The SEC now has five teams ranked in the top 7 in the nation, and we begin by looking at just how successful that conference has been. It’s not that they all have impressive records, it’s that they’ve managed those records against really tough schedules. We discuss the possibility of as many as 11 or 12 teams possibly getting to the NCAA Tournament as it looks like virtually every game once conference play starts will be a tier-1 or tier-2 win.
We had a lot of big rivalry games last week with Iowa State getting a win at Iowa, UCLA getting a big win aainst Arizona, Kentucky holding off Louisville, Cincinnati beating Xavier, and some others. We look at all those games, run through all of the major conferences, and much more.
And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…
Grand Canyon (6-3, 5-3 D1) at Louisiana Tech (9-2, 7-2 D1) – 7:30 PM ET (ESPN+)
Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day will be one of the best matchups you’ll see all year among Under the Radar teams – the Grand Canyon Antelopes travel to Ruston, Louisiana to face the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs in the WAC/Conference USA Challenge. The Lopes had a 4-game winning streak snapped on Saturday with a loss against Georgia in Atlanta; it was a missed opportunity for a team whose best win to date is a road win at Stanford. GCU usually attempts at least 25 free throws a game; they “only” shot 15-for-17 in the loss to Georgia.
Louisiana Tech has a record inflated with 2 non-D1 wins (which will also become 3 when Rust travels to Ruston on Saturday); their most notable wins so far may be against UMass and Richmond. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, both teams will likely finish in the bottom half of the A-10 – therefore, this is their biggest opportunity for a signature nonconference win before Conference USA play begins. Kaden Cooper had 25 points in the Bulldogs’ last game – a 77-63 home win against Georgia Southern.
OTHER NEWS, NOTES, AND HIGHLIGHTED GAMES (From the Puppet):
-Arkansas State could not have had a worse follow up to their big win at Memphis! (at least for the first half). They trailed UAB, on the road, by 25 at the half and trailed by as much as 28 in the game. But, after that, they could not have had more than an amazing comeback! They somehow came all the way back, forced overtime, and then controlled the overtime for a 98-89 win, which is their second true road win and it gets them to 9-3 overall.
-San Francisco handed Loyola Chicago their first loss of the season as the two squared off in Milwaukee. It’s a nice 76-66 win for the Dons.
-UC San Diego is yet another Big West team to keep an eye on. They blew Idaho off the court 80-56. Not that Idaho is an impressive win, but UCSD is now 9-2 on the year with one of those losses being a very close game at San Diego State, and they now have two true road wins. That’s an impressive overall body of work!
TONIGHT’S GAMES:
-Wofford @ Charleston – A win for Charleston gets them to a respecable 8-2 -Air Force @ Northern Colorado (Front Range) – We at Hoops HD LOVE the Front Range!! -Oral Roberts @ Texas Tech -South Alabama @ TCU – a win for South Alabama gets them to 8-3 on the year and gives them their 3rd true road win
-Top ranked Tennessee had blown everyone they had faced off the court prior to yesterday. Illinois took them to the wall and managed to hold a close lead for most of the game, but the Vols drove the length of the court and hit a game winning layup as time expired and they escaped with a 66-64 road win in a tough environment.
-Second ranked Auburn didn’t have to sweat nearly as much. I think they were up by 20 or so on Ohio State before the game even tipped, and they just blew them off the floor 91-53.
-5th ranked Kentucky actually struggled more than we were expecting at home against a Louisville team that was beat up with injuries. Louisville also got into foul trouble and made some key turnovers, but managed to keep themselves in the game. Kentucky maintained a lead for pretty much the entire game and ended up winning 93-85, but could never blow it open.
-We’ve been big on this Dayton team since Maui. Many saw that they finished 7th place and I guess just sort of wrote them off, but if you actually watched the games and saw that they barely lost to North Carolina and Iowa State, and then blew UConn of the floor in the one game they did win, you’d know they were good. Now, people may be starting to realize that. Marquette’s defense was outstanding in the first half, but Dayton was able to make some adjustments in the second half, came from 10pts down, and get a huge win over a very good and highly ranked Marquette team. It’s time to put Dayton in the top 25, and I bet they end up staying there for the rest of the season. This is a Flyers team that we may be talking about for a protected seed. They’ve played four games against probable protected seeds, three were away from home, and they won two of those games and were very competitive in the two they didn’t win. To me, that is a protected seed caliber team.
-UConn didn’t win any games in Maui, but they’ve won every single game that hasn’t been in Maui, and beat a really good Gonzaga team in NYC yesterday 77-71. I’d say UConn is back, and whatever people were saying was wrong with them before is no longer wrong with them. As for the Zags, they are not in any trouble, but they also haven’t played at the high level many of us were expecting them to. At least not yet. They’ve now lost two straight to Kentucky and UConn.
-Alabama held off a really good Creighton team 83-75. Both of these teams have played killer OOC schedules and should be well prepared for conference play.
-Florida won handily over what is a pretty good Arizona State team 83-66. The Gators are ranked in the top ten, and they’ve beaten a few pretty good teams to get there. Maybe we should be talking about them a lot more than we are.
-Texas A&M got a really nice win against Purdue in Indianapolis, which is there best of the year so far, and caps off a nice five game stretch where they’ve beaten Creighton, Rutgers, Wake Forest, Texas Tech, and now Purdue. Uncle Buzz has it going on!!!
-Bedlam was more or less dominated by Oklahoma. The final score was 80-65, and for much of the game it didn’t even feel like it was that close. Oklahoma is yet another team that has looked really good for most of the season so far.
-Memphis, who lost to Arkansas State earlier in the week, bounced back in a big way with an overtime road win against a very solid Clemson team. This one win changes the complexion of Memphis’s resume.
-UC Irvine suffered their first loss of the year as they fell 67-55 to Oregon State. My takeaway from this is that UC Irvine is still one of the best, if not the best, Under the Radar team, and can still land inside the bubble. This win would have absolutely helped, but they are still a good team. I actually think Oregon State, who is now 7-2 on the year and who nearly beat Oregon in one of those losses, is much better than what they’re getting credit for and will be a strong team within the WCC.
-I still think Grand Canyon is a good team who will win a lot of games, but I’m also starting to think that one of those wins better be the championship game of the WAC Tournament. They fell to Georgia in Atlanta 73-68. Georgia is good, and beating them in Atlanta isn’t easy, but that’s just it. For a team to get inside the bubble, they need to be able to win games that are hard to win. Grand Canyon just hasn’t. The win over Stanford is nice, but the losses to Arizona State, UC Davis, and now Georgia, were the kinds of games they needed to win. Not all of them, but at least one or two of them.
-Cincinnati picked up a 68-65 win over their rivals Xavier in the Crosstown Shootout, and improves to 8-1 on the year and will likely remain in the rankings. That’s the good news! The bad news is that while Xavier is not a bad team, I don’t think they’ve looked like an NCAA Tournament caliber team at any point, and they certainly aren’t as good as most of the other teams in the Big 12. In fact this may have been one of Cincinnati’s easier remaining games, and they barely won it. Their record is good, but their schedule up until now has been weak. They’re next game is against Dayton. We’ll see how they do in that one.
-Rutgers hit a deep game winning 3 pointer at the buzzer to knock off Seton Hall 66-63, which is a nice win over their rivals, but like Cincinnati it also raises questions. Seton Hall isn’t that good, most teams remaining on Rutgers’s schedule are much better than Seton Hall, and they barely beat them at home.
-UCLA continues to roll as they got a hard fought 57-54 win over rival Arizona in Phoenix. Arizona is now just 4-5 on the season. I know they’re schedule has been really tough, and I do think they’ll bounce back and be in good shape by the end of the year, but I also understand how people are starting to feel concerned about them.
-DePaul ran away from Wichita State in the second half and picked up a 91-72 win. Yes it was at home, and yes Wichita isn’t the strongest team out there, but they are also far from the weakest team out there. This was a good win for the Blue Demons, who are now 8-2 on the season.
-Georgetown picked up a nice 75-71 road win against their old Big East rivals in Syracuse, and is now 8-2 on the year. I know their schedule hasn’t been the toughest, and I know the Hoyas are likely not yet a tournament caliber team, but one cannot deny that they appear to be going in the right direction as a program.
-Utah State blew South Florida off the court 88-67 and is now 10-0 on the season. Utah State hasn’t played a bunch of brand name opponents that are high in the rankings, but they haven’t just played cupcakes that they ordered off the pastry cart either. Iowa, Saint Bonaventure, and North Texas are all teams they have beaten. Perhaps the voters should start paying attention to them a little more.
-Boise State held off Saint Mary’s 67-65 in overtime for a win they REALLY needed. Saint Mary’s is a really good team, and Boise needed a win against a really good team.
-Saint Bonaventure is 10-1 after beating Providence on the road 74-70. Their only loss was to the Utah State team that’s mentioned above. Their wins aren’t the best, but the Bonnies are well positioned to play their way inside the bubble if they can keep stringing together wins.
-SMU picked up a nice 74-64 win over LSU. Both teams had good records, and this should end up looking good on SMU’s resume.
-Keep an eye on Furman. They really had to sweat yesterday, but they did beat South Carolina State and are now 10-1 on the year.
-Liberty is also 10-1 (with six of those wins coming away from home) and also worth keeping an eye on. They knocked off NC A&T yesterday.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-CENTRAL CONNECTICUT AT RHODE ISLAND. Rhody just suffered their first loss of the season to Brown, and while they should be able to bounce back at home in this one, Central Connecticut is good enough to where the Rams better not just overlook them. CCSU has won four straight, they’ve won at Saint Joseph’s and at UMass, and they nearly won at Providence.
-ARKANSAS STATE AT UAB. Arkansas State is 8-3 and has a road win at Memphis on their resume. While UAB is a somewhat disappointing 5-5 this year, they are still a team that could end up with a lot of wins, and picking up another road win will start to put Arkansas State on a path to land inside the bubble.
-SAN FRANCISCO VS LOYOLA CHICAGO (Game in Milwaukee WI). Loyola is unbeaten, but for the most part is also untested. San Francisco isn’t a great team, but they’re better than most of the ones that Loyola has played up to this point. As for San Francisco, they do have a few modestly good wins against Boise State and Saint Louis, and getting this one today would give their own resume a nice boost.
BUY GAMES (and other games of note):
-Temple @ Hofstra – Hofstra can get to a respectable 9-3 and they’ve already got a few decent wins on their resume -Omaha @ Iowa State -Akron @ Milwaukee – a win for Akron gets them to 7-2 -New Orleans @ Iowa -Arkansas Pine Bluff @ Texas -Georgia Tech @ Northwestern -Mercyhurst @ Kent State – Kent State can get to 8-2 -Stephen F Austin @ Oregon -Montana State @ USC – Montana State may be the best team in the Big Sky
Murray State (6-2, 5-2 D1) at Western Kentucky (6-3, 5-3 D1) – 2:00 PM ET (ESPN+)
The UTR Game of the Day returns from Finals Week with a matchup of teams from Western Kentucky and…a team from the central part of Kentucky that calls themselves WKU. Murray State comes into today’s game on a modest 3-game winning streak that includes wins over Evansville (their Missouri Valley opener), UT-Arlington and Southeast Missouri State. Jacobi Wood led the Racers with 23 points in a 20-point win against SEMO.
Western Kentucky got off to a slow start with back-to-back losses against Wichita State and Grand Canyon, but the Hilltoppers have won six out of their last 7 games. Two of their notable wins were a win at Evansville as well as a home win against Marshall. Babacar Faye averages 15 points a game and 7.7 rebounds a game for WKU.
-Nebraska and Indiana were close for about 35 minutes before Nebraska blew it open down the stretch and picked up the 85-68 win. The nice way to say this is that the Hoosiers have struggled this year.
-Colorado is now a very respectful 8-2 after beating a pretty good South Dakota State team 81-70.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-MEMPHIS AT CLEMSON. Memphis’s last game was a home loss to Arkansas State, and while they had played well for the first part of the season they’ve now dropped two of their last three and it doesn’t get any easier today. Clemson is 9-1, has beaten Kentucky and Miami FL in their last two games, and will be very tough to beat on their floor.
-TEXAS A&M VS PURDUE (Indy Classic – Indianapolis IN). Both teams are in the top 25 and both teams are likely solid NCAA Tournament teams, so it’s a really good resume building opportunity for both. Purdue already has some nice wins against Alabama and Ole Miss, whereas TAMU has a good profile, but this would be their best win of the season up to this point.
-OHIO STATE VS AUBURN (Holiday Hoopsgiving – Atlanta GA). Ohio State is having a decent year at 6-3, whereas Auburn looks like a Final Four caliber team. This would obviously be a huge win for the Buckeyes if they can pull off the upset. The game seems to have the feel of a 1 vs 8/9 type of game in the Round of 32. It’s possible, but not probable.
-WICHITA STATE AT DEPAUL. Both teams have solid records, but have amassed most of those wins against weak schedules and could use some meat on their resumes. This would probably be the best win that either team has managed so far.
-XAVIER AT CINCINNATI. Both teams are good, or at least have shown signs of being good, but both should also be coming into this with a huge sense of urgency. It’s a rivalry game, but it’s also a really important game on paper. Xavier has a home win against Wake Forest, but has done little else and actually went through a stretch where they had been blown out by Michigan and struggled in a home buy game against South Carolina State. Cincinnati is 7-1, but none of their opponents appear to be teams that will be anywhere near the bubble, and they lost their only real test of the season at Villanova. So, both could really use this one today.
-WISCONSIN VS BUTLER (Indy Classic – Indianapolis IN). I still think Butler can be a dark horse this season, although they certainly haven’t shown it in their last two games. They really need a game like this to get themselves turned back around. Wisconsin has also lost three straight and is also looking to get things turned back around, so both teams kind of need this one.
-GEORGETOWN AT SYRACUSE. I’m glad these two teams continue to play each other, but it’s nothing like it used to be. Having said that, Georgetown has their program going in the right direction, and this would be a huge road win for them. Syracuse has looked good at times, but still has more work to do than what they’re probably capable of doing in order to land inside the bubble.
-UCLA VS ARIZONA (Hall of Fame Rivalry – Phoenix AZ). Arizona still has a high ceiling and will probably still end up having a big year, but as of now they’re just 4-4 (albeit against a very tough schedule) and could use a big win to get things turned around. Knocking off their old rivals, who have been playing really well lately, would be a big step in the right direction.
-SETON HALL AT RUTGERS. This really needs to be a “Get Right” game for Rutgers. It won’t do much for their paper if they win it, and it will set them back quite a bit if they lose it. Seton Hall is a sub-NIT so beating them at home won’t mean that much on paper, but beating a rival at home and getting some momentum built back up is what Rutgers needs more than anything else right now.
-NC STATE AT KANSAS. NC State has lost three straight, and while they were all against good teams and they were competitive in those games, this is by far a tougher test than anything they’ve faced all season. Kansas is a possible #1 seed and should roll in this one.
-ARIZONA STATE VS FLORIDA (Holiday Hoopsgiving – Atlanta GA). This is one of the more intriguing games of the day. Arizona State has had a really good year with their only loss being a close one on the road at Gonzaga, and they’ve managed some pretty good wins. None are as good as this one would be as the Gators come in ranked in the top ten. Having said that, Arizona State has arguably played a tougher schedule and beaten tougher teams up to this point, so this may be a game where the nation wakes up to the reality that the Sun Devils are really good.
-LSU VS SMU (Compete 4 Cause Classic – Frisco TX). LSU has made some noise this year. They’re 8-1 with wins over Kansas State, UCF, and Florida State. That’s not great, but it’s certainly more than nothing. SMU has a nice win over Washington State and just beat Virginia. Again, not great, but certainly not nothing. Both these teams are good enough to build up their resumes, and both could use this win today to help do it.
-SAINT BONAVENTURE AT PROVIDENCE. The Bonnies are 9-1 with three true road wins, so they have our attention. Having said that, their schedule hasn’t exactly been a gauntlet, and getting a win over a decent Providence team on the road would make their resume look a lot better.
-LOUISVILLE AT KENTUCKY. While this game will be more competitive than what we’ve seen in recent years, it’s still looks like it’s going to be a big mismatch. Kentucky is looking like a #1 seed, and while Louisville did look good early on, they aren’t the same since having to deal with injuries and are likely way overmatched in this one.
-TENNESSEE AT ILLINOIS. Tennessee has basically blown everyone they’ve faced off the court. This is one of their toughest tests of the year since it’s a true road game against a really good Illinois team, but the Vols have shown before that they can be up to the task.
-MCNEESE VS MISSISSIPPI STATE (Game in Tupelo MS). McNeese has been somewhat of a disappointment this year considering how good we thought they were going to be, but they still have a high ceiling and a deep roster and are still potentially a dangerous team. Mississippi State has looked really strong, but McNeese is good enough to beat them if they overlook them.
-GRAND CANYON VS GEORGIA (Holiday Hoopsgiving – Atlanta GA). This is a hugely important game for Grand Canyon. They’re a modest 6-2, but if they want to end up inside the bubble they need wins that are more notable than the ones that they currently have and they’re running out of chances. Georgia is a solid 8-1, they beat a good Saint John’s team, and their only loss was to Marquette. So far, they’ve looked good. Beating Grand Canyon would be a nice pick-up for their resume as well.
-MARQUETTE AT DAYTON. I’m probably as excited for this one as any game being played today. Marquette is ranked #6 in the nation and they have absolutely earned that ranking. Dayton is 8-2 and I feel they’re being undervalued. They beat UConn handily, and their only two losses were very close games to Iowa State and North Carolina. Their fans will be jacked way up for this one as the Flyers really have a chance to make a statement.
-GONZAGA VS UCONN (Game in New York, NY). Both teams are off to really good starts, but neither team is off to the elite-level start that they were probably expecting, and both suffered losses in their in-season tournaments. Still, both teams are ranked in the top 20, both have earned those rankings, both are on pace to end up with a protected seed, and this would be a huge resume boost to whichever team pulls it off.
-OKLAHOMA STATE VS OKLAHOMA (game in Oklahoma City OK). BEDLAM!!!!!! It’s good to see this series continue, and while it may not be quite the same seeing as how it’s no longer a conference game, seeing them go at it on a neutral floor in front of a split crowd should be fun. Oklahoma is a perfect 9-0 with a few notable wins whereas Okie State is a respectable 6-2 but has no real wins of note, so the Pokes could probably use this one a little more, but in a rivalry game like this it’s more about the rivalry than anything else.
-CREIGHTON AT ALABAMA. Creighton has sustained some key injuries, but given their recent win against Kansas they have shown they can still play at a very high level. Having said that, being able to win on the road at Alabama will require them to again play at a very high level. Bama is a likely protected seed, and it’s just not going to be easy at all to beat them at home.
-SAINT MARY’S AT BOISE STATE. I really like what Saint Mary’s has done so far, and they can add another really nice win to what is already a really solid profile if they can get this one on the road. It would be their second true road win of the season, and they’re coming off their first road win at Utah. Boise State has been a little bit disappointing, but they’ll still be in good shape if they can get this one and are still looking like they can cause quite a bit of damage in the Mountain West.
BUY GAMES (and other games of note):
-South Carolina State @ Furman – Furman can get to 10-1 -Long Island @ Missouri -Coppin State @ Penn State -Tulsa @ UCF -Texas State @ Florida Atlantic – it’s at least an intriguing matchup -Appalachian State @ High Point – High Point has been a home court here, and they’re at home again in this one, but they should be tested at least a little bit more -USC Upstate @ South Carolina -Southern Miss @ Ole Miss -South Florida @ Utah State – Utah State can remain unbeaten -Central Arkansas @ Arkansas -La Salle @ North Carolina – UNC needs to start stringing together wins -Bradley vs Santa Clara (Jack Jones Classic – Henderson NV) – Bradley can get a nice neutral floor win and improve to 9-1 -Tulane @ Florida State -Missouri State @ Washington State -Bethune Cookman @ West Virginia -Belmont @ Richmond – this is a winnable game for Belmont and it will get them to 9-2 on the year, and 3-0 in true road games -Western New Mexico (nonD1) @ New Mexico -Detroit Mercy @ Davidson -Radford @ Utah – Radford is 9-2, so Utah doesn’t want to just completely overlook them, but it’s still a home buy game that the Utes should win -NC A&T @ Liberty -Colorado State @ VCU -Wyoming @ BYU – a win for the Cougars gets them to 8-2 -Texas Southern @ Nevada – Nevada can get to 8-3 with a win
-Iowa State was behind for most of the game at Iowa, but did get control late and pull out a really nice 89-80 road win. It was Iowa’s first home loss, and while the Hawkeyes aren’t likely to end up as a protected seed, they probably are a solid tournament team, so it was a really nice win for Iowa State.
-It was pretty chalky other than that.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-NEBRASKA AT INDIANA (Big Ten). Nebraska already has a nice road win at Creighton and their resume doesn’t look all that bad so far. Having said that, they were absolutely pasted at Michigan State in their last game, and getting a win at Indiana would make the Huskers’ resume look a whole lot better. Indiana is coming off a home win against Minnesota, but is still lacking a high level win for the season. If they pull this one out tonight it would probably be their best of the year up to this point.
-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT COLORADO. Colorado is 7-2 and played well out in Maui, so they are having a much better season than what i was expecting so far. South Dakota State looks to be the best team in the Summit League, but they’ve failed to get it done in some previous opportunities they’ve had for big wins and they don’t have a true road win yet. This would really boost the level of their resume of the Jackrabbits can pull this off tonight.
-Army @ George Washington – GW can get to 9-2 -Georgia Southern @ Louisiana Tech – these are the kinds of games LA Tech is expected to win
