a last second shot. That was a huge win because not only is it a quality win in and of itself, but it also awarded them the opportunity to face North Carolina in the next round, who they also ended up beating. The Butler lead was as high as 29 points in the second half. UNC came back and got as close as six, but could not get over the top. Butler is off to a great start and these wins will look great for them come tournament time.

-Other games of note were Chaminade’s upset win over Texas. Texas is off to an absolutely horrible start. They followed up that loss with another loss to an underwhelming USC team.

-Illinois has advanced to the finals and will face Butler tonight. Unlike Butler, their road hasn’t been exceptionally difficult as their wins have come against Chaminade and USC. They will face a quality team tonight and appear to be overmatched.

 

LEGENDS CLASSIC

-If the four semifinalists were not predetermined, Georgia would not have been here because Youngstown State would have knocked them out. Once they were here, though, they played much better than expected despite the fact that they lost to both Indiana and UCLA.

-Indiana won the tournament and looked good doing it, but we already knew the Hoosiers were good. The team I think we learned the most about was Georgetown, who handled a highly touted UCLA team, and then took the top ranked Hoosiers into overtime. It would have been a fantastic win, but it is not a damaging loss by any means. The Hoyas are definitely a team to watch for.

 

PARADISE JAM

-If I counted correctly, nine of the twelve Paradise Jam games were decided by ten points or less, and it provided some of the more exciting games we’ve seen so far. New Mexico beat George Mason at the buzzer in the semifinal round, and Quinnipiac took Connecticut to overtime in the semifinal game, which followed a furious comeback by UConn. New Mexico ended up winning the tournament over what appears to be a very good UConn team, so they’re off to a great start in building their NCAA Tourney profile.

 

NIT PRESEASON TIPOFF

-Many are expecting big things out of Drexel in the Colonial this year, but Delaware has a chance to make some real noise early as they have advanced to the semis of the NIT with their win at Virginia. They will face Kansas State tonight, and Michigan will face Pitt in the other game. Michigan is ranked way ahead of everyone else, but I do think that Pitt will challenge them tonight.

 

BATTLE FOR ATLANTIS

-Traditionally, this isn’t a tournament that resonates with people the way the Maui or the NIT does, but it appears to have one of the stronger fields this year. Louisville, Duke and Memphis are all highly ranked, and VCU, Stanford, Minnesota and Missouri are all NCAA hopefuls. Northern Iowa, who appears to be the weakest team in the field, is still pretty good. Every game in this tournament will feature a tournament quality team, and you can bet the committee will look very closely at virtually every one of these results. Hopefully you get the NBC Sports Network, because this is a fantastic field.

 

OLD SPICE CLASSIC

-West Virginia, Davidson, Oklahoma, Clemson and Gonzaga appear to be the stronger teams in this field. Gonzaga has already faced West Virginia, and they basically blew them off the planet. Davidson has had some challenging games as well, but has come up short. This tournament is very important for them because it provides them opportunities at notable wins. Once conference play begins for them, they won’t have these kinds of chances anymore, so they need to take advantage of it now.

 

DIRECTV CLASSIC

-Not as strong as some of the other fields, but Xavier, Drexel, Saint Mary’s and California are all teams to pay attention to. Saint Mary’s appears to be the best team, but Xavier is off to a good start as well. Not much was expected out of the Musketeers this year, but they are unbeaten and have what appears to be a quality win against Butler. If they can do well in this tournament, it will continue their momentum and put some more good wins on their resume. Drexel and Saint Mary’s face each other in the first game, which is kind unusual bracketing since those two appear to be the two best teams.

 

GREAT ALASKA SHOOTOUT

-It is not as great as it used to be, but then again it produced two teams last year that were way off the radar at the time, but turned out to be solid NCAA teams in Murray State and Southern Miss. That’s why I mention it. You just never know. Belmont looks to be a good team, and I wouldn’t be too surprised to see them win this. Charlotte and Oral Roberts are two other teams to watch for.

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Highlghted Match-ups for Sunday, November 18th

Posted on November 18, 2012 by David Griggs

HIGHLIGHTED MATCH-UPS

One thing to point out is that even though it is early, and even though a lot of these games are in remote locations as part of some exempt tournament, and even though they’re being played in small arenas that are mostly empty, these are HUGELY important games. It is too early to say for certain how much the committee will look at these games in the end, but when tournament teams square off against each other, they look at those games to measure how good teams are. Last year Murray State played Southern Miss up in Alaska in a game that was sparsely attended and sparsely watched or noticed by the public, but it ended up being a hugely important game for both teams. Much of what we’re seeing this week and next is along those same lines.

-NC STATE VS OKLAHOMA STATE (Puerto Rico Shootout Championship). Both teams are unbeaten and both have looked impressive so far. I didn’t think NC State was worthy of a top twenty ranking, much less the #6 ranking, but if they win decisively today I will be forced to recant that thought.

-COLORADO VS MURRAY STATE (Charleston Classic Championship). This is one of the few remaining games against a quality opponent that Murray State has, so it is hugely important for them. I didn’t think Colorado was on the same level as Baylor, but this young team looked very good in their win against the Bears the other day. Colorado was awful in one aspect, and that was from the freethrow line. Had they shot even 50% from the line they would have won more decisively. It’s hard to say how good Colorado will be, but they are already off to an incredible start. Because they have a strong remaining schedule, they don’t need this nearly as badly as Murray does.

OHIO STATE VS WASHINGTON (Hall of Fame Championship). This could be Ohio State’s toughest test so far. Afterall, the game against Marquette was a rainout. For Washington, it’s a chance to get a huge quality win on their profile.

-TENNESSEE VS UMASS (Puerto Rico Tipoff, 3rd place). These appear to be two solid teams who are looking to add a notable early season win to their resumes.

-GEORGE MASON VS NEW MEXICO (Paradise Jam). Both teams already have wins of note. You never know who will be on the bubble, inside the bubble, or outside the bubble at the end, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see one or both of these teams in the mix. If one or both of these teams end up in the discussion, this will be a game that is closely looked at by the committee.

-BAYLOR VS SAINT JOHN’S (Charleston Classic, 3rd place). This is a quality early season match-up and will be a good win for whoever pulls it off.

-MIDDLE TENNESSEE VS FLORIDA. This game is being played in Tampa. Both teams come into the game unbeaten, but Florida has looked much more impressive early on. I believe MTSU is a tournament caliber team, but they won’t have too many chances at quality wins. They may be in over their heads today, but if they somehow did pull it off it would give them a huge boost.

-RICHMOND AT MINNESOTA. Very interesting early season game between two 3-0 teams.

-DAYTON VS AUBURN (Charleston Classic, 5th place). Neither is expected to do much, but both are 2-1. I have a feeling Auburn will crash and burn, so Dayton will really want to avoid a loss in this one.

-VALPARAISO AT KENT STATE. Both teams are 2-1. If either of them has at-large hopes these are the kinds of games they need to win.

-SAVANNAH STATE AT UCF. These teams are probably not at-large material, especially with UCF still being on probation, but both are off to good starts. Savannah State was a first place finisher in the MEAC a year ago, and is off to a 3-1 start this year. This is following a stretch where they were without question the worst div1 program. The turnaround has been amazing.

-WOFFORD AT OHIO. Ohio can stay perfect on the year if they can hold off what looks to be a pretty solid Wofford team.

-WESTERN MICHIGAN AT SOUTH FLORIDA. Not much was expected out of Western Michigan this year, but as of now they are 3-1 and can add an impressive road win to their profile if they can pull this off. South Florida got out of the gate slow, but has won two games since dropping their opener to UCF.

-DELAWARE STATE AT ILLINOIS STATE. Both teams enter this game without a loss. I think Illinois State is good enough to earn an at-large spot in the field, so they’re worth keeping an eye on.

 

BUY GAMES

-Texas Southern at Michigan State.
-University of DC vs South Dakota State. At a modest 2-2 start, SDSU is still a good team that we should see in the dance.
-West Alabama (nondiv1) @ Bucknell. Bucknell can improve to 5-0 on the year.
-Central Connecticut State @ La Salle. La Salle can improve to 2-0
-North Carolina A&T @ Cincinnati. Cincinnati can remain unbeaten.
-North Florida @ Kansas
-Fairleigh Dickinson @ Northwestern. Northwestern can improve to 3-0.
-Presby @ Creighton
-Miami, OH @ Louisville
-South Dakota @ Gonzaga
-UFGC @ Duke
-Eastern Washington @ Saint Mary’s

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News, Notes and Previews (Nov 12-13)

Posted on November 12, 2012 by David Griggs

WEEKEND RAMBLINGS

-We had one game postponed, and two others that were cancelled because the court on the air craft carrier had too much condensation on it. There are thousands of basketball games played every year, and college basketball has been around for over 100 years. To the best of my knowledge, these are the only two games in history that have been cancelled because the court on the air craft carrier was too wet. It is rather unfortunate because these were games of note. If Georgetown, Florida, Ohio State and Marquette all finish the season the way we expect them to, these were games the committee would have looked at.

The one air craft carrier game that was played between Syracuse and San Diego State, was postponed, and was poorly played at its rescheduled time. Syracuse got the win, and it will likely be a notable win because San Diego State appears to be very good, but it was a sloppy game, and the conditions of the game were more of a detriment than an asset.

I have a lot of respect for those in the Navy, but basketball and boats just don’t mix. Rather than play on the ship, I say in the future we invite the Navy to dock their boat and come into town to watch the game.

-Baylor’s win over Lehigh was the performance that impressed me the most. That’s not saying much because great teams are defined by the great things they do, and it’s hard to do something great in the first week of the season when most good teams are playing cupcakes. Still, Lehigh is a team that made the NCAA Tournament last year (albeit as a #15 seed), upset Duke in the Round of 64, and pretty much returned all their players (although they were dealing with injuries). Baylor crushed them. Isaiah Austin was hurt in the game, but he had over 20pts in just over one half of basketball. Lehigh isn’t a top 25 team, but they aren’t pushovers and Baylor beat them soundly. That’s more than anyone else was able to do.

-Connecticut looked impressive against Michigan State, but unfortunately for them it won’t help them make the NCAA Tournament. Still, this UConn team is nothing to sneeze at.

-UCF, another team that is ineligible for the postseason, looked very impressive in their season opening road win at South Florida. South Florida, who many feel is a tournament caliber team, sure didn’t look like it on Saturday.

-Perhaps the biggest surprise so far is South Alabama’s win at Florida State. The Seminoles were in the rankings, and I was among those that thought they were underrated. Well, it’s hard to argue that after they lost to what appears to be a middle-of-the-pack Sun Belt team. Everyone starts out at zero, and perhaps South Alabama is far better than what anyone currently realizes, but I doubt it.

We’ve seen shockers in the first week of the season before, and they often fade into the background. Santa Clara took down North Carolina the year the Tar Heels won the national championship. Gardner Webb, of course, beat Kentucky a few years back. Mercer has taken down heavyweights like USC when they were in the rankings. So, it could just be another early season hiccough that in a few weeks we’re not even talking about or thinking about anymore.

-Bucknell won at Purdue, but that isn’t too surprising. Some say it’s a bad loss for Purdue. I’m more inclined to think it is a good win for Bucknell. They finished first in the Patriot League a year ago (ahead of Lehigh, who advanced to the Round of 32), and have all their starters back, so they’re capable of putting together an at-large caliber resume.

A few results that were probably off the radar….

-Drexel, who I believed to be an at-large team, failed to win their opener at Kent State. Kent is not an easy place to play, but an at-large team should be able to win there.

-La Salle took down Delaware at home. Delaware finished the season very strong last year and pretty much had all their starters back, and is expected to finish at or near the top of the Colonial. That’s a nice start to the season for La Salle.

-George Mason took down Virginia at home. That is perhaps the nicest win by a Colonial team so far.

 

MARATHON ACTION (November 12th and 13th)

-WEST VIRGINIA AT GONZAGA. It’s the season opener for West Virginia. Gonzaga blew out Southern Utah in their first game, but it’s hard to tell too much from that. Many feel this is one of the better teams Gonzaga has ever had, so it will be interesting to see what they can do against a stronger opponent. For West Virginia, it would be a huge road win on their resume.

-DAVIDSON AT NEW MEXICO. Of all the games in the marathon, this is the one that intrigues me the most. It is between two tournament caliber teams that have limited chances at quality wins, which makes this a hugely important game for both teams. It should be a rowdy atmosphere at the Pitt.

–NORFOLK STATE AT SETON HALL. I know this is a buy game, but Seton Hall may want to be on upset alert. They’re not very good, and Norfolk won decisively in their opener against Rhode Island.

-RHODE ISLAND AT VIRGINIA TECH. Tech can improve to 2-0.

-HOUSTON BAPTIST AT HAWAII. Not much is expected out of either team, but both come into the game at 2-0.

 

TUESDAY

-DUKE VS KENTUCKY. Kentucky won their opener against Maryland, but it was a very sloppy affair. I think Kentucky will end up having a great year, but right now they’re not playing cohesively due to having so many new players. Duke, on the other hand, looked pretty solid. Both these teams will likely be protected seeds, so it’s a chance at a quality win.

-STONY BROOK AT RIDER.  Neither team is expected to be an at-large caliber team, but at the moment neither has lost a game.

-NORTHERN ILLINOIS AT VALPARAISO. Valpo is the hands down favorite to win the Horizon League, but has little margin for error if they want to be in the at-large picture.

-HARVARD AT UMASS. This game would have been much more intriguing had two of Harvard’s best players not left school. UMass will likely be a force in the Atlantic Ten. This is their season opener.

-DETROIT AT SAINT JOHN’S. Season opener for Saint John’s. Detroit is a dangerous opponent.

-BUTLER AT XAVIER. Both teams are in the Atlantic Ten, but this will not count as a conference game. The game was scheduled for the marathon prior to Butler joining the league. The two will meet again in the final game of the season. Both come in at 1-0.

-MICHIGAN STATE AT KANSAS. Two highly ranked teams that are likely to be protected seeds, so it’s an opportunity for a quality win.

-VERMONT AT UCONN. I’ll throw this one on there because Vermont won their first game, and if they win this one they’ll be on the map…..for now.

-GEORGE MASON AT BUCKNELL. I talked about these teams above. They face each other tonight in what is a big early season game for both teams.

-WICHITA STATE AT VCU. Huge game between two tournament hopefuls, and in VCU’s case, a soon to be top 25 team.

-GEORGIA STATE AT BYU. As it has been mentioned, Georgia State cannot play in the Colonial Tournament, so their only hope for the NCAAs is an at-large. They looked fairly decent against Duke. A win at BYU would be big on their resume.

 

BUY GAMES

-FORDHAM AT PITT (Monday)

-BUFFALO AT FLORIDA STATE (Monday). Hopefully the Noles do better this time around.

-PRESBY AT CLEMSON (Monday)

-NORTH DAKOTA STATE AT INDIANA (Monday). Both teams come in at 1-0. North Dakota State is no match for the Hoosiers, but they should be able to make quite a bit of noise in the Summit League.

-MONMOUTH AT NOTRE DAME (Monday). Both teams 1-0.

-YALE AT SAINT JOSEPH’S (Monday).

-FAIRFIELD AT VIRGINIA (Monday). Fairfield may give Virginia a fight. They don’t want to start the year 0-2.

-YOUNGSTOWN STATE AT GEORGIA (Monday). Both teams 1-0.

-SACRED HEART AT RUTGERS (Monday). Rutgers is looking for their first win.

-NORTH FLORIDA AT MEMPHIS (Monday). Season opener for Memphis.

-MOREHEAD STATE AT MARYLAND (Monday). Maryland will try and bounce back after losing to Kentucky.

-LAMAR AT KANSAS STATE (Monday)

-COPPIN STATE AT TEXAS (Monday)

-TOLEDO AT MINNESOTA (Monday). Minny can improve to 2-0.

-SFNY AT ILLINOIS (Monday). Both teams 1-0.

-ALABAMA A&M AT IOWA STATE (Monday). Both teams 1-0

-TROY AT TEXAS A&M (Monday). Both teams 1-0.

-UC SANTA BARBARA AT ILLINOIS STATE (Monday). They’re below the radar, but I think this is a good Illinois State team.

-IUPUI AT MICHIGAN (Monday). Both teams 1-0.

-PORTLAND STATE AT OREGON (Monday). Both teams 1-0.

-NORTHERN ARIZONA AT UNLV (Monday).

-MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE AT CINCINNATI (Tuesday).

-UNC WILMINGTON AT RICHMOND (Tuesday). Both teams 1-0.

-COASTAL CAROLINA AT OLE MISS (Tuesday). Both teams 1-0

-MCNEESE STATE AT LSU (Tuesday). Both teams 1-0.

-TEXAS SOUTHERN AT NORTHWESTERN (Tuesday)

-ALCORN STATE AT MISSOURI (Tuesday).

-SELA AT MARQUETTE (Tuesday)

-ALBANY AT WASHINGTON (Tuesday)

-LONG BEACH STATE AT USC (Tuesday). Both teams 1-0. LBSU was strong a year ago, but pretty much lost everyone from that team.

-PEPPERDINE AT CAL (Tuesday)

-SAN DIEGO CHRISTIAN (nondiv1) AT SAN DIEGO STATE (Tuesday)

-UC IRVINE AT UCLA (Tuesday). Both teams 1-0

Griggs

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Bracket Racket – Nov 12 2012

Posted on November 12, 2012 by Johnny Basketball

On this edition of the Bracket Racket, we evaluate the first three days of the season and discuss the notion that there’s no dominant team in college basketball this year. We also look at the problems that certain teams had on the court, and the problem that college basketball has with these Carrier games — along with the larger issue of third party tournaments and decentralization. We also take a look at the key games for this upcoming week, including the the Duke – Kentucky, Michigan State – Kansas, and Wisconsin – Florida games, and the key mid-major matchups for the week.

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Free Video Streaming 2012-13

Posted on November 10, 2012 by Chad

As the season is starting to get moving, here is the current update on sources for FREE video streaming of games:

1) espn3.com has a huge number of games every day, including every game available on the Full Court package and a ton of espn3 exclusive games.  While the site is free, it may not be available on some internet carriers (though at this point I believe almost everyone carries it).

2) horizonleague.org offers free streaming of every home game involving a Horizon League team that is not on National television or espn3.

3) mac-sports.com similarly offers free streaming of all non-televised, non-espn3 home game for MAC teams.  Note that so far the first few days of the season, the links for the webcasts have not been appearing until the morning of the games.

4) bigskyconf.com has links to free streaming of all home Big Sky games.  I believe you have to register with the site in order to get the feeds, but it is a free registration.

5) bigwest.tv is the newest addition to free streaming this season, offering streaming of all Big West home games.  For University of Hawai’i games, you will actually be re-directed to UH’s own streaming service, but it appears that even these games will be free this season (in previous years all UH streaming was Pay Per View)

6) ovcsports.com has a ton of free streaming of Ohio Valley Conference home games that are not being nationally televised.

7) pac-12.com offers streaming video of all games on the Pac-12 network, including games produced regionally that may not be available on your local feed.  It is only available to subscribers of cable carriers that carry the PAC-12 Network (and not necessarily all of those).

8) btn2go.com offers some web-stream only coverage of Big Ten games.  However, like the Pac-12, it is limited by your cable carrier, and some carriers (most notably Comcast) that carry the Big Ten Network still do not allow this service.

Beyond these sites, a few individual schools do offer limited free streaming of their non-televised games.  The best best is to check out that school’s website and see what is available.  For example, Rutgers offers a free webstream of their 3 or 4 games that are not being picked up for TV coverage.  In the past, Central Arkansas, Utah Valley, Longwood, and Seattle have all had free streaming video but I have no confirmation yet if those services will continue this year.

Obviously, several other conferences and schools do offer a Pay-per-view streaming package.  If anyone knows of any other conferences or schools that offer free (and legal) streaming, please let us know in the comments!

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