The Hoops HD Report (Dec 11)

Posted on December 11, 2023 by David Griggs

Chad, David, and Jon Teitel run through all the major conferences and take a look back at a busy week. Arizona is the top ranked team in the nation and showed they were deserving of it with their blowout win over Wisconsin. In the Big 12, Houston, Kansas, Baylor, and Oklahoma are all high in the rankings and continuing to build up their resumes. Marquette, Creighton, and UConn have all managed big wins and are all ranked in the top ten out of the Big East. Ole Miss remains unbeaten, and Kentucky is starting to bounce back out of the SEC. We discuss all that, and more!

And for all your radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…

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SELECTION MONDAY!! Hoops HD Bracket Projections (From the Puppet) – Dec 11th

Posted on December 11, 2023 by David Griggs

For Today’s NEWS NOTES AND HIGHLIGHTED GAMES – CLICK HERE

Before you look at the bracket, I want to make sure everyone knows what they are looking at. These are NOT my guesses is to what the actual Selection Committee’s Final bracket will look like on Selection Sunday in March. It is also not an attempt to guess what the actual Selection Committee would do if they were picking the field today. These are simply my own picks, and this is a CHECKPOINT based on CURRENT MERIT, and not a ranking of how good I think the teams actually are. I’m only really asking myself one question. How hard is it to win the games that this team has won?? That’s really it.

For instance, I personally think Auburn is really good, but I have them seeded kind of poorly. The reason is that at this point in time, they just haven’t won any games that really jump of the page.

If the season were a 40-minute game, we’d be about at the under-12 media timeout in the 1st half. There is a long way to go and I’m not trying to guess the future. Metaphorically speaking, I’m just trying to show what I think the score is at the under-12 1st half timeout.

Some notes and comments are listed below…

-Conference Champions are notated with an (*)

-Any teams that needed to move seedlines in order to meet bracketing rules have their original seed indicated in (parenthesis)

OTHERS CONSIDERED: Mississippi State, Florida, Duke, Liberty, NC State, Boston College, Saint John’s, Butler, Duquesne, Pittsburgh, Oregon, Nebraska, Xavier, Cincinnati, San Francisco, Iowa, Saint Bonaventure, Southern Illinois, Texas Tech, Indiana, Texas, TCU, Washington State

COMMENTS FROM DAVID:

-What impresses me most is notable wins away from home. The #1 seeds have all done that and I think they’ve started to set themselves apart. Purdue did lose the one true road game that they’ve played, but they’ve beaten so many good teams on neutral sites that it’s impossible to not give them credit for that and recognize that they are one of the best teams in the nation.

-A team like Duke, who was the last team in, has not done a damn thing away from home yet, and has even lost to a Georgia Tech team that is unlikely to make the NIT. I do think Duke is good, and I certainly think they will end up in the NCAA Tournament with a good seed, but this is a checkpoint and not a forecast.

-I really like what teams like Saint Joseph’s and Princeton have done. They’ve played a lot of games that aren’t necessarily against ranked teams, but that were away from home and hard to win and they’ve won the vast majority of them. Joe’s does have the one ugly loss to TAMU-Commerce, and that alone could warrant not being seeded anywhere near where I have them, but I think all their good wins have offset that.

-James Madison is unbeaten and a lot of people will probably try and say they deserve a much better seed than where I have them. While that may be true, in the current state of things that win against Michigan State isn’t quite as valuable as it appeared it would be at the time.

-The earlier in the year it is, the harder this is to do! At least if you’re trying to only measure merit.

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Monday, Dec 11th

Posted on December 11, 2023 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES:

-We will be recording this week’s Hoops HD Report, so keep an eye out for that and give it a watch or a listen. We will also be posting our latest Bracket Projections later today.

-The game of the day, and perhaps one of the more exciting games of the entire weekend, was Saint Joseph’s 74-70 win over Princeton. It was a well played and exciting game between two teams that both look like top 40 caliber teams and that should end up inside the bubble come March. It was the first loss of the season for Princeton, and even though it was a missed opportunity at a big road win, Princeton’s resume still looks pretty solid. As for Saint Joe’s, they improve to 8-2 on the year and have started to build a really nice resume of their own. It’s a shame this game didn’t get more attention because it was two really good teams with quite a bit of importance in regards to the NCAA Tournament.

-When Miami FL was blown out by Kentucky earlier this year we just thought it was an amazing performance by Kentucky (which it was, but still). Miami FL was blown out again yesterday, this time by Colorado 90-63. While it was an impressive performance by the Buffs, and while the Buffs are also really good, it does start to raise questions about how good Miami actually is. Having said that, other than those two blowouts, the Canes have won all their other games.

-Memphis picked up a really impressive road win as they knocked off a very good Texas A&M rteam 81-75 and were in control for pretty much all 40 minutes. Memphis is putting together quite an impressive profile in the first month of the season and is definitely a team to keep an eye on.

-After a bit of a sluggish start, Long Beach State is now 5-1 in their last six games and they picked up a big one at USC yesterday 84-79 in overtime. I don’t know if this is quite enough to declare Beach a team that can make a run at the bubble, but considering how well they’ve been playing and in looking at their remaining opponents it looks to me that they could really finish with a bloated record. As for USC, I still think they have a ton of potential, but I suppose it’s a good thing for them that they don’t play in the Big West. They’re now just 1-2 against Big West teams with both losses coming at home.

-Ole Miss barely escaped against UCF 70-68, but the Rebels remain unbeaten on the season and pick up their second road win. When I say they barely escaped, you have to go back and watch exactly how this game ended. UCF cut it to 2 in the final seconds of play, then stole the inbounds pass and put in what appeared to be a game tying basket, but the clock expired just a millisecond before they were able to get it off.

-Boston College is now 8-3 on the year after beating Saint John’s 86-80 in the Brooklyn Showcase. BC may not quite be a tournament team, but they’ve improved substantially and should be able to make at least a little bit of noise in the ACC.

-Michigan State continues to not look good. They fell at Nebraska yesterday 77-70, which as an isolated incident is forgivable because Lincoln is not the easiest place to win on the road, but Michigan State is now just 4-5 on the year with absolutely nothing of note on their resume. They have the talent to turn it around, but they’ve shown no signs of it yet.

NOTABLE GAMES (None that are really “Highlightable”):

-HOWARD AT PENN. A MEAC frontrunner against a Penn team that has made some noise this year.

-YALE AT QUINNIPIAC. In in-state battle between a Yale team that we thought would be really good and a Quinnipiac team that’s off to a better-than-exopected 7-2 start.

-MISSISSIPPI VALLY STATE AT GONZAGA. Zags should easily bounce back after the loss to Washington.

Posted in Daily Rundown, News and Notes | 1 Comment

Hanging with the Quakers: Part 1

Posted on December 10, 2023 by Jon Teitel

HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel will spend the upcoming months covering several Georgetown basketball home games, with (hopefully) a very special reward coming in March. In his free time, he traveled to Philly on Saturday and prepared this photo essay about the Kentucky-Penn game.

After attending 5 Georgetown games during November, I figured that I would shake things up a bit by heading up to Philly to see my beloved Penn Quakers host the 2nd-winningest college basketball program ever: the Kentucky Wildcats. Coach John Calipari has several players on his roster who grew up in/around the City of Brotherly Shove so he was kind enough to schedule a game back East so that all of the family/friends could come cheer on their loved ones in person. Based on the amount of blue in the stands, Big Blue Nation proved that they will also show up to cheer on their team wherever they play:

My expectations were very low going into the game but after Penn’s amazing win vs. 1 set of Wildcats last month (a 76-72 win over Villanova on 11/13) I decided to put my mascot theory to the test. I do not know how many college games are played at the Wells Fargo Center but I had to talk to literally TEN different employees before I found the media room: boo. On the plus side, I got to sit in the front row behind the basket: yay! The pregame meal consisted of a soft pretzel: what else!?

With Coach Cliff Ellis’ retirement from Coastal Carolina last Wednesday, Calipari is now the winningest active D-1 coach in the country with 790 (and counting):

In celebrity sighting news, current 76ers star/former Kentucky G Tyrese Maxey was in the house to check out his college coach:

Let’s tip it off:

Kentucky FR PF Aaron Bradshaw grew up 80 miles away from Philly in Roselle, NJ. He missed all of November with foot injury but looked as strong as an ox in the 1st half as he dominated the paint with layup after put-back after alley-oop. Kentucky is projected to end up with as many as 5 1st round picks next June and 7 guys in the top-38…and in just his 2nd game of the year Bradshaw demonstrated why he might very well be the 1st Wildcat off the board:

Another of the talented Wildcat super-frosh is G Rob Dillingham, who looked good during the 1st 20 minutes with a pair of shots from behind the arc and a lovely STL/layup. I can only hope that the fans eventually learn the proper cheer after he makes a big play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZjAmpG8fNk

Penn only trailed 23-21 after 14 minutes before Kentucky went on 16-2 run to SEEMINGLY put things out of reach at 39-23…but then it turned into the Clark Slajchert Show. Penn’s SR PG had a backdoor layup, a baby hook in the lane, then wrapped things up with a scoop just before the buzzer to keep it close as the Quakers cut the deficit to 39-29 at halftime:

During the intermission I looked up to see 76ers F Marcus Morris, who proved that some people are indeed capable of pulling off the “sunglasses indoors” look:

I also noticed Kentucky FR Reed Sheppard’s parents sitting about 10 rows behind the Wildcats bench. His father Jeff was named tourney MOP when he led Kentucky to the 1998 NCAA title, and his mother Stacey also played basketball in Lexington:

Penn hung around for several minutes in the 2nd half thanks to some young guards of their own. FR Tyler Perkins missed a ton of shots in the 1st half but drilled a trio of trifectas in the 2nd half:

His backcourt mate FR Sam Brown missed the 1st 4 games of the season due to an ankle injury but has quickly become 1 of the best 3-PT shooters in the nation, as his 4 threes on Saturday put him at 20-41 in his past 7 games:

The elder statesman of the Wildcats is SR G Antonio Reeves, who made a couple of baseline runners, a lefty tip-in, and a corner 3 to help his team withstand Penn’s 3-PT barrage:

Kentucky had a huge advantage in bench scoring all night (by an incredible mark of 40-5!) due in large part to Bradshaw, who kept beating up the smaller Quakers inside and finishing with a sensational stat line in just his 2nd career game (17 PTS/11 REB/3 BLK/0 TO) as the Wildcats cruised to an 81-66 victory.

In the postgame press conference I asked Penn coach Steve Donahue what it was like to face the winningest active D-1 coach in the country. He joked that Calipari would have to get in line since “I got my ass kicked in the past by Mike Krzyzewski/Jim Boeheim”. He admires Calipari for caring about the right things: he remembers facing him in the 2010 Sweet 16 when Donahue was Cornell’s coach and Calipari’s attention to detail (in a 62-45 win) really opened his eyes:

The very last question of the afternoon was directed to Calipari about taking Ellis’ place atop the active D-1 wins list…only it was not asked by me but by some mother-Quaker who stole my thunder! He joked that holding the record just means that he is old, then spent a couple of minutes praising Ellis, who he just talked to on Friday night:

That is a wrap from Philly, check back in a couple of weeks when I return to DC but head to the western part of the district to see how GW is looking this year!

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In Memoriam: HoopsHD interviews Tom Apke about Paul Silas

Posted on December 10, 2023 by Jon Teitel

Paul Silas spent most of his life as a basketball player/coach…and what a life it was. At McClymonds High School he went 68-0 and was named 2nd-team Parade All-American as a senior. At Creighton he set an NCAA record for most rebounds in a 3-year career and was named a 2nd-team All-American in 1964. During his 16-year NBA career he was a 2-time All-Star, a 5-time member of the All-Defensive Team, and won 3 rings in a 6-year span from 1974-1979. He later became an NBA coach and made the playoffs 4 straight years from 2000-2003. Paul died last year but HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Paul’s college teammate Tom Apke about all of his amazing accomplishments. Today marks the 1-year anniversary of Paul’s passing on December 10, 2022, so we take this time to honor his memory.

Paul was your teammate at Creighton where he averaged 20.5 PPG/21.6 RPG and was named an All-American in 1964: was he as dominant in college as his stats seems to indicate? Paul was as dominant a player during that era as much as anyone we played against. I was 1 year behind him and could not play on the varsity as a freshman but we got to sit with the radio guys and keep stats: I kept stats the night that Paul had 38 REB vs. Centenary. 1 of the opponents that night was Riley Wallace, who later became head coach at Hawaii: I joked with him about that many years later.

He led the nation in rebounding during both his sophomore/junior seasons and remains top-25 in NBA history with 12,357 career REB: what made him such a great rebounder? People assumed that he was a fantastic athletic leaper…but he was not. I saw some old video recently of him as a sophomore: he was thin but very mobile. They faced Cincinnati in the NCAA tourney and Paul Hogue pushed Silas around the court. The following summer he stayed in Omaha, worked at an ice cream factory(!), and put on some more weight. He has a tremendous sense of timing and will to “go get it”. 1 time in practice he snatched the ball out of our teammate’s hands: the teammate said, “I had it”, and Paul responded, “Then go get it!”

In the spring of 1964 he was drafted 12th overall by St. Louis (2 spots behind Willis Reed): did he see that as a validation of his college career, or the realization of a lifelong dream of reaching the NBA, or other? He was expecting to be drafted high: he had been high school player of the year in California so he always expected to play at the next level. He stepped in and was an immediate contributor from Day 1.

In 1974 he was inducted into the Creighton Athletic Hall of Fame: where did that rank among the highlights of his career? 1 of the neat things about my career is that I was head coach/athletic director that year so I got to be the emcee at his ceremony: it was a great evening. A lot of people now forget the key contributors from years ago: even at Creighton people think the modern era started with Coach Dana Altman…but Paul was the most important player in school history. He enabled us to become competitive with all of the national powerhouses that our coach scheduled. Without Paul, we might not have attained all of our accomplishments since then.

He won 3 NBA titles during a 6-year span in the 1970s (2 with Boston and 1 with Seattle): what did it mean to him to be a 3-time champ? Paul did a lot of the little things but was not a prolific scorer and did not have a great jump shot. His teammates/coaches appreciated his defense/rebounding. He did not need 20 shots/game to be happy: his intangibles translated into his team’s success.

He was a 5-time all-defensive team selection: what made him such a great defender? He was a great competitor and doggedly determined that his opponent’s life would be as miserable tonight as he could make it. He was not a great leaper but had very quick feet so he could react quickly by rebounding misses and prevent his opponents from getting around him.

He played 16 years in the NBA and his 1254 career games remains in the top-40 all-time: what was the secret to his longevity? There was a lot of wear and tear back then and no corporate jets that flew you 1st-class overnight: they had to take the 1st-available commercial flight the next morning. He did not have the proper rest/nutrition that today’s players enjoy.

After retiring he spent almost 3 decades as an assistant/head coach in the NBA: since you later spent more than 2 decades as a coach at Creighton/Colorado/Appalachian State, how difficult is the transition from player to coach? He was still playing when San Diego offered him a player/coach role. He decided that to do it correctly he could not do both at the same time: he could have played another 1-2 years but decided to coach the team he inherited in earnest. I was coaching at Creighton at the time and he invited me to become 1 of his assistants. I could not afford to do so financially (due to the salary/cost of living) and am unsure whether I could have done it emotionally either.

You later did some radio/TV work in Charlotte while Paul was head coach of the Hornets and you 2 spent some time together in retirement: how did your friendship evolve over the decades since you 1st met as college teammates? I retired to Charlotte and we began spending a lot of time together. I got to interview him a few times on TV/radio and knew the leading questions to ask him that would elicit both a laugh and a good answer! I knew how to get him to open up/express himself. He was young for his high school graduating class and San Francisco was a major power: they wanted him to go to junior college for a year but he chose to go to Creighton instead. Our birthdays were only a few days apart in July and it was a common thing that brought us closer: I have pictures from our combined 75th birthday together with our families.

He passed away in 2022 due to cardiac arrest: when people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? Most people today remember him as an NBA coach: he never won a title or was named COY so they assume that he was not a good coach, but that is not the truth. I covered a lot of his games and he had an uncanny ability to bring out the best in many of his players. I remember him telling 1 of his young players to take a shot, which blew the kid’s mind! Players today often pout about minutes but he was an extraordinary coach and as good a person as he was a player.

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Sunday, Dec 10th

Posted on December 10, 2023 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES:

-Top ranked Arizona blew out 23rd ranked Wisconsin 98-73, and the game was well within hand before halftime. Top ranked Arizona looks like they should be the top ranked team.

-Missouri actually held a lead against Kansas for most of the first half, but Kansas went on a flurry to close the half and then never really looked back before winning 73-64. It wasn’t a blowout, but it wasn’t an exciting game either. None of the Border Wars have been exciting since the series resumed.

-Purdue took care of Alabama in the Hall of Fame Classic up in Toronto, but Bama took quite a bit of taking care of. This was one of the better games that Alabama has played this season, and more than anything they showed how tough they can be. I think both teams showed they could be tough. Whenever there was a momentum shift or it felt like the game was getting away from one of the teams, the other team had an answer. It was just a great game to watch with Purdue winning 92-86.

-For the first time in I think 19 years, Washington has beaten Gonzaga. They got it done at home 78-73, and had to come from behind to do it. Gonzaga went ice cold in the second half, and Washington kept making plays. First they kept getting closer, then they tied it, then they went ahead, and in the final minute of the game they got control. As good as it feels to beat a rival, it also a really important win on paper for the Huskies, who are now suddenly 6-3 with all three losses being competitive games against really good teams, and now they have a win over a really good team in Gonzaga.

-It took a month for it to happen, but Saint Mary’s FINALLY played like a top 25 caliber team and got a MASSIVE win at previously unbeaten and highly ranked Colorado State 64-61. It was close throughout most of it, but SMC also held a lead through most of it. Is this the game that finally turns things around for the Gaels?? Prior to yesterday they hadn’t even looked like an NIT team. I guess they were waiting for the Winter Break before they started playing.

-BYU fell behind early at Utah in front of a crowd that was absolutely bonkers, but actually stayed tough and played their way back into it in the second half. After seeming like they were totally out of it and were just about to get run off the floor, they actually had a chance to tie or win on their last possession. The Utes made a great defensive play, and really played well throughout the entire game to preserve the 73-69 win after a couple of very late freethrows, but BYU showed some toughness in the way that they came back. As for Utah, it was their biggest win of the season both on and off paper, and their resume is starting to look good.

-Tennessee got a fight from Illinois, but ended up winning 86-79. Tennessee’s schedule has been absolutely brutal, and while facing a top 20 team is certainly a challenge even if you’re at home, Tennessee was ready for it after playing multiple top ten teams away from home.

-Oklahoma remains unbeaten after knocking off Arkasnas 79-70. As they did last year, Arkansas is showing some rust on their armor early on. Eric Musselman got to go to the locker room early after he was ejected, so perhaps the Hogs have some work to do.

-Clemson faced an undefeated team for the second straight game as they went up against TCU up in Toronto, and for the second straight game they managed to win. They knocked off the Horned Frogs 74-66, and even though they’re unbeaten, and even though they’re in the ACC, and even though their last two wins have come against unbeaten teams…they still seem to be a little bit below the radar for some reason.

-UC Irvine has a win against USC, and after falling behind by as many as 16 against San Diego State last night came all the way back, got the lead, and appeared to be in control of the game with less than a minute to go. To get a second big road win like this would have been a huge statement for the Eaters belonging inside the bubble. San Diego State made some big plays in their final few possessions and ended up escaping 63-62. This was a big win for the Aztecs, as they were coming off a loss at Grand Canyon. I also want to point out that while San Diego State’s last two games have not been against “brand name” opponents, they wee in fact against very good opponents that would beat most “brand name” teams, so they shouldn’t be written off or overlooked. If anything, they should continue to be recognized for being good themselves. Speaking of the team that just beat San Diego State…

-Grand Canyon is for real, and it’s time that people start thinking of them as a top 40 caliber team that can land inside the bubble. They followed up their win against San Diego State by going on the road and getting a win at Liberty 69-64. The win at Liberty is arguably even more impressive than the home win against San Diego State. Liberty is a really good team that doesn’t lose at home very often, and may not lose at home for the rest of the year. In fact, although they do have a tough game at Lousiana Tech on their schedule later on, Liberty is good enough to where it’s possible they’ll win out. This was a GREAT win for the Lopes, and it’s one they deserve a lot of credit for!

-Kansas State got a nice 75-60 win at LSU in their first game without a key player. It’s just one game, but all accounts are that they are still going to be a good team this year.

-Auburn blew Indiana off the floor 104-76. Indiana isn’t that great of a team, but it’s still an impressive showing from an Auburn team that should be in the top 25, but for some reason isn’t.

-Santa Clara had looked interesting coming into their game yesterday against New Mexico in the Jack Jones Classic, and it was a chance to see what they could do against a pretty good Lobos team. They didn’t do much. New Mexico pretty much dominated all 40 minutes of the game and won 93-76.

-Ohio State fell at Penn State 83-80 and I’m not quite sure how that happened. It was arguably one of the bigger surprises of the day. It wasn’t super cataclysmic result as Ohio State is likely still fine and Penn State is likely 1000 miles from the NIT, but it was a surprising result.

-Cincinnati suffered their first loss of the year as they fell to rival Xavier 84-79. Xavier led for most of the game, but Cincinnati did make some runs to keep themselves in it. Every time it looked like X was about to blow it open, Cincinnati had an answer. As for Xavier, they had lost three straight coming into this and really needed it.

-PFW keeps winning games. They’re now 10-1 after knocking off SEMO 89-80.

-Wichita State was starting to get our attention, but they fell at home to South Dakota State 79-69 and didn’t look all that great at any point. South Dakota State is likely the Summit League Frontrunner, but they were just 4-5 on the season and had been somewhat disappointing going into yesterday’s game. Getting a win at the Round House against a Wichita State team that appeared to be pretty good could be the start of a turnaround for them.

-Villanova held off UCLA 65-56 to get a nice home win. Both these teams have shown moments of being good, but they’ve also had some disappointing results this year. You had a sense that there was a sense of urgency for both of them, especially for Nova since they were playing at home.

-Drake is now 9-1 after handily beating a Nevada team that came into this one unbeaten. We were all really big on Drake coming into the year and thought they could land inside the bubble, but they did lose some key players from a year ago, and after getting blown out by Stephen F Ausitn a few weeks ago we just kind of wrote them off. Well, I think it’s time to write them back in. They’re now 9-1 with a couple of notable and impressive wins.

-Arizona State played their first road game of the year at San Diego, and lost it 89-84. San Diego is 6-0 at home, but it’s still the kind of road game that a tournament-caliber team needs to be able to win.

.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-PRINCETON AT SAINT JOSEPH’S. This is a much more important game than I would have ever expected prior to the start of the season. Both teams are good, both have started to build really good resumes, both have a shot at landing inside the bubble, and today’s game is another resume-building opportunity for both teams.

-COLORADO VS MIAMI FL (Brooklyn NY). Both are likely NCAA Tournament teams that I was fond of coming into the year, and that I think can improve as the year continues to play out, but neither has managed a really big tournament-caliber win yet this season and today’s game is an opportunity for each team to get their first.

-MEMPHIS AT TEXAS A&M. Memphis is playing their third straight true road game. Of the nine games they will have played this season (including today’s) seven will have been away from home. The upside to that is that they’ve build a nice resume with wins at Missouri, and against Michigan and Arkansas. This would be their best win of the season so far if they’re able to pull it off. TAMU has some nice wins of their own, is in the rankings, and will likely make quite a bit of noise once they get into SEC play.

-OLE MISS AT UCF. Ole Miss is unbeaten and does have a nice win over Memphis, but this is still a big test and one of the tougher games they’ve had to play this year. It’s on the road against a fairly decent UCF team.

-SAINT JOHN’S VS BOSTON COLLEGE (Brooklyn Showcase). Both teams have decent records, but other than the Johnnies’ win over Utah neither team really has any overly spectacular wins yet, and this would perhaps be the best win for BC this year so far, and one of the better wins for the Johnnies so far.

-TULSA VS OKLAHOMA STATE (Oklahoma City). Tulsa is a respectable 5-2 on the year and this is a winnable game for them.

-MICHIGAN STATE AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten). The Spartans have been disappointing so far this season, but they’re the kind of team that may start to pick it up now that final exams are over and the practice restrictions are no longer in place. This is a pivotal game for the Spartans. It’s a conference road game against a team they should be able to beat.

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES/BUY GAMES:

-Brown @ Providence
-Prairie View A&M @ Iowa State
-Detroit Mercy @ Northwestern
-Long Beach State @ USC – this is a game USC needs to win and should win, but Beach is good, and if they overlook them, they may NOT win
-Iowa @ Michigan (Big Ten) – both teams have been somewhat disappointing this year, both look to have more potential than what they’ve shown, and both could really use this win today
-Elon @ UNC Greensboro – a win for UNCG gets them to 8-1 on the year
-Grambling @ Washington State

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