NEWS AND NOTES
-It was a buys day that gave us three top 20 match-ups. The most entertaining and best played game was Creighton at Kansas. The lead seesawed back and forth. Every time one team appeared to have control the other would go on a run, and you got the sense that had they played for 40 more minutes it would have come down to the last possession. Creighton missed what would have been a game tying free-throw in the final seconds and Kansas held on to win 73-72, but I think there is more positive to take away than negative for both teams. These teams were ranked in the top ten, and both of them looked like it’s where they belong.
-Duke got blown off of their own floor again as Illinois pretty much controlled the game from tip to buzzer. It was the first really big test for the Illini and they passed it with flying colors.
-North Carolina stated with Iowa for a little while, but only for a little while. To say Iowa blew them out would be overstating it, but there weren’t really many points in the game where Iowa had to sweat either. It was a solid showing and a solid win for the Hawkeyes.
-A team that was not solid was Virginia Tech, who was totally blown out of the building by Penn State. VA Tech was ranked in the top 20, and given how they had played for most of the season looked like they belonged there. Penn State…not so much. But last night, Penn State looked like they belonged in the top 20! VA Tech…not so much.
-Ohio State really had to sweat on the road against Notre Dame, which was a bit of a surprise, but they did pick up their first road win of the season and remain unbeatem.
-Tennessee blew it open early against Colorado, but the Buffs came back and made a game of it. It wasn’t until the final minute or two that Tennessee got control. It was the first game of the season for the Vols, but they didn’t show signs of having too much rust.
-Rutgers and Syracuse had only played (and won) buy games coming into yesterday. The two squared off and while Rutgers got the win, it was more of a battle than what I thought it would be. Syracuse kept it close and even got a lead late in the second half, but Rutgers was able to finish strong.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-RHODE ISLAND AT WISCONSIN. Wisky is looking to rebound from a loss to rival Marquette and actually pick up their first non-buy game win. Rhody is off to a better than expected start and could really add a good win to their resume today.
-FURMAN AT CINCINNATI. I really like this Furman team. I think they can land inside the bubble, and perhaps even play their way into the top 25. But, if they really are that good, then this is the type of game that they need to be able to win. It wouldn’t be a bad win for a Cincinnati team that’s looking to rebound from a loss to Xavier over the weekend.
-MARYLAND AT CLEMSON (ACC/Big TenChallenge). Clemson has some nice wins already and could end up being a surprise tournament level team this year. Maryland comes in unbeaten, but this is by fair their best test of the year up to this point.
-PROVIDENCE AT TCU. Providence is off to a slow start, but still has a high ceiling and could still have a big year. This is the kind of road game that they need to be able to win if they want to demonstrate that they are a solid tournament team.
-NORTHERN IOWA AT RICHMOND. Northern Iowa is off to just a 1-3 start, but they are still a dangerous team that could make quite a bit of noise in March. Richmond is in the rankings and looking to add what I think will be another nice win to their resume (even if it may not look all that great now).
-ABILENE CHRISTIAN AT TEXAS TECH. It’s a buy game, but ACU is unbeaten and will likely be a Southland frontrunner, and while we really like this Texas Tech team they haven’t looked all that great yet this season.
-INDIANA AT FLORIDA STATE (ACC/Big Ten Challenge). Indiana has been a little inconsistent this year, but that’s far better than being consistently bad. They have shown that they can play like a top 25 team, and they may have to tonight if they want to beat what looks to be a very good Florida State team.
-GEORGIA TECH AT NEBRASKA (ACC/Big Ten Challenge). Georgia Tech has potential this year, and they’re coming off a nice win against Kentucky, but they’re still running a little up hill after an 0-2 start and could really use this road win today.
-OKLAHOMA AT XAVIER. Xavier is unbeaten and just picked up a nice road win at Cincinnati, but they’ve got another test today against an Oklahoma team that’s 2-0 and is looking for a statement win of their own. In short, I believe this is a resume building opportunity for both teams.
-LIBERTY AT MISSOURI. This game should be fun. Liberty is someone we thought would be rebuilding this year, but they’ve looked really solid so far. Mizzou is a team that we thought was so far behind that they wouldn’t even be able to start rebuilding until next year, but they’re unbeaten, they’ve looked fantastic, and will have a chance to pick up another nice win tonight. I love it when good UTR teams play good P5 teams!
-IDAHO AT WASHINGTON STATE. This is the big one!! These two schools are just eight miles apart!! They’ve also never met in the NCAA Tournament!! It meets all the checkpoints for being one of the biggest rivalries in all of college athletics!! Also…Wazzu is unbeaten, so all kidding aside we will be paying attention to them until we have reason not to.
-BOISE STATE AT BYU. Both teams have work to do, which makes this game important. BYU’s NCAA Tournament chances seem to be better than Boise’s, but that can change. Especially if the Broncos can pick up the win tonight.
-PITTSBURGH AT NORTHWESTERN (ACC/Big Ten Challenge). Not much is expected from either team this year, but Northwestern is unbeaten. They’re also untested, but at least for now they are unbeaten.
-DENVER AT WYOMING. We at Hoops HD love the Front Range!!!!
-MARSHALL AT CHARLESTON. A win gets Marshall to 3-0 and gives them their second road win.
-CHATTANOOGA AT BELLARMINE. A win for Chattanooga gets them to 5-0 on the year and 3-0 in road games, but it won’t be easy. Bellarmine is a transitional team, but they’re capable of playing well.
-SFA AT BAYLOR. Both teams are unbeaten, but one has been tested substantially more than the other.
-SANTA CLARA AT CAL POLY. The first road game of the year for an unbeaten and untested Santa Clara team.
-CALIFORNIA AT PEPPERDINE. Pepperdine has shown some promise this year, but they’ve still got a lot of work to do if they want to land inside the bubble and can’t afford to drop a home game like this.
BUY GAMES (or games that might as well be)
-Chicago State @ Loyola Chicago
-Toledo @ Michigan
-Cal State Bakersfield @ Arizona
-NC A&T @ VCU
-Texas State @ Texas
-Southern @ Arkansas
-McKendree (nondiv1) @ Drake
-San Diego @ UCLA
-Florida A&M @ Oregon
