Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES:

CLICK HERE for the latest HOOPS HD REPORT where we recap all the action from the first week of the season and look ahead to this week

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

-The big surprise of the evening was Penn’s win over Villanova in the Big 5 Classic out at the Palestra. And, it’s surprising and notable for a lot of reasons. It’s not as if Penn is just turning out to be better than we thought. Penn lost to Saint Joseph’s just a few days ago. And since taking over at Villanova, Kyle Neptune just can’t seem to get the motor going there. They were patient with him in Year One, but when you start off Year Two with a loss to a Big 5 “rival” that appears to be as inferior as Penn is, I can understand how and why people are starting to grumble. I’ve been in Kyle Neptune’s corner the whole time, and in the preseason was preaching about how I thought he’d get it done this year in a big way. He still can get it done in a big way, but (no offense to Penn) he’s off to a rather small start.

-Michigan has impressed the hell out of me so far. They blew out UNC Asheville, which may not sound like much on the surface, but what impressed me the most was how well they seemed to game plan for it and knew the strengths and weaknesses of a pretty good UNCA team. They certainly did not overlook them. Last night at Saint John’s, it was the same thing again. They knew what the Johnnies wanted to do both in transition and on offense, and just basically stuffed them. Michigan was in control the entire time, and picked up a REALLY good win on the road! I wasn’t expecting much out of them this year, but have been genuinely impressed me so far. And, I agree with what Phil Martelli said after the game! THE PALESTRA IS A BETTER ARENA THAN MSG!! There! I said it!!

-Other than that, it was a pretty chalky night with most of the games going as you would expect them to.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-WISCONSIN AT PROVIDENCE (Gavitt Games Tip-Off). This is the first real test for Providence after breezing through two of their buy games. It’s also a chance for Wisconsin to pick up their first notable win of the year.

-DUKE VS MICHIGAN STATE (Champions Classic, Chicago IL). Both of these teams started out ranked in the top 5, and both have already sustained a loss. I don’t want to say that this game has any sense of urgency for it, but the loser of it will fall to just 1-2. Still, it’s a showcase game on a neutral floor between two likely protected seeds, so it’s a chance for both of them to get a very notable win.

-COLGATE AT SYRACUSE. I know this is a buy game, and it could very well end up being a mismatch, but Colgate is a team that should absolutely dominate the Patriot League this year, and is coming into this game 1-0. It will be interesting to see what they can do on the road against a Syracuse team that’s won their first two games so far.

-UMASS LOWELL AT GEORGIA TECH. So, both teams are coming in at 2-0. I’m highlighting this more for UTR purposes than anything else. Lowell might be good! They haven’t really been tested yet, but they went on the road and blew Dartmouth off the floor like you would expect an actual good team to do. I’m very curious to see what they can do tonight.

-MARQUETTE AT ILLINOIS (Gavitt Games Tipoff). Both teams are in the rankings, and both have high expectations for the season, especially Marquette, who some say is a Final Four caliber team. This is more of a litmus test for both teams than it is a must-win game, but it would still be a really good win on either team’s resumes come march, so there is something at stake here. A good way to tell if a team is a legit Final Four caliber team is seeing how well they can play on the road against a ranked team.

-TEXAS A&M AT SMU. We are all really big on TAMU this year, but this is still a tricky road game against an SMU team that comes into this one undefeated and will undoubtedly be jacked way up for it.

-COLORADO STATE AT NORTHERN COLORADO (Front Range). We at Hoops HD Love the Front Range!!! Both teams come in 2-0, and we kind of like this Colorado State team. It’s a chance for them to pick up their first road win of the season.

-KANSAS VS KENTUCKY (Champions Classic, Chicago IL). It’s the biggest test of the year (so far) for both these teams. It seems like whenever they’ve met in recent years the games have been fantastic. This should be another fun one tonight between a very young and talented Kentucky team and top-ranked Kansas. It’s an early season game between two likely protected seeds.

-IOWA AT CREIGHTON (Gavitt Tipoff Games). Iowa comes in at 2-0, but they’re on the road and really haven’t been tested yet. This is probably Creighton’s biggest test of the season so far as well, but they did at least play a decent North Dakota State team over the weekend. I think Creighton could end up being the best team in the Big East, so I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do against a team that’s…yunno…an actual team.

BUY GAMES AND OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:

-Wofford @ Tennessee – Tennessee looks to remain unbeaten. Wofford coming in 2-0
-Bucknell @ La Salle – La Salle can get to 3-0
-Mississippi Valley State @ UConn – UConn can get to 3-0
-Eastern Michigan @ Florida Atlantic – FAU can get to 3-0
-Bellarmine @ Chattanooga – Chattanooga comes in at 2-0 with a win @ Louisville
-IUPUI @ Indiana State – Indiana State is a team we kind of like in the MVC this year, and shomehow IUPUI is 2-0 on the season
-Temple @ Drexel (Big 5 Classic) – Temple is 2-0 and can pick up their second road win of the season today
-Saint Francis U @ Penn State – Penn State can get to 3-0
-Bowling Green @ Oakland – Bowling Green is 2-0 and looking for their first road win
-Wagner @ Rhode Island – Rhody can get to 3-0
-Northeastern @ Harvard (Bean Pot) – A lot of teams in the Ivy League are off to a good start, and Harvard can get to 3-0 with a win tonight
-Hofstra @ George Washington – GW can get to 3-0, but it may not be easy
-Toledo @ Wright State – Toledo is 2-0 and looking for their first road win
-Stonehill @ Saint Joseph’s – Joe’s is 2-0
-Florida A&M @ Florida – the Gators are good and should have no trouble bouncing back from their loss to Virginia
-NC A&T @ Virginia – Hoos should get to 3-0
-North Alabama @ Mississippi State – both teams are unbeaten, but it’s still likely a big mismatch
-South Alabama @ Alabama – Alabama looking to stay unbeaten
-Prairie View @ Abilene Christian – ACU should be able to improve to 2-1, and they have the win at Oklahoma State on their resume already
-UNC Greensboro @ Vanderbilt – Vandy already has a loss to Presbyterian, and UNCG is likely a lot better than Presby, so the Dores better watch out
-Detroit Mercy @ Ole Miss – Ole Miss can get to 3-0
-Western Kentucky @ Murray State – it’s always fun when these two get together. Murray is trying to improve to 3-0
-Tarlton State @ Bradley – Bradley has a nice win at UAB this year and can get to 3-0 on the season with a win tonight
-Texas State @ Oklahoama – the Sooners should have no trouble getting to 3-0
-Western Michigan @ Northwestern – Northwestern should have no trouble getting to 3-0
-UTRGV @ TCU – TCU can get to 3-0
-Eastern Oregon (nonD1) @ Gonzaga
-Milwaukee @ Colorado
-South Dakota @ DePaul – The Yotes are 2-0 and while this is their first road game, it’s a road game they may be able to win
-Santa Clara @ Stanford – Neither one of these teams excites me all that much yet, but both are 2-0 coming in
-Kansas City @ Baylor – both teams are unbeaten, but it still appears to be a big mismatch
-Long Beach State @ San Diego State – Beach is one of the better teams in the Big West, but they are likely way overmatched in this one. San Diego State is looking to bounce back from the loss at BYU
-Appalachian State @ Oregon State – Oregon State can get to 3-0
-UC Irvine @ USC – The Eaters have overhauled their roster, and while they’ve had some really good teams in recent years, they’re likely overmatched in this one

NEWS, NOTES, AND LINKS:

For the Hoops HD Merit Rankings and Bracket Projections after Week 1 – CLICK HERE

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

-The biggest game and surprise of the day was Weber State’s 61-57 win at Saint Mary’s. We liked this Weber State team coming into the year, and we even said we thought they could make some noise on the national scene, but this really was a shock. Saint Mary’s was a team we liked even more and were expecting to get a protected seed, which they absolutely can still do, but still. It was a surprising result. They won’t lose many at home. This is a MASSIVE statement win for Weber State. It’s the kind of win that can land them inside the bubble come March.

-Maryland lost their second game of the year as they fell to UAB 66-63. UAB is definitely a decent team, and this win had to feel good for the Blazers after suffering close losses in their first two games, but to see Maryland drop both games out in the Asheville Championship is a bit alarming. It’s certainly not the start they wanted or expected.

-Davidson was right with Clemson in the championship game of that event, but Clemson held on for the 68-65 win. Two neutral floor wins against solid competition is a great way for the Tigers to start off the season, but Davidson played really well too. They now have my attention. In fact they’ve probably looked better than everyone else in the Atlantic 10 up to this point. I know that’s not saying much, but still.

-Boise State got a battle at home from San Francisco, which was a bit unexpected, but still held on to win 63-58. A solid showing from the Dons, though, who we thought would be in a rebuild mode this year.

-Yale got a much needed road win at LMU, but it wasn’t easy. It was close the entire way, but the Bulldogs did hold on 83-80.

-Nevada picked up a nice 83-76 road win at Washington.

-Indiana has won both their buy games, but they’ve had to sweat a lot more than expected against what appear to be some pretty weak teams. When I say weak, I mean weak by Patriot League and Atlantic Sun standards. Army was in the game with the Hoosiers until after the final media timeout. It wasn’t until the last couple of minutes that they finally got control and held on to win 72-64. The Hoosiers may have some issues to work through this season.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-MICHIGAN AT SAINT JOHN’S (Gavitt Tipoff Games). Neither team has a loss, but neither team has really been tested either, although Michigan did really dominate what I think is a pretty good UNC Asheville team last week. This is the first chance that either team has to get a win of substance.

-WESTERN CAROLINA AT MIDDLE TENNESSEE. This is an odd game to highlight, but they are two teams that we thought could be Under the Radar dark horses this year. Both are 2-0, and both have shown signs that they could end up having big years. It will be interesting to see what they do against each other tonight.

-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT KANSAS STATE. A really interesting game here between a very good South Dakota State team that needs a signature win on their resume to get the attention of the committee, and a K State team that we think is being undervalued. Both have a loss, so in addition to this being an opportunity at a likely notable win, there is a bit of a sense of urgency to it as well even though it’s just the 8th day of the season.

-XAVIER AT PURDUE (Gavitt Tipoff Games). This will be Purdue’s biggest test of the year so far, but having said that it’s hard to say how much of a test it really is. Xavier is in a bit of a rebuild mode, but they did breeze through their buy games. We will learn something about them today as they face what I think is the best team in the country on the road.

BUY GAMES AND OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:

-Florida International @ Miami FL
-Villanova @ Penn (Big 5 Classic) – I know it’s a Big 5 rivalry, but it also looks to be a big mismatch
-The Citadel @ Presbyterian – we aren’t expecting much from Presby, but for now they’re 2-0 with a win at Vanderbilt
-Central Michigan @ Florida State
-Stony Brook @ Duquesne
-East Tennessee State @ Butler – Butler hasn’t really been tested yet, but they’ve blown out their first two opponents like you would expect a good team to do
-Quinnipiac @ UMass – both teams unbeaten
-FGCU @ Pittsburgh – Pitt trying to get to 3-0
-VMI @ South Carolina – South Carolina trying to get to 3-0
-Stetson @ Houston
-Southern @ Arizona – Southern did win at UNLV, but they’re likely in way over their heads int his one tonight
-Old Dominion @ Arkansas
-SIUE @ Missouri
-Rider @ Nebraska
-UC Santa Barbara @ UTEP – it’s usually not easy to win at UTEP, and they won their first two home games this year. UCSB needs to bounce back from a somewhat surprising home loss to Portland State