NEWS AND NOTES:
-I guess we didn’t learn our lesson the last time, but we are once again playing basketball on boats. Michigan State and Gonzaga was close all throughout, and the Spartans actually maintained a lead for much of the game and had a chance to win it on the last possession, but the Zags held on 64-63. Most thought coming in that Gonzaga was a top 5 caliber team, while Michigan State was outside the top 25, but the Spartans certainly held their own out in the ocean yesterday.
-Temple followed up their head scratching opening loss to Wagner with an upset win over Big Five rival Villanova 68-64. The fans actually stormed the court! TWICE! They weren’t called for a technical foul despite there technically being 0.2 seconds left (it would have been a shame if they had been because it would have given Nova two free throws and a potential chance to tie, but it’d have also been kind of funny!). I’m back to believing in Temple! I think the season opener may have been a bit of a fluke.
-BYU had a lead for seemingly the entire game at San Diego State, and were on the verge of picking up a road win against a ranked team, but San Diego State stayed with them, finally got the lead in the final couple of minutes, and held on to win 82-75.
-UC Irvine, who we thought would be rebuilding this year, went into Oregon and just totally blew them off the floor. While the final score was just 69-56, they led by as much as 25 in the second half. This wasn’t just an upset, it was a domination! It raises the questions of is Oregon actually any good? And are The Eaters REALLY good?
-Michigan was behind Eastern Michigan for most of the game, and it looked like EMU might pull the upset, but in the final two minutes of the game the Wolverines finally got control and held on for the 88-83 win.
-UAB vs Toledo was an entertaining game with UAB controlling most of the first half, and Toledo getting control for the final ten minutes. UAB tried to make a late run, but just couldn’t come back. We think both of these teams are pretty strong, and that this win will look really good on Toledo’s resume before the year is over.
-Hofstra is now 2-0 after beating a pretty good Iona team yesterday (albeit at home) 83-78.
-Florida State, who we thought might be a Tournament team, has not looked anything like one so far. They followed up their loss to Stetson at home, with a 68-54 loss to UCF on the road yesterday.
-Grambling hosted Colorado yesterday as part of the Pac-12/SWAC Legacy Series. This creates some cool opportunities for SWAC teams to host P5 teams. Well, last night NO ONE showed up at Grambling, and it’s a shame that they didn’t because Grambling totally controlled the game and basically ran the Buffs off the floor. I was dumbfounded at how empty the arena was! It’s not often that Grambling gets to host a team like Colorado! It’s not often that Grambling gets to host ANYONE out of conference!
-In other SWAC news, after nearly knocking off TCU earlier in the week, Arkansas Pine Bluff stayed right with Oklahoma for about 35 minutes yesterday. The Sooners held on for a 68-56 win, but two really impressive showings (albeit in losing efforts) for Pine Bluff so far.
-UCLA had no problems with Long Beach State blowing them out 93-69. I thought The Beach may be able to stay with them for a little while, but they didn’t.
Alabama had no problems with Liberty blowing them out 95-59. I thought Liberty may be able to stay with them for a little while, but they didn’t.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-SAINT PETER’S AT SETON HALL. It’s a buy game, but it’s worth mentioning. Seton Hall has more key players from last year’s Saint Peter’s Elite Eight team than Saint Peter’s does. They also have their coach from last year. So, the storyline makes it worth highlighting. Both teams are also 1-0.
-GRAND CANYON AT NEVADA. Grand Canyon looked good in their season opener, but winning on the road, even against like Nevada that looks kind of so-so so far, is a tall order, but it’s what teams have to do if they want to end up inside the bubble. Both teams come into this one without a loss.
-WASHINGTON STATE AT BOISE STATE. Boise State is a team that we think is good enough to win a lot of games at home this year. Having said that, they lost their opener at home to (an albeit good) South Dakota State team. Some thing Wazzu is a potential dark horse in the Pac 12. A win today would be a bit of a statement win. It’s not a brand name win, but it’s a good win.
-GEORGIA TECH AT GEORGIA STATE. Both teams are 1-0, neither are expected to make the field, but we’ll keep watching both of them until they give us a reason not to. We are highlighting this despite the low expectations for each team because both did win their openers, and because this has been a really fun game in recent history.
-NEW MEXICO STATE AT UTEP (Back Range). We at Hoops HD have instituted the mythical Back Range conference this year!! This is a long standing rivalry, and it’s usually a good game. New Mexico State should be the clear favorites, and a win would get them to 2-0 and give them their first true road win of the season.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-James Madison @ Buffalo – both teams are unbeaten, and JMU may be a SBC frontrunner
-Wright State @ Louisville – don’t be shocked if Louisville loses again. In fact it would be shocking if they didn’t.
-Ball State @ Indiana State – both teams 1-0
-Wagner @ La Salle – Wagner won their opener against Temple. Starting off 2-0 on the road ain’t bad!
-Middle Tennessee @ Winthrop – two potentially good UTR teams, and Middle can improve to 2-0
-Binghamton @ Marist – both teams 1-0
-Saint Bonaventure @ Canisius (Big 4). The Bonnies are looking to improve to 2-0
-Evansville @ Saint Louis – both teams 1-0
-Albany @ Siena – a crosstown battle where Siena looks to improve to 2-0
BUY GAMES:
-Green Bay @ Georgetown
-Bethesda (nonD1) @ San Jose State
-UMass Lowell @ Rutgers – both teams 2-0
-Alcorn State @ Wichita State
-Arkansas State @ LSU – both teams unbeaten
-Lafayette @ Saint John’s
-Kentucky State (nonD1) @ Western Kentucky
-Morgan State @ VCU
-Northeastern @ Providence
