Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES: 

For the latest UNDER THE RADAR Video Podcast – CLICK HERE

-We here at Hoops HD love mythical conferences!!  If you follow us, you already know that.  The Big Five in Philadelphia, the Big Four in Western New York, and of course…the Front Range out in Colorado/Wyoming.  I think we now have a new favorite mythical conference, and that is the Beehive!!  I don’t know why we are just now getting in on this.  Utah and BYU is a fantastic rivalry, but they both also regularly play (even on the road sometimes) Utah State, Weber State, and Utah Valley.  Through Dixie State and Southern Utah, and you’ve got a mythical conference!!

Last night’s game between BYU and Utah Valley was incredible.  It was at Utah Valley, which was this compact venue, and the atmosphere was as good as it gets in college basketball.  That’s not hyperbole.  It really is.  Big teams who travel to under the radar schools and play in those venues is, in my opinion, the best atmosphere in all of college sports, especially if it’s against a regional opponent who is good.  Utah Valley won the game in overtime.  They appeared to have it won at the end of regulation, but BYU managed to tie it, but despite having the momentum going into the extra period, couldn’t pull it off.  It was a fantastic win for Utah Valley against a nationally ranked in-state opponent.  I would argue that nothing about this game was bad.  BYU, while they lost, is hardly off the rails.  They can still have a big season, and earn a protected seed, and none of their goals have changed.  Virginia has played in these kinds of games, and lost them, and still ended up high in the rankings with a protected seed.  Wisconsin has played Milwaukee and Green Bay on the road and the world didn’t end.  I hate when people say “These schools have nothing to gain.”  Well…that’s crap!!  I admit that the alpha programs don’t “NEED” those games, but I still think something can be gained by playing them, and i don’t agree at all that they have “everything to lose.”  BYU did not lose everything.  They’re still in fantastic shape.  And…hats off to them for scheduling it!  And to the rest of the Bee Hive teams as well!

A note from Hoops HD historian John Stalica – there used to be a trophy called the Old Oquirrh Bucket that went to the team in Utah with the best record among intrastate games involving Utah, BYU, Utah State, Weber State and Southern Utah. They discontinued the trophy series after the 2010 season due to conference obligations for the then-five D1 programs in Utah. I have not heard any plans to revive the Bucket since Utah Valley and now Dixie State have joined the ranks of Division I.

It was a rather busy night…

-Oklahoma got a nice win at home against Florida.  It was the first true road game of the season for the Gators, and they’ll have plenty more opportunities to get a notable road win between now and the end, so it’s hardly all that damaging a loss.

-Georgia had not looked good at all this season.  Last night, they beat Memphis 82-79.  It raises the question…is Memphis actually any good?

-North Carolina blew Michigan off the floor.  It isn’t shocking that anyone would lose at North Carolina regardless of their ranking, but it was a little shocking to see Michigan just get absolutely blasted into the sun.

-Cincinnati barely held on to win at Miami OH 59-58  (and yes, it was a rare visit by UC to Millett Hall).  It was an exciting game, but the last thirty seconds or so looked like the Keystone Cops were playing for both teams.  Miami had just one loss coming into this game, and had at least a few decent wins on their profile, so they may be a team to watch in the MAC.

-WE HAD A QUADRUPLER!!!!!!!  First of the year!!!!!  NC State got by Nebraska 104-100 in four overtimes in their Big Teen/ACC Challenge game.

-Washington State improves to 6-1 on the year, and adds another road win to their resume, after knocking off Arizona State 51-29.  If you like bad basketball, go back and watch the first half of this one!!

-Wichita State improved to 6-1 and picked up their second true road win of the season by knocking off Oklahoma State 60-51.  We haven’t really been zeroed in on the Shockers yet, but it may be time to start paying attention.

-I think we can now STOP paying attention to Northern Iowa.  They fell to Bradley in their conference opener 71-69.  They have just one D1 win (albeit at St. Bonaventure) and have simply not looked like a tournament caliber team.

-Providence picked up a nice win at home against Texas Tech 72-68.  Both teams came into this one with good records, but it was the first true road game and first big test for Texas Tech.  Didn’t look bad, but didn’t quite get the win either.  Not overly discouraging, though.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-MISSOURI AT LIBERTY.  Both Missouri and Liberty have had their struggles this season, but Liberty is still a team that we think can emerge as the A-Sun frontrunner and one of the better UTR teams overall.  Getting to host an SEC team is a good opportunity for them.

-ORAL ROBERTS AT TCU.  TCU is off to a 5-1 start, but hasn’t really had any big tests.  I still think Oral Roberts has the potential to have a big year, but they have come up short in some early season opportunities.  Tonight is arguable another one for them.

-LIPSCOMB AT BELMONT (Battle of the Boulevard).  We love this series!!!  Unfortunately, this is the only time these two will play this year during the regular season.  It’s normally a home and home.  Belmont is a team that we think can land inside the bubble and who already has some notable wins.  Lipscomb is another team that we think can make some noise in the A-Sun, so this is actually one of the better games of the night.

-OAKLAND AT UIC (Horizon League).  Oakland has a pretty good resume and if they can hold serve in the Horizon League (which basically means coming close to running the table), they will probably land inside the bubble.

-SAINT MARY’S AT UTAH STATE.  This is a game between what looks to be two tournament caliber teams who can add another notable win to their resume.

-NORTHERN ARIZONA AT WEBER STATE (Big Sky).  Weber State can improve to 7-0.

-VALPARAISO AT DRAKE (Missouri Valley).  Drake is off to a slow start and really needs to start stringing together some wins.

-DENVER AT WYOMING (Front Range).  WE AT HOOPS HD LOVE THE FRONT RANGE!!!!  Wyoming is looking to remain unbeaten on the season.

NEWS AND NOTES:

-We will be recording our Under the Radar Video Podcast tonight, and there is much to discuss, so be sure you tune in!

-Top ranked Duke went down on the road at Ohio State, which in and of itself isn’t a total surprise because Ohio State is good (obviously) and they are certainly good enough to beat just about anyone at home (obviously), but what was kind of surprising was how Duke appeared to be in complete control of this game early on in the second half, and then just totally fell apart.  Ohio State outscored the Blue Devils 41-23 in the second half to come back and win 71-66.

-Purdue had no issues with Florida State, and in about five days will likely be the new #1 team (for whatever that’s worth).

-Furman needed double overtime to get by High Point.  I’ve been big on this Furman team all year, and while they did win, and did so on the road, they didn’t exactly do it handily.

-Syracuse needed two overtimes to get by Indiana.  They appeared to have it locked up at the end of regulation and did the ‘foul-up-3’ strategy…but it didn’t work.  Indiana got the offensive rebound after missing the second freethrow and went back to the line with a chance to tie it…and did.  But, the Orange did pull it out and it was one they really needed.  While Indiana didn’t get the win, they did at least show that they can play with teams in games that aren’t easy to win.  To date their best win of the year is a home win against Saint John’s, but after last night there is reason to believe that better wins are likely coming.

-Minnesota is unbeaten after winning at Pitt!!  By 1!!  I’m…not sure we should be excited about that, though.

-Saint Louis is now 7-1 after getting a road win at Boise State.  That’s not exactly the hardest game in the world to win, but it’s also quite far from the easiest game to win.  The Billikens have our attention!

-The lights went out in Las Crusas, and apparently so did the streaming feed, so if you weren’t there you didn’t see it.  New Mexico picked up a nice road win against rival New Mexico State 101-94.  I really liked this New Mexico State team coming into the year, and I still think they can be a good UTR team, but based on the start that they’re off to, it’s looking like one of their wins will need to be that last conference tournament game.

-Wake Forest knocked off Northwestern in a game between two teams that racked up big records against (for the most part) weak schedules.

-And San Jose State continues their turnaround toward excellence!!  Tim Miles has them at 3-3 and unbeaten at home after knocking off South Dakota last night!!

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-CENTENARY (nonD1) AT UL MONROE (***Spotlight Game***).  CENTENARY!!!!!!!  The only team to (currently) have a Hoops HD Award named after them, is back in action tonight against a D1 opponent!!!!!!!  LET’S GO GENTS!!!!!!

-SOUTH CAROLINA AT COASTAL CAROLINA.  I like how South Carolina has played this season.  This is their first true road game, and it appears to be a winnable one.  This would get them to 6-1 on the year.

-CINCINNATI AT MIAMI OH.  Cincinnati has had a schizophrenic start to the season where they’ve beaten teams like Illinois, but lost to teams like Monmouth at home.  Miami OH wasn’t a team we were expecting much out of this season (even by UTR standards), but they come into this one 5-1 and have a chance to get a notable win against a regional opponent.  This game suddenly has a storyline to it that we wouldn’t have imagined at the start of the season.

-RICHMOND AT WOFFORD.  Richmond is off to a very disappointing 3-4 start and being able to describe them as a likely NCAA Tournament team is becoming harder and harder.  They need to win this one tonight, and it’s hardly a gimme.  Wofford is 5-2 on the year and unbeaten at home.

-RHODE ISLAND AT HARVARD.  This game is interesting if nothing else.  Both teams are 5-2 and while I wouldn’t guarantee that either of them will make a lot of noise in their conferences, I wouldn’t rule out the possibility either.

-SOUTHERN ILLINOIS AT EVANSVILLE (Missouri Valley).  Southern Illinois has already used up some of the few strikes that they have, but I still think they have a good team and can make a lot of noise in the Missouri Valley.

-IONA AT MARIST (Metro Atlantic).  This is not the easiest road game to win, but Iona already has a win against Alabama and I think they’ll be inside the bubble if they blow through this league.

-MEMPHIS AT GEORGIA.  This is a winnable road game for the Tigers.  They’ve been tested, but this is their first true road game of the season.

-LOUISVILLE AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten/ACC Challenge).  Louisville has rebounded since the loss to Furman and beat Maryland and Mississippi State to win their MTE.  They’ve got a very tough road test tonight against a Michigan State team that is probably better than their #22 ranking.

-NEBRASKA AT NC STATE (ACC/Big Ten Challenge).  Neither team has really lifted any weight that’s all that heavy yet, but both come in with good records and both have a chance at a notable (at least for now) win tonight.

-VIRGINIA TECH AT MARYLAND (ACC/Big Ten Challenge).  Both teams are off to decent starts, and both could use this win tonight to help put them on a good trajectory early on.

-EAST TENNESSEE STATE AT UAB.  While there is a good chance that neither of these teams finish inside the bubble, there is also a reasonable chance that at least one of them will.  So…this is a big game for both these teams, and it should be a good one.

-WASHINGTON STATE AT ARIZONA STATE (Pac 12).  Wazzu is off to a respectable 5-1 start, and winning their first conference game on the road seems very doable.

-FLORIDA AT OKLAHOMA.  Florida is high in the rankings, and Oklahoma is a likely tournament team.  It’s a really good resume building opportunity for both of them.

-UCF AT AUBURN.  UCF is a decent team that has the chances they need to establish themselves on their schedule.  Now, having said that, scheduling them is a lot easier than winning them, but if they can win this one tonight, they will certainly be squarely on our radar.

-WICHITA STATE AT OKLAHOMA STATE.  Wichita State has just one loss and is looking to add a notable win to their resume.

-NORTHERN IOWA AT BRADLEY (Missouri Valley).  Northern Iowa is off to a really disappointing start, but their one D1 win was against Saint Bonaventure, so they have shown that they can play at a high level.  They better start doing it consistently if they want to be inside the bubble come March.

-MISSOURI STATE AT ILLINOIS STATE (Missouri Valley).  Missouri State has a very small margin for error, but they do have a good and experienced team and if they can start stringing together wins they do have a path to land inside the bubble.

-OHIO U AT LSU.  This is a huge opportunity for an Ohio U team that we think is an NCAA Tournament caliber team.  They just need the wins on their resume to prove it, and they have a chance to pick up one of those tonight.

-TEXAS TECH AT PROVIDENCE.  Texas Tech is unbeaten, and Providence has just one loss and has passed some pretty big tests.  Like a lot of games tonight, it’s a chance for both these teams to pick up another early quality win.

-WISCONSIN AT GEORGIA TECH (Big Ten/ACC Challenge).  This just isn’t the match-up that excites you the most.  It appears to be a big mismatch, and a very winnable road game for the Badgers.  Georgia Tech is 5-1, but hasn’t really been tested.  If they do win this, then it will completely change my opinion of them.

-MICHIGAN AT NORTH CAROLINA (Big Ten/ACC Challenge).  Neither team is high in the rankings, and North Carolina isn’t in them at all, but both will probably be there by the end of the year.  It’s two teams with tons of potential that have struggled a little bit early, but have the chance to start to reverse that tonight.

-COLORADO AT UCLA (Pac 12).  Colorado is a possible tournament team, but I don’t think they’re good enough to knock off a #1 seed caliber team on the road.  Still, it’s a good opportunity.

-UTAH AT USC (Pac 12).  Utah has a good record, but doesn’t have a win of this caliber on their resume yet.  USC has looked really good early and will make quite a bit of noise in the Pac 12 this year.

BUY GAMES (and others worth mentioning):

-Central Michigan @ Xavier
-Villanova @ Penn (Big Five)
-Wagner @ Seton Hall – Wagner is back after a shutdown, and while it’s only their third game they looked good in the first two, so Seton Hall better not overlook them
-Dartmouth @ Vermont – two UTR teams that are off to good starts
-Princeton @ Hofstra – Princeton has looked good early on
-UT Martin @ Middle Tennessee – a win for Middle Tennessee gets them to 7-1
-William & Mary @ Navy
-La Salle @ Temple
-Brown @ UMass Lowell – two UTR teams that have looked good against some good power teams so far
-Alabama State @ Dayton
-Coppin State @ Saint Bonaventure
-Ball State @ Western Illinois – WIU can get to 6-2 with a win
-Texas Southern @ Louisiana Tech
-Central Arkansas @ Arkansas
-Arkansas Pine Bluff @ Iowa State
-Albany @ Kansas State
-Indiana State @ Loyola Chicago (Missouri Valley)
-BYU @ Utah Valley – a Beehive road game for BYU!!  Utah Valley is a very respectable 6-1
-Little Rock @ Colorado State
-UC Riverside @ Oregon – UCR has looked good early, and Oregon has struggled some, but the Ducks are still the superior team.
-San Diego @ Fresno State

NEWS AND NOTES:

CLICK HERE for the latest HOOPS HD REPORT where we look back on a busy week of MTEs

-Tarleton went into Gonzaga and made them sweat a whole lot more than what anyone was expecting.  Tarleton, who is a transitional team that has just one win on the season, gave an outstanding effort.  The Zags won 64-55, but I ended up watching most of this game, and coming into the day I didn’t think I’d watch any of it.

-Iowa had a big win at Virginia to stay unbeaten.  It was the first road win of the year for the Hawkeyes, and probably their most impressive win to date.  They controlled the half, but UVA fought back and had a chance to win the game on the final possession, but came up empty and Iowa held on 75-74.

-UC Santa Barbara, and under the radar team that we were all pretty big on, lost rather inexplicably to UT Arlington, who had just one win on the season going in to last night’s game.  UTA pretty much led tip to buzzer.  So…we are now a little less big on the Gouchos.

-Illinois did’t have too much trouble knocking off Notre Dame 82-72 and improving to 5-2 on the season.  Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly must have been really upset after the game.  He seems to have taken the loss kind of hard!  I mean…SHEESH!!

-Keep an eye on Wyoming.  I know they haven’t done anything to make a huge splash on the national scene, but they are 6-0 on the year and picked up their third true road win last night as they knocked off Cal State Fullerton.

-Boston College beat South Florida.  They should be playing Penn State in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.  The fact that they are not JUST RUINS THE WHOLE THING!!!!!

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-DAVIDSON AT CHARLOTTE.  This is always a fun rivalry.  I don’t think either team will be inside the bubble come March, but both are off to at least semi-respectable starts.

-INDIANA AT SYRACUSE (Big Ten/ACC Challenge).  Indiana is unbeaten, but is also for the most part untested.  Lots of teams would be unbeaten against the schedule they’ve played so far.  If they can win this game tonight, then they’ll have my attention.  Syracuse could use a big win as well.  They come in at 3-3, and you get the sense they need a win in a game like this in order to feel like their season is on track.

-MINNESOTA AT PITTSBURGH (Big Ten/ACC Challenge).  Minney is unbeaten and untested.  One could argue that playing at Pitt doesn’t qualify as a test, but it is at least a road game for the Gophers.

-FLORIDA STATE AT PURDUE (Big Ten/ACC Challenge).  Purdue is ranked #2 in the country, and based on what they’ve done so far this season the ranking is certainly deserved.  Florida State is a team that I’m big on even though they’ haven’t exploded onto the national scene yet.  A win on the road in a game like this would certainly put them there, but even without the win it’s a chance to see what they can do against a really good team in a true road game.

-SAINT LOUIS AT BOISE STATE.  SLU is 6-1.  Many wrote them off due to losing some key players to injuries, but 6-1 ain’t bad, and if they can get this road win then you need to start paying attention to them again.

-NEW MEXICO AT NEW MEXICO STATE.  We really like this New Mexico State team and think they’ve got a shot at finishing inside the bubble, but their margin for error is small.  They can’t afford to lose home games like this, and considering that they’re playing their rival, this one would hurt off paper as sell as on paper if they don’t get it done.

-NORTHWESTERN AT WAKE FOREST (Big Ten/ACC Challenge).  I’m not sold on either team yet, and may not be at any point, but both come in with good records.

-CLEMSON AT RUTGERS (Big Ten/ACC Challenge).  Rutgers has been very disappointing this year.  Clemson isn’t really proven yet, but they may be DIS-proven if they can’t get this one on the road.

-DUKE AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten/ACC Challenge).  I can’t help but think this Ohio State team is better than what they’ve gotten credit for so far.  They certainly have the chance to demonstrate that tonight.  It won’t be easy, though, even at home.  This is a Duke team that is ranked #1, and that is not over-ranked.

BUY GAMES (and others worth mentioning):

-Presbyterian @ Tennessee – Presby is off to a good start, but they’re overmatched tonight
-UMES @ UCONN
-Chattanooga @ Tennessee Tech – Chattanooga can get to 6-1 on the season and pick up their third road win
-Furman @ High Point – Furman has the big win against Louisville
-New Orleans @ Texas A&M
-Bellarmine @ West Virginia
-Northwestern State @ Houston
-Jackson State @ Marquette
-Hawaii @ Santa Clara – this is still a decent Santa Clara team
-Prairie View A&M @ South Dakota State
-North Dakota State @ Creighton
-Long Beach State @ San Diego State