-Liberty had to sweat out New Mexico State at home, which was kind of a surprise because I was expecting them to kind of cruise, but they held on to win 73-71.
-Hofstra, who had been on an absolute rampage, lost a real head-scratcher last night at Stony Brook 76-71. I know this is a bit of a rivalry, but it still seemed like it’s a game that Hofstra should have cruised through. This is a setback for a team that seemed to be playing so well that
-Portland State remained perfect in Big Sky play after a 76-73 win over a Northern Colorado team that looked really strong OOC, but has struggled in league play.
-Wright State improves to 7-1 in Horizon League play after their win over Youngstown State, and Green Bay is keeping pace with them improving to 7-1 in their last eight games after their win at Cleveland State.
-Vermont continues to piddle around against very weak teams, but they are at least winning. They beat Maine 67-62 last night. At home. Not the best showing.
-Austin Peay remained unbeaten in ASun play after what appeared to be a game winning half court heave for Eastern Kentucky was waived off. The Govs survived 74-72.
-UT Martin continues to be the frontrunner in the OVC as they held off SIUE 65-59.
-Hawaii got a real nice road win at Col Poly 86-66. It isn’t the win in and of itself, but rather how dominant they were in that game despite being the road team. They appear to be the best in the Big West right now.
-Last, but DEFINITELY not least, IDAHO STATE IS TAKING HOME THE KING SPUD TROPHY!!! They knocked off Idaho 76-68.
-BAYLOR AT KANSAS (Big 12). Baylor is hovering around the bubble and can really build up their resume with a road win like this. Kansas is coming off what is perhaps their most impressive game of the year after blowing out Iowa State and is looking to keep that going.
-Creighton @ Providence (Big East) – Creighton is outside the bubble and has work to do, but has been getting better. They should be able to pick up a conference road game tonight
-Loyola Chicago @ Dayton (Atlantic 10) – Dayton has won six out of seven and should extend that run tonight
Before you look at the bracket below, I want to make sure you know what you’re looking at. This IS NOT an attempt to guess what the real selection committee will do on Selection Sunday. We have people at Hoops HD who do that and they are much better at guessing the real committee than I am. This is merely myself being a committee of one selecting and seeding the field the way I think it SHOULD look TODAY. Again, this is NOT what I think it will look like in March.
OTHERS CONSIDERED: NC State, Iowa, George Mason, UCLA, San Diego State, Creighton, Ohio State, LSU, Indiana, Oklahoma, California, Santa Clara, Oklahoma State
COMMENTS FROM DAVID GRIGGS:
-A strong case could be made to put Nebraska on the #1 line. Perhaps they will ultimately end up there. They have some outstanding wins and no one has beaten them. I just think that everyone I have ahead of them tops out a little bit higher right now.
-I’m sticking with my preseason pick of Texas Tech to win it all even though right now I’d only have them on the #3 line.
-While I think Iowa is much better than their profile, and much better than I was probably giving them credit for, I’m still someone that selects and seeds pretty much on merit and not on predictive metrics. Their profile is lousy, which is why they aren’t in. That’s also why Kentucky is barely inside the bubble. Had they not won at LSU I likely would not have selected them at all.
-If you’re looking at the #12 line, Baylor and Auburn were my last two teams in and Hofstra and South Florida were seeded behind them, which means they were outside the bubble.
STAFF COMMENTS
Comments from Stalica:
– I’m guessing that Griggs has Duke higher up in his order of one seeds, assuming that Arizona is his top overall seed. While the South region may technically be Duke’s natural region, wouldn’t they prefer to actually go to the East region and Washington DC which is a little closer to their fanbase?
– We do seem to have a bit of a discrepancy when it comes to the Clemson and SMU resumes. Clemson has two wins against teams in Griggs’ field, yet he has the Tigers on the precipice of a protected seed. SMU actually has three such wins when you consider that Virginia Tech barely made his field (and I do not object to that), yet they’re three seed lines lower? Are the Ponies being dinged for winning their last game on a half-court buzzer beater as opposed to an easy 10-point win instead?
– While I do agree that Louisville is starting to fade given their recent slide, I have to say Tennessee is being a little unfairly punished right now. While the Vols do have a pair of neutral-court wins and still lack a true road win, they still have four very solid wins with Houston (in Las Vegas), Louisville, Texas A&M and now a Texas team that Griggs has suddenly added to his field.
– And yes, I grudgingly admit that teams like the Longhorns and Wisconsin are starting to check critical boxes in their resumes while teams like Iowa and LSU are stalling on that front. They can’t rest on their laurels for too long, though. Kentucky has done enough for now to at least justify their place in the field. They’d be better served as an 8 or 9 seed while Texas should be closer to 9 or 10.
– While I do applaud Belmont’s inclusion into the field for now, they are advised to remember that they’ve used up their strikes in conference play already given a pair of close losses. They can’t take on any more water while other teams continue to lurk beneath them. Especially if Mother Miami potentially loses a regular season game or two and to Akron in the MAC title game again….
Posted inBracketology, News and Notes|Comments Off on Hoops HD Staff Bracket Projections (From the Puppet) – Jan 15th
-Purdue got an absolute battle from Iowa. The Hawkeyes actually had a lead for most of the game, but Purdue finally got control in the final couple of minutes and escaped 79-72. Iowa is a team I’ve been beating up on pretty hard for their lack of a profile, but I gotta admit that they did look really good last night despite the loss.
-Vanderbilt suffered their first loss of the season and they did not mess around doing it. Texas pretty much lead from tip to buzzer and by as much as 20 late in the game. Texas, who had been very meh up until about a week ago, has now had two huge back to back wins.
-Stanford got a big 95-90 win at home against North Carolina. They had to come from behind to get it, but managed to get it done. Stanford’s profile keeps improving, and they’ve had a really nice stretch where they’ve beaten Louisville, Virginia Tech, and North Carolina in three of their last four games. They face Duke this weekend (who won at Cal without too much trouble last night) and then go on the road to play a very tough Miami FL team after that.
-The SEC may not be as strong overall as it was a year ago, but they appear to be leading the nation in buzzer beaters. Ole Miss went on the road against a very good Georgia team and hit a shot right as time was expiring to pick up a 97-95 win. This is a game that Georgia should have won and it is a bit of a setback, but they are still in good shape overall.
-Kentucky came from 18 down to win on the road against LSU and went the length of the court with just over 1 second to play to hit a shot at the buzzer in order to do it. It was a win that Kentucky really needed. It was on the road against a solid team and they just don’t have a whole lot of wins like that, but they escaped last night 75-74.
-SMU also won on a buzzer beater as they hit a shot from just beyond mid court to knock off Virginia Tech 77-76, but this wasn’t an SEC game so I don’t know if it counts.
-San Diego State got an impressive road win at Wyoming 74-57 to stay unbeaten in MWC play. Wyoming is not the easiest place to go and win, but San Diego State did it rather convincingly and is starting to look like the team we thought they’d be in the preseason.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-IDAHO AT IDAHO STATE. It is the battle for the King Spud Trophy!!! Neither team is a likely conference frontrunner and neither team will be anywhere close to the bubble, BUT THERE IS ONLY ONE KING SPUD TROPHY!!!!!
-Gonzaga @ Washington State (West Coast) – Gonzaga has blown through their season so far and that should continue tonight
-New Mexico State @ Liberty (Conference USA) – Liberty should be to hold serve at home and stay perfect in CUSA play
-Youngstown State @ Wright State (Horizon League) – Wright State can stay in first place outright if they can hold serve at home.
-Hofstra @ Stony Brook – Hofstra is looking to remain unbeaten in CAA play and improve to a very solid 14-4 on the year. Don’t forget that two of those fourteen wins were at Syracuse and at Pitt
-SIUE @ UT Martin – the OVC is logjammed, but UT Martin clearly looks to be the best team and should be able to hold serve a home tonight
-Hawaii @ Cal Poly (Big West) – seemingly every road game is a test in the Big West. Hawaii won a big game last weekend. We’ll see if they can go on the road and get the win to stay atop the standings.
-Northern Colorado @ Portland State (Big Sky) – Northern Colorado looked to be the best team in the Big Sky when conference play began, and Portland State is the best team in the Big Sky since conference play began. This one should be interesting tonight.
Tonight’s featured conference is our favorite conference, and that is the NEC. Why is it our favorite conference? Because whatever it is that makes college basketball fun and crazy seems to exist in this conference at a higher level than it does anywhere else. Long Island and Central Connecticut are still the teams to beat, and Chicago State is coming off of one of the more improbable losses in college basketball history. They are perhaps the first team ever to have the lead and the ball with just 0.1 seconds remaining, and somehow end up losing the game.
From there we run through the other 22 (not just 21 anymore!!) UTR leagues. We welcome the American to Under the Radar since it does not look like any of their teams have a shot at landing inside the bubble, and look at how well South Florida has been playing and how Tulsa is starting to struggle. Murray State is starting to assert themselves in the Missouri Valley, McNeese has strung together several wins and is once again on top of the Southland, the Big West had an exciting week with Hawaii knocking off UC Irvine at the buzzer, and Miami OH continues to blow through the MAC. 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…
HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel spends much of his time in DC at Georgetown basketball home games, but with the NCAA Convention heading to the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center this week, he decided to check it out in person and prepared this photo essay from his day at National Harbor.
Transportation was easier than I expected: subway to King Street, bus to Convention Center, just over 1 hour door-to-door. I picked up my press pass and headed for the featured morning session on sports betting. It was quite an eye-opener: the dangers of prop bets, the death threats on social media, the impact on the mental health of teenagers, etc. Nobody was quite clear on how to fix everything, but at least they all agree that it is a super-serious problem.
After walking a few blocks to grab lunch from Primo Hoagies (long wait/good chicken cheesesteak), I made it back just in time for the D-1 business session about NIL featuring panelists from the College Sports Commission. They admitted that they are severely understaffed because they are overseeing thousands of deals that add up to millions of dollars…so if you are looking for a job and can commute to their office in Tyson’s Corner, VA, then feel free to give them a buzz!
The weirdest part of the day was the subsequent D-1 business session. The NCAA voting membership spent 30 minutes approving a proposal to award “performance units” to the 2 winners in the Final 4 as well as the winner of the title game. I was surprised to learn that these units were not already in place, but even more surprised that representatives of the “have-nots” voted in favor of a plan that would only reward the “haves”.
The most inspiring part of the day was the NCAA Honors event in the evening. My main reasons for attending were to see 2 of the Silver Anniversary Award recipients: 1 basketball player whom I have interviewed in the past (former Tennessee 4-time All-American Tamika Catchings) and 1 football player who you might have heard of (former Maxwell Award winner Drew Brees):
However, the incredible stories of some of the other honorees who I had never heard of (the tennis player who recovered from a brain injury to get back onto the court, the baseball coach who jumped into a river to save someone’s life, etc.) are the ones that I will remember the most.
I left the program early to join the “media scrum” featuring NCAA President Charlie Baker (left) and ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips (right). I got to meet them both very briefly, and they were very nice…but sadly they only had a few minutes to spare so there was not enough time for me to ask them any questions:
The highlight of the night was the post-scrum welcome reception. I was expecting chips and soda, but it was worth the wait for a better spread than I have seen at some weddings. Crabcakes grilled right in front of me at the serving table, fancy smores, and an open bar: oh my (no photos available because there was nothing left after I finished feasting on everything)!
Thanks to the NCAA for hooking me up: there are still plenty of changes they need to make, but they put on a great party and gave me access to everything I wanted so I will save any criticism for the future.
Posted inNews and Notes|Comments Off on National Conventions Are Awesome: HoopsHD attends the 2026 NCAA Convention
-Iowa State came into yesterday’s game against Kansas unbeaten, and when it came to losing their first game they did not mess around! Kansas, who had not looked nearly as good as they did last night at any prior point of the season, absolutely blew their doors off 84-63. They defended, they forced turnovers, they hit shots, it was an amazing performance and one the Jayhawks kind of needed.
-Seton Hall had beaten UConn at home four years in a row and nealry did it again last night. They overcame a double digit second half deficit and had a chance to tie on their last possession of the game, but ended up coming up short and after two late freethrows the Huskies escaped 69-64.
-Virginia jumped out to a 14-0 lead on Louisville and Louisville just never caught back up. The Hoos picked up a really nice 79-70 road win.
-Tennesee needed two overtimes to get by Texas A&M in what was probably the most exciting game of the night, but the Vols prevailed 87-82.
-Minnesota hit a game-tying shot against rival Wisconsin with just about 5 seconds to play and appeared to force the game into overtime, but Wisconsin hit a game winning shot at the buzzer to pick up a huge 68-65 road win against their rivals. Wisky has had a hell of a week! They’ve won at Michigan and at Minnesota and suddenly their resume looks amazing!
-Alabama and Florida both picked up solid conference road wins as Alabama knocked off Mississippi State 97-82 and the Gators, who are really playing a lot better now, won at Oklahoma 96-79.
-Baylor got a much needed road win at Oklahoma State 94-79, which is just their first Big 12 win of the year.
-Boise State is a team that would still come up in our Hoops HD shows and email threads. Well, we can now officially call the morgue. They’re dead. They lost to UNLV 89-85 last night to fall to just 1-5 in MWC play. Couple that with their loss to Hawaii Pacific and the only way they go anywhere will be to win the conference tournament.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-IOWA AT PURDUE (Big Ten). Iowa’s predictive metrics are good, but the rest of their resume needs a lot of work. They’ve also lost two straight and not looked all that strong in either game. Purdue is still in reach of a #1 seed and should be able to hold serve at home.
-AUBURN AT MISSOURI (SEC). Both teams have a lot of work to do to get their resumes up to being solidly NCAA Tournament worthy, but both are also starting to play better. This game has a pivotal feel to it for both teams as they both look to keep their momentum going.
-KENTUCKY AT LSU (SEC). I have not been impressed with either team and don’t believe either one to be solidly inside the bubble at the moment. Having said that, both can still play their way in and both could really use this win tonight.
-VANDERBILT AT TEXAS (SEC). Texas is coming off a big win at Arkansas, which has breathed life into a season that prior to that had seemed rather lifeless. If they can follow that up with a win tonight against Vandy it would give their resume another much needed boost. Vandy is unbeaten, but they will likely be challenged tonight on the road.
-NORTH CAROLINA AT STANFORD (ACC). This is a hugely important game. A road win would boost the value of UNC’s resume who to date only has one other true road win so far. Stanford has started to play better and can continue to build up their resume. I could see this one going either way. Both are good.
-VIRGINIA TECH AT SMU (ACC). Both teams are likely to land inside the bubble, but both could also stand to build up their resumes. A win tonight would be a decent resume boost for whichever team pulls it off, especially VA Tech since they are on the road.
-TCU AT BYU (Big 12). TCU has lost their last two games, which were against Kansas and Arizona. Their tough stretch continues as they go on the road against a top ten team. BYU has just one loss and should win this one, but TCU can play at a high level, so they better not completely overlook them.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-High Point @ Winthrop (Big South) – these are two of the better teams in the Big South and this is perhaps High Point’s most challenging remaining game
-Ole Miss @ Georgia (SEC) – Ole Miss has had a really tough year despite being really talented. Georgia should be able to hold serve at home
-Tulsa @ Charlotte (American) – Tulsa needs to win out to get a serious look from the committee and that may not even be enough
-Colorado @ Cincinnati (Big 12) – Colorado is on the outside looking in, but this is a winnable road game that will get them to 13-4 overall and 3-1 in Big 12 play
-Saint Peter’s @ Quinnipiac (MAAC) – both teams are 5-1 in MAAC play, so this is a pivotal game for Quinnipiac
-Southern Miss @ Troy (Sun Belt) – both teams have just one loss in SBC play and both have been playing well lately
-UAB @ Tulane (American) – Tulane can improve to 13-4 overall and stay unbeaten in the American
-San Diego State @ Wyoming (Mountain West) – after a disappointing start to the season, San Diego State has really gotten rolling. They’ve won eight of their last nine with the only loss coming against top ranked Arziona. This is a tough road game, though.
-Fordham @ Saint Louis (Atlantic 10) – SLU should win this one easily and improve to 16-1
-UCF @ Kansas State (Big 12) – UCF is a solid 13-2 on the year, but they’re just 1-1 in true road games, so that part of their resume needs some work. A win tonight would help
-Illinois @ Northwestern (Big Ten) – the Illini should cruise and pick up a conference road win in this one
-UCLA @ Penn State (Big Ten) – both teams have shown signs of life throughout the year, but both still have a ton of work to do and both really need to win this one tonight
-Utah @ Texas Tech (Big 12) – Texas Tech is getting stronger as the year goes on and they should be able to hold serve at home in this one
-South Carolina @ Arkansas (SEC) – Arkansas was blown out at Auburn in their last game, but should be able to bounce back tonight
-Nevada @ Utah State (Mountain West) – Nevada has been solid since the start of conference play, but Utah State is really good and they’re at home, so it’s one they should win.
-Pacific @ Santa Clara (West Coast) – Santa Clara is outside the bubble, but they are perhaps close enough to it to reach it. They can’t afford to lose a game like this at home, though
-Arizona State @ Arizona (Big 12) – It’s a rivalry game, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a mismatch. Arizona is the top ranked team in the nation and they are at home. They should roll.
-Michigan @ Washington (Big Ten) – Michigan will look to rebound from a tough loss to Wisconsin in their last game and pick up another true road win
-Duke @ California (ACC) – this is potentially a tough road game for Duke, but it’s one they should win
