Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES:

-For our latest HOOPS HD REPORT Video Podcast – CLICK HERE

-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE

-North Carolina showed that they deserve their high ranking as they went in and won at Pitt without really having to sweat down the stretch. I’ve been very critical of this Tarheels team for the past…ohh..four years or so and was constantly arguing that I thought they were being overvalued. Not this year. This team is DAMN good!

-I’ve been saying that while Butler currently does not have a tournament caliber resume, I still thought they were good enough to build one by the end of the year. After seeing the latter part of their game against Saint John’s yesterday, where they lost 86-70 and where Thad Matta was told to leave early via being ejected, I’m now thinking they’re not quite that good after all.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-SETON HALL AT PROVIDENCE (Big East). Seton Hall had won back to back games against Missouri and UConn and appeared to have a full head of steam going in the right direction, but in their last game they were blown out by a Xavier team that’s been average at best. They’ve got another big test tonight on the road. Providence is in the rankings, their profile is solid, and they are very tough to beat at home.

-GEORGE MASON AT LA SALLE (Atlantic 10). George Mason has an almost razor-thin margin for error, but with an 11-2 record there is probably room for them inside the bubble if they can blow through the A10.

-GEORGIA TECH AT FLORIDA STATE (ACC). GA Tech has enough on their resume for me to say that there is a path for them to land inside the bubble, but they still have a lot of work to do. This is the kind of road game that they need to be able to win.

-EVANSVILLE AT INDIANA STATE (Missouri Valley). Both teams are off to a great start, and Indiana State is good enough to land inside the bubble if they can hold serve throughout league play. They don’t have a huge margin for error, though, and they may be challenged tonight.

-RUTGERS AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten). Ohio State is having a good year and should land inside the bubble so long as they continue to hold serve. Rutgers needs some big wins like this away from home in order to get within range of the bubble.

-DAYTON AT DAVIDSON (Atlantic 10). Dayton’s profile appears to be the strongest out of all the A10 teams, but having said that they’ve only played in two true road games and won one of them, so this is a bit of a test as well as an opportunity to add road wins to their resume.

-CLEMSON AT MIAMI FL (ACC). Clemson is a team that is having an amazing year with just one loss so far and some really good wins. They’ve perhaps looked like the best team out of the entire ACC. Miami FL is sort of a quiet 10-2, which is kind of crazy to think a Final Four team could start off 10-2 and still be below the national sightline, but they sort of are. This is a very interesting game and resume building opportunity for both teams.

-NC STATE AT NOTRE DAME (ACC). This is a winnable road game for an NC State team that’s got a solid 10-3 record, but still has some work to do. Notre Dame is an unspectacular team, but they did just blow out Virginia, so NC State does not want to overlook them.

-INDIANA AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten). Both teams have good records, and Nebraska has some good wins, but both teams still have some work to do. Still, the Huskers have shown they can play like a tournament caliber team, especially at home, so they are definitely worth keeping an eye on.

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:

-Louisville @ Virginia (ACC) – Virginia has not been themselves this year and cannot afford to slip up at home in a game like this
-Fordham @ George Washington (Atlantic 10) – a win for GW gets them to 12-2
-Saint Joseph’s @ Rhode Island (Atlantic 10) – Saint Joe’s can get inside the bubble, but they don’t have many strikes between now and the end of the season
-Western Carolina @ The Citadel (SoCon) -a win for WCU gets them to 12-2
-Chattanooga @ Samford (SoCon) – a win for Samford gets them to 12-2
-Xavier @ Villanova (Big East) – this should be a game where Nova has no problems holding serve
-Fresno State @ San Diego State (Mountain West) – conference opener for San Diego State

NEWS, NOTES, AND LINKS:

-For the latest Hoops HD Staff Bracket Projections, which were done by John Stalica this week – CLICK HERE

-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE

-For Jon Teitel’s Mid-Season Awards – CLICK HERE for Part 1 and CLICK HERE for Part 2

-We will be recording our Hoops HD Report Video Podcast tonight, and then Under the Radar and the Bracket Rundown tomorrow. Be sure to be on the lookout for those.

-The biggest surprise in the latest string of big surprises was Stanford’s 100-82 win over Arizona on New Year’s Eve. It was a home game, but Stanford had shown no signs of being anything other than bad, and Arizona was showing signs of being a Final Four caliber team. I guess the Wildcats just started celebrating a little too early.

-Utah downed Washington 95-90 in a hard fought game. Washington has now fallen to 8-5, and lost two straight in conference, but I’m still not ready to count them out. The losses were hard fought games on the road against Utah and Colorado, both of whom are really good (especially at home), so I think the Huskies have it in them to start stringing together wins.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-UTAH STATE AT AIR FORCE (Mountain West). It’s the MWC opener for both of these teams. Utah State is off to a very impressive 12-1 start and looks like an NCAA Tournament team, while Air Force is 7-5 and a respectable 3-1 at home. For Utah State, it’s a road game that an NCAA Tournament caliber team should be able to win, but it is still a bit of a test.

-PURDUE AT MARYLAND (Big Ten). Purdue is clearly the more accomplished team, but Maryland is an impressive 8-0 at home, and as good as Purdue is they lost their only true road game of the season so far to Northwestern, so there is something at stake for the Boilers in this one.

-NORTH CAROLINA AT PITTSBURGH (ACC). UNC is in the top ten, and rightfully so, but this is a big road test against a Pitt team that is pretty good, but who still needs to build their resume up and who can really take a big step toward doing that with a win tonight.

-WAKE FOREST AT BOSTON COLLEGE (ACC). Both teams still have work to do, but amazingly enough both teams come into this one at 9-3 and at least have a path to land inside the bubble. They both could really use this win tonight, though, which is what makes the game so compelling.

-BUTLER AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East). Both teams are having good seasons so far, and both have shown the potential to end up as NCAA Tournament teams. Butler is looking to bounce back from an overtime loss at Providence where they just missed out on what would have been a huge win for their resume, and Saint John’s is coming off of a game where they struggled to get by Hofstra, but where they were right in there against UConn in the game before.

-NORTHWESTERN AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten). This should be a fun one. It appears to be a mismatch with Illinois being both at home and ranked in the top ten, but Northwestern has shown they can play like a top 25 caliber team, and it’s a rivalry game, so there are several reasons to watch.

-SYRACUSE AT DUKE (ACC). Syracuse is 10-3 on the season, but it’s a bit of a quiet 10-3. It will get a lot noisier if they’re somehow able to go into Cameron and upset the Blue Devils. Duke has won four straight and has also been playing very well at home.

-NEW MEXICO AT COLORADO STATE (Mountain West). This is one of the better games of the day. Both teams come into this one at 12-1 and while Colorado State is much higher in the rankings, New Mexico could pick up what would probably be their biggest win of the year so far and perhaps ride that to a top 25 ranking themselves. Both teams are likely tournament teams, and this one is a big resume building opportunity.

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES/BUY GAMES:

-DePaul @ Connecticut (Big East) – it’s a conference game, but it might as well be a buy game
-Norfolk State @ Tennessee
-East Carolina @ Florida Atlantic (American) – FAU should be able to bounce back from the surprising loss to FGCU in their last game
-Iowa @ Wisonsin (Big Ten) – Iowa has struggled all throughout this season, especially on the road. Wisky should be able to hold serve in this one
-Cornell @ Baylor – this one is somewhat intriguing because of Cornell’s 10-2 record, but it’s still a buy game and still a game that Baylor should roll through
-Chicago State @ Kansas State
-Penn @ Auburn
-Illinois State @ Drake (Missouri Valley) – Drake can get to 12-2 on the season with a win