Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES:

-We will be recording our Under the Radar Podcast tonight, so be on the lookout for that.  Speaking of Under the Radar, for John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE

-The first game of the Champions Classic may have been the game of the year so far.  Michigan State trailed Kentucky for most of it, but it was close all throughout.  They made some big plays at the end of regulation to force overtime, and then picked up the HUGE 86-77 overtime win.  Michigan State was not a team many of us were big on, at least not as a top ten caliber team.  However, in their last two games they nearly beat Gonzaga and then did beat Kentucky.  When you play two top four teams, miss a last second shot that would have beaten one of them, and then beat the other one, perhaps that’s a sign that you’re pretty damn good!!  Sparty should be ranked SUPER high in the next top 25.  I don’t know that they will be, but they SHOULD be.

-Duke vs Kansas was exciting, but both teams struggled from outside the arc.  Kansas ended up getting the 69-64 win, but didn’t pull away until there was less than a minute to go.

-We knew Dayton would be tested at UNLV because any true road game is a test.  They looked good in the first half and appeared to be in control.  Then I guess they just forgot to come out in the second half.  UNLV absolutely dominated the Flyers outscoring them 38-20 in the second half and picked up the 60-52 win.  This by no means ends Dayton’s season.  Not even close.  But as far as them ending up as a protected seed, the margin for error is very small, and losing to a team like UNLV (who doesn’t appear to be a tournament team), even if it’s on the road, can cost a team a protected seed.  Top 15 caliber teams simply have to win these kinds of games in order to stay in the top 15.  They just don’t get that many strikes, especially if there aren’t multiple highly ranked teams in their conference to potentially collect wins against.

-Appalachian State improved to 3-0 on the year after beating Louisville 61-60.  It looked like Louisville had won the game on a last second shot, but it was waived off.  Louisville has now lost three games, all by just one point.

-Temple is very schizophrenic this year.  They lose to Wagner, then they beat Villanova, and last night they lost at home (in overtime) to a Vanderbilt team that was winless on the year.

-Colgate absolutely smoked Syracuse.  The final score was 80-68, but the margin for much of the second half was more than that, and at no point did it look like Colgate was not the dominant team.  Two takeaways from this game: Colgate is really good (which we kind of already knew), and Syracuse isn’t good at all (which we kind of already knew).

-Purdue got a nice 75-70 win at home against Marquette, but one of the things I actually took away was that Marquette played well.  Purdue is a likely Tournament team, and they were playing at home.  We didn’t think Marquette would be anywhere near the NIT, but they looked good for much of the game last night.

-Saint Louis looked really good against Memphis for about 35 minutes, and then almost completely blew it at the end of the game.  Memphis came roaring back and almost stole it, but SLU held on to win 90-84.

-San Jose State, coached by Tim Miles, remains unbeaten on the season!!  3-0 after their win against Alabama State!!  They are on a Final Four pace!!

-And finally USC bounced back last night.  Sort of.  They held on to beat Vermont 59-57.  Vermont is good by UTR standards.  I know that.  But this is a USC team that I expected to be good by NCAA Tournament standards, and so far they simply have not shown it.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-MICHIGAN VS PITTSBURGH (Legends Classic, Brooklyn NY).  Michigan looks to be the superior team, especially after Pitt was blown out at home by West Virginia last week, but this is the first big test away from home for the Wolverines, and their last game against Eastern Michigan wasn’t exactly the cakewalk that it should have been.

-FGCU AT TENNESSEE.  We’ll highlight this one because FGCU does have the big upset win at USC, and Tennessee is coming off the somewhat surprising loss to Colorado.  It’s a chance for Gulf Coast to pick up another big win, whereas Tennessee is just looking to bounce back.

-IOWA AT SETON HALL (Gavitt Tipoff Games).  It’s the first real test for both teams.  Iowa is someone that we think can do well in the Big Ten and land inside the bubble, but it’s a good chance for Seton Hall to leap onto the radar if they can come out of this one with a win.

-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT ARKANSAS.  South Dakota State is playing their second game in just two days, and their first one wasn’t exactly awe inspiring.  They had to sweat out Saint Bonaventure last night.  Arkansas is stacked with talent, but is likely still getting used to playing together.  I would call this a test for them because I really like South Dakota State’s team, but Arkansas is at home, the team they’re playing just played yesterday, and they didn’t look all that good.  So…

-VCU VS ARIZONA STATE (Legends Classic, Brooklyn NY).  Both of these teams are still in the early stages of having something to prove.  VCU is unbeaten, but also untested.  Arizona State is coming off a rather surprising loss to Texas Southern and really needs to bounce back from that.

-GONZAGA AT TEXAS.  Gonzaga continues their gauntlet OOC schedule as they travel to Texas to face yet another highly ranked team.  The Horns haven’t really been tested during the regular season yet, but that will certainly change tonight.  Gonzaga is a #1 seed caliber team, and Texas is looking like a potential protected seed, so this would be a high caliber win on either team’s resume.

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:

-Arknasas Pine Bluff @ Kent State – Pine Bluff has had some near upsets, so Kent State better look out
-Oakland @ Toledo – Toledo looking to remain unbeaten
-Army @ Siena – Siena looking to remain unbeaten
-Cincinnati @ Northern Kentucky – Cincinnati is unbeaten, but this is their first road game.  It’s not the biggest challenge in the world, but it won’t necessarily be easy either
-Harvard @ Northeastern – (Bean Pot) – we mention this game only because we love the Bean Pot!!
-Missouri State @ BYU – BYU nearly upset San Diego State in their last game and should be able to bounce back at home tonight
-San Francisco @ Fresno State – San Francisco is unbeaten and lookin for their first road win

BUY GAMES:

-Hampton @ East Carolina
-Charleston Southern @ Tulane
-Eastern Illinois @ Ohio State
-Presbyterian @ UAB
-Texas Southern @ Houston
-Southern Indiana @ Notre Dame
-Southern U @ Saint Mary’s

NEWS AND NOTES:

–For the latest HOOPS HD REPORT – CLICK HERE

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

-Virginia’s game against Northern Iowa was cancelled yesterday following the senseless shooting deaths of three members of the football team that occurred on a class bus trip back from Washington DC.  I never know what I’m supposed to say on a website like this when something like that happens.  Our good friend Joby Fortson (who runs our JNG Rankings) is a UVA alum and understandably feels a strong connection with that program.  Our thoughts, prayers, and sympathies are with the families, the students, the friends, the teammates, and everyone who has been impacted by this senseless tragedy.

I know that everything else seems unimportant by comparison, but…

-TCU had struggled in their first two games, but still got the wins and I think we were all waiting for them to just kind of snap out of it.  Well, they didn’t, and last night they lost at home to Northwestern State 64-63.  It’s a surprisingly sluggish start for a team that went to a Sweet Sixteen a year ago and returned basically everybody.  Teams are often sluggish in November, but typically not teams like TCU who returned all their top players from a team that was really good the year before.  I do think they’ll get it going, but they’ve got A LOT of work to do.

-Maine knocked off Boston College 69-64 and handed BC their first loss of the season.  BC isn’t expected to do much, but Maine was picked to pretty much be at the bottom of the America East and has a recent history of struggling to get past the opening round of the America East Tournament, so for them to get a win like this is big for their program!

-Villanova really had to sweat it out against Delaware State, who is one of the worst teams in all of D1, but held on for a 60-50 win after trailing for much of the game.

-Stetson is now 2-0 on the year after knocking off South Florida 68-67.  Two games, both on the road, both against teams from multi-bid leagues, and both wins.  Not a bad start for the Hatters!!

-Hofstra is now 3-0 after beating George Washington 85-80.  None of their wins have been spectacular, but they’ve all at least been decent.  This follows a win against a pretty good Iona team, so we need to start keeping our eyes on the Pride.

-Florida Atlantic went in to Florida and got the 76-74 win.  I think Florida will improve as the year goes on, but I also think FAU will make more noise than expected in Conference USA.

-Troy knocked off Florida State 79-72.  Florida State, Louisville, and Boston College are ACC teams that have looked absolutely pathetic this year.  All with losses in home buy games, and Louisville and FSU are still looking for their first wins.

-Last but not least…how about the Southland this year!!!  SELA gets a win at Wyoming, Northwestern State has knocked off TCU, and TAMU Commerce, who is a transtional team, had an exciting overtime win at Air Force last night.  That’s three road wins against non-UTR teams!!  Not bad at all!!

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-NORTHWESTERN AT GEORGETOWN (Gavitt Tipoff Games).  Both teams come in having won their first two games, but this is the first real test for both of them.  Coppin State did take Georgetown to overtime, but that was more of a quiz they almost failed than an actual test.

-KENTUCKY VS MICHIGAN STATE (Champions Classic, Indianapolis IN).  Michigan State showed me a lot against Gonzaga.  They didn’t win the game, but they sure as hell had a chance to, and they are an outstanding defensive team.  Kentucky has looked good, but hasn’t played anybody that’s looked all that good yet.  That will change tonight.

-RICE AT MIDDLE TENNESSEE (Conference USA).  It’s odd to see a conference game this early, I believe this counts in the standings.  Middle Tennessee is a potential dark horse in this league this year.

-VANDERBILT AT TEMPLE.  Temple is coming off a big win agains Villanova and looking to build on that momentum.  They lost their opener to Wagner, but are still good enough to end up having a really big year.  Vandy is still looking for their first win.

-COLGATE AT SYRACUSE.  I know this seems like a strange game to highlight, but I really like this Colgate team, and feel that Syracuse is struggling this year.  I’m not going to go so far as to predict an upset, but I’m not ruling it out as a possibility either, and if Colgate does win it then their early season resume will certainly go up in value.

-MARQUETTE AT PURDUE (Gavitt Tipoff Games).  Like most Gavitt match-ups, both tams are unbeaten, but both are also untested.  We were big on this Purdue team coming into the year, and they should have the advantage at home.  We weren’t expecting much out of Marquette, but a win tonight would change our perception of them.

-SAN DIEGO STATE AT STANFORD.  It’s never easy to win on the road, but if San Diego State is good enough to earn a protected seed, then this is the kind of road game they should be able to routinely win.

-MONTANA STATE AT OREGON.  Montana State is the Big Sky favorite and has looked pretty good in their first two games this year (despite losing one of them).  Oregon started off in the Top 25, but was blown out of the gym by UC Irvine last week and looking to rebound.  The alarms will really be going off if they lose a second straight game at home to an (albeit good) Under the Radar team.

-MEMPHIS AT SAINT LOUIS.  Both these teams are good.  Both feel they are good enough to make the NCAA Tournament.  Both need good wins in order to get there.  This is a chance for a good win.  Memphis is very talented, but can they play together on the road?  This is perhaps the game I’m most excited for tonight.

-DUKE VS KANSAS (Legends Classic, Indianapolis IN).  This is a showcase game between two teams that were in the Final Four last year.  Both are likely to end up as protected seeds again this year, and this is simply a big early season resume building opportunity.  More of a litmus test than a must win.  It will help the winner, but not really set back the loser.

-DAYTON AT UNLV.  Dayton clearly looks to be the better team, but it’s still a bit of a challenging road game for the Flyers.  They’re in the top 25.  Many feel they can get a protected seed.  This is the kind of games that a team of that caliber is expected to win.  It’s not easy to win, but it’s not easy to get a protected seed and stay in the top 25 either.

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:

-Appalachian State @ Louisville – App State is unbeaten and looking for their first road win
-Buffalo @ Connecticut – it’s a buy game, but Buffalo at least has a little bit of a pulse
-Washington State @ Prairie View A&M (Pac-12/SWAC Legacy) – The SWAC has surprisingly held their own in this event, and PVAM is looking to remain unbeaten
-Bowling Green @ Wright State – Bowling Green is 2-0
-Bucknell @ Saint Peter’s – Bucknell is 2-0
-James Madison @ Howard – JMU is 3-0 and is looking for their second road win
-New Hampshire @ Fordham – New Hampshire is 2-0
-Penn @ Drexel (Sort of Big 5) – Drexel is 1-0
-Binghamton @ Maryland – buy game, but both are unbeaten
-Chattanooga @ Ole Miss – Ole Miss looking to remain unbeaten
-Saint Bonaventure @ South Dakota State – I really like this South Dakota State team and if they can hold serve in games like this they can rack up a big record and land near the bubble
-New Mexico @ SMU – New Mexico is 2-0, but this is their first road game
-Alabama @ South Alabama – South Alabama is jacked for this one, but it should still be a very winnable road game for the Tide
-LMU @ UC Irvine – UCI is looking to remain unbeaten after their big win at Oregon
-Vermont @ USC – USC needs to bounce back after losing to FGCU

BUY GAMES:

-Stonehill @ Providence
-Winthrop @ Auburn
-Morgan State @ Akron
-Central Connecticut @ Saint John’s
-Morehead State @ West Virginia
-Utah Valley @ Wake Forest
-Florida A&M @ Miami FL
-SC Upstate @ Clemson
-Indianapolis (nonD1) @ Western Kentucky
-UNC Wilmington @ Oklahoma
-SIU Edwardsville @ Missouri – Mizzou is 3-0
-Fairfield @ Xavier
-Green Bay @ Wisconsin
-FIU @ NC State
-Alabama State @ San Jose State
-Bushnell (nonD1) @ Oregon State