Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES:

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

-Alabama played a tough first half against Houston, and then fell behind early in the second half, and I think everyone’s thinking at the time was that Houston would control the rest of the game.  Well, they didn’t.  Alabama fought back, then pulled even, then pulled ahead, and then stayed ahead for the 71-65 win.  To date, it’s the single most impressive win that any team has managed this season.  They beat the #1 team on their floor.  Wins don’t get any better than that.  Last year at about this time, Alabama beat Gonzaga out in Seattle.  I guess December is just Alabama’s month!

-Penn State over Illinois was another shocking result.  We knew Penn State was good, but for them to go into Illinois and absolutely control that game the way that they did was not something we were expecting.  Penn State picked up the 74-59 win, and to say that they look like a tournament caliber team would be an understatement.

-Purdue needed overtime, but survived at Nebraska 65-62 and will almost unquestionably remain ranked in the top 4.

-The Boarder War (or whatever they’ve renamed it) between Kansas and Missouri resumed last year.  In both games Kansas was pretty much up by about 20 when the game tipped off.  Yesterday, they went into Missouri who was unbeaten, and within minutes had complete control of the game despite a bonkers crowd.  It wasn’t bonkers for long.  Kansas absolutely rolled (again!) 95-67.

-Arkansas got a battle from Oklahoma over in Tulsa, but picked up the solid 88-78 win.  Arkansas is a talented team that appears to be gelling more and more as the season goes on.

-Arizona controlled Indiana for most of the game out in Las Vegas, and held on for an 89-75 win.  Every time the Hoosiers appeared to be mounting a run, Arizona would answer.  The Wildcats have a VERY impressive resume with some big time neutral floor wins right now.

-Kentucky got a battle from a Yale team that’s really good, but held on for the 69-59 win.  This game was very close late into the game, and Kentucky is probably receiving some criticism for not dominating this one, but I don’t think most of those critics understand just how good Yale actually is.  We said yesterday that we thought this might be close.

-We were starting to nail BYU’s coffin shut, but yesterday they picked up a hugely important and hugely surprising win over Creighton 83-80.  This is a bit of a setback for the BlueJays who have fallen to 6-4 after once being ranked in the top ten (and looking like a top ten team), but it is perhaps a season saving win for a BYU team that really needed it. Ryan Kalkbrenner was out of the game due to non-Covid illness for Creighton, though.

-Saint Mary’s also needed a really big win.  Saint Mary’s also got a really big win.  They knocked off San Diego State 68-61 in Phoenix and that suddenly changes the entire complexion of their resume.   As for San Diego State, they’re still a good team, but they suddenly aren’t looking like the top 25 team that we all thought they were.  When you lose to multiple teams that aren’t ranked, then you yourself probably shouldn’t be ranked either.

-Miami FL had to come from behind to beat NC State, but picked up the 80-73 win.  Both teams still have work to do, but both have also shown that they have the potential to be good teams (especially Miami), and we need to keep our eyes on both of them.

-I am no longer touting Drake.  They lost yesterday, by 30, to Richmond.  It’s hard to make a case that they belong inside the bubble when they get blown out by a team that doesn’t appear to be anywhere near it.

-LSU improved to 8-1 after beating a good Wake Forest team in a really exciting 72-70 game.  The Tigers are now worthy of some praise and attention.

-Xavier absolutely dominated the first half against crosstown rivals Cincinnati, but Cincinnati came back in the second half, made some big shots, and actually tied the game in the final minute.  A foul with less than two seconds to go, and a technical foul after calling timeout when Cincinnati had no more, allowed Xavier to win it at the line and escape with an 80-77 win.  It was a nice road win for Xavier, and their first of the season.

-Oregon, for perhaps the first time all season, looked like the Oregon team that we were all expecting to see in the preseason.  They pretty much controlled a really good Nevada team for a 78-65 win, and pulled their record to an even 5-5.  They are getting out of the starting gate a little late, but there is still plenty of time for the Ducks to end up having a big year.

-Boise State got a really nice win out at Saint Louis 82-80.  It’s their first true road win of the season, and it’s a pretty good one and it improves the Broncos to 8-2 overall.  As good as this was for Boise State, things are looking really bad for Saint Louis.  They’re now 7-4 on the season after losing their second consecutive game, and haven’t looked anything like an NCAA Tournament team.

-Memphis picked up what was probably their best win of the year so far knocking off Auburn 82-73.  Memphis was at home, but it was still good for them to play that well against a highly ranked team and show that their talented players could play that well together.  This one may mean just as much off paper as it does on paper.  If nothing else, it silenced one of their critics.  ME! (Note from Stalica – the win was actually in Atlanta. It’s actually the most notable win by anyone in the American this year – even Houston doesn’t have a Top 25 win yet, much less a win against a team just outside of the Top 10.)

-UNLV remains unbeaten after knocking off Washington State 74-70.  We figured UNLV might be tested int his one, and they were.

-Utah State also remains unbeaten on the year after knocking off a fairly decent LMU team 79-67.

-Seattle U is now 7-1 on the year with three true road wins and the only loss being at Washington.  They knocked off North Dakota on the road yesterday 80-78.

-UMass Lowell improved to 11-1 with their 68-59 win over Saint Francis Brooklyn.

-West Virginia got a battle from UAB, but held on to win 81-70.  They played each other last year as well, and both games were fun to watch.

-Marshall won their ninth straight game since losing their opener, and picked up their 3rd road win, as they knocked off Robert Morris 69-60.

-Western Kentucky is now 8-1 after really having to sweat out Wright State, but holding on for the 64-60 win.

-Louisiana is now 8-1 on the year after they beat Samford 75-58.

-Additional note from Stalica: With Central Connecticut State’s win against Dartmouth yesterday, we are now down to 2 remaining winless teams in Division 1. Both Louisville and California are still winless and both got blown out against Florida State and Butler, respectively.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-IONA VS SAINT BONAVENTURE (Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational, Brooklyn NY).  Iona made quite a bit of noise after their blowout win against Saint Louis, but they still have a lot of work to do (and a very small margin for error) if they want to end up inside the bubble.

-OKLAHOMA STATE VS VIRGINIA TECH (Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational, Brooklyn NY).  Virginia Tech is 9-1 on the year, and while they don’t have any wins that completely blow you away, they have a lot of decent ones and are probably being undervalued a bit.  Oklahoma State was my preseason dark horse, and so far they have failed.  A win today could really do a lot to turn their season around, though.

-NEW MEXICO STATE AT DUQUESNE.  New Mexico State is still dealing with all the off the court issues surrounding the program.  Duquesne is a very respectable 7-2 on the year and has yet another winnable game today.

-MARQUETTE AT NOTRE DAME.  Both teams are good, both have managed some decent wins, and both are looking for another one that would look good on their resumes.  I wouldn’t go so far to call this a big rivalry, but it is a series with some history and it does have at least a little bit of heat to it.

-MARYLAND VS TENNESSEE (Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational, Brooklyn NY).  Both teams are high in the rankings, both have managed some really good wins this year, and both are putting together the types of profiles that protected seeds typically get.  This is the kind of game teams need to win in order to get a protected seed.

-OREGON STATE AT TEXAS A&M.  TAMU still has a lot of talent and a lot of potential, but they have been disappointing so far.  They really can’t afford to lose this one at home.  Oregon State doesn’t look like a tournament team, but they are better than what we were expecting and are good enough to beat teams that overlook them.

-WISCONSIN AT IOWA (Big Ten).  This is a very good Wisconsin team, and quite frankly it’s almost laughable that they’re not in the top 25 right now.  Earlier this week they beat a highly ranked Maryland team, and that followed up an overtime win on the road against a really good Marquette team.  Today, they’ve got another tough road test against an Iowa team that’s also good and that’s probably on an emotional high after their blowout win against rivals Iowa State.

-SETON HALL AT RUTGERS.  Rutgers comes in at 6-3, and in their last game they lost on a desperation 3 at the buzzer at Ohio State that somehow went in.  Still, this Rutgers team is really good and I have to think big wins will start coming.  They should win this one against rivals Seton Hall today at home.

-HOFSTRA VS UMASS (Basketball Hall of Fame Inviational, Brooklyn NY).  Hofstra is a fairly tough team out of the Colonial and UMass is off to a decent 7-2 start.  They still have a ton of work to do in order to be considered a tournament team, but they’re having a much better year than what many of us were expecting.

-MISSISSIPPI STATE AT MINNESOTA.  Mississippi State comes in 8-0 and ranked in the top 25.  This is their first true road game of the year, though.  It’s the kind of game that a tournament caliber team should be able to win, so we’ll see what they can do.

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:

-Tarleton @ UCF – This is a good UCF team and a win gets them to 7-2
-Central Connecticut @ Fordham – a win for Fordham gets them to 11-1 on the year
-North Greenville (NonD1) @ Charleston – Charleston is getting closer and closer to the top 25
-Prairie View @ Northwestern
-Incarnate Word @ Kansas State
-Indiana State @ Southern Indiana – Indiana State can improve to 10-1 on the season and pick up their third road win
-Navy @ Towson
-McNeese @ Iowa State

NEWS AND NOTES

-The story of the night last night, and what’s shaping up to be one of the stories of the year, Is Grambling.  They went into Vanderbilt, held a lead for most of the game, appeared to be losing it at the end, but battled for a 64-62 win.  Grambling is now 5-3 against D1 competition with wins over Arizona State (ASU’s only loss) and now at Vanderbilt.  I don’t think they’ll end up landing inside the bubble, and we at Hoops HD always seem to measure teams by the that standard, but this program was one of the worst in all of D1 for decades, and to see them turn it around like they have is spectacular!

-Gonzaga won without too much trouble against Washington.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-PENN STATE AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten).  Penn State looks like they may be able to land inside the bubble.  A road win in a game like this would certainly go a super long way.  Illinois is showing the early signs of being a protected seed.

-OKLAHOMA VS ARKANSAS (Tulsa OK).  Oklahoma is 7-2 with some decent wins, but nothing that would be nearly as good as this one would be if they’re able to pull it off.  As for Arkansas, they have a nice win over Creighton, but this would also be one of their better wins to date if they’re able to pull it off.

-YALE AT KENTUCKY.  this is a buy game, but Yale is a likely Ivy League frontrunner who has looked good so far this season.  Kentucky should win, but they don’t want to overlook them.

-GEORGETOWN AT SYRACUSE. This used to be a rivalry that was event television in the heyday of the original Big East, but only Syracuse has shown any faint signs of life the past season and a half. Still, one never knows what can happen in a rivalry game like this (and Stalica insists on highlighting this for some reason), so here we are.

-LOUISVILLE AT FLORIDA STATE (ACC).  This game is mentioned only because it may be the only conference game that either of these teams is able to win this year.

-NC STATE AT MIAMI FL (ACC).  I still think Miami FL is being undervalued and should be ranked in the top 25.  They’re 9-1 and although they don’t have any great wins, they have a smattering of good ones.  NC State is an impressive 8-2 , but this would be their best win of the year up to this point, so something at stake for both teams.

-DRAKE AT RICHMOND.  This isn’t an easy road game for Drake, but it’s one they got to have, and it’s one they could lose if they don’t play up to their ceiling.

-LSU VS WAKE FOREST (Holiday Hoopsgiving, Atlanta GA).  Both teams have good records, and Wake actually has some decent wins.  They’re certainly having better seasons so far than what we were expecting.  This is a chance for each of them to pick up a decent win on a neutral floor and help build their resumes.

-PURDUE AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten).  Purdue is unbeaten and not just looking like a potential protected seed, but looking like a potential #1 seed.  It’s not easy to win on the road, but #1 seeds should be able to do it in games like this.

-ALABAMA AT HOUSTON.  Both teams are in the top ten, both have some really good games, and both appear to be protected seed caliber teams.  Despite this being a home game, it may be one of Houston’s better games on the schedule.  They just won’t face as high a caliber of competition once they get into conference play.  Alabama’s only loss on the year is to UConn.  Beating the #1 team on the road…wins just don’t get any better than that.  That’s the kind of win that can distinguish you as a #1 seed.

-DENVER AT UCLA.  Denver is off to an 8-2 start, but the teams they’ve been playing aren’t quite on the level of UCLA.  Still, it’ll be interesting to see what they can do in a game like this.

-SAN DIEGO STATE VS SAINT MARY’S (Jerry Colangelo Classic, Phoenix AZ).  Both teams are good, but you also get the sense that both of them could REALLY use a win like this, especially Saint Mary’s.  But both could stand to build up their resumes, and this game is a chance for whoever gets the win to do it.

-KENT STATE AT CLEVELAND STATE.  Kent State is a really good team who’s resume could turn out to be a very interesting case.  They took both Houston and Gonzaga to the wall, but didn’t get either win.  If they can blow through the rest of their schedule, will the committee take them??  Of course, they need to get this one on the road today, which isn’t the easiest road game to win.

-XAVIER AT CINCINNATI.  Both teams are 6-3, but both could use some good wins on their resume.  Xavier does have the home win against West Virginia, and showed they could play against Duke, Gonzaga, and Indiana even though they lost all three, but they actually do need some wins, and this one being on the road would help their resume.  Oh yeah, and this is a rivalry game too!

-GEORGIA TECH AT NORTH CAROLINA (ACC).  North Carolina has lost four straight.  This is a winnable game at home.  They need to win it.  That’s really all there is to it.

-UNLV VS WASHINGTON STATE.  UNLV is unbeaten with some decent wins, and today they have another game that they should win so long as they don’t overlook Wazzu.

-AUBURN AT MEMPHIS.  Memphis is talented, and they do have a nice win against Ole Miss at home, but I’m still not completely sold on them being a tournament caliber team.  That being said, if they can win this one, I probably will be!  Auburn is unbeaten and really good, so it would be a huge win for Memphis even though they’re at home.

-KANSAS AT MISSOURI.  THE BORDER WAR!!!!  This rivalry resumed last year, and it was such a blowout that you even wondered if it was worth it.  This year Mizzou is unbeaten, and they’re at home, and this may be the biggest home game that they’ve had since the last time they played Kansas on their campus.  I’m expecting a bonkers atmosphere.  As for Kansas, it’s their first true road game, so it would be a big win on paper as well as being a win over a rival.

-UAB AT WEST VIRGINIA.  This is a hugely important game for UAB.  They are perhaps good enough to land inside the bubble and not need to win the conference tournament to make the NCAAs.  If they can win today, it would be HUGE for their tournament resume.  It’s easier said than done, though.  This is a very tough WVU team that’s also trying to put together a good tournament resume.

-NEVADA AT OREGON.  Oregon is just 4-5 and has been rather disappointing this year.  They need to string together some wins in order to get things turned around, and they’ll likely be challenged again tonight.  Nevada is 8-2, has looked pretty good, and can win their third road game tonight if they’re able to pull this off.

-ARIZONA VS INDIANA (Las Vegas Clash, Las Vegas NV).  Indiana has looked good this year, but this is by far their biggest test of the year.  Arizona won the Maui Invitational and beat some pretty good teams while doing it, so they are certainly battle tested.  Both teams are potential protected seeds, so this is just a good resume building opportunity for each of them.

-BOISE STATE AT SAINT LOUIS.  SLU is coming off a blowout loss at Iona, and this game has a sense of urgency to it.  If SLU doesn’t win it, you get the sense that they’re slipping further and further away from the bubble even though it’s only December.  If Boise State wins it, it’s a solid road win (their first of the season) and they improve to 8-2 on the year, and suddenly more eyeballs from the committee are going to be on them.

-CREIGHTON vs BYU (Las Vegas).  It’s normally tough to win at BYU, but they are really down this year.  A tournament caliber team, and certainly a team that’s good enough to get a protected seed, should be good enough to win this one on the road. (Note from Stalica: This one is actually in Vegas, so BYU would actually get a little more credit for this win should they upset the Jays. That said, Creighton is going to be going into this game in a bad mood after getting outhustled and outfought at home against archrival Nebraska back on Sunday.)

-TCU AT SMU.  The basketball version of the Iron Skillet!!  TCU is clearly the superior team, and should roll in this one even though they’re on the road.

-UTAH STATE VS LMU (Jack Jones Hoopfest, Las Vegas NV).  Utah State is unbeaten on the year with some pretty good wins.  Picking this one up against a fairly decent LMU team that’s won six out of seven with some notable wins in that stretch.  This appears to be a game between two teams that are on their way and who are looking to continue to build up their resumes.

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:

-Tulane vs Buffalo (Holiday Hoopsgiving) – Tulane is off to only a modest start and needs to start stringing together wins
-UC Irvine @ South Dakota – two pretty good UTR teams.  UC Irvine needs wins like this if they want any chance at landing inside the bubble
-Lamar @ Southern Miss – a win for Southern Miss gets them to 9-1
-Seattle U @ North Dakota – a win for Seattle gets them to 7-1 on the season, and gives them their third true road win
-UL Monroe @ Northwestern State – a bit of an in-state rivalry.   Northwestern State’s resume (at least for now) is solid and a win gets them to 8-2.
-San Jose State @ Santa Clara – it’s a winnable home game for Santa Clara, which would get them to 8-2 on the year
-Butler @ Califorinia – this is a winnable road game for Butler, which would get them to 8-3 on the year and give them their first true road win
-Villanova vs Boston College (Newark NJ) – It’s a winnable road game for Nova, which would even their record at 5-5 on the year
-Grand Canyon @ North Texas – North Texas has sort of been overlooked this year, but they’re worth keeping an eye on.  A win gets them to 8-2 and they could be dangerous in CUSA. (UTR Game of the Day)
-Marshall @ Robert Morris – Marshall can pick up their 3rd road win and improve to 9-1 on the year
-UC Santa Barbara @ Pepperdine.  Both teams are good enough to make some noise in conference, but both could use some good OOC wins as well

BUY GAMES:

-Long Island @ UConn
-Arkansas Pine Bluff @ Texas
-Albany @ Providence
-Valparaiso @ Ole Miss
-Sacred Heart @ Pittsburgh
-UTSA @ New Mexico – New Mexico looking to stay unbeaten on the year
-Brown @ Michigan State
-Saint Francis Brooklyn @ UMass Lowell – not a buy game but might as well be
-UMES @ Duke
-New Hampshire @ Saint John’s
-Wright State @ Western Kentucky
-Loyola Chicago @ Clemson
-Samford @ Louisiana – a win for Louisiana gets them to 8-1