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NEWS AND NOTES:

-Gonzaga jumped out to an early lead against Texas, and while The Longhorns did make an occasional run, it was never out of the Zag’s control.  It was a very impressive 86-74 win, and Gonzaga once again looks to be the clear #1 team, at least for now.

-Maryland got a bit of a scare from what is shaping up to be a really good Vermont team, but pulled away in the final minutes for a 68-57 win.  The win would have been huge for Vermont, but they’ve already managed what should turn out to be a good road win at Northern Iowa, and they’ve got a few more opportunities to rack up big OOC wins, so they have the chance to put together a really good NCAA Tournament resume.

There were more upsets yesterday!  At least in terms of Under the Radar teams winning on the road…

-Darmouth basically held a lead against Georgetown the entire way and ended up with a 69-60 win.  It is going to be a very long year for the Hoyas.

-UMass Lowell, who we thought would finish in the middle of the America East, went on the road and got a win at Dayton 59-58.  They certainly have our attention now.

-Wagner went into VCU and pulled out a surprising 58-44 win.  It’s been a bit of a rough start for the Atlantic Ten with UMass getting blown out by Yale, and with VCU and Dayton losing home buy games.

Duquesne also lost at home to Hofstra and Fordham fell to Manhattan, but neither of those results are particularly surprising.

-NC State avoided a near loss to Colgate, but held on to win 77-74 in a game that came down to the final couple of possessions

-USC blew it open early against Temple, but somehow the Owls came back and made it a game.  USC still held on to win 76-71, but it’s tough to say if Temple is better than we thought, or if USC just totally blew it once they had control.  Perhaps it’s a combination of both.

-UCF is off to a 2-0 start after picking up a notable road win against in-state foe Miami FL.

-Ohio U got a nice road win at Cleveland State to remain unbeaten.  Cleveland State is now 0-2, but we still think they are a good team that will make quite a bit of noise as they get a little further into their schedule.

-Shout out to Saint Thomas who picked up their first D1 win as a D1 team!  They knocked off Saint Francis Brooklyn on the road 91-73

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-YALE AT SETON HALL.  Neither team has lost, and Yale has a blowout win over UMass.  They are probably overmatched today, but it could still be a fun game.

-FLORIDA STATE AT FLORIDA.  It’s a rivalry game between two likely NCAA Tournament teams.  We actually think both teams are a little underrated and undervalued right now.  This is a chance for both of them to likely pick up a resume boosting win as well as a bragging rights win.

-MINNESOTA VS PRINCETON (Asheville Championship).  Both teams come into this one unbeaten, and are coming off of wins that were somewhat surprising from the first game in this event.  We weren’t all that excited about either team coming in to the season, but one of them will leave here today 3-0 with some (at least) semi-decent wins away from home on their resume.

OTHER GAMES WORTH MENTIONING:

-EAST TENNESSEE STATE AT TENNESSEE.  This is a buy game, and it may end up looking that way by the time it’s over, but since ETSU looks like they may be able to finish near the top of the SoCon it is worth keeping somewhat of an eye on.

-SOUTH DAKOTA AT DRAKE.  Both teams come into this one after having won their opener, and Drake Is a really good team that we think can finish inside the bubble.  They may get a bit of a test from the Yotes today, though.

-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT STEPHEN F AUSTIN.  South Dakota State is coming off a loss to Alabama where they played really well.  It’s early, but they are one of the UTR teams that we think could make a push to land inside the bubble.  If they’re an NCAA Tournament caliber team, then this is the kind of road game that they need to be able  to win.

-WESTERN KENTUCKY VS SOUTH CAROLINA (Asheville Championship).  Both teams are coming off losses In the first round of this event that were somewhat surprising.  WKU fell to Minnesota and South Carolina lost to Princeton.  This is more of a sense of urgency game early on than it is a chance for either of them to pick up a quality win.

-MORGAN STATE AT GEORGE MASON – Both teams come in at 2-0

BUY GAMES:

-Arkansas Baptist (nonD1) @ Little Rock – Little Rock can get to 3-0
-Rhodes College (nonD1) @ UAB – UAB can get to 3-0
-TAMUCC @ Texas A&M – both teams unbeaten
-Fairfield @ Boston College – BC can get to 3-0
-Canisius @ Saint Bonaventure – Bonnies can get to 2-0
-La Sierra (nonD1) @ UC Riverside
-Drexel @ Syracuse – both teams 1-0
-Peru State (nonD1) @ Colorado State
-Texas State @ Vanderbilt

NEWS AND NOTES

-The game of the night, and perhaps the season so far, was one that you may have had to stay up past your bedtime to watch.  UCLA knocked off Villanova in overtime last night 86-77.  Both teams were ranked in the top five, both are legit Final Four contenders, and both played really well last night.  Villanova built up a 10pt lead, but UCLA came back and hit a shot in the final minute of regulation to tie it.  Nova had a chance to win on their final possession, but couldn’t convert, and UCLA managed to pull away in the extra period in front of their home fans to pick up the massive win.  As for Nova, it would have been a great, #1 seed caliber win had they pulled it off, but the fact that they didn’t barely even qualifies as a setback.  It does nothing to hurt them.  Their chances of getting a #1 seed have not been hurt at all by the loss.

On top of that, it was a crazy day with some unexpected results and some games that were much closer than expected…

-Furman went into Louisville and pulled off a huge upset win in overtime.  Furman is picked toward the top of the SoCon, and the SoCon is usually a really good league, so while we thought they’d be good we didn’t have them pegged as a team that we thought had a chance to land inside the bubble.  Well…after this…we now have them pegged as that.  They may not sustain this throughout the entire season, but this is a MASSIVE early season win for Furman!.  As for Louisville, they didn’t look all that good in either game.  They actually struggled a little big against Southern in their opener.

-North Carolina got a battle from Brown, and actually trailed for much of the game, but finally got control in the final minutes of play to escape with the 94-87 win.

-Clemson struggled with Wofford last night, and for about 39 minutes it looked like Wofford may actually win.  They finally got control late and avoided the upset, though.  Not the most impressive night for the ACC!

-Ohio State had to sweat out Niagara, but escaped with an 84-74 win.  Niagara was picked to finish near the bottom of the Metro Atlantic, but in their first two games they’ve really stepped up on Xavier and Ohio State.  This is the second game Ohio State had to kind of sweat out as they needed a last second shot to get by Kent State in their opener.

-Texas A&M needed overtime to get past Abilene Christian, and got a little bit lucky at the end of the game.  ACU was up 2 when TAMU missed a freethrow with just five seconds to go in OT.  ACU could not collect the rebound, and it went out of bounds to TAMU, which gave them another shot.  After that, they drained a 3 at the buzzer for the 81-80 win, and avoided what would have been an upset.  This Abilene Christian program has had some big moments in recent years.  Last year they knocked off Texas in the NCAA Tournament, they’ve moved to the WAC which is a bit of an upgrade in terms of basketball competitiveness, and they damn near upset Texas A&M last night!

-Oregon blasted a pretty good SMU team last night.  It was actually a very impressive performance.  Watch out for the Ducks this year!  Not everyone in the Pac 12 is off to a great start, but Oregon and UCLA sure seem to be firing on all cylinders.

-Alabama got a battle from a really good South Dakota State team (that you’re going to want to keep an eye on all season), but pulled away in the end for a 104-88 win.  Alabama opened against two really good Under the Radar teams, and looked good in both games.

-Utah State got a big win against Richmond 85-74 on a neutral floor in Annapolis MD.  Richmond is a team that we thought would be a solid NCAA Tournament team, and that could still easily end up happening, so this is no small early season win for Utah State!

-BYU got a tough home win against a good San Diego State team last night 66-60.  Neither team is in the rankings (at least not currently), but I believe that both are good enough to make the NCAA Tournament, so it was a good early season game.

-Western Kentucky is an under the radar team we thought would be good, and Minnesota was a Big Ten team that we thought would be terrible.  Last night proved for about the millionth time that not everything we say in the preseason ends up being correct.  The Gophers pretty much led throughout the whole game, and although they final margin was  just 73-69, they were pretty much in control the whole way as well, so a nice early season win for a Minnesota team we may have underestimated.

-Yale blew UMass out of the gym last night to improve to 2-0.  Blowing out UMass in and of itself is hardly noteworthy, but it does seem to confirm that this Yale team will be one of the stronger teams in the Ivy League and that we may be seeing them in The Dance come March.

-Princeton pulled off a road win at South Carolina, so the Ivy is shaping up to be interesting this season after not getting to play any games a season ago.

-Chicago State is 2-0!  And they’ve beaten two D1 teams!  I can’t remember the last time t hat happened!

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-TEXAS AT GONZAGA (***Spotlight Game***).  This is the second game in a 24 hour period to feature two top five teams!!  It is also the second game in a 24 hour period featuring top five teams that will undoubtedly in way past midnight in the east!  It’s worth staying up for, though!  Both teams are being forecasted as being Final Four caliber teams. When the committee is looking at who should get #1 seeds, wins against top five teams look very good! (that was perhaps the most obvious statement of the day).  It’s two fun styles between two good teams that could end up having an impact on who gets a #1 seed!  What’s not to like??

-UCF AT MIAMI FL.  Both teams come into this one 1-0, and this is a good early season regional match-up for both teams.  It’d be a decent win on paper (at least for now), but it’d be a nice momentum boost off paper as well.

-VERMONT AT MARYLAND.  Vermont is coming off a really impressive win against Northern Iowa in their opener.  They managed this without their best player.  I don’t know what his status is for this one, but they could end up giving Maryland a much bigger challenge than what they’re expecting if Maryland overlooks them.  If Vermont does somehow pull this off, this is the kind of win that can make the selection committee take a UTR team even if they don’t win their conference tournament.

-OLD DOMINION AT JAMES MADISON – these are former Colonial rivals and it’s always fun to see these two play each other.  Both come into this 1-0, and while neither team received a ton of preseason praise, I think both are potential dark horses in their respective conferences.

-NEW MEXICO AT COLORADO.  Both teams come in 1-0 and both seem to have a lot of potential, but also a lot of questions as to just how good they’ll end up being this year.  This is a good early season test for both of them.

-USC AT TEMPLE.  We are expecting much bigger things out of USC than out of Temple, and although Temple did win their first game, it wasn’t exactly the type of performance that made you go “WOW!”  But, a win is a win, and they did win it, and if they are able to win today it would totally change my perception of them.

-MONTANA AT MISSISSIPPI STATE.  This is a buy game, but we’ll go ahead and highlight it.  Both teams won their season openers, and it’s a chance for Montana to really put a high quality early season win on their resume.  It’s much easier said than done, but I wouldn’t go so far to say that it’s impossible.

-GEORGIA AT CINCINNATI.  The expectations for these two teams are very low this year.  Now if they were to play in football (which they did in a bowl game last year), then that’d be a game to watch!!  But, as for this basketball game, both do come in 1-0, and the winner will have some much needed early season momentum and will continue to hold our attention until they give us a reason to not pay attention anymore, but I don’t think either team makes the NCAAs this year.

-OHIO U AT CLEVELAND STATE.  Ohio U beat a really good Belmont team in their season opener, but this will be a really tough road test against a Cleveland State team that is picked to finish atop the Horizon League, and who gave BYU a hell of a game in their season opener.

-DAVIDSON AT SAN FRANCISCO.  I like this San Francisco team this year, and I think Davidson may end up being a little better than expected.  This is a good early season test for both of these teams to see where each of them are.  Both are also coming in without a loss.

-UTEP AT NEW MEXICO STATE.  It’s a rivalry game, and it will soon be a conference rivalry game, and both teams come in 1-0.  I think New Mexico State’s ceiling and expectations are much higher, but rivalry games between unbeaten teams, even in the first week, will get highlighted!

OTHERS WORTH MENTIONING (sort of)

–Georgia Southern  @ South Florida – both teams 1-0
–Mount Saint Mary’s @ Saint Joseph’s – not expecting much out of Joe’s this year, but a win gets them to 2-0
–Harvard @ Iona – both are 1-0 and both could end up making noise in their conference this year
–Mercer @ Winthrop – Winthrop can improve to 2-0, and Mercer is worth keeping an eye on this year after they played Arkansas tough in their opener.
–Lamar @ Miami OH – both teams 1-0
-FGCU @ Loyola Chicago – both teams are 1-0.  We really like this Loyola team and believe they are once again good enough to end up inside the bubble
-South Alabama @ Wichita State – both teams 1-0
–Evansville @ Belmont – we really like this Belmont team, but their margin for error is very thin the rest of the way.  They dropped their opener at Ohio U.
-Youngstown State @ SEMO – SEMO had a surprising win in their opener at Missouri State.  They can get to 2-0 with a win today.
-Eastern Kentucky @ Milwaukee – both teams are unbeaten, and both have the potential to be good this year.
–Hofstra @ Duquesne – Hofstra battled Houston in their season opener, and despite the loss they showed they could play at a higher caliber than what we expected.  They should be able to pick up this one on the road tonight.  Duquesne did win their opener against Rider, though
–California @ UNLV – it’s hard to be excited about this game, and perhaps if it weren’t for the brand names we wouldn’t even be mentioning it, but…you know what? That’s all I got!
–Boise State @ UC Irvine – UCI is a Big West frontrunner who could end up being very dangerous.  They are looking for their first win after falling to a good New Mexico State team in their opener
–George Washington @ UC San Diego – both teams are 1-0, and although GW isn’t expected to be good this year and UC San Diego is still transitioning, UCSD did beat Cal in their first game, so if GW were to win this we would sit up and take notice.

BUY GAMES

-Coppin State @ UConn
-Cal State Northridge @ Notre Dame
-Dartmouth @ Georgetown
-Colgate @ NC State – both teams 1-0, and while Colgate may be overmatched today, they should be a frontrunner in the Patriot League
-Gardner Webb @ Arkansas
-Saint Peter’s @ Saint John’s
-UMass Lowell @ Dayton – both teams 1-0
-Central Michigan @ DePaul
-NC Central @ Memphis
-Wagner @ VCU – both teams 1-0
-Prairie View A&M @ Michigan
-Campbell @ Duke – both teams 2-0
-Alabama State @ Missouri State – Missouri State looking for their first win
-Sacramento State @ Utah – both teams 1-0

NEWS AND NOTES

-So the game of the night was not the game that anyone would have ever guessed would have been the game of the night.  UC Riverside stayed with Arizona State for the entire game, and the lead seesawed back and forth.  After Arizona State hit what appeared to be a game winning shot with less than 2 seconds to go, All UCR could do was throw up one last prayer from beyond mid court.  The thing is…IT WENT IN!!  They pull off the huge upset win 66-65.  This is a program that has made huge improvements in the last year or two, and they perhaps took another big step forward today.

-I thought Maryland was going to absolutely maul George Washington, but GW hung in for the entire game and with just a few minutes to play they were actually still in a position to win it.  It was a really sloppy game, and I suppose both teams are still working off the rust that comes with the early part of the season, but even with that it was a bit of a surprise that GW stayed with them.  They may be poised to have a better season than what I thought.

-Northern Iowa is poised to have a much worse season than what we thought.  Two years ago they won 26 games, and after several key players missed last season due to injuries, they are now pretty much all back.  But, they are not back to the form they were two years ago.  They’re now 0-2 after falling at home to Vermont.  We really like this Vermont team as well.  This is a nice win for them, and they got it despite not having their best player.  The problem is that if you’re an Under the Radar team, you just don’t get that many strikes, and Northern Iowa already has two nasty ones.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-VILLANOVA AT UCLA (***Spotlight Game***).  It’s a late tip, but it will be worth staying up for!!  Both teams are ranked in the top five, both are potentially Final Four caliber teams, both have a shot at ending up as #1 seeds, and a win today for either team would be a huge resume building win.  It’s not a stretch to say that it may end up being the best win that either team has all season.  It should be fun!!

-UTAH STATE AT RICHMOND.  We think both these teams have potential this year.  Utah State is lookin to bounce back from their opening loss, but it won’t be easy.  Richmond won their season opener and we think they’re good enough to land inside the bubble.  If that’s true, then they need to be able to take care of business at home in games like this.

-WESTERN KENTUCKY VS MINNESOTA.  Both teams come into this one 1-0.  This one is being played in Asheville NC, so it’s a chance for both to pick up a notable (at least for now) win away from home.

-NORTHEASTERN AT GEORGIA STATE.  A fairly good game between two decent UTR teams.  Georgia State is looking to improve to 2-0.

-MOREHEAD STATE AT UAB.  This is most likely a buy game, but Morehead State is a fairly decent UTR team, and UAB is good enough to possibly land inside the bubble, so we will go ahead and highlight it.

-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT ALABAMA.  Really interesting game here between a good UTR team in South Dakota State, and a team who we think can win the SEC in Alabama.  South Dakota State is likely overmatched, but this is a tremendous opportunity for them.  Winning a game like this would go a long way toward them not needing to win the conference tournament to make the NCAA Tournament.

-VIRGINIA TECH AT NAVY.  This game has a storyline that at this time last week we were not expecting it to have.  Navy opened the season with a win at Virginia.  They now get to come home and play a very good Virginia Tech team in front of what should be a very enthusiastic collection of Midshipmen!  VA Tech also won their opener and is looking for a road win, and perhaps looking a little more difficult than they initially thought.

-SAN DIEGO STATE AT BYU.  We think both teams are likely solid tournament teams, and it wouldn’t shock me if they both ended up in the top 25 before the season is over.  This was also a pretty good rivalry when they were both in the Mountain West, so it’s kind of fun to see them squaring off again.

-SMU AT OREGON.  Oregon is ranked in the top 15 and we think they’re good enough to contend for a protected seed.  We think SMU is a potential tournament team.  Now if they can win on the road against Oregon, we will suddenly look at them as a lot more than just being a POTENTIAL tournament team.

-PITTSBURGH AT WEST VIRGINIA.  Backyard Brawl!!!  This game used to never disappoint!!  It could disappoint tonight, though.  Pitt lost their opener to The Citadel.  West Virginia is much better, and they’re at home, and they’re a hated rival.  It could be a rough night for Pitt.

-WOFFORD AT CLEMSON.  It’s a buy game, but it’s kinda fun to see these two teams play.  Both come into this one at 1-0, and it’s a chance for Wofford to really surprise some people if they can pull off the upset.   That’s MUCH easier said than done, though.

-NORTH DAKOTA STATE AT CAL POLY – both teams 1-0

-UNC GREENSBORO AT NORTHERN KENTUCKY – both teams 1-0, and we think both are pretty good UTR teams this year.

-FORDHAM AT MANHATTAN.  We aren’t expecting to hear from either of these teams in March, but for now both are 1-0 and it is a bit of a rivalry game, so it should be fun.

-NORTHERN ILLINOIS AT INDIANA.  It’s a buy game, but both teams are 1-0, and Northern Illinois actually had the more impressive win in the opener.  They won on the road at Washington.

-RICE AT HOUSTON.  This will likely be a big mismatch, but it is a (sort of) rivalry game, and both teams are 1-0, and Houston did struggle to win their opener in a buy game the other night.

-AUSTIN PEAY AT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS.  This is a buy game, but we highlight it because Southern Illinois simply cannot afford to lose it.  Even though it’s early, it would be a very damaging blow.  They did not look good in their opener the other night.

-LOUISIANA AT SOUTHERN MISS.  Both teams 1-0

-TEXAS STATE AT LSU.  It’s a buy game, but both teams come in 1-0, and while Texas State may be overmatched tonight we think they can make some noise in the Sun Belt, so we’ll go ahead and highlight it.

-UMASS AT YALE.  We aren’t expecting much out of either team, but as for now both are 1-0

-SAN DIEGO AT NEVADA.  Both teams come into this one after having won their season opener.  It could still end up being a long season for San Diego, but we’ll keep paying attention to them until they give us a reason not to.  Nevada is expected to have a rough year as well, but one of these teams is gonna leave this game 2-0.

-STANFORD AT SANTA CLARA.  It’s a Bay Area match-up!  Both teams come into this one 1-0, and it should be a fun one.

BUY GAMES

-Morris College (nonD1) @ The Citadel – Citadel can get to 2-0
-Bryant @ Rhode Island – both teams 1-0
-Kent State @ Xavier
-Central Arkansas @ Butler
-Western Michigan @ Michigan State
-Army @ Duke – both teams 1-0
-Robert Morris @ Kentucky
-Niagara @ Ohio State
-Radford @ Virginia – UVA lookin to bounce back after an upset loss to Navy in their season opener
-Charleston Southern @ Ole Miss – both teams 1-0
-Furman @ Louisville – both teams 1-0
-Holy Cross @ Boston College – both teams 1-0
-Jackson State @ Louisiana Tech
-Western Carolina @ Wake Forest – both teams 1-0
-Tarlton @ Kansas
-UL Monroe @ Auburn
-Carver (nonD1) @ Nicholls – Nicholls won their opener against Northern Iowa
-Grambling @ Texas Tech
-UTSA @ Oklahoma – both teams 1-0
-Green Bay @ Wisconsin
-High Point @ Northwestern – both teams 1-0
-Kansas City @ Iowa
-Eastern Illinois @ Saint Louis
-Abilene Christian @ Texas A&M
-Indiana State @ Purdue – both teams 1-0
-Incarnate Word @ Baylor
-New Hampshire @ Marquette – both teams 1-0
-Arkansas State @ Illinois – both teams 1-0
-Brown @ North Carolina – both teams 1-0
-UTRGV @ Arizona – both teams 1-0
-Princeton @ South Carolina – both teams 1-0
-Seattle @ Washington State – both teams 1-0
-Arkansas Pine Bluff @ Colorado State
-Texas Southern @ Saint Mary’s