Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES:

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-VCU gave NC State a battle on the the road and had a chance to win until the final minute or so of the game, but NC State held on 85-79. VCU falls to 2-2 with the two losses being close games to Utah State and NC State. Neither of those losses are damaging, but at the same time this team needs to pick up notable wins in order to land inside the bubble and their chances to do that are limited. In fact the remainder of their schedule just doesn’t look to have many opportunities that are as good as the two that they’ve lost. This is a good VCU team, and they absolutely can make the NCAA Tournament, but they have a thin margin for error the rest of the way.

-Tulsa appeared to have Kansas State beat at the Octagon as they went up 83-78 with less than 50 secs to play, but two freethrows, two forced turnovers, and two made jumpshots in the final minute gave K State the win. This was a big missed opportunity for Tulsa and one that may take a little while to walk off, but this Tulsa team will likely not be the doormat of the American this year. As for K State, I’m still trying to decide whether or not I think they’re good. They’re unbeaten, but they haven’t played anyone that would likely finish anywhere close to the top half of the Big 12.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-MICHIGAN STATE VS KENTUCKY (Champions Classic, New York NY). Michigan State already has a big win against Arkansas and a win today would be their first big scalp away from home. Kentucky battled against Louisville and mounted a second half comeback on the road in a hostile environment, but came up short. It’s an early season resume building opportunity for both teams and it should be a fun one.

-UT MARTIN AT FLORIDA STATE. UT Martin is off to a 3-0 start with wins at UNLV and at Bradley. If they go on the road and beat the Seminoles today, you have to start thinking of them as a team that’s good enough to land inside the bubble. That would make for three solid true road wins in the first three weeks of the season, but it would also suggest that they are capable of blowing through most of the rest of their schedule and putting together a solid profile. It’s early, but they have our attention. As for Florida State, they nearly won at Florida, so let’s not overlook the Noles either.

-KANSAS VS DUKE (Champions Classic, New York NY). Duke looks like a team that’s good enough to go back to the Final Four and already has a decisive win over Texas this year. Kansas is good, but they may not be quite as good as Kansas typically is. They did lose at North Carolina earlier this year, but they’ve managed to blow through their buy games and get another shot at a huge win tonight. If they can beat Duke, I’ll take back what I said about them not being quite as good and start to look at them as a team that can win the Big 12 and make a run at the Final Four.

-WICHITA STATE AT BOISE STATE. This game is interesting. Wichita State is off to a 3-0 start, but this is their first true road game of the year so while we can’t yet proclaim them to be a team to watch this year, a win today would bring us a lot closer to proclaiming that. Boise State got their noses bloodied on opening night, but they’ve won three straight since then. They need to keep winning in order to offset that loss.

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:

-Vermont @ Buffalo – both teams are 4-0. Vermont has been a little underwhelming but they’ve managed to win all four. Buffalo has been a bit of a surprise, but also hasn’t had any huge tests yet

-NJIT @ Drexel – mentioned only because if NJIT can get to 4-1 and pick up their third true road win of the year it may make them one of the bigger early surprises of the season

-Eastern Kentucky @ Kent State – an intriguing matchup between two solid UTR teams

-Montana @ Texas A&M – TAMU is off to a rough start and needs to be on upset alert against a pretty solid Griz team tonight

-Rhode Island @ Yale – Rhody is off to at least a respectable start, and Yale is one of the top UTR teams who I think is good enough to make a run at the bubble. The Bulldogs need this one at home tonight

-Stephen F Austin @ Fresno State – this is a winnable road game for SFA. They can stay unbeaten and pick up their second true road win of the season

-New Orleans @ Pepperdine – New Orleans can improve to 3-1 on the year with all those wins coming on the road and the only loss being at LSU. That is a hell of a good start!

-Troy @ San Diego State – San Diego State should blow through this one, but Troy should make some noise in the Sun Belt this year and the Aztecs better not completely overlook them

BUY GAMES AND BUY GAME EQUIVALENTS:

-American @ Rutgers
-Navy @ North Carolina – Navy is the Patriot League favorite, but is overmatched today
-New Haven @ Seton Hall
-New Hampshire @ Providence
-Radford @ South Carolina
-Princeton @ Iona – Iona can stay unbeaten
-Jacksonville @ George Mason
-Georgia Southern @ Georgia Tech
-Winthrop @ Arkansas
-Alcorn State @ LSU
-Austin Peay @ Ole Miss
-Chicago State @ Minnesota
-Northern Illinois @ Northern Iowa – UNI can improve to 4-0
-Arkansas Pine Bluff @ SMU
-SEMO @ Iowa
-PFW @ Utah
-Monmouth @ Syracuse
-Rider @ Texas
-Southern @ Washington
-Northwestern State @ San Francisco
-UC Davis @ Nevada – Nevada better not overlook them
-Idaho State @ Santa Clara
-Louisiana @ Stanford
-Presbyterian @ California
-Sacramento State @ UCLA

NEWS AND NOTES:

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-Neither Auburn or Houston had been tested coming into yesterday’s game, and Auburn had nearly blown their opener against Bethune Cookman, but both played at a high level in an exciting game that was close throughout and that came down to the final possession. Houston came up with a huge stop and held on for a 73-72 win in Birmingham. This series has been great for both teams. Auburn won it last year and both teams went on to go to the Final Four. Both look to be positioned to have big seasons again this year.

-Ohio State and Notre Dame played a close game that also came down to the last possession with Notre Dame missing what would have been a game winning shot at the buzzer. Ohio State held on to win 64-63. It was the first real test for either team and both still have a lot of work to do.

-Florida pulled away from Miami FL in the final ten minutes or so to go on to win 82-68. It’s been a good start for the Gators with wins over Florida State and now Miami FL. The early loss to Arizona will not end up being damaging.

-UNLV, who hadn’t looked good at all in their first few games, looked really good yesterday as they went into Memphis and won 92-78. they basically had a comfortable lead from tip to buzzer. Memphis now falls to just 1-2 on the year and even though it’s early you get the sense that they are falling behind.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-VCU AT NC STATE. VCU is one of the expected frontrunners in the A10, but has so far only managed to win home buy games. They’ve got a major test tonight against an NC State team that I think is a solid top 25 team despite them not being in the rankings (yet). Having said that, VCU is probably the best team NC State has faced so far this season, so we should learn a little more about them.

-TULSA AT KANSAS STATE. Both teams are unbeaten and while the preseason expectations weren’t all that high for either one of them, there is some reason for optimism and the winner tonight will have some early season momentum built up. Tulsa has a decisive win against Rhode Island under their belts, and K State won an exciting game against California their last time out.

-LMU AT UC SANTA BARBARA. LMU flew under the radar in the preseason, but they come into this one undefeated and looking for their 2nd true road win of the season. This is their biggest test of the year as UCSB is also unbeaten and will likely be one of the better teams in the Big West.

-OERGON STATE AT OREGON. The Civil War!!!! Both teams are unbeaten, and while neither has passed a major test yet, they’ve both managed to beat a few UTR teams that are at least decent. Oregon has battled injuries early on, but has managed to avoid any slipups and is starting to get healthier. This one is always fun and tonight likely will be as well.

-Saint Joseph’s @ Penn (Big 5) – Joe’s is still looking for their first road game, and I think can advance to the championship game with a win tonight.

-Southern Illinois @ North Dakota State – these are two solid UTR teams that are off to decent starts this season

-Florida A&M @ Georgia
-Carolina (nonD1) @ Liberty
-Oakland @ UCF
-Lafayette @ West Virginia
-Canisius @ High Point
-Bucknell @ Pittsburgh
-Stonehill @ Iowa State
-SIUE @ Wisconsin – SIUE is off to a solid 3-1 start, but will likely get clobbered tonight
-Prairie View A&M @ Missouri
-Rice @ Tennessee
-Southern Utah @ Gonzaga
-Alabama State @ Colorado
-Georgia State @ Arizona State
-North Alabama @ Clemson

NEWS AND NOTES:

-In Boston, UConn jumped out to a big early lead against BYU and appeared to be cruising, but the Cougars just kept chipping away, and chipping away, and chipping away. They it down to 2pts, but could not quite get completely over the top and the Huskies held on to win 86-84. It’s hard to not be impressed with BYU despite the loss. They were without a key player, and while it wasn’t a true road game, it was a crowd that was very partial to UConn, and they were able to come back after a very rough start and almost pull off the win.

-Georgetown is off to a great start and the voters better take notice! They defeated Clemson 79-74 to remain unbeaten on the season. They’ve now racked up wins against Clemson and Maryland. Speaking of Maryland…

-The Terps went on the road and got a big 89-82 win at Marquette. This was a nice bounce back after the loss to Georgetown and was their first real meaningful win of the year. I liked this Marquette team in the preseason, but they’ve struggled early. They were also blown out by Indiana and have lost their only two games that weren’t home buy games.

-Yale struggled some with Stony Brook, but got the 86-79 win to remain unbeaten. I think Yale is one of the top UTR teams and may be good enough to make a run at the bubble.

-SMU got a huge battle from Butler, but held on to win 87-85. Butler had a shot to win it at the end of the game, but the 3-pointer did not go down. It was a nice win for SMU and a strong showing from a Butler team that has struggled in recent years, but may have some signs of life this year.

-Boise State escaped another upset loss as they got a battle from Montana State, but were able to hold them off 62-58. I don’t want to beat up on Boise State too much for this one. Montana State played a great game.

-Saint Bonaventure held on to beat Youngstown State 84-80. The game seesawed back and forth all throughout, and Youngstown had a chance to tie or win on their last possession, but air-balled what would have been a game-winning 3 and the Bonnies iced it with two late freethrows. Saint Bonaventure remains unbeaten, and Youngstown State falls to 2-2, but has played well in some pretty tough games this year and is showing signs of being one of the top ten UTR teams.

-Nebraska trailed Oklahoma at the half, but came back and picked up the 105-99 win over the Sooners in the Sanford Pentegon. This was a fun game to watch. It was two former rivals and two potential tournament caliber teams playing in a venue that was both packed and intimate.

-Santa Clara had no trouble with Nevada and picked up the 98-83 win. Santa Clara now has decisive wins at Xavier and at home against Nevada in back-to-back games. Those aren’t exactly top-ten caliber opponents, but those aren’t home buy games either. Santa Clara is looking really good.

-Grand Canyon fell to 2-2 and Saint Louis remains unbeaten after SLU picked up the win at home 78-64. At no point in the second half did it feel like SLU was not in complete control.

-New Mexico and New Mexico State was a battle, which it almost always is, but New Mexico State pulled away late in the game (it was very late, actually) and picked up the 76-68 win at home to remain unbeaten on the year.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-HOUSTON VS AUBURN (Birmingham, AL). The two faced each other last year early in the season, and both were in the Final Four a year ago. This year Houston comes into this one as the top ranked team, and while Auburn is also ranked in the top 25 they really haven’t shown that they deserve it yet. They’ve only played three home buy games and nearly lost the first one to Bethune Cookman. Having said that, it’s the first real test for Houston as well, so we should learn quite a bit about these two teams today.

-MIAMI FL VS FLORIDA (Jacksonville FL). Florida is high in the rankings, but they’re coming off a near upset loss to rival Florida State in a game where they didn’t exactly look like a top ten team. Still, the Gators have at least tested themselves so far this season. Miami comes into this one at 3-0, but has only played home buy games and has not been tested at all.

–Notre Dame @ Ohio State – Both teams are unbeaten, but have only played home buy games, so this is their first real test today.

-South Florida @ Kennesaw State – South Florida is looking for their first road win of the year

-Charlotte @ Virginia Tech – VA Tech is 3-0 with a win over Providence. They should get a bit of a test today, but it’s a winnable game for them

-Tennessee State @ Western Kentucky – WKU had a nice win at Eastern Kentucky earlier in the week and can stay unbeaten with a win today

-UNLV @ Memphis – UNLV has really struggled this year. Memphis is just 1-1, but both of their games have been tests. They won at home against San Francisco and lost on the road to Ole Miss. This is arguably the easiest game they’ve played all season up to this point.

-Colorado State @ Loyola Chicago – Colorado State comes in at 3-0 and is looking for their first road win.

-Akron @ Purdue – Akron comes in unbeaten and will likely have a big year in the MAC, but they are swinging way over their heads in this one

-Umass Lowell @ Wake Forest
-TAMUCC @ Oklahoma State
-Incarnate Word @ Indiana
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ Cincinnati