Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES

-Another Legends Classic is in the books!  Michigan State sure looked impressive by getting the win at Duke.  I know there is a huge asterisk by that result because the arena was empty, but they still played a solid defensive game and were pretty much in control for the entire second half.  To do that against Duke is rather impressive whether it’s in front of a packed house or not.  NOTE from Chad:  It was the Champions Classic.  #StupidPuppet

-Kentucky appeared to be in control against Kansas early on, and I remember thinking how impressive they looked after falling to a Richmond team.  But, then the second half started, Kentucky went ice cold, and Kansas ended up holding them off and picking up the win.  While the game was close and exciting, it did feel a little bit sloppy while watching it.  But, then again, it’s early.  I don’t think either team is nearly as good now as they will be at the end of the year.

-Texas crushed Indiana for a very impressive early season win.  We’ve been waiting for t he Longhorns to put together a top 25 caliber team under Shaka Smart, and the early vital signs appear to be that they finally now have one.

-North Carolina held off a really tough Stanford team and will face Texas later on today.  The Tarheels look much better than they did a year ago, and can probably catapult themselves into the top ten if they can get the win against Texas.

-Davidson lost in the final seconds for the second day in a row.  Providence picked up what was a nice early season win against them 63-62.  While it’s been a frustrating couple of days for Davidson, I think they have more to be optimistic about than concerned about.

-USC blew BYU off the floor in one of the more surprising results of the day.  We really like this BYU team, and had questions about USC, especially after seeing them struggle early on.   It appears as though that, once again, USC is better than we thought they’d be in the preseason.  That’s a recurring theme for them ever since Andy Enfield arrived.  Maybe eventually we’ll learn our lesson and start paying more attention to them in the preseason??

-Navy improved to 3-1 with a win over Georgetown.  Navy is much better than expected, and Georgetown is just as bad as expected.

-Dayton had to sweat out their opener against Eastern Illinois after blowing a big early game lead, but held on to win 66-63.

-Oklahoma State took down Marquette on the road to remain unbeaten.  Is it time to seriously start paying attention to the Pokes?  And, is it time for them to start considering an appeal of the postseason ban?  NOTE from Chad:  The appeal is already pending and has been for months.  #StupidPuppet

-Winthrop got a somewhat surprising win against UNC Greensboro.  We liked this Winthrop team as a solid UTR team, but we liked UNCG a little more.  It was the first game for Winthrop, and they certainly looked impressive against a team we thought could end up on the bubble.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-WEST VIRGINIA VS GONZAGA (Indianapolis).  Gonzaga has one big win already against Kansas, and West Virginia comes into this game with three pretty good wins, but obviously none against the top ranked team in the country.  This is going to be a fun match up to watch between WVU’s tough pressure defense and Gonzaga’s offensive machine.  Oh yeah, and this is the kind of game that #1 seeds win!

-ILLINOIS VS BAYLOR (Indianapolis).  Both teams are in the top five, both are probable protected seeds, and both are potential #1 seeds.  This is a big game because other than perhaps Illinois’ game against Ohio U, neither has faced an NCAA Tournament caliber team yet, much less a potential #1 seed caliber team.  So, it should be a fun early season match up.

-INDIANA VS STANFORD (Maui Invitational).  Stanford looked really impressive yesterday despite the loss to North Carolina, whereas Indiana looked surprisingly bad after looking so strong in their first game against Providence.  Both teams are looking to pick up a second notable win from the event.

-ARMY VS FLORIDA (Mohegan Sun).  It’s the season opener for Florida, and Army comes into this game with a 3-0 record.  It will likely be a mismatch, but Florida could have some trouble considering that Army already has three games under their belts.

-TEXAS VS NORTH CAROLINA (Maui Invitational).  Both teams are in the top 20, both have picked up some impressive wins already, and both are looking for another .  It’s a chance to get a lot of early season momentum for two teams that had no momentum of any kind last year.

-LIPSCOMB AT CINCINNATI.  It’s a buy game, but Lipscomb is likely and ASun frontrunner and it’s the season opener for Cincinnati so we will go ahead and highlight it.

-VCU AT PENN STATE.  VCU has looked much better than we expected to in their first three games, and this is the first real test for a Penn State team that’s undergoing quite a bit of change.

-SAINT JOHN’S VS BYU (Mohegan Sun).  BYU got clobbered by USC earlier in the week in a rather surprising result, and the Johnnies are off to a notable 3-0 start.  It’s another game that can allow whoever wins it to take a step forward early on.

-UNC GREENSBORO VS DUQUESNE (Louisville, KY).  Duquesne dropped their season opener and has another test today against a UNCG team that we expect to be good, but that is also coming off a loss and looking to rebound.

-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT IOWA STATE.  South Dakota State was a team that we were really big on coming into the year, and we still think they can have a big season, but the 1-2 start they are off to is somewhat disappointing, and if they really are a team that belongs in the NCAA Tournament even if they don’t win their conference tournament, then this is the kind of road game that they need to be able to win.

-SETON HALL AT RHODE ISLAND.  Seton Hall has a close loss to Louisville, but is still looking for their first meaningful win of the season.  Rhody has looked impressive, but also use another meaningful win to show for it.

-PROVIDENCE VS ALABAMA (Maui Invitational).  Both teams are looking to pick up another notable win and leave this event on a high note.  Both could be tournament teams by the end of the year, but both have also shown they have some things they need to work on.

-OREGON VS MISSOURI (Omaha, NE).  It’s the first game for Oregon, who we think is a top 25 caliber team, and the first real test for a Missouri team that we aren’t expecting too much out of this year, but who we will certainly begin to pay attention to if they win tonight.

-DAVIDSON VS UNLV (Maui Invitational).  Davidson has lost two games in the final seconds on back to back days.  They need to leave this event with at least one win in their pocket.  While the results have been frustrating, I think there is more reason for optimism than concern for the Wildcats right now.

-OREGON STATE AT WASHINGTON STATE (Pac 12).  It’s a crazy situation.  Both teams are unbeaten, and at the end of the night one of them will be in first place in the Pac 12!  I don’t think either one will be in the picture when the season ends, but for now it’s worth watching!

-KENNESAW STATE AT UAB.  I don’t expect either team to be in the picture at the end of the year, but for now they’re both 2-0.

-OLD DOMINION AT NORFOLK STATE.  It’s a crosstown battle!!  And if Norfolk wins it they actually improve to a very impressive 3-0!

-BELMONT AT TENNESSEE STATE.  A win for Belmont gets them to 4-0 on the year.  NOTE from Chad: This game has been postponed to December 8.  #StupidPuppet

BUY GAMES

-Morehead State @ Ohio State
-FGCU @ South Florida – Gulf Coast is 1-0
-South Carolina State @ Clemson – win gets Clemson to 3-0
-Ball State @ Michigan
-Southern Wesleyan (nondiv1) @ Furman
-Oral Roberts @ Wichita State
-Tarleton @ Texas A&M — Tarleton’s first game in Division I against a D1 opponent!
-Tennessee Tech @ Xavier
-North Florida @ Florida State
-Houston Baptist @ SMU
-Arkansas State @ Memphis
-Cal State Bakersfield @ Santa Clara – game being played in Santa Cruz
-Arkansas Pine Bluff @ Northwestern
-UT Arlington @ Arkansas
-North Dakota @ Dixie State – Dixie State’s first game as a member of D1!

NEWS AND NOTES

CLICK HERE for the latest Hoops HD Report (recorded Nov 30th)

-North Carolina got off to a disturbingly bad start against UNLV and fell behind 13-0.  They proceeded to totally roll them after that and won the game going away 78-51.  UNC looked a lot like the UNC we are used to seeing and not the UNC we saw a year ago.

-Stanford was also very impressive yesterday in their win against what we think is a good Alabama team.  Alabama could have played a lot better and I think we’ll definitely see them play better games this year, but Stanford looked fantastic.  It will be fun watching them face UNC today.

-Texas got a scare from Davidson, but held on to win 78-76 and advance to the winning side of the bracket where they’ll face…

-Indiana!  They blew providence off the court in one of the more unexpected results of the season so far.  It’s not that the Hoosiers won, but it’s been a long time since we’ve seen them play as well as they did yesterday against a Providence team that most of us are expecting to be really good this year.

-Saint John’s held on to beat Boston College and stay unbeaten at 3-0.  This game saw a five minute officials timeout to try and determine how many timeouts Saint John’s had remaining.  That’s a first!

-The Pacific vs Nevada game was delayed 30 minutes yesterday because Pacific thought the game was supposed to start later than when it was scheduled.  That’s a first!  Nevada got the win and remains unbeaten at 3-0.

-Mercer is an Under the Radar team to pay attention to.  They beat Georgia State without too much trouble yesterday to improve to 3-0 on the season.  Georgia State and Georgia Tech are a nice slate of early season wins for any team!

-Xavier once again struggled with a UTR team.  They needed overtime to get past Eastern Kentucky yesterday.  This is the third game in a row where they’ve come down to basically the last possession against an Under the Radar team, but a win is a win.

-Minnesota beat LMU.  Again.  The two met just a few days ago.  They remain unbeaten at 3-0 with two of those wins being games against LMU.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-TEXAS VS INDIANA (Maui Invitational).  Texas squeaked out a win against Davidson, and Indiana blasted what we think is a pretty good Providence team yesterday, so we’ve got an intriguing early season match-up today.  If Indiana can win this one, they will have a strong claim to a top 25 spot and be in good shape early on.

-USC VS BYU (Mohegan Sun).  Both teams come into this one without a loss, but this is probably the biggest test so for for them as well.  We think this BYU team could be a tournament team, so it will be interesting to see what they can do today.

-NORTH CAROLINA VS STANFORD (Maui Invitational).  Stanford had no trouble with Alabama yesterday, and North Carolina had even less trouble with UNLV.  If both play as well as they did yesterday we should be in for an early season treat today.

-WESTERN KENTUCKY AT LOUISVILLE.  WKU is coming off a really good showing in the Bad Boy Mowers Classic, and Louisville comes into this one undefeated with a good win against Seton Hall under their belts.  Louisville has dominated this series, but they could be in for a bigger battle from WKU than what they’re used to today.

-OKLAHOMA STATE AT MARQUETTE.  This is an early test for both teams.  Oklahoma State is currently ineligible for the postseason and we weren’t expecting them to do much this year anyway, but they’ve shown some promise early.  Both teams are 2-0, but this is probably their biggest test to date.

-DAVIDSON VS PROVIDENCE (Maui Invitational).  Both teams are looking to bounce back from a loss yesterday.  This would be a good early season win for whichever team manages to pick it up.  We think both of them have quite a bit of potential.

-MICHIGAN STATE AT DUKE (Champions Classic).  Both teams are in the top ten and both are probable protected seeds, so it goes without saying that this would be a huge quality win for whoever manages to pull this one out.  Duke struggled in their first game against Coppin State, but I wouldn’t read too much into that.

-KENTUCKY VS KANSAS (Champions Classic).  Both teams have been a little sluggish out of the gate with Kansas getting beaten by Gonzaga and Kentucky recently losing to Richmond.  Both will likely be much better at the end of the year than what they are now, but it’s still a good (and important) early season game for both teams.

-UNLV VS ALABAMA (Maui Invitational).  It’s early, but this game still has a sense of urgency to it.  Both of them could really use a notable early season win right now.

BUY GAMES

-Oakland @ Purdue
-Prairie View A&M @ UNC Greensboro
-Saint Francis U @ Virginia
-UC Riverside @ Washington (Las Vegas)
-Green Bay @ Wisconsin
-Omaha @ Creighton
-Hartford vs Villanova (Mohegan Sun)
-Navy @ Georgetown
-Eastern Illinois @ Dayton
-Nicholls @ Saint Mary’s

NEWS AND NOTES

-For the UTR Game of the Day between Bowling Green vs Appalachian State, who is off to a HOT HOT HOT 2-0 start right now – CLICK HERE

-It is a busy day here at Hoops HD!  We will have our first Merit Rankings of the season posted shortly.  Also, from those merit rankings, we create a seedlist, and from the seedlist, we build a bracket.  It will look ridiculous because it’s so early, but that doesn’t stop us from doing it!  We will also be recording Under the Radar tonight to recap the first week of the season.

-Yesterday was the fifth day of the season, and it was the third time we saw a game where a top ten team lost to an unranked opponent.  Richmond took complete control of the second half in their game against Kentucky and ended up winning rather handily.  The result of this game should not be a surprise.  Richmond is a really good team that finished the season really strong last year, and who runs one of the more disciplined offenses in the country.  It’s also worth noting that this is not a slap at Kentucky.  We are used to seeing Kentucky running at 100mph, but what everyone seems to forget is that Kentucky NEVER starts off going 100mph.  It isn’t until their 9th or 10th game that they really get going.  Every Thanksgiving we hear people talking about how Kentucky is overrated and doesn’t have it this year.  This is actually normal.  By the 9th or 10th game, Kentucky will most likely be playing like a top ten team.

-San Francisco followed up their big upset win against Virginia with a loss to Rhode Island.  To be fair, this is a Rhody team that’s looked impressive this year, so this was not going to be an easy game to win, but it’s probably the kind of game they needed to win if the Dons wanted to sustain their national relevance.

-Houston looked incredibly impressive against Texas Tech and basically controlled the entire game.  In looking at Houston’s schedule, you have a hard time finding a game on it that you think they’ll have a difficult time winning, especially after seeing what they did yesterday.

-Michigan had to really sweat against Oakland, but they ended up getting the win in overtime and remain unbeaten.

-A shoutout to Seattle U, who was a team in the WAC that we didn’t expect much of anything out of, but is off to a noticeably good 3-0 start.

-Alabama A&M, who never seems to beat anybody, opened their season with a road win at Samford.  I don’t know when the last time was they won a road game, but they don’t win many, so a big shout out to them.  We’d like to see that program be able to build itself up.

-Murray State gave up 95pts to Greenville, who isn’t a D1 team, but still won by 78pts.  The final score was 173-95.  Unreal!

-New Mexico State had some trouble with Arizona Christian, who is a highly ranked NAIA team.  This was a fascinating game to watch because it was played at Arizona Christian, and it came down to the final seconds.  The 6pt margin is due to freethrows in the final seconds of the game.  The lead seesawed back and forth and really wasn’t decided until the final seconds.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-TEXAS VS DAVIDSON (Maui Invitational).  Both teams come into this game without a loss, but they’ve really only played buy games up to this point.  This event is a chance to try and add some meat to their resume.

-INDIANA VS PROVIDENCE (Maui Invitational).  This is the first real test for two teams who’s fans have rather high expectations for them this year.  For Providence those expectations are there because of how good they looked down the stretch last season.  For Indiana those expectations are there because…well…they’re Indiana.

-LITTLE ROCK VS DUQUESNE (Wade Houston Tip-Off Classic).  Most people won’t be too excited for this game, but Little Rock is a team that we think will be a frontrunner in the Sun Belt, and Duquesne is a team that we think will be a dark horse in the Atlantic Ten, so we are looking forward to it.

-SAINT JOHN’S VS BOSTON COLLEGE (Mohegan Sun).  BC is off to an impressive start and this is another winnable game for them today.  The Johnnies are 2-0, but this is by far their biggest test of the year so far and it will be interesting to see what they can do.  I can’t believe I’m saying this, but BC is playing the Johnnies, and there is definitely a reason to watch the game!!

-STANFORD AT ALABAMA.  We think both these teams are potential tournament teams.  It’s the season opener for Stanford and the first big test for Alabama.

-NORTH CAROLINA VS UNLV (Asheville, NC).  UNC shouldn’t have too much trouble picking up a win away from home (sort of), and improving to 2-0.

-AUBURN AT UCF.  Both these teams are in rebuilding mode and are looking to collect some early season wins.

-GEORGIA STATE AT MERCER.  How about this game!!  Both teams are unbeaten at 2-0, and both have managed wins against Georgia Tech.  We thought Georgia State would be good this year, but Mercer is a bit of a surprise.

-SEATTLE U VS CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE (Las Vegas).  A win gets Seattle to 4-0.

-EASTERN KENTUCKY AT XAVIER.  It’s a buy game, but both teams are unbeaten and Xavier has struggled in home buy games this year.

-LMU AT MINNESOTA.  Minney is trying to improve to 3-0 on the season.

-TEXAS STATE AT MISSISSIPPI STATE.  This is a buy game, but Texas State can improve to 3-0 with a win and Mississippi State is still looking for their first win.

-IONA AT SETON HALL.  It’s a buy game, but it is Rick Pitino’s debut at Iona, and Seton Hall is looking to rebound from their loss at Louisville and pick up their first win.

-PACIFIC AT NEVADA.  Both teams unbeaten.

BUY GAMES

-SELA @ LSU
-TAMUCC @ SMU
-Kansas City @ Kansas State
-Nicholls @ California
-Texas Southern @ Wyoming
-Long Beach State @ UCLA