Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES:

-After today, we will be in Holiday Mode until December 27th. I hope all the people who follow us (and for that matter, all the people who don’t as well) have a safe and happy holiday season. I realize that a lot of people love the holidays, but a lot of people hate them as well. I can certainly relate to both feelings. It can be a very difficult time for a lot of people for very understandable reasons. If you are one of those people, then I wish you the best as you battle through whatever challenges and hardships you may be facing.

As for college hoops…

-The Braggin’ Rights game wasn’t much of a game at all. Illinois just blew Mizzou off the floor. The final score was 97-73 and the game was in hand long before halftime.

-George Mason picked up a really nice 69-66 road win at Tulane. It was Tulane’s first home loss of the season, and GMU is now a very respectable 10-2 overall on the year. This win makes their resume look a whole lot better.

-Drake suffered their second loss of the year as they fell at UAB in overtime 79-78. Drake had a chance to win at the end of the game, but couldn’t convert on their final offensive possession and the Blazers held on. Any loss against a non-tournament caliber team feels like a setback whenever a UTR team is trying to land inside the bubble. I still think Drake has a path to make the field, but their margin for error is small.

-Nevada beat TCU in the semis of the Diamond Head Classic without having to sweat too much. Jamie Dixon was ejected early on, but I’m not sure if that would have made much of a difference. Nevada improves to 11-1 and will face Georgia Tech in the championship game, who knocked off Hawaii. GA Tech had strung together some pretty good wins in the last few weeks and is a team that we need to start paying attention to.

-Maryland picked up a much needed 69-60 win out at UCLA. It was a game that both teams really needed to win. UCLA is now just 5-6 on the year and as of now appears to be going nowhere. The Bruins have been one of the bigger surprises/disappointments of the season.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-BUTLER AT PROVIDENCE (Big East). Both teams are having much better seasons up to this point than I think any of us expected, and both teams won their conference openers. Providence looked really impressive with their win over Marquette and Butler knocked off Georgetown for their seventh straight win overall. This should be a fun one between two teams that have outperformed their preseason expectations.

-MISSISSIPPI STATE VS RUTGERS (Newark NJ). Mississippi State has a solid 9-2 record and they’re still a highly talented team, but they haven’t always looked solid on the court. This would be one of their better wins of the season so far if they’re able to knock Rutgers off in a semi/mostly road game.

-OLE MISS VS SOUTHERN MISS (Biloxi MS). Ole Miss should be able to win this and remain unbeaten, but they may be challenged more than most are expecting. Southern Miss has underperformed somewhat, but they’re still a talented team that can make a lot of noise in the Sun Belt once they get into league play, and they have won four of their last five after getting off to a really disappointing start, so Ole Miss better not just overlook them.

-SETON HALL AT XAVIER (Big East). Seton Hall is coming off a huge win against UConn and that suddenly has them on our radar as a potential NCAA Tournament team. This is just their second true road game, though, and it would be their first true road win if they’re able to get it done against a Xavier team that has struggled for most of the year.

-ARIZONA VS FLORIDA ATLANTIC (Desert Holiday Classic, Las Vegas NV). Both teams are ranked in the top 20. FAU is a potential protected seed and Arizona is almost assuredly a protected seed who has a shot at a #1 seed. This will probably be FAU’s biggest test of the year, and Arizona can continue to build on their already solid resume by picking up yet another top 20 win away from home.

-DUQUESNE VS SANTA CLARA (Las Vegas NV). Duquesne is off to a much better than normal 8-2 start for them and looks to be good enough to make quite a bit of noise in the Atlantic 10. They will be tested on a neutral site tonight against a Santa Clara program that has also been getting better in recent years.

-SAINT JOHN’S AT CONNECTICUT (Big East). UConn is one of the best teams in the country, but is coming off a loss in their conference opener and will be looking to bounce back tonight. They appear to be better than this Saint John’s team and they are at home. Having said that, the Johnnies blasted Xavier in their Big East opener and will be coming into this one with a lot of confidence.

-MISSOURI STATE AT SAINT MARY’S. SMC has started to string together wins after a real sluggish start and can get to a respectable 9-5 on the year with a win tonight.

–DIAMOND HEAD CLASSIC (Dec 24th): The two games of note today are TCU @ Hawaii and Nevada vs Georgia Tech. TCU still has a good record, but amassed it against a weak schedule and has no wins on their resume that even come close to being as good as this one would be. Georgia Tech has put together quite the resume, and if they’re able to beat Nevada who is 11-1 and looking like a top 40ish/tournament caliber team themselves, then we’ll have to start thinking of Georgia Tech as a team that can land inside the bubble. The Yellowjackets have some solid wins at home already, and if they win this tournament by beating Nevada then it really strengthens their profile.

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES/BUY GAMES:

-Detroit Mercy @ NC State
-Vanderbilt @ Memphis – It’s not a buy game, but it may end up looking like one. A win for Memphis gets them to 10-2 on the year and should help them climb the rankings
-Villanova @ DePaul (Big East) – it’s a very winnable road game for a Villanova team that has looked like a top 25 caliber team outside of the three Big 5 games they’ve played
-Eastern Kentucky @ Alabama – Bama should be able to bounce back and get to 7-5

NEWS AND NOTES:

Yesterday was a reasonably busy day, but for the most part it was all chalk, but…

-Kansas State got a nice 69-60 win over Wichita State in Kansas City and continues to look like a solid tournament team.

-Washington had to sweat out Eastern Washington, but held on to win 73-66. The game was close all the way up until the final minute or so.

-Washington State improved to 9-2 with a solid 66-61 win in Spokane over a fairly good Boise State team, and..

-Samford is now 11-2 on the year after their road win at Texas Southern. They lost their season opener to Purdue, but have played really well since then. Bucky Ball is alive and well!!!! We love Bucky Ball!!!

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-GEORGE MASON AT TULANE. Both teams still have a lot of work to do. Both have small margins of error and neither has much in the way of notable wins yet, but both have decent overall records at this point. George Mason is coming in at 9-2 and Tulane coming in at 8-2. But, like I said, neither team has anything that comes close to resembling a quality win, so it will be an interesting test for them both today as they go against each other.

-DRAKE AT UAB. UAB has been somewhat disappointing this year and is just 3-3 at home, but it’s still not the easiest place to go and win. Drake is having a very strong year with an 11-1 overall record, but this is only their second true road game, so a win would help build up their resume in regards to the number of true road wins.

-NEVADA VS TCU (Diamond Head Classic). Both teams are coming into this game with just one loss, but both of them (especially TCU) are lacking big time when it comes to quality wins, so this game actually has a bit of a pivotal feel to it. Both teams, especially TCU, will get their chances at big wins later on this season in conference play, but there is still something at stake today.

-GEORGETOWN AT MARQUETTE (Big East). Marquette was beaten rather handily by Providence in their conference opener and needs to bounce back today at home. I still really like this Marquette team, but they didn’t look good their last time out.

-ILLINOIS VS MISSOURI (Saint Louis MO). The Braggin’ Rights Game!!! Missouri has been somewhat disappointing so far this year, but they’ve been good enough to where they’re still in position to boost themselves into the rankings and high up the seedlist if they can turn it around and start winning big games. A win tonight would be a nice way to start that. Illinois, on the other hand, has looked really good with wins over teams like Rutgers and Florida Atlantic, and can add another notable win to their resume tonight.

-MARYLAND AT UCLA. Both teams have struggled this year, both have a lot of work to do, and both could really use this win. In fact both should be coming into this one with a big of a sense of urgency given how slowly they’ve started.

-GEORGIA TECH AT HAWAII (Diamond Head Classic). Georgia Tech has now won five of their last six, and has beaten Mississippi State, Duke, Penn State, and UMass in that stretch. Still, they don’t have a true road win on their resume yet, and while this is part of an MTE it will still be considered a road game. It won’t be easy. Hawaii is a respectable 6-2 on the year with all six of those wins coming at home. Georgia Tech is still being ignored by…well…everyone. If they get this win tonight then I think it means people should start paying a whole lot of attention to them.

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES/BUY GAMES:

-James Madison @ Morgan State – JMU should remain unbeaten and pick up their 5th true road win of the year
-Delaware Valley (nonD1) @ Princeton
-TAMUCC @ Texas
-Grambling @ Florida
-Queens @ Clemson
-Elon @ South Carolina
-Mississippi Valley State @ Baylor
-Stetson @ Cincinnati
-Yale @ Kansas – I still think Yale can have a big year in the Ivy League despite a somewhat sluggish start, but they are likely way overmatched in this one
-Chicago State @ Wisconsin – It’s been a lot of fun watching Chicago State string together some wins, but chances are they’re just way too overmatched in this one
-Alabama State @ Auburn
-Houston Christian @ Texas A&M
-Bellarmine @ BYU
-East Tennessee State @ Utah State
-Colorado State @ LMU – this isn’t the easiest game in the world for the Rams to win, and LMU is a very respectable 5-1 at home, but it is a winnable road game

NEWS AND NOTES:

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-Arizona closed out Alabama in Phoenix last night after taking control of the second half as they picked up the 87-74 win. Alabama has fallen to 6-5, but that record is more of an indication of how strong their schedule has been than it is anything else. I still think the Tide are a good team that will be really strong in the SEC and who will easily make it into the NCAA Tournament.

-UConn was expected to cruise past Seton Hall despite being the road team, but instead were beaten rather handily by the Pirates 75-60 in their Big East opener. Seton Hall improves to 8-4 and now has a highly impressive win on their resume to go along with that record. UConn, who had looked fantastic in virtually every game they had played prior to this one, is obviously still in good shape, but it was a little surprising to see them get beat like they did and to see Seton Hall in complete control late in the game.

-North Carolina handed Oklahoma their first loss of the season with a very impressive 81-69 win in Charlotte. The game was sort of in UNC’s back yard, but it was still an impressive showing by a Tarheels team that has looked really good all year long. I’ve been critical of them in years past, but am all in on them this year.

-Baylor suffered their second straight loss as they fell 78-70 to Duke in Madison Square Garden. I’m still big on this Baylor team, but while their losses have come against strong opponents, they haven’t looked quite as good in either game as we were expecting them to. Still, they looked a lot better last night than they did in the blowout loss to Michigan State. As for the Blue Devils, this was perhaps their biggest single win of the season to date, and it will really help boost the value of their resume.

-Villanova got a HUGE 68-66 win at Creighton last night in their Big East opener. If you take out the Big Five losses to Drexel, Penn, and Saint Joe’s, Nova has looked like a protected seed! Creighton has lost two of their last three, but is still in relatively good shape given how strong their schedule has been.

-Saint John’s beat Xavier rather comfortably 81-66. The Johnnies are now 8-3 on the year and are starting to make a case that they are an NCAA Tournament caliber team. They’ve still got work to do, but they’ve put it within reach.

-Northwestern beat Arizona State 65-46 and didn’t really even need to break a sweat to do it. Outside of the very out-of-character loss to Chicago State, this Northwestern team has looked like a top 25 team all season long, and definitely looked like one last night.

-New Mexico improved to 11-1 with their 78-65 win over UC Irvine. For the Eaters it was a chance to pick up the kind of win that could help land them inside the bubble if they blew through the Big West, but then didn’t win the conference tournament. As for New Mexico, they are off to a very good start of the second year in a row and are definitely a team to pay attention to as they head into Mountain West play.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-NEVADA VS TEMPLE (Diamond Head Classic). Nevada has an impressive 9-1 record and is coming off a nice win at Hawaii (who they may see again in this event). Still, they don’t have any huge wins on their resume so they need to keep stringing wins like this one together. Picking up some more wins away from home in this event should help.

-TCU VS OLD DOMINION (Diamond Head Classic). TCU is 8-1, but their schedule has been among the weakest in the nation and nearly every win has been a home buy game against an exceptionally weak UTR team. This event will at least allow them the opportunity to pick up some wins away from home.

-KENTUCKY AT LOUISVILLE. This has historically been a bitter rivalry, but it has also been such a mismatch these last two years that a lot of the heat has been taken out of it. Kentucky is starting to play better and better, but this is their first true road game, so a win today would give their resume something that they don’t yet have. Louisville is 5-6 and already has more wins than they had a year ago, but they’ve all been home buy games. While Louisville is at home tonight, Kentucky is a lot better than the kinds of teams they’ve beaten up to this point.

-SAINT JOSEPH’S AT CHARLESTON. Joe’s is having an amazing year so far with a 9-2 record, but this is still a big game because it would be just their second true road win of the season, and Charleston is not an easy team to beat on the road. Joe’s is good enough to land inside the bubble, but their margin for error is a little smaller given the conference that they play in. They just don’t get the opportunities at big wins that can offset bad losses.

-WICHITA STATE VS KANSAS STATE (Kansas City MO). Wichita State is off to a respectable 8-3 start, but there isn’t anything on their resume yet to indicate that they are a top 40 caliber team that can land inside the bubble. A win in a game like this could change that. K State is coming off a somewhat surprising home loss to Nebraska, but they still have a solid resume and look like the kind of team that will make the NCAA Tournament, so this would be a huge statement win in a bit of a showcase game (at least regionally) for Wichita State.

-STANFORD AT SAN DIEGO STATE. San Diego State should be able to hold serve at home in this one and get to 10-2 on the year. Stanford is a respectable 5-4, but getting this win on the road is probably over their heads.

-KENT STATE AT OREGON. This match-up is interesting. Oregon is likely a tournament caliber team, but they need to hold serve in games like this in order to sustain their resume. Kent State comes in at 7-3 and has shown they can play at a high level, and a road win like this would really help their resume and would be something that jumps out at the committee as a high caliber win, so it’s a big opportunity for the Golden Flashes.

-GEORGIA TECH VS UMASS (Diamond Head Classic). GA Tech has some decent wins this season, and at 6-3 is much better than we were expecting. They haven’t been that good away from home, though. This event gives them the opportunity to pick up some wins away from home against competition that isn’t exactly top-25-caliber, but is still respectable.

-BOISE STATE VS WASHINGTON STATE (Spokane WA). This isn’t a true road game, but it’s still a test for a Boise State team that’s 8-3 and looking to get some notable wins on their resume. The crowd should be partial toward Wazzu, who comes in at 8-2. Both teams have nice records, but both could use some meat on their profiles, and this would be a nice win for whichever team is able to pull it off.

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES/BUY GAMES:

-UT Arlington @ Texas Tech – A win for TX Tech gets them to 9-2 on the year
-Alcorn State @ George Washington – GW’s resume is still a little flimsy, but their overall record is good and a win today gets them to 10-2 overall
-Virginia-Lynchburg (nonD1) @ UNC Greensboro
-Presbyterian @ Wake Forest
-Northern Colorado @ Air Force (Front Range) – We at Hoops HD LOVE the Front Range!! A win for AFA gets them to a very respectable 8-4 on the year
-Niagara @ Syracuse
-American @ Virginia Tech – I’m starting to like this VA Tech team more and more
-Lehigh @ Boston College
-New Orleans @ Ohio State
-Jacksonville @ Purdue
-Tarlton State @ Tennessee – Tarlton State is having a good year, especially for a transitional team, but they’re likely going to be way overmatched tonight
-Gardner Webb @ Akron – Akron needs to keep stringing together wins
-Stony Brook @ Michigan State – Michigan State got off to a very slow start, but appears to be hitting their stride
-Abilene Christian @ Arkansas – Arkansas has a lot of talent, but they sometimes take their opponents for granted, and they don’t want to do that tonight
-Utah Tech @ Colorado
-UNC Wilmington @ Marshall – a win for UNCW gets them to 9-2 on the year, and also gives them their 5th true road win
-UNC Asheville @ Appalachian State – App State is Hot! Hot! Hot! They are actually good enough to land inside the bubble, but they need to keep holding serve in games like this
-Florida A&M @ UCF
-Texas State @ Houston
-Stonehill @ Miami FL
-Ball State @ Minnesota – Minnesota is 8-3, but seven of those wins came in home buy games and Ball State is a lot better than most of the teams they’ve been playing
-Eastern Illinois @ Iowa State
-North Alabama @ Indiana
-Eastern Washington @ Washington – Washington continues to string together wins
-Northern Kentucky @ Saint Mary’s
-Portland @ Hawaii (Diamond Head Classic)