Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES:

-There is one team in the Atlantic Ten that looks like they belong solidly inside the bubble, and that team is Davidson!  They picked up a HUGE win at Alabama last night, which completely makes their resume at the moment.  The Wildcats are now 9-2 on the year with a win against what looks to be a protected seed caliber team away from home.  At least…we think.  Since the big win against Houston, Alabama has looked sluggish at best.  They were beaten handily by Memphis, had to sweat out Jacksonville State in a buy game, and lost last night to Davidson.

-Xavier controlled the first half at Villanova, but then Nova completely dominated the second half for a 71-58 win.  The game was pretty close in the final minutes, but Nova opened it up and got the win.  Perhaps they’re coming out of what has been a bit of a sluggish period for them.

-Samford got a big win at Ole Miss.  They basically controlled the entire second half and had what appeared to be a safe lead down the stretch, but Ole Miss fought back, got back into it, and actually appeared to have hit a game winning shot at the buzzer, but after further review (MUCH review actually…throughout the entire game) it showed that the shot was not in time and that Samford got the win.  The Bulldogs are now 10-2 on the season with a nice road win on top of that.

-Utah got a nice win against Fresno State 55-50.  We kind of had our eyes on Fresno State, and we still do, but a glaring issue with them is that they are 0-3 in true road games.

-NC State lost a home buy game to Wright State 84-70 and is now just 7-5 on the year.  I believe we are done with NC State for the time being.

-UConn picked up their first true road win of the year, and it was a big one as they knocked off Marquette 78-70 to even their Big East record out at 1-1.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-SOUTHERN ILLINOIS AT SAN FRANCISCO.  Southern Illinois has been a bit of a disappointment this year, but they are in a stretch where they’ve won five out of their last six.  San Francisco has had a fantastic year at 11-1, and their last two games have been battles with a one point loss to Grand Canyon, and a one point win on the road at Arizona State.

-WYOMING VS STANFORD (Diamond Head Classic).  Wyoming has just one loss on the season, but needs to add some meat to their resume and the Diamond Head is a chance to do that.  Stanford has been playing better, but still has a ton of work to do, and a good showing in this tournament could really help them out.

-MURRAY STATE AT AUBURN.  Murray comes in with an impressive 10-1 record and they have a nice win at Memphis.  You have to start thinking of them as a possible tournament team, and if they’re able to win tonight at Auburn they’ll be even further inside the bubble.

-WESTERN KENTUCKY AT KENTUCKY.  With the Louisville v Kentucky game being cancelled (for now) this was a late addition.  WKU beat Louisville in their last game, but this one is on the road and will be a much bigger challenge.  The other cool thing about this game is that all the proceeds from it are being donated to the victims of the recent tornadoes that clobbered the state of Kentucky.

-ARIZONA AT TENNESSEE.  Tennessee is unbeaten at home and is having a fantastic year.  Arizona is unbeaten overall and has played their way up to the #6 ranking.  It’s a big showcase game between two teams that have a good chance at ending up as protected seeds, so this would be a high caliber win for either of their resumes.

-MIDDLE TENNESSEE AT CHATTANOOGA.  It is unlikely that either team will land inside the bubble, but this is still a pretty good UTR match-up.

-CLEMSON AT VIRGINIA.  Right now it looks as though both teams are on the outside looking in and both have work to do.

-HOFSTRA AT MONMOUTH.  Monmouth is off to a 10-2 start and has a few decent wins.  They will have to blow through the rest of their schedule to land inside the bubble, but they are good enough to do it.  They better not overlook this Hofstra team, though, who recently picked up a big win against Arkansas and that’s won six of their last seven.

-BOISE STATE AT WASHINGTON STATE.  Both teams have a path to landing inside the bubble, but both have a lot of work to do.  Therefore, both could really use this one tonight.

-VIRGINIA TECH AT DUKE (ACC).  VA Tech has a few good things on their resume, but nothing that’s in the same universe as what winning at Duke would be like.

-ILLINOIS VS MISSOURI.  Braggin’ Rights Game!!  This is usually a really fun game.  This year it appears to be a bit of a mismatch, though.  Illinois looks like a solid tournament team, and so far Mizzou hasn’t even looked like they belong in the NIT.

-DIXIE STATE AT SOUTHERN UTAH (Beehive).  We at Hoops HD love the Beehive!!!

-BYU VS SOUTH FLORIDA (Diamond Head Classic).  BYU shouldn’t have too much trouble in this one.  But, it’s one they have to win to get the better match-ups on the winner’s side of the bracket.

-MISSOURI STATE AT SAINT MARY’S.  SMC has shown every sign of being a solid tournament caliber team.  After a sluggish start, Missouri State has won their last four, but could really make a statement if they were able to get this one.

BUY GAMES (or games that might as well be):

-Johnson & Wales (nonD1) @ Davidson
-TAMUCC @ Notre Dame – TAMUCC is looking like the top team in the Southland right now
-Alabama State @ Texas
-Eastern Washington @ Texas Tech
-Stony Brook @ Florida
-Army @ South Carolina
-Bucknell @ Richmond
-Green Bay @ Minnesota
-Chicago State @ Drake
-Youngstown State @ West Virginia – Youngstown State is a respectable 7-3 with 3 road wins
-Northern Kentucky @ Indiana
-Prairie View A&M @ Wichita State
-North Alabama @ UCF
-Mississippi Valley State @ UAB
-Texas State @ Houston – Texas State is an impressive 9-2
-Lipscomb @ LSU
-Alcorn State @ Oklahoma
-UC San Diego @ San Diego State

NEWS AND NOTES:

-We recorded our UNDER THE RADAR Video Podcast last night.  CLICK HERE TO WATCH OR LISTEN

-Other than that, there was nothing that happened on the court yesterday (or really even the day before) that is worth reporting.  I mean…NOTHING!!

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-SAMFORD AT OLE MISS.  Samford is off to an impressive 9-2 start, and although they are probably overmatched in this one, if they were to pick it up and get to 10-2 and have a win like this on their resume, you’d have to sit up and take some notice.

-DAVIDSON AT ALABAMA.  Davidson hasn’t had a spectacular season, but they’ve at least had a respectable one and as it turns out may have one of the best profiles in the Atlantic Ten.  If they could somehow get this one on the road it would catapult them inside the bubble (for now).  Alabama has some great wins, but has struggled in their last couple of games, so it’s not impossible.

-XAVIER AT VILLANOVA (Big East).  Nova hasn’t been quite as good as expected this year, and Xavier has actually exceeded expectations.  The Muskies have shown they can play really well at home, but to get a road win in a game like this it would indicate that they are a protected seeded caliber team all across the board.  As for Nova, they just need to start playing better, and a win at home in a game like this could get their motor started.

-FRESNO STATE AT UTAH.  We’ve got our eyes on Fresno State.  This is not an easy road game, but it’s a road game they can win.

-MICHIGAN STATE VS OAKLAND.  This game is in Detroit, and it’s a huge chance for Oakland to pick up another notable win.  They’ve already got a nice win against Oklahoma State, but if they could pick this one up they could make a legit claim that they belong inside the bubble.  Michigan State keeps looking better and better and is showing all signs of ending up as a protected seed caliber team.

-DELAWARE AT IONA.  Delaware comes in at a respectable 9-3, but this is still the kind of game Iona needs to hold serve in if they want to remain inside the bubble.

-KANSAS AT COLORADO.  This is an old Big Eight rivalry renewed.  They’ve played in the past, and it hasn’t always gone Kansas’s way.  Kansas clearly has the better team, but this is still a really tough road win.  As for the Buffs, their resume could use a bit of a boost and a win tonight would certainly help even though they’re the home team.

-UCONN AT MARQUETTE (Big East).  Both teams look like solid NCAA Tournament teams, and both are looking for a resume building caliber win.

-GRAND CANYON AT NEVADA.  Grand Canyon has a bloated record, but it’s also almost entirely lacking wins of substance.  They need road wins and notable wins.  They basically need to tear through the rest of their schedule if they want to get inside the bubble.

BUY GAMES (or games that might as well be):

-South Carolina Upstate @ Ohio U
-Southern Miss @ East Carolina
-Northwestern State @ Texas A&M
-Chicago State @ Iowa State
-Fort Wayne @ Michigan
-Winthrop @ Mississippi State
-Elon @ Arkansas
-Tennessee Tech @ Cincinnati
-Southern @ Dayton
-Wright State @ NC State
-Appalachian State @ North Carolina
-Grambling @ TCU
-SELA @ Iowa
-McNeese @ Kansas State
-Portland State @ Utah State
-Pepperdine @ Oregon – Oregon needs to start stringing together some wins.

-We are now to a point to where games are being cancelled on a regular and daily basis.  So, when reading the daily write-ups, you don’ t know for sure which games will actually end up being played.

NEWS AND NOTES:

-Baylor had to sweat a little more than expected, but they still got control in the second half and picked up their first true road win of the season knocking off Oregon 78-70.

-G0nzaga got a bit of a battle from Texas Tech, but was in control down the stretch for the 69-55 win.  That’s another win against a ranked team for the Zags.

-Both Alabama and Kansas got battles in home buy games, but managed to hold on to win.  It was a particularly impressive performance by Stephen F. Austin against Kansas.

-Saint Louis gave Auburn all kinds of fits, but the Tigers pulled it out in the end 74-70 for their second road win of the year.

-Providence picked up a HUGE road win at UConn.  Suddenly the Friars are 11-1 on the year with a true road win at UConn in their Big East opener.  They should be landing in the top 25 soon.

-Marquette had their chances to get what could have been a signature road win at Xavier, but the Musketeers got a career night from Dwon Odom and MU missed a golden opportunity (no pun intended). Xavier now faces games at Villanova and at home against UConn – wins in either or both of those games would make them a serious contender for the Big East.

-The good news for Cincinnati is that they beat a team on short notice that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season. The bad news is that the team (Ashland) was in the NCAA Division II Tournament – this was because Texas Southern could not play due to their own COVID-19 issues.

-North Carolina and Kentucky ended up matched up against each other because their originally scheduled opponents had to shut down.  It looked as though North Carolina was also shut down.  Kentucky ran them off the court 98-69.

-Arkansas fell at home (even though it was technically in Little Rock, not Fayetteville) to Hofstra in a game that was a huge surprise.  Hofstra had looked decent at times by Under the Radar standards, but nowhere near up to the task of beating a top 25 team on the road.  So this was easily the surprise of the day. Even bigger when you consider that Hofstra had travel issues and just arrived in Little Rock the day of the game

-Saint John’s was in good shape, but they lost to Pitt yesterday 59-57.  This season, losing to Pitt is like losing a buy game.  Without Julian Champagnie in the Johnnies’ lineup (COVID protocols), the Johnnies are capable of losing to almost anyone. That’s how bad they are.

-Look out for TCU.  They are now 9-1 after winning at Georgetown yesterday.  It was their first true road win of the year, and while their schedule hasn’t been a gauntlet and none of their wins scream “NCAA Tournament” yet, it was still a nice win for the Horned Frogs against a Georgetown team that had been playing better.

-Indiana is now 9-2 after knocking off Notre Dame yesterday in Indianapolis.  The Hoosiers haven’t played a challenging schedule, but they haven’t screwed up too badly against the schedule they’ve played.  So..we’re watching.  For now.

-Louisville was without a key player due to COVID protocol at Western Kentucky yesterday.  With a national audience watching on CBS, the Hilltoppers basically jumped out to a 10 point lead in the first minute of the game and seemingly held it the rest of the way.  The final score was 82-72 for WKU.  Louisville doesn’t need to be panicking yet, but they do need to have a sense of urgency right now.

-Utah fell at Missouri 83-75 yesterday.  Perhaps Utah DOES need to be panicking.

-West Virginia trailed UAB for most of the game, but put it together late in the second half, got control, and got the 65-59 win.  It’s a nice road win for the Mountaineers that they should get quite a bit of credit for.  UAB likely won’t lose too many the rest of the way.

-Dayton has the three big wins from their exempt tournament, but still doesn’t have a true road win.  They fell 76-68 to a decent, but not great, Ole Miss team yesterday and are now a so-so 7-5 on the year.

-San Francisco suffered their first loss of the year in a 49-48 defensive rock fight at Grand Canyon.  It IS NOT easy to beat the Lopes on the road.  But, then again, it’s not easy to make the NCAA Tournament either, and to do it a team must win games that aren’t easy to win.  This would have been really big for the Dons because of how good GCU is at home.  They’ll have some other chances, though.

-Murray State got a big win against Chattanooga.  They were at home, so it isn’t that earth shattering, but they improve t 10-1 on the year with a road win at Memphis.  They are shaping up to be a team that can land inside the bubble.

-Iowa played their best game of the year as they blew a pretty good Utah State team off the floor 94-75.

-Notable games that were cancelled or postponed were Iona vs Seton Hall, DePaul @ Northwestern, UCF @ Florida State, and Tennessee @ Memphis.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-AIR FORCE AT ARKANSAS STATE.  Air Force is a long way from landing inside the bubble, but they are 7-2 on the season and this is a winnable road game for them.

-CHARLESTON VS RHODE ISLAND (DC Holiday Hoops Fest).  Both teams have a lot of work to do, and Charleston is probably out of strikes and pretty much has to win out, but it’s still an intriguing match-up.

-TEXAS VS STANFORD (Pac-12 Coast to Coast Challenge).  Stanford is a modest 6-3 and can really take a big step forward if they’re able to pull off a win today.  Texas is in good shape at 7-2 and can add another notable neutral floor win to their resume.

-COASTAL CAROLINA AT MIDDLE TENNESSEE.  Both are long shots (at best) for landing inside the bubble, but both are UTR teams that come into this game with respectable records.

-SMU AT NEW MEXICO.  This would be a solid road win for an SMU team that’s outside the bubble, but that has played well and can get themselves in the picture if they can string together some notable wins.

-OLD DOMINION AT RICHMOND.  This is an old Colonial rivalry.  Richmond has been kind of disappointing this year and needs to hold serve today.

-KANSAS STATE AT NEBRASKA.  K State has what could turn into a solid profile.  This is simply the kind of road game NCAA Tournament teams are expected to win.

-SAN FRANCISCO AT ARIZONA STATE.  San Francisco has an impressive 10-1 record, but the majority of their wins have been against kind of a fluff schedule.  This is their first true road game of the season and just getting that first true road win should make their resume look better.

BUY GAMES:

-SELA @ Iowa State
-Colgate @ Monmouth – Monmouth can land inside the bubble if they hold serve and blow through the rest of their schedule
-UT Arlington @ Oklahoma