Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES:

-We will be recording our Under the Radar Video Podcast tonight, and there is A LOT to get to, so be on the lookout for that.  Speaking of Under the Radar…

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

Last night was another very busy night…

-2nd ranked Texas fell to Illinois in overtime 85-78 in the Jimmy V Classic in a game that seesawed back and forth.  Every time it looked like one team was controlling the game, the other had an answer.  Texas appeared to be putting the game away at the end of regulation, but the Illini made some big plays to get it to overtime, and then ultimately got the win.  I’m about to state the obvious.  Wins against the 2nd ranked team on a neutral floor are very good wins!  I don’t know if Texas will be ranked that high at the end of the year, but they’ll probably at least be hovering around the top ten.  This is the kind of win that can get a team a protected seed, so it was a HUGE result for Illinois.

-Duke held serve and beat Iowa 74-62 in the other Jimmy V Classic game.

-Virginia had to sweat out James Madison at home.  With a minute to go JMU was right in there, but the Hoos just made a few more big plays and held on for the 55-50 win.  For JMU this would have been the kind of win that gets them inside the bubble, and while it’s tough to come close to getting a win like that on their resume and falling just short, the loss will hardly set them back at all.

-Arkansas played with their food against UNC Greensboro, and actually trailed late into the second half, but held on for a 65-58 win.

-Wisconsin held off Maryland 64-59 to pick up a big conference home win.  It’s one of many nice wins for the Badgers, who are now 7-2 overall.  I think it’s time for the voters to start noticing them and start ranking them in the top 25.

-Iona absolutely trashed Saint Louis 84-62.  The one team from the Atlantic Ten that I thought looked like they belonged inside the bubble did not look like it last night.  Iona is good.  It’s not easy to win there.  But a tournament caliber team should be able to, and SLU…well…didn’t.  They SPECTACULARLY didn’t!!

-Charleston had to sweat at Presby, but held on to win 67-62.  They now improve to 9-1 on the year and pick up their second road win.  They are also getting very close to cracking the top 25.  I believe they were 28th in the AP poll this past week.

-Boston College fell to New Hampshire last night 74-71.  BC is now 0-2 in home games against America East teams that will likely not finish in the top half of the America East.

-Oklahoma State held off a good Sam Houston team 65-51 in a game where they really didn’t have to sweat that much.  Sam Houston is a legit good defensive team, but just couldn’t get enough offense going to stay with the Pokes.  Still, with wins at Utah and at Oklahoma, Sam Houston’s resume is pretty solid and the committee will take a serious look at them if they can hold serve throughout WAC play.

-Nevada got a nice road win at Pepperdine 85-77.  It’s the first home loss for Pepperdine, and the second road win for Nevada.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-PITTSBURGH AT VANDERBILT (***Stallings Award Showcase!!***).  Pitt is suddenly playing basketball at a level that is way above “suckiness”!!  It’s been a while since we’ve been able to say that, but they are!!  Pitt was so bad that while we couldn’t give them the Centenary Award, we decided that we had to do SOMETHING, which is why we created the Stallings Award in honor of Coach Kevin Stallings, who coached at both Pitt and Vanderbilt.  But right now they’re in the midst of a five game winning streak, and they’ve won two straight road games against Northwestern and NC State..both of whom are good at home!  If they can get this one at Vandy tonight, then that’s a hell of a run!!

-TOWSON AT CLEMSON (***The ACTUAL Spotlight Game***).  We like this Towson team, we feel they are one of the best Under the Radar teams, and we feel they have a shot at landing inside the bubble.  This is an IMMENSELY important game for them.  It’s the kind of road win that would jump out at the committee.  Clemson is 7-2 on the year, they’re currently 6-0 at home, and they are starting to shape up as a team that could land inside the bubble themselves, so this one is HUGE!

-DEPAUL AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East).  It’s the Big East opener between two teams with decent/good records and decent resumes who still have a lot of work to do.  This game kind of has a pivotal feel to it even though it’s just the conference opener.

-MICHIGAN STATE AT PENN STATE (Big Ten).  Michigan State is just 5-4, but they’ve played such a brutal schedule and have some really good wins that I think their overall Tournament Resume is shaping up just fine.  They’ve got another tough game tonight against a Penn State team that could use some quality wins of their own.

-FLORIDA ATLANTIC AT FGCU.  These aren’t the two best teams in the state of Florida.  That’s probably Miami FL and UCF, but both of them appear to be better than Florida and Florida State, and it’s not too of a stretch to think that it’s possible for one (or both) of them to make a run at the bubble.  Tonight is a big one!  This is also Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day, and it’s a good one.

-DAYTON AT VIRGINIA TECH.  Dayton had very high expectations coming into the year, but multiple injuries to key players have grounded the Flyers and so far this season they haven’t even looked like an NIT team.  VA Tech is off to an impressive 8-1 start with some decent wins and should be able to hold serve in this one.

-NEBRASKA AT INDIANA (Big Ten).  Nebraska is off to a decent start and is coming off a shocking road win at Creighton, so you can’t help but sit up and take notice of the Huskers.  If they can somehow win this one then you’ll REALLY need to take notice of them.  That’s back-to-back top 15 road wins!  Indiana has looked as good as advertised this year, but they are coming off a road loss to Rutgers and will be looking to rebound.

-UCONN AT FLORIDA.  UConn has looked fantastic this year, and Florida…well…hasn’t.  Still, it’s a tough road game for UConn, and it’s actually their first true road game of the season, so it’s a chance to add something to their resume that isn’t on there yet.

-LMU AT GRAND CANYON.  It’s not likely that either team will end up on the bubble, but both are off to really good starts, and if they can keep it up they’ll have a chance.  LMU has a few decent wins over Georgetown and Wake Forest from their MTE down in Jamaica, and if they can win at a place like Grand Canyon, that resume will be starting to look awfully good!

-ARIZONA STATE AT SMU.  Arizona State just keeps winning.  They’ve done more than enough to offset the loss to Texas Southern with wins over VCU, Michigan, and Colorado, and they’ve got a chance to add another road win to their resume tonight.

-NEW MEXICO STATE AT SANTA CLARA.  New Mexico State is dealing with some off the court issues, but as for the storyline on the court Santa Clara is 7-2, looking pretty good, and will continue to have our attention so long as they continue to string together wins.  So far as we know this game has not yet been cancelled.

-HAWAII AT UNLV.  UNLV is unbeaten and has a smattering of decent wins.  They don’t have any huge caliber wins yet, though, so it’s important that they hold serve in games like this.  Hawaii isn’t having a bad year at all.  They come into this at 5-2 and if they pick up this win it may be time to start paying a little bit of attention to them.

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:

-Hofstra @ Purdue – Hofstra should make some noise in the CAA, but they’re overmatched tonight
-Eastern Kentucky @ Tennessee
-Navy @ West Virginia
-Boston U @ Notre Dame
-Cornell @ Miami FL – Cornell comes into this one at 7-1 and with three road wins, so while they appear to be overmatched it’s still worth paying attention to
-Omaha @ Drake
-Nicholls @ Texas Tech
-Manhattan @ Providence
-Lincoln PA (nonD1) @ Seton Hall
-Utah Valley @ BYU (Bee Hive) – We at Hoops HD LOVE the BeeHive!!
-Missouri State @ Saint Mary’s – SMC is coming off a strong showing against Houston in a game that they lost, but they should be able to bounce back tonight
-Merrimack @ San Francisco
-Cal State Fullerton @ USC

-Davidson, Saint Bonaventure, and VCU all play tonight, but it dawned on me that those games don’t even seem like they’re worth mentioning.  But then I thought that it was worth mentioning that they didn’t seem worth mentioning.  Either way, the Atlantic Ten is in rough shape this year.

CLICK HERE for the latest HOOPS HD REPORT Video Podcast

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

-For the latest Hoops HD Staff Bracket Projections (from yours truly) – CLICK HERE

-The biggest news in college basketball yesterday is the situation at New Mexico State and the details that are coming out in regards to a shooting that a current player was involved in.  We don’t really know anymore than what most other people know, and actually may know less than what other people know.  When things like this happen it always comes with a lot of speculation and rumors.  Two things – I feel this site is more about analysis than it is reporting, so off the court issues like this are outside of our scope anyway, but even if it wasn’t outside our scope, we don’t know enough at present to have what would be considered a fair and solid take on things.  We know what’s going on, we are sorry that it is happening, we may have more to say about it in the future depending how it effects what happens on the court, but for now that is all we will say.

On the court, Kent State battled Gonzaga just as they did Houston.  Kent State had a lead late in the second half at Gonzaga just as they did Houston.  Kent State ended up losing a close game just as they did against Houston.  But, there is something to be said about a team that goes on the road against two highly ranked teams, which are places that most other highly ranked teams aren’t able to win at, and takes both of those teams to the wall.  Kent State is 5-3, but two of those losses were close games at Houston and at Gonzaga.  When you look at the rest of their schedule, it looks as though they’re good enough to rampage through it, and if they do the committee needs to seriously consider selecting this team.  One thing that may be missing is that ‘Wow!’ win that teams typically need, but hopefully holding serve the rest of the way combined with two battles against very highly ranked teams on the road will be enough “Wow!” for the committee.

-YALE AT BUTLER.  Yale has been a bit of a surprise this year.  They come in at 8-1 and their only loss was at Colorado in a game where they played really well.  Butler is off to a respectable 6-3 start and are unbeaten at home, so if Yale is able to get this one it will spice up their resume even more.

-ILLINOIS VS TEXAS (Jimmy V Classic, New York NY).  Both teams are in the rankings and both have picked up some pretty big wins already.  As for Texas this is their first really big test away from home so it will be interesting to see how they do.  Illinois has a nice win against UCLA, but this would probably be their biggest win of the year to date if they pull it off.

-SAINT LOUIS AT IONA.  SLU has a decent resume, but they still don’t have a true road win, and this won’t be the easiest game in the world to win on the road.  It’ll actually be tough.  Iona isn’t likely to lose too many at home, so the committee will probably give them a little more credit for this than what most might think if the Billikens.

-HIGH POINT AT FURMAN.  I know this is a bit of a strange game to highlight.  Neither team has done anything that qualifies as “WOW!” but both have still been very solid.  High Point is 7-1 on the year, and Furman is unbeaten at home and will likely make quite a bit of noise in the SoCon, so…it’s worth keeping an eye on this one.

-GEORGIA AT GEORGIA TECH.  Both teams have respectable records, but neither really has a good win yet and could really use a win tonight in a rivalry game to get their season jumpstarted.

-JAMES MADISON AT VIRGINIA.  This is perhaps a bit of a mismatch, but James Madison is a pretty good team and should be one of the front runners in the Sun Belt.  They’re kind of shooting at the moon tonight, but if they win this they’ll absolutely explode onto the national scene.  The chances of UVA overlooking them are quite small, since they’re coming off a really poor performance and since JMU beat them last year.

-MARYLAND AT WISCONSIN (Big Ten).  I really like how both of these teams have been playing, and am particularly impressed with Wisconsin’s win at Marquette in their last game.  I don’t know why there hasn’t been more love for the Badgers.  Maryland is unbeaten with some nice wins of their own and is climbing the rankings, but this will be a HUGE test for them tonight on the road at Wisky.

-SAM HOUSTON AT OKLAHOMA STATE.  Sam Houston has wins at Oklahoma and at Utah, and entered the NET yesterday ranked #7, so of course none of the national media or AP voters are paying any attention to them at all.  Oklahoma State has been a bit of a disappointment so far this year, but I still think we’ll see quite a bit of improvement as the year goes on.  It’s still a tough place to win at, and if Sam Houston does it, then will people FINALLY start to give them some national love??

-IOWA VS DUKE (Jimmy V Classic).  This is a resume building opportunity for both teams.  Iowa has a solid record, but they don’t have anything that’s anywhere close to a win of this caliber yet.  Duke has some decent wins over Xavier and Ohio State, but this would be one of their better wins to date as well.

-NEVADA AT PEPPERDINE.  An interesting game between two teams that have shown sparks of being good early on, and who might be good enough to make a run at the bubble, but will have to string together a lot of wins to do it.

-Oakland @ Syracuse
-UNC Greensboro @ Arkansas
-Charleston @ Presbyterian – Charleston can get to 9-1 on the year and pick up their second road win
-Wagner @ Fordham – a win for Fordham gets them to 9-1
-Coppin State @ NC State
-North Florida @ Houston
-Tarleton @ Baylor
-Jackson State @ TCU
-Little Rock @ Memphis
-Kansas City @ Oklahoma
-Abilene Christian @ Kansas State
-NC Central @ Marquette
-Eastern Oregon (nonD1)  @ Boise State
-Western New Mexico (nonD1) @ New Mexico