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-For our IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT page, which contains brackets, schedules, and viewing information – CLICK HERE

NEWS AND NOTES:

-The showcase game of the day was pretty much over before it started. Purdue blew Texas Tech out of the gym 86-56 to win the Baha Mar Championship. This event saw three great games prior to the championship game, and then the championship game put everyone to sleep. Purdue is ranked #1 and after blowing out a legit top 15 team the way that they did, they clearly deserve that ranking.

-The third place game was amazing!!! Memphis had been struggling this season, but played well against Purdue despite the loss. Wake had come up just short against both Michigan and Texas Tech and needed a big win of their own. In a close game, Memphis hit what appeared to be a game winning shot with less than 2 seconds to go and went ahead 68-66. Then Wake Forest ran what can best be described as a Bryce Drew type of play and nailed a game winning three-pointer as time expired. Memphis is now just 1-4 on the year and Wake finally won a close game.

-Wisconsin v BYU was another top 25 matchup, and it was another blowout. BYU blew Wisky off of the horrendously painted court in Salt Lake City 98-70. This is a BYU team that fell behind early to UConn, but then came back and nealry won, and then just blew Wisconsin off the court. I’d say their ceiling is high.

-Virginia got a battle from Northwestern, but hung on to win 83-78 in the Greenbrier Tip Off. I think I’m more impressed with Northwestern after watching this than I am discouraged about Virginia. I don’t necessarily think Northwestern is a top 25 caliber team, but I don’t think they’ll be the doormats of the Big Ten either.

-Akron blew what we thought was a pretty good Iona team off the floor 96-75 in the Paradise Jam. The Zips only have one loss and if they can win this event they will certainly have our attention.

-Central Connecticut now has true road wins over Boston College and Rutgers. They actually pulled away from Rutgers late in the game yesterday to win 67-54 and improve to 3-2 overall on the season. Not much was expected of CCSU this year even by NEC standards, but they’ve put together a fairly solid profile by anyone’s standards!

-Clemson held on to beat West Virginia 70-67 in the Charleston Classic to pick up their first big win of the year.

-Prior to yesterday, Xavier had looked like a team that would struggle to finish in the top half of the Horizon League, but they nearly upset Georgia in the Charleston Classic. They actually had a lead in the final seconds before Georgia hit a shot to put them ahead, and then had a chance to in it at the buzzer, but couldn’t get it to fall. Georgia held on 78-77, but Xavier still wins the award for most improved team in a 7 day period. John Stalica’s Musketeers may have some life in them this season after all!

-Nebraska is unbeaten and worth paying attention to! They knocked off Kansas State in Kansas City in an 86-85 thriller to win the Hall of Fame classic. Nebraska’s early season resume is pretty respectable with several notable wins away from home.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-PROVIDENCE AT PENN STATE. Penn State is unbeaten, but also untested. Even though they’ve won two games on the road the wins were against New Haven and La Salle. Providence isn’t particularly good, but they’re better than anyone Penn State has played so far.

-NORTHERN IOWA AT UC IRVINE. Northern Iowa is unbeaten on the year so far, but this is by far their toughest test. UC Irvine is good and is still expected to be a Big West frontrunner, but they have lost two games and so far haven’t looked quite as strong as they did a year ago. Having said that, a win today would be a big statement.

-Cleveland State @ Kent State – Kent State is off to a solid start and can get to 6-1 with a win today

-Duquesne vs Northeastern (Akron OH) – Duquesne can pick up a win away from home and improve to 5-1 on the year

-UT Martin vs Prairie View (Pensecola Invitational) – UT Martin is off to a great start and already has some big wins. They should be able to pick up another win away from home today.

-UC Santa Barbara @ Nevada – Nevada has struggled this year and UCSB looks like they’ll be one of the better teams in the Big West. This is a winnable road games for the Gouchos

-San Francisco vs Minnesota (Sioux Falls SD) – San Francisco’s only loss on the year was to Memphis. They’re a good team that can make the NCAA Tournament and should be able to beat Minnesota at the Pentagon today who is…well…not good.

-High Point vs Incarnate Word (Boardwalk Battle) – a win for High Point gets them to 6-1 with a very favorable schedule throughout the entire rest of the season

Northern Colorado @ Portland – both teams with just one loss

-Wagner @ Georgetown
-Long Island @ Illinois
-Central Michigan @ Marquette
-NC Central @ Dayton
-Nicholls @ Oklahoma State
-Gardner Webb @ Richmond
-Coppin State @ VCU
-UC Merced (nonD1) @ Saint Mary’s

-For our IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT page, which contains brackets, schedules, and viewing information – CLICK HERE

NEWS AND NOTES:

-Troy came into yesterday’s game at USC after a double-overtime win at San Diego State. Last night they went into USC. Once again, the game was tied at the half. Once again, the game was tied at the end of regulation. Once again, the game went into a second overtime…and then to a third overtime. Troy had a key player foul out, but still jumped out to a lead in the 3rd overtime after trailing for most of the game. In the final seconds with a 2pt lead they came up with a big defensive stop, threw the ball down the court, but in a frantic desperation USC came up with the loose ball, got up a crazy contested shot that just beat the buzzer….and hit it. It may be one of the most exciting regular season basketball games I’ve ever seen. As for Troy, I hate that an Under the Radar team that has limited opportunities at notable wins was unable to finish this one off. It would have looked really good on their profile and begun to establish them as a possible at-large caliber team. But having said that, they have shown on this road trip that they can play!! They are poised for a big season!

-Memphis battled against Purdue and was right in there late in the game when a Memphis player threw himself to the ground as if he’d been pepper-sprayed in the face, and then got up and started yelling (I suppose to try and draw a technical foul?). After review, he himself was assessed a technical foul and Purdue got control of the game after that and went on to win 80-71.

-Wake Forest once again battled against a highly ranked team on a neutral floor, but once again came up just short. They took Michigan to overtime in Detroit and last night they took Texas Tech down to the final seconds before losing 84-83. It’s been a frustrating start of missed opportunities for Wake, but they’ve also shown that they can play at a high level and that they are good enough to take advantage of future opportunities. Their game against Memphis tonight is very important for both teams.

-Utah suffered their first loss of the season as they fell 92-85 in a home buy game to Cal Poly. I note this only to say that it wasn’t really that big of a surprise.

-Arizona State, who I have openly been very critical of, picked up a really big win last night at Hawaii 83-76. They have shut me up for now. Hawaii is a good team, Arizona State just beat them on the road, and is now 4-1 on the season.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-WISCONSIN VS BYU (Bad Boy Mowers Series) – The game is in Salt Lake, so the crowd should hugely favor BYU. The Cougars don’t have any wins yet that are as big as this one would be, but they’ve shown they can play at a really high level with their near win against UConn. Wisconsin has blown through four buy games and this is their first real test.

-VIRGINIA VS NORTHWESTERN (Greenbrier Tip-Off). Both teams come in 4-0, but this is the first real big test for either one of them and their first chance to add a high caliber win to their resumes.

-IONA VS AKRON (Paradise Jam). This one will likely be fun. Both are solid Under the Radar teams and both have limited opportunities to build up a solid resume, so this event is a huge opportunity for both of them. To take full advantage of it both of them will need this win today.

-LOUISVILLE AT CINCINNATI. This game isn’t on campus, but it will still be a crowd that is very partial toward Cincinnati. It’s fun to see that they have restarted this series. Louisville already has a big win against Kentucky and this is their first real test away from home. Cincinnati also has a notable win against Dayton, but this will be a much tougher test today.

-WEST VIRGINIA VS CLEMSON (Charleston Classic). West Virginia does have a win against Pittsburgh, but based on how things have gone it’s probably not a win that they’re going to get a whole lot of credit for. Neither team has any real big wins yet, so this game tonight and this whole event is a chance for them to pick some up.

-WAKE FOREST VS MEMPHIS (Baha Mar Championship). Both teams battled yesterday against highly ranked teams, and if both can play like that the rest of the way then both are going to be fine. Having said that, this is a game that both of them could really use. It’s the third place game, but it has a bigger sense of energy to it than the championship game does. Wake has nearly beaten Michigan and Texas Tech, but came up short both times and is still looking for their first notable win. Memphis has struggled against a tough schedule and didn’t look good at all in their last game prior to this event, but hung in with Purdue for most of the game last night and could really use a win like this.

-TEXAS TECH VS PURDUE (Baha Mar Championship). This is why we love these events!! Its’ two top fifteen teams that otherwise probably wouldn’t be playing each other. And, not only are they playing each other, they’re playing in a fun and unique setting!! This is just one thing that makes these events so great!! As far as what it means on paper, it’s a chance at a high caliber resume building win for both teams.

-KANSAS STATE VS NEBRASKA (Hall of Fame Classic). Both teams are unbeaten, both had nice wins yesterday, and both are going after what may be their biggest win of the season so far. Nebraska also has a nice win against Oklahoma, so to get a third neutral floor win against a notable team would be a great start to the season for the Huskers.

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:

-Utah State vs Tulane (Charleston Classic) – Utah State is off to a solid 4-0 start and can build up their resume by picking up some solid wins away from home in this event

-South Carolina vs Butler (Greenbrier Tip-Off). South Carolina is 4-0 and Butler comes in at 3-1, but neither team has any real wins of note yet

-Davidson vs Boston College (Charleston Classic) – Davidson is unbeaten, but also (for the most part) untested, although they did win at Charlotte. It’s fair to say that Davidson will still be untested after today

-Mississippi State vs New Mexico (Hall of Fame Classic) – both teams are coming off of a loss and both are still looking for their first real notable win this season.

-Saint Thomas vs Northern Colorado (Portland Invitational) – two solid UTR teams and Northern Colorado is looking to stay unbeaten

-South Alabama @ UAB – South Alabama is out to an impressive 6-0 start and two of those wins were true road games. UAB has had an up-and-down year, but they blew out High Point in their last game so this will be a challenge for South Alabama

-Austin Peay @ Tulsa – Tulsa nearly upset Kansas State in their last game and is worth keeping an eye on for now

-Stephen F Austin @ Pepperdine – SFA has looked really good so far and this looks like a winnable road game for them. They can improve to 5-1 if they can get it done

-UC Davis @ Colorado – this one might be fun to watch. UC Davis is off to a really good start and Colorado, while unbeaten, is also untested.

-Arkansas State @ SMU – this is a buy game, but Arkansas State is a pretty decent team so SMU better not overlook them.

-Xavier vs Georgia (Charleston Classic) – it’s a renewal of the biggest rivalry in all of sports!! And, it looks to be a huge mismatch!! Georgia is unbeaten and has a semi-decent win over Georgia Tech, but this event is a chance for them to add some real solid pieces to their profile assuming they win tonight

-New Orleans @ Fresno State – New Orleans has picked up some notable wins already and this looks to be another winnable road game for them

-BUY GAMES AND GAMES THAT MIGHT AS WELL BE:

-Green Bay vs Yale (Paradise Jam)
-Georgia Southern @ Florida State
-Detroit Mercy @ Michigan State
-Central Connecticut @ Rutgers
-Niagara @ Duke
-Merrimack @ Florida
-Loyola MD @ Kentucky
-Jackson State @ Arkansas
-Omaha @ LSU
-Evansville vs Oregon State (Paradise Jam)
-Manahattan vs Texas A&M – TAMU is off to a rough start
-PFW @ Saint Louis
-Denver @ Colorado State (Front Range) – Colorado State can get to 5-0
-Samford @ New Mexico State
-Louisiana @ Santa Clara
-Grambling @ California Baptist
-Seattle U @ Stanford
-Sacramento State @ California

NEWS AND NOTES:

-For our latest UNDER THE RADAR Video Podcast – CLICK HERE

-For our IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT page, which contains brackets, schedules, and viewing information – CLICK HERE

-It seems as though there are entire seasons where the teams who finish in the top ten have lost less than five games at home combined. I realize it’s just November, and the final top ten in March may not look anything like it does now, but so far this season we’ve already seen three top ten teams lose home games. The m0st recent was last night when Arizona went into Storrs and beat UConn in a 71-67 thriller. The crowd was great, the intensity was great, and it was just a great early season game. UConn was without a key player, so we do need to point that out. The loss may sting a little bit, but it’s hardly a setback.

-Alabama went up to Chicago and beat 8th ranked Illinois 90-86. On the young season Alabama already has wins at Saint John’s and now against Illinois in what was not a true road game, but was still a game where the crowd heavily favored the Illini. Like the UConn v Arizona game, it was a high energy and highly intense game that was played at a high level.

-Dayton went up to Marquette and got a really big 77-71 overtime win. It was a big win for the Flyers and a worrisome loss for Marquette, who now falls to 3-3 with the only wins being home buy games. Dayton’s only loss on the year was at Cincinnati, and they have multiple chances to build up a quality resume between now and the start of conference play. They basically held a lead for the entire game, and when Marquette started to come back they had an answer.

-South Alabama is now 6-0 on the season after handing Jacksonville State their first loss of the year 71-65. They haven’t beaten any one that’s top-40 level good, but four of their five D1 wins have come away from home.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-MEMPHIS VS PURDUE (Baha Mar Championship). Memphis is off to a slow 1-2 start and is coming off a rather poor showing against UNLV in a game that they lost. Purdue is unbeaten with a true road win at Alabama. The two teams are in drastically different places right now.

-NEW MEXICO VS NEBRASKA (Hall of Fame Classic). Nebraska is coming off a nice win against Oklahoma and a strong showing in this event could really make their resume look good early on

-WAKE FOREST VS TEXAS TECH (Baha Mar Championship). Wake’s only loss so far is a close game against Michigan that they nearly won, and Texas Tech’s only loss was a road game at Illinois. I still think Texas Tech is one of the best teams in the country and this event is a chance for them to start putting notable wins on their resume.

-MISSISSIPPI STATE VS KANSAS STATE (Hall of Fame Classic). K State barely escaped Tulsa in their last game and they’ll be facing a couple of bigger challenges in this event. Mississippi State’s only wins have been buy games so it’s an opportunity for them as well

-Pittsburgh vs UCF (Skyscanner Legends Classic) – both teams have 4-1 records, but neither has any wins of note yet. This event will allow them the chance to pick up a few away from home

-Long Island @ Fordham – LIU is the NEC favorites and you get the sense that this is just going to be a fun game

-Troy @ USC – Troy is coming off the thrilling upset win against San Diego State, so they’re not a team that USC is going to want to overlook

-Arizona State @ Hawaii – I really like this Hawaii team and think they appear to be the best Big West team right now. Their only loss was a close one to Oregon, and they have a chance to pick up a notable win against an Arizona State team that’s played better than I had expected them to so far. A win at Hawaii would be big for them early

BUY GAMES AND GAMES THAT MIGHT AS WELL BE:

-Arkansas Pine Bluff @ Marshall
-Lindenwood @ Indiana
-Robert Morris @ Saint Bonaventure – the Bonnies are looking to stay unbeaten
-Bucknell @ Saint John’s
-Tennessee State @ Tennessee
-Texas Southern @ Vanderbilt
-Chicago State @ Iowa
-Mercyhurst @ Miami OH – Miami OH can remain unbeaten
-Elon @ Miami FL
-Western Michigan @ Ohio State
-Oral Roberts @ Oklahoma
-Central Arkansas @ North Texas
-South Dakota @ Missouri
-Rider @ Houston
-Cal Poly @ Utah – Utah can get to 6-0

NEWS AND NOTES:

-It was one of the crazier nights of the season so far! And none of the craziness involved the Champions Classic. Kansas jumped out to an early lead on Duke, but Duke came back and then jumped out to a lead of their own and held it for the rest of the game for an impressive 78-66 win. Michigan State dominated Kentucky in impressive and exciting fashion and were basically in control the whole way for an 83-66 win.

-Winthrop had a 5pt lead on Arkansas with about a minute to go, but Arkansas came up with three consecutive defensive stops and three consecitive baskets on the offensive end. In the final seconds after Arkansas went ahead 84-83, two players got tangled, fell to the floor, and had to be separated. After all that was sorted out Winthrop had the last possession and a chance to win the game, but came up short again. Arkansas survived a thriller and Winthrop nearly pulled off a massive upset.

-Troy and San Diego State were tied at the half, tied at the end of regulation, and tied at the end of the first overtime in what had to be one of the most exciting games of the year so far. Troy appeared to have things wrapped up at the end of regulation with a 4pt lead, but San Diego State hit a half-court-3 at the buzzer to force overtime. Troy kept battling and pulled off an amazing 108-107 upset win and pick up their third true road win of the season.

-Washington needed overtime to get by Southern 99-93. This is a game where Southern actually had the lead most of the way, but just couldn’t hold on for the entire 40 (and then 45) minutes. It was yet another near upset on the night.

-Ole Miss got a bit of a scare from Austin Peay, but held on to win 72-65.

-Boise State got a big scare from Wichita State, but held on to win 62-59 in a game that felt like they really couldn’t afford to lose.

-Rhode Island got a big 86-77 win at Yale. This was probably a more important win than what most people realize. Yale isn’t likely to lose too many home games the rest of the way, and while this is a setback for the Bulldogs they still may be good enough to make a run at the bubble. As for Rhody, it’s their best win of the year so far and may be one of the best overall wins for the whole Atlantic 10 up to this point.

-Buffalo remains unbeaten after holding off a fairly solid (and previously unbeaten) Vermont team 94-90. We weren’t expecting much out of the Bulls this season, but they may be able to make some noise in the MAC.

-Florida State pulled away from UT Martin in the second half and held on to win 87-73. It was the first loss of the year for UTM after picking up a couple of impressive wins prior to this game.

-UC Davis won at Nevada 75-71 in yet another home buy game loss for the Mountain West.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-ARIZONA AT UCONN. Just another top ten matchup that involves UConn. Both these teams are actually ranked in the top four and both have won big games to earn those rankings. Arizona had a big win over Florida in the season opener, and UConn recently beat a top ten BYU team. This is another game that can be a #1 seed caliber win for whoever ends up pulling it off, especially for Arizona. Beating top five teams on the road tens to look good on a resume.

-DAYTON AT MARQUETTE. This game has a sense of urgency to it. Neither team has won anything outside of home buy games, Marquette in particular hasn’t looked all that good (although I know it’s early) and both could use some notable OOC wins on their resumes.

-SOUTH FLORIDA AT OKLAHOMA STATE. The Cowboys have yet to play a game away from home, but they blew out Texas A&M last week and look to be a lot better than I initially thought. South Florida ain’t bad either. They’ve only won home buy games, but they played a really good George Washington team really close in their holy loss. A win like this would be a huge boost for the Bulls if they’re somehow able to pull it off.

-LIPSCOMB AT BELMONT. It’s the Battle of the Boulevard!! This isn’t just one of the great Under the Radar rivalries in college basketball, it is one of the great rivalries in college basketball period!!! Belmont is 3-0 on the year, whereas Lipscomb has struggled at just 1-3, but this is seemingly always a great game!

-ALABAMA VS ILLINOIS (Chicago IL). Alabama is continuing their murderous OOC schedule. They’ve already picked up a huge win at Saint John’s, and their only loss was to top ranked Purdue in a very competitive game. Illinois also has a big win against Texas Tech on their profile and while this game isn’t on campus the crowd should very much favor the Illini in this one. It’s two potential/probable protected seeds lookin to pick up a massive resume building win.

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:

-Middle Tennessee @ Michigan – Middle Tennessee is unbeaten. Michigan is as well, and they should remain that way after today, but they haven’t exactly been handling the unranked teams they’ve beaten the way you’d think the 6th (now 7th) ranked team in the nation would

-Harvard @ Penn State – both teams have good records against bad schedules. This may be Penn State’s toughest test so far

-South Alabama @ Jacksonville State – a regional matchup between two unbeaten UTR teams. South Alabama has a nice win at Toledo and picked up two more in the Showdown in Saint Pete.

-Youngstown State @ Toledo – Youngstown State has had some tough road tests already and nearly knocked off Saint Bonaventure over the weekend. This is another tough road game and would be another big win for the Penguins

-Villanova @ La Salle (Big 5) – Nova is off to a respectable 3-1 start with the only loss coming against BYU in a game where they really battled. This would be their first road win of the year if they’re able to pul it off

-VMI @ Richmond – this one should be fun! It’s two contrasting styles between two teams that are off to good starts and could go on to have big years. VMI could be a dark horse in the SoCon, and Richmond is undefeated (albeit also unchallenged) so far.

-Wyoming @ Sam Houston – this is the first road test for a Wyoming team that’s off to a good 4-0 start and is showing signs of being one of the surprise teams in the MWC this year

-UC Irvine @ Utah Valley – this is the first true road game for UC Irvine. They won more road games a year ago than anyone else in the nation.

-Arkansas State @ Saint Mary’s – The Gaels should win this one at home, but Arkansas State isn’t a bad team at all at 3-1. It’s perhaps the best team SMC has played this season so far

BUY GAMES AND GAMES OF EQUALLY LOW APPEAL:

-Bryant @ Virginia Tech
-Bellarmine @ Notre Dame
-UMBC @ George Washington – GW should stay undefeated
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ Maryland
-North Dakota @ Creighton
-Jackson State @ Auburn