-Utah State suffered their first loss of the year, and they did not mess around doing it. South Florida sprinted out to a lead early and it was never really close at any point. The 74-61 final score really wasn’t indicative of how dominant South Florida was.
-Hawaii knocked off a fairly solid UC Davis team in their Big West opener 75-69. This game was not over until way too late!! If Hawaii is gonna be good, and we need to keep watching them, then we’re gonna be losing a lot of sleep.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-GONZAGA VS KENTUCKY (Nashville TN). Kentucky is still looking for their first notable win of the season. Right now they sit at 5-3 with all five wins coming in home buy games. Gonzaga already has some big wins and assuming the season plays out like we think it will this would certainly count as another one. It will be a home-ish type of game for Kentucky seeing as how it’s in Nashville, but it’s not a true home game for the Cats.
-SOUTH ALABAMA AT EAST TENNESSEE STATE. South Alabama is turning out to be one of the top UTR teams in the country this year, and while it’s not easy for any UTR team to make a run at the bubble, the chances for them to do it are there. This will be a very tough road test at East Tennessee State, who so far has looked like the best team out of the SoCon.
-Quinnipiac @ Iona – two solid UTR teams. This one is worth turning on
-Cincinnati @ Xavier – It”s the Crosstown Shootout!! Both teams have gotten of to rough starts this season and both could use this win to give them some momentum.
-Notre Dame @ TCU – TCU has been playing really well lately and should be able to hold serve in this one. It’s just the second true road game of the year for the Irish
-Arkansas dominated the first half against Louisville and was up by 18 at the break. Louisville came back and got as close as 5 and definitely made it interesting down the stretch, but the Razorbacks held on for an 89-80 win, which is their first real big win of the season.
-Alabama also jumped out to an early lead against Clemson, and Clemson also battled back, but also could not battle all the way back. They actually tied the game late in the second half, but Bama made the plays they needed to down the stretch to pull out a solid 90-84 win.
-Vanderbilt ran away from SMU 88-69 to stay unbeaten and hand SMU their first loss of the year. No one was all that excited about Vandy coming into the year, but they’re unbeaten, they’ve managed to rack up some really nice wins, they’re ranked 17th, and are certainly deserving of that ranking.
-Indiana, who had looked good against Marquette and who we thought would be really good this year, did not look good last night at Minnesota. The Hoosiers suffered a 73-64 defeat on the road and the perception of them has now completely changed. There is still a long way to go in the season, though.
-High Point may win a lot of games this year, but after last night’s 86-84 loss at home to Southern Illinois I’m now thinking that if they want to make the NCAA Tournament one of those wins better be that last Big South Tournament game. It was Southern Illinois’s first road win of the season and the game winning layup came as time expired after a High Point turnover.
-Richmond got a really nice 84-76 win at Belmont, which is a win that I think they’ll end up getting a lot of credit for. Belmont is not a top 25 team by any means, but they are good and are not easy to beat on the road. It was the first loss of the season for the Bruins, who are still poised to have a good year. As for Richmond, I think it’s a sign that they can compete against a lot of the teams they’ll face in the Atlantic Ten. It’s a lot harder to go to Belmont and win than it is to go to about half the places in the A10 to win.
-UNC Wilmington survived a scare from Marshall and held on to win 70-69 and improve to 8-1 on the season. Marshall had a chance to win on their final possession, but couldn’t get a shot to go down as time expired.
-Virginia went into Texas and absolutely blew the Longhorns off of their own floor. It was stunning to see a Texas team that I thought to be at least someone formidable get atom-bombed like that on their own home court. The Hoos simply looked incredible. The final score was 88-69, but the game wasn’t really even that close.
-I think I am done with San Francisco. At least for now. This was a team that I thought would land inside the bubble. They’re now just 5-4 on the season with no good wins, and lost at home to North Alabama last night 65-63.
-UCLA won their Big Ten opener against a pretty solid Washington team 82-80. It’s a nice conference road win for the Bruins. I still think Washington is good enough to build up their profile by March. Last night was a missed opportunity, but they have an abundance of opportunities remaining. One of the nice things about playing in the Big Ten.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-The Cidatel @ Davidson – Davidson can get to 7-1 on the year
-Utah State @ South Florida – South Florida is just 4-4, but they’ve played a tough schedule and have looked good against it. Utah State is still unbeaten, but this is their first true road game of the year and it’s likely their toughest game so far.
-UC Riverside @ UC Irvine (Big West) – The River Vine Cup!!!!!! Big West play kicks off with one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports!!!
-UC Davis @ Hawaii (Big West) – these are likely two of the better teams in the conference
Tonight’s feature conference is the Ivy League, where both Yale and Columbia are off to fantastic starts. Yale in particular has several impressive wins, many of which were away from home, and are one of the Under the Radar teams that may actually have a chance to make a run at the bubble.
After that we run through the other 21 UTR conferences and discuss teams like High Point and McNeese suffering surprising losses, Liberty has also struggled out of Conference USA but teams like Western Kentucky have come out strong. Both Buffalo and Miami OH are unbeaten out of the MAC and Akron is another tough team to watch. The MVC, Big West, and Sun Belt appear to be strong from top to bottom. We discuss all that, and more. And, as we do every week, we close with this week’s UTR Top Ten.
And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…
-Yesterday was eventful, but the biggest surprise (at least to me)was Oklahoma’s 86-68 win at Wake Forest. I had been praising this Wake team for how well they had played against both Michigan and Texas Tech losing one of those games in overtime and another by just 3. I thought for sure they’d beat what appeared to be a so-so Sooners team at home, but they were run out of their own building.
-After a few early stumbles, Florida probably played their best game of the year yesterday at Duke despite the fact that they didn’t actually win the game. They lost 67-66 and fall to just 5-3 on the season, but to play them that close at Cameron is a huge sign of potential for the rest of the year. If the Gators play like that the rest of the way they won’t lose too many more.
-UConn got what is perhaps their biggest win of the year by knocking off Kansas on the road 61-56. They have a couple of other wins that are very good, but considering that this was a true road game at Phog this one is probably their best one.
-North Carolina played and won their first true road game of the year as they knocked off Kentucky at Rupp Arena 67-64. Kentucky is now just 5-3 on the year with all of their wins being home buy games. The Wildcats have a tough stretch coming up and have multiple opportunities to start building their resume, but to date they’ve built absolutely nothing.
-USC remains unbeaten and got a nice 82-77 road win at Oregon in their conference opener last night. It was also the first true road game of the year for the Trojans.
-Iowa, who had been unbeaten, got absolutely pulverized at Michigan State 71-52 in their first real heavyweight test of the year. I still think Iowa is a good team, but I think they’re top-40 good and not top-10 good.
-Miami FL picked up a really nice 75-66 win at Ole Miss for their first true road win of the year. No one was all that excited about the Canes coming into the season, but they’ve been playing well and certainly looked good on the road last night.
-Georgia absolutely blasted Florida State 107-73 in Tallahassee. No one thought the Noles were a great team, but they did appear to at least be formidable so for Georgia to just blow them off of their own floor really says a lot about the Dawgs.
-Syracuse snapped a three game losing streak by knocking off a really good Tennessee team 62-60 in the Carrier Dome. It was Tennessee’s first true road game of the year, and while they’ll need to pick up a few true road wins between now and the end this wasn’t a loss that will damage them too much.
-Marquette needed overtime to get by Valparaiso in a home buy games. This may be the loudest alarm yet that Marquette just isn’t any good this year.
-Missouri suffered their first loss of the year to a somewhat underwhelming Notre Dame team 76-71. Mizzou has a solid record, but they’ve played a not-so-solid schedule and I’m not at all sold on them yet, especially after yesterday.
-UC San Diego kept it close at Nevada and had a chance to win, but couldn’t quite get over the top in the final minute and Nevada held on 76-71 to hand a pretty good UCSD team their first loss. We’ll discuss them on Under the Radar tonight.
-South Alabama handed New Mexico State their first loss of the year in a 77-75 thriller out in Katy, TX. It wasn’t a true road win for the Jaguars, but it was still a really good win pretty far away from home, and it gets them to a very impressive 8-1 on the season.
-California keeps racking up wins. They knocked off Utah (who admittedly isn’t that good) 79-72 yesterday to get to 7-1 on the season.
-Saint Louis is good. Like, perhaps top 25 good. It will take the voters a while to realize it because it always does, but they blew out a pretty good LMU team on their floor 91-70. SLU now has wins away from home against a very good Santa Clara team, and a blowout win against a pretty good LMU team that likely won’t lose any more home games to teams not named Gonzaga.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-LOUISVILLE AT ARKANSAS. Both these teams have been tested and Arkansas has yet to win a game that wasn’t a home buy game. This is big for them because it’s a chance to start building their resume. This is Louisville’s first true road game, so it’s a chance for them to add that piece to their profile. It should be a fun one!
-CLEMSON AT ALABAMA. Clemson is a probable tournament team and Alabama is a probable protected seed, so this is a resume building opportunity for both teams, particularly for Clemson. It will be fun to watch Clemson’s defense take on Alabama’s potent offense.
-RICHMOND AT BELMONT. I highlight this because I think both teams are good and while it’s unlikely that either ends up around the bubble, it’s also not entirely impossible. This would probably be the biggest win of the season for either team up to this point, so it’s a pretty big game. It’s also just a fascinating matchup.
-SMU AT VANDERBILT. This is a really tough test for an SMU team that is really good and is coming in unbeaten, but hasn’t played in a game as tough as this one is likely to be. Vandy is also a perfect 8-0 and just won the Battle 4 Atlantis after blowing out a pretty good Saint Mary’s team in the championship game.
-NC STATE AT AUBURN. Both teams are good, both will likely go on to have big years, but both still need to build up their profiles and today is an opportunity for both of them to start to do that.
-VIRGINIA AT TEXAS. This is the first true road game for the Hoos, and perhaps their biggest test of the year up to this point. Texas has played a couple of tough games, but lost both of them. This would be their first non-buy-game-win if they’re able to pull it off.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Indiana @ Minnesota (Big Ten) – should be a winnable road game for an Indiana team that’s looked really good this year
-Southern Illinois @ High Point – High Point will likely be favored in all of their remaining games and if they win out I can’t imagine them not being inside the bubble
-Marshall @ UNC Wilmington – both teams are off to solid starts, and UNCW in particular is off to a very respectable 7-1 start. They haven’t played much away from home, though
-Austin Peay @ Kent State – a win for Kent State gets them to 8-1 on the year
-Hofstra @ Columbia – for the second year in a row Columbia is having a fantastic OOC season and can improve to 8-1 on the year with a win
-Central Connecticut @ Seton Hall – this is a buy game, but it’s one worth mentioning. CCSU is having a great year and already has wins against Boston College and Rutgers. Seton Hall is surpassing all expectations with a big win over NC State and their only loss being a close one to USC. This will be an interesting one to watch
-LSU @ Boston College – this is LSU’s first true road game and they are looking to remain unbeaten on the season
-Northern Colorado @ Omaha – a win for NOCO would get them to 8-1 on the year and be their 4th true road win, which is rather impressive
-California Baptist @ BYU – it’s a buy game, and Cal Baptist is probably way overmatched, but they are also probably the best team in the WAC and it will be interesting to see what they can do against such a tough opponent
-Northwestern @ Wisconsin (Big Ten) – Northwestern is off to a better start than expected and Wisconsin has been a bit of a disappointment (at least in their last few games). Both teams could really use this one
-Utah Valley @ San Diego State – San Diego State has not just stumbled out of the gate, but has completely fallen over. They need to start stringing together wins. This is a game they should win, but it’s no guarantee.
-UCLA @ Washington (Big Ten) – this is a tough road test for the Bruins. It’s their first true road game of the season, it’s a conference game, and it’s against a Washington team that’s looking for a signature win
BUY GAMES/CRAP GAMES:
-Coppin State @ West Virginia -Brandeis (nonD1) @ Yale -Alcorn State @ Iowa State -UMBC @ Georgetown -Eastern Kentucky @ Illinois State – we kind of wrote Illinois State off, but they are starting to rebound some -Utah Tech @ Santa Clara -North Alabama @ San Francisco
-It doesn’t seem to matter how good or bad the teams Troy plays against are. They will take that team to overtime!! Last night was their fourth overtime game of the year, and their third multiple overtime game. That’s gotta be some sort of record for the first month of the season. They lost to West Georgia 93-89.
-McNeese had looked great in their in-season event, but did not look good yesterday. They lost their conference opener at Incarnate Word 71-67 in a game that was maddening to try and watch because they never had the score bug on the screen. McNeese MIGHT get onto the bubble if they win out, but that won’t be easy.
-Kansas State is just not good. I don’t want to disparage Bowling Green because this was a really good win for them, but in a game that was a buy game K State looked like the team that was bought. Bowling Green rolled 82-66.
-California Baptist jumped out to an early lead on Colorado and held it for about 30 minutes, but the Buffs came back and got control late and ended up with a solid 78-70 win to remain unbeaten. Cal Baptist is a good team, but this was one they sort of needed if they wanted to make a serious run at landing inside the bubble.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-IOWA AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten). Both teams are unbeaten, but Michigan State is clearly the team that’s been tested more. Having said that, if Iowa could get this win, then holy crap does it make their resume look a ton better!!
-TENNESSEE AT SYRACUSE. Syracuse is a modest 4-3 overall. They’ve als0 lost three straight and haven’t really won any games of note. Tennessee is their fourth straight ranked opponent and you get the sense that there is a sense of urgency to it for the Orange. As for Tennessee, it is their first true road game of the year, so there is something at stake for them as well.
-NEW MEXICO STATE VS SOUTH ALABAMA (Katy Tx). New Mexico State is unbeaten on the year, but this will likely be their toughest test so far seeing as how it is against a solid team away from home.
-OKLAHOMA AT WAKE FOREST. Wake is a really good team that has yet to get any notable wins, but the future prognosis is a good one. Their two losses were to highly ranked teams and both were very close games. Oklahoma is decent, but Wake should be able to handle them and get what would at least be a semi-notable win on their profile
-FLORIDA AT DUKE. Florida is a damn good team, but they haven’t really shown out this year as far as getting high quality wins yet. They lost to Arizona in the opener and fell to TCU in their in-season tournament last week. None of those losses are bad, but none of their wins have been all that great yet either. If they win today, it would certainly qualify as a great win, but winning at Duke is one of those games that’s harder to win than an Elite Eight game. You’re not only playing an Elite Eight caliber team, but you’re playing them in a true road game.
-CONNECTICUT AT KANSAS. Another tough test for both these teams, who are by no means strangers to tough tests. This is actually UConn’s first true road game, so if they get a win it will make their already fairly impressive profile look even better. Kansas is coming off a fantastic come from behind win against Tennessee and should come into this one with a lot of momentum after going 3-0 in the Players Era Festival.
-MIAMI FL AT OLE MISS. Both these teams have shown signs of potential and both could end up inside the bubble, but both also need to start building up their resumes and tonight is a chance for each of these teams to do that.
-GEORGIA AT FLORIDA STATE. Basically the exact same note as above. Both have shown signs of potential, both could have big years, but both need to start building up their resumes and tonight is a chance to do that.
-NORTH CAROLINA AT KENTUCKY. Kentucky doesn’t have any wins of note yet, and seeing as how they’re at home against a team that qualifies as “notable” and who is also playing their first true road game, you get the sense that this is one that Kentucky really needs to win. For the Tarheels, it would be another good win on their resume, especially when you consider that it’s on the road.
-UC SAN DIEGO AT NEVADA. UCSD is unbeaten, but this is probably one of their toughest tests of the year so far. Nevada is solid and it won’t be easy to win on their floor, but it’s one that UCSD is good enough to win.
-SAINT LOUIS AT LMU. This is the first true road game of the season for SLU, who is off to a very solid 6-1 start and who managed a big win over Santa Clara in their in-season tournament. This will be a tough road test against a really good LMU team that’s 7-2 overall and 4-1 at home. It’s a hard game to win, but like we always say, if you want to land inside the bubble you need to win games that are hard to win.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-George Washington @ Army – a somewhat odd road game for GW, but it’s also their first true road game of the year
-William & Mary @ Duquesne – this game is moderately interesting. W&M is fun to watch and is off to a good start to the season and Duquesne is a surprisingly respectable 5-2 on the year while being a perfect 5-0 at home
-East Tennessee State @ Dayton – I think this Dayton team is really good. I like ETSU as well, but they’re probably swinging over their heads in this one. Still, the Flyers do not want to overlook them
-Virginia Tech @ South Carolina – Both teams have respectable records, but both need to string together more wins in order for them to get into the spotlight
-Texas A&M @ Pittsburgh – TAMU got off to a sluggish start, but they are starting to look better. This should be a winnable road game for them (which would be their first) because Pitt is just sluggish all around
-Purdue @ Rutgers (Big Ten) – it’s the conference opener for Purdue, and this appears to be a winnable road game for the Boilers
-Sam Houston @ Oklahoma State – this is a buy game and it’s one that Okie State should win and stay unbeaten, but they better not overlook Sam Houston
-Missouri @ Notre Dame – Missouri is undefeated and has a true road win, but they really haven’t been tested yet, and probably won’t be tonight either.
-Utah at California – old Pac 12 rivals. Cal is off to a really good 6-1 start and is perfect at home. Utah has been disappionting, but is still 6-2 overall
BUY GAMES/CRAP GAMES:
-Charleston Southern @ UT Martin -Campbell @ Penn State -IU East (nonD1) @ Miami OH -Cornell @ George Mason -Eastern Michigan @ Butler -SUNY Maratime (nonD1) @ Yale -Houston Christian @ North Texas – this actually has the potential to be semi-interesting -Wagner @ Maryland -Valparaiso @ Marquette – Marquette is running out of strikes -Sacramento State @ Baylor -Nicholls @ Creighton
Happy NET Day Everybody!!! Chad and the panel are back to recap one of the busiest weeks of the year. We look back at the Players Era Festival and several of the other in-season tournaments. We also preview a very busy week this week with the SEC/ACC Challenge games coming up and some other big action as well.
And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…
