News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Friday, Dec 17th

Posted on December 17, 2021 by David Griggs

For the latest UNDER THE RADAR Video Podcast – CLICK HERE

-LIBERTY VS EAST CAROLINA (Basketball Hall of Fame Shootout).  East Carolina has a respectable 8-2 record, but they really haven’t been tested yet.

-SAINT BONAVENTURE VS VIRGINIA TECH (Basketball Hall of Fame Shootout).  This is one of the better chances at a noticeable win that the Bonnies have this season.  Their schedule isn’t super tough, but it’s tough enough to get them inside the bubble if they hold serve and win the games they’re supposed to win.  This would be a big one for them.  It’d also be big for Virginia Tech, who is looking to make a case for themselves too.

‘-RICHMOND VS NC STATE (Basketball Hall of Fame Shootout).  Richmond has been somewhat disappointing this year, but still has the potential to get things turned around.  They need to start stringing together wins, though.  NC State has shown some signs of life themselves, but like Richmond they still have a lot of work to do.  Both teams should have a sense of urgency coming in to this one.

-FURMAN AT MISSISSIPPI STATE.  Furman has a nice win against Louisville, but has missed some other opportunities to make a case for themselves.  Mississippi State also needs some meet on their resume, and while this is a buy game, it’d still be at least a decent win for them.

-VILLANOVA AT CREIGHTON (Big East).  This is a conference game between two likely NCAA Tournament teams.  Villanova has struggled some this season as far as #1 seed standards go, but everyone they’ve struggled against is a team that is in the hunt for a #1 seed, so this will not be an unfamiliar environment for them.

-SAINT MARY’S VS SAN DIEGO STATE.  This is a match-up we’ve been excited about since the start of the season.  San Diego State hasn’t kicked it into gear yet.  We still think they have the potential, and getting a win like this at home against a very solid SMC team could finally get their motor started.  As for Saint Mary’s, getting this win at a neutral court would be another nice addition to their resume.

-CAL POLY AT FRESNO STATE – buy game

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Under the Radar: December 16th

Posted on December 16, 2021 by David Griggs

Tonight’s feature conference is the Metro Atlantic, where both Iona and Monmouth are having really good seasons and who are both positioned to make the NCAA Tournament if they can keep winning at the clip they have been.  Iona’s game against Seton Hall has been cancelled, which denies them a big opportunity, but even without it they are still in good shape.

From there we run through the other 21 UTR leagues and discuss how strong Loyola Chicago has been (despite the rest of the league being a disappointment), New Mexico State looking really strong out of the WAC, UC Irvine’s near upset at USC and how dangerous they can be, how Belmont and Murray State are also both looking good enough to make the NCAA Tournament out of the OVC, and more.  And, as we do each week, we close with our UTR top ten.

And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Thursday, Dec 16

Posted on December 16, 2021 by David Griggs

-Duke, Drake, and Stanford are playing home buy games tonight.  That is literally all there is.  So, take the night off and do some Christmas shopping…

As for last night…

-UC Irvine gave USC all they wanted and then some.  They actually had a lead for much of the game, and with less than a minute to go it was still within reach, but they just couldn’t pull it out.  This is the kind of win that can make the difference of whether or not an under the radar team can land inside the bubble, so you follow those teams like we do you hate to see them come up just short of a big opportunity, but the Eaters still have a good team and should win a lot of games this year.

-Belmont basically led Chattanooga from tip to Buzzer and is now 9-3 on the year.  I think they’ll land inside the bubble if they’re able to blow through the OVC, which they should.

-Nicholls came very close to shocking Wisconsin.  Wisky actually had to come back to win the game, and barely held on 71-68.

-Utah State picked up a nice win at Weber State in a Beehive rivalry game.  It was the first true road win for Utah State, and it’s one that they should get a fair amount of credit for because it’s not easy to win at Weber.

-New Mexico State was down by close to 20 on the road at Washington State, but battled back in the second half, and got it closer, and then got back in it, and then tied it, and then won it.  It was a VERY impressive statement that they could go from being dominated on the road against a very respectable Wazzu team, but make adjustments and come back to win.  This New Mexico State team is potentially dangerous if they can play up to their ceiling.

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Wednesday, Dec 15th

Posted on December 15, 2021 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES:

-Apologies for the brief hiatus.  We didn’t have a write up yesterday.  I was in jail for something stupid, and Chad Sherwood was not able to get me out!!  Maybe if I had a better lawyer, we’d have had a write up yesterday!!!

-We’ve been dogging Memphis all year for being a talented team that doesn’t play well together.  Yesterday, they played unbelievably well together!  They beat Alabama 92-78, and truth be told they dominated the game even more than the score indicated.  I don’t know what switch was flipped, but if they can sustain that and play like that the rest of the year, look out!!

-Furman stayed with North Carolina for a half, but only a half.  UNC got control in the second half and ended up with a 74-61 win.

-Monmouth now has seven true road wins, including one at Cincinnati.  This is a good team, and I really hope the committee is watching.  They won at Yale yesterday 69-60, which admittedly isn’t the same as winning at Gonzaga, but it’s still a lot harder than winning a home buy game, and a 7-2 road record should get anyone’s attention.

-Creighton had been looking fantastic, and Arizona State had been looking pitiful.  So, naturally Arizona State got the 58-57 win on the road at Creighton.  The Sun Devils have now won three straight after a rather abysmal 2-6 start.  Perhaps they’ve turned the corner.

-Oregon State lost at home to UC Davis, and is now just 1-9 on the year.  They have NOT turned the corner!

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-CHATTANOOGA AT BELMONT.  These are two really good UTR teams that have a shot at landing inside the bubble, which makes this a hugely important game.  Belmont has some notable wins already, and Chattanooga comes in with an impressive 9-1 record.

-UCF AT TEMPLE (American).  UCF has a respectable 6-2 record and although they still have a lot of work to do, if they were to string together some wins they could play their way into the picture.

-MARSHALL AT OHIO U.  Both teams are on the outside of the bubble right now, and chances are that’s where both will end up, but both are good and if they could rampage through the rest of their seasons they could end up on the board.

-SOUTH DAKTOA STATE AT MISSOURI STATE.  These are two UTR teams that are pretty good, but that have also underachieved a little bit this year.

-MIDDLE TENNESSEE AT OLE MISS.  Middle Tennessee’s schedule has not been a gauntlet, but they’re still 8-2 and much better than what many of us expected this year.  Ole Miss is a modest 6-3 and needs to string together some wins to get themselves into the picture, but that happening is not out of the question.

-UC IRVINE AT USC.  It’s a buy game, but UC Irvine is one of the better teams in the Big West, so they may be able to compete with this USC team.  Having said that, USC is having a fantastic year and is deservedly ranked in the top ten.

-UTAH STATE AT WEBER STATE (Beehive).  Weber State has a bloated record and is likely the best team in the Big Sky, but this would easily be their biggest win of the year if they’re able to pull it off.  It’s not the easiest road game for Utah State, but this is the kind of game you expect tournament caliber teams to be able to win.

-NEW MEXICO STATE AT WASHINGTON STATE.  New Mexico State is a very strong UTR team that could really use a win like this on their resume.  Wazzu has had a nice year so far, but still has some work to do.  This is one that I’m looking forward to.

BUY GAMES:

-Howard @ Georgetown
-Tennessee Wesleyan (nonD1) @ Murray State
-Nicholls @ Wisconsin
-Morehead State @ Xavier
-Northern Colorado @ Arizona
-Portland @ Oregon – Oregon better watch out in this one
-Lipscomb @ Florida State
-Alabama State @ UCLA

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The Hoops HD Report: December 13th

Posted on December 13, 2021 by David Griggs

We recap a busy week where we saw Rutgers hit a half-court shot to upset top ranked Purdue, which gives us yet another #1 team this week.  It’s Baylor, and judging what they did to Villanova over the weekend, they may hold that spot for a while.  We run through all ten major conferences and discuss how Minnesota has been a surprise in the Big Ten while Michigan has been a disappointment, the overall strength of the Big 12 and how three teams are in the top 11, the struggles of the ACC, the strength of the top half of the West Coast conference and how it isn’t just Gonzaga this year, and how Colorado State is emerging as a strong team to be taken seriously.  We discuss all that, and more…

And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…

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Bracket Projections From the Puppet – Dec 13th

Posted on December 13, 2021 by David Griggs

Below are my Bracket Projections, and let me assure you that they are perfect!!  But before you go any further, I want to make sure you know what you are looking at.  This IS NOT an attempt to guess what the committee will do on Selection Sunday in March, nor is it an attempt to select and seed the teams based on how good I think they actually are.  This is merely an assessment of teams’ merits up to this point.  Nothing more.  I believe Houston to be MUCH better than an #8 seed.  They damn near knocked off a team that I have on my #1 line just the other night.  But…when you look at their wins up to this point, the teams ahead of them have done more.  That doesn’t mean that it’ll be that way at the end of the year, though.  I’m expecting that it won’t be, but I’m not trying to guess the future.  I’m just assessing the present.

OTHERS CONSIDERED: Wyoming, Iowa, Texas, DePaul, Virginia Tech, Michigan, Memphis, Northwestern, Mississippi State, Kentucky, Washington State, Fresno State, Santa Clara, Saint Louis, UCF

NOTES FROM DAVID:

-Right now, I have a lot of Under the Radar teams inside the bubble, and a lot of teams from multi-bid leagues outside of it.  The reason is quality of wins, particularly quality of wins away from home.  Those Under the Radar teams have won tougher games than the teams that weren’t selected.

-Texas is REALLY good, and in the end they will almost assuredly be there and probably be a protected seed, but as of today (which is all I care about) their best win is at home against Northern Colorado.  There are close to 200 teams that are capable of matching that.

-Kentucky’s best win is at home against Ohio U.  I think that’s a good Ohio U team, but beating them at home hardly screams that you’re a solid tournament team.

-Iona has beaten Alabama on a neutral floor and has a smattering of other decent wins on top of that.  Some probably see them on my #5 line and think I’ve got them way too high.  Truth be told, I think it’s easier to argue that they belong as high as the #4 line than it is to say they should be as low as the #6 line.

-Iowa State is just having a phenomenal season!  They’ve played a tough schedule and they’ve won all their games.

-Dayton has perhaps the most scattershot resume of any team ever.  When you look at their wins they top out as a protected seed, and when you look at their losses they bottom out far below the NIT.  They were my last team in.

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