Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES:

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

-A big thanks to John Stalica for helping out with the daily write-ups the last two days!  I was out celebrating, and one thing led to another, and…well…let’s just say that I don’t think local law enforcement has been very fair to puppets!!!

-We will be recording our Hoops HD Report tonight as we are now back on our normal schedule.  John Stalica will also have his first Staff Bracket of the New Year later today!

-Providence won handily at DePaul to stay unbeaten in Big East play and improve to 12-3 on the year.  The voters have got to start noticing this team.  They lost a ton from last year’s team and many dismissed them in the preseason, and it seems as though they actually haven’t notice that once again Providence is damn good!

-Washington State isn’t likely to make the tournament, but they are good enough to be considered a snake-pit when playing at home.  They nearly beat UCLA just a few nights ago, and beat a really good USC team last night.  Their only other home loss was in overtime to Utah, so they can play with, and even beat, good teams at home.

-Drake lost another game that they should have won, this time at Missouri State, 52-49.  I’m very close to saying that one of Drake’s win better be that last Missouri Valley Conference Tournament game, because they are out of strikes and can’t get inside the bubble.  They basically need to win out to not need the auto-bid.

-Michigan looked like a directional Michigan school against Central Michigan earlier in the week, but looked like a Final Four team yesterday against a Maryland team who had been playing well, but I guess spent too much time partying on New Years Eve.  I believe it was 23-4 at one point, and the game was never really close as Michigan blew them away.

-Memphis, who had been playing well, had a tough road game against a Tulane team that has somewhat underperformed but is still having a good year…and lost 96-89.  This loss doesn’t sink think by any means, but it was one of those road games that, while not easy to win, that a tournament caliber team needs to be able to win.

-Iowa’ suckiness improved a little bit yesterday, but they still didn’t get the win at Penn State as they fell 83-79.  Penn State is looking more and more like a solid tournament caliber team, whereas Iowa just needs to beat ANYBODY to pull themselves out of the tailspin they are in.

-Ohio State went into Northwestern and got an impressive and decisive 73-57 road win.  Northwestern had been looking like a fringe bubble team, but they looked like utter crap yesterday.  The 73-57 score isn’t a close margin, but it’s a much closer margin than how close the game actually was.  Ohio State just dominated.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-RUTGERS AT PURDUE (Big Ten).  I’ve beens saying for weeks that Rutgers looks like an NCAA Tournament team, but that their resume needs some boosting.  Well, tonight is a chance for them to boost it through the roof!!  The problem is that while they look like Tournament team, they don’t look like a Final Four team, which is what Purdue has looked like, so to win there on the road might be a little bit out of their reach.

-WEST VIRGINIA AT OKLAHOMA STATE (Big 12).  After a ho-hum start, Oklahoma State looked fantastic in their last game at Kansas, but could not pick up the win.  Still, they FINALLY looked like the caliber of team that we were expecting coming into the year, they’ve got a winnable game at home tonight, and if they can start stringing together wins they can play their way in.  WVU is in the rankings, but could use a few notable wins away from home of their own to polish up their resume too.

For Jon Teitel’s 2nd part of the Midseason All-Conference Awards – CLICK HERE

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

For Jon Teitel’s first Bracket Projection of the season – CLICK HERE

NEWS AND NOTES:

-Xavier finished off December with a bang and knocked UConn out of the ranks of the unbeaten with a 10-point win at home. The Musketeers are getting closer to looking like a protected seed and UConn is suddenly looking up at teams like Xavier and Providence in the Big East standings.

-Marquette is starting to solidify their postseason status with a win at Villanova yesterday. The Golden Eagles have now won 3 straight against Nova and the Wildcats really need to get a sense of urgency if they want to make any postseason right now.

-Kansas missed their alarm clock and was down by 15 at home against Oklahoma State before mounting a late comeback to escape an upset bid from the Pokes.

-Houston also had to sweat out a home game against Central Florida, but it’s not terribly surprising when you consider how both teams have been playing this season. The Knights have a lot of missed opportunities on their resume and not enough actual wins for the Committee.

-Arizona got out to a big lead against Arizona State on the road and thwarted a late Sun Devil comeback to beat their in-state rivals. The Wildcats are looking like they are a 1-seed caliber team at this stage of the season.

-Only Texas managed to get a win on the road in the Big 12 against Oklahoma; Iowa State beat Baylor, TCU beat Texas Tech (with actual fans in the stands, unlike Clemson) and Kansas State managed to beat West Virginia. Any road win in the Big 12 is going to be gold.

-New Mexico’s winning streak was put to the test in the thin air of Wyoming, but held on for a 1-point win after a pair of free throws in the closing seconds gave them the lead for good. How long the Lobos remain undefeated will be a question that gets asked week in and week out.

-Wake Forest is checking off boxes where they can beat good ACC teams at home, and added Virginia Tech to that list yesterday. Now they just need a good road win or two in conference play.

-Charleston needed overtime against Towson, but their win yesterday should finally vault them into the Top 25 and a spot on tomorrow night’s Hoops HD Report.

-The A-10 desperately needs Saint Louis and Dayton to get separation from the rest of the conference and got that with SLU winning at Saint Joe’s and Dayton winning at a Davidson team coming off of a road win at Fordham. They still have a lot of work to do just to get above the First Four line.

-We’ll have to do some crack research, but we are pretty sure this is the first time San Jose State starts Mountain West play 2-0 thanks to their win at Colorado State yesterday. Chad will not silence the nonbelievers anymore.

-The San Francisco Dons are an inexplicable 0-2 in the WCC thanks to a home loss against Steve Lavin’s San Diego squad yesterday. It’s looking more and more like the WCC will be the Big 2 of Gonzaga/Saint Mary’s and everyone else.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

PROVIDENCE AT DEPAUL (Big East).  Providence can pick up their eighth straight win, get to 4-0 in the Big East, and pick up their fourth true road win.  Their resume keeps looking better and better, and this is certainly a winnable game for them.

-CINCINNATI AT TEMPLE (American).  Cincinnati has won four straight and improved to 10-4 on the year, but they still have a lot of work to do before we declare them NCAA Tourney worthy.  They do appear to be improving, though.  This would be their first true road win of the year if they’re able to pull it off.

-USC AT WASHINGTON STATE (Pac 12).  This should be a winnable road game for a USC team that appears to be improving as the season goes along.

-DRAKE AT MISSOURI STATE (Missouri Valley).  Drake had to sweat (again) the other night against an inferior team in Valpo, but Drake (again) held on to win.  They’re 11-3, which is not a bad record, and you just get the feeling that they’ve amassed it while playing nowhere near their ceiling.

-MARYLAND AT MICHIGAN (Big Ten).  You get the sense that this is a road game that Maryland should win.  They’re a top 25ish team, they’re on the road against an NITish (at best) team in Michigan, and should be able to pull it out.

-MEMPHIS AT TULANE (American).  Memphis has strung together quite a few wins, and they’ll be tested a little bit by Tulane today, but it’s still a winnable conference road game for them and it will give the value of their resume another little boost if they can pull it off.

-UCLA AT WASHINGTON (Pac 12).  UCLA is playing as well as anyone right now, and while winning at Washington isn’t a cakewalk, it’s the kind of road game that a protected seeded caliber team like UCLA should be able to win.

-OHIO STATE AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten).  Northwestern is looking like a tournament team to me, but I know they still have work to do.  They’re at home against an Ohio State team that also appears to be a tournament caliber team, and a win today would really help boost their resume.  This is actually a nice opportunity for both these teams.