This week’s featured conference is the CAA, and there are a lot of teams to discuss. UNC Wilmington is off to a fantastic start, but we discuss how their schedule has been weak and debate whether or not their record is a little inflated. William & Mary is another good team, Hofstra had a great week with their win at Syracuse, Elon had a big win tonight against Richmond, and Towson looks to be tough as well.
After that we run through the other 21 UTR conferences and discuss the overall strength of the Big West where Hawaii and UC San Diego are off to great starts. The Missouri Valley is looking very strong with teams like Northern Iowa, Belmont, Murray State, and Illinois State. Yale and Columbia are off to great starts in the Ivy League, and McNeese looks like the best team in the Southland, but Stephen F Austin is also really good. 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…
-Tennessee blew Louisville out 83-62. It was the second year in a row they’ve faced each other and the second straight year Tennessee has won in a blowout. Louisville has looked good in most of their games this season, but they’ve also lost the only two true road games that they played and they did not look good in either one.
-Other than that it was a pretty chalky night. Big East play got underway and both UConn and Saint John’s held serve at home, Miami OH remains unbeaten on the season after their win against Wright State, and all other notable teams held serve in their games.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-VANDERBILT AT MEMPHIS. Vandy is unbeaten and has won some big games this year and is looking to pick up their second true road win. Memphis was just flattened by Louisville over the weekend and could be in for another rough night tonight.
-NORTH TEXAS AT SANTA CLARA. Both these teams are good, but both have a lot of work to do and both have limited chances at notable wins the rest of the way, so there is a big sense of urgency for both these teams tonight
-ARIZONA STATE AT UCLA. Arizona State has been much better than expected so far, but if they really want to catapult themselves into the spotlight then a win at UCLA is a good way to do it. UCLA is a team that’s look pretty good this year, but you get the sense that they’ll improve as the season goes on.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Northern Iowa @ UIC (Missouri Valley) – this should be a winnable conference road game for Northern Iowa
-Creighton.@ Xavier (Big East) – both teams have struggled this season, but Xavier has been looking a lot better and should be able to hold serve at home
-Richmond @ Elon – Richmond is off to a good start and can improve to 10-1 on the season and pick up their second true road win tonight. The Spiders should win, but Elon isn’t a bad team and they’ll likely give them a battle at home
-South Florida @ Alabama – South Florida is a decent team, but Alabama is a really good team and they are at home
-Weber State @ Utah Valley (Bee Hive) – We at Hoops HD Love the Bee Hive!!! This is a solid UTR game and a pretty good rivalry, so it’s definitely worth watching
-Georgetown @ Marquette (Big East) – Georgetown had some big wins OOC and has positioned themselves to make a run at the bubble. This is the kind of game they need to be able to win because even though it’s a road game, Marquette has been awful this season
BUY GAMES:
-Saint Francis @ Florida -Mercer @ UCF – UCF can get to 9-1 with a win -Longwood @ Wake Forest -Mercyhurst @ Syracuse – Syracuse needs to snap their losing streak -Texas Southern @ NC State -Bethune Cookman @ Saint Louis -Campbell @ Gonzaga -UTSA @ USC -Portland State @ Colorado -UT Arlington @ Stanford
-LOUISVILLE AT TENNESSEE. Both teams are in the rankings and both have proven they can win big games. Having said that, Tennessee has lost three straight and could really use this win to pull themselves out of the tailspin they’re in, and Louisville is still looking for their first true road win of the year, so there are some stakes to this game as well as it being a showcase game.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-DePaul @ Saint John’s (Big East) – DePaul has made some noise this year and Saint John’s has struggled a little more than expected, but this still appears to be a mismatch and the Johnnies should be able to hold serve at home
-Belmont @ Evansville (Missouri Valley) – this should be a winnable road game for Belmont and get them to 11-1 on the season
-East Tennessee State @ North Carolina – ETSU looks to be the best team in the SoCon and they may be able to give the Tarheels a bit of a fight, but UNC is still the heavy favorites
-Miami OH @ Wright State – Miami is looking to remain unbeaten on the year and pick up another road win
-Florida State @ Dayton – Dayton still has work to do, but they should be able to hold serve in this one and pick up the win at home
-South Carolina @ Clemson – it’s a rivalry game, but Clemson has looked like the better team so far and they should be able to hold serve at home in this one
-Northern Colorado @ Texas Tech – this is a buy game and Texas Tech shouldn’t have too much trouble, but Northern Colorado has had a really good season so far and looks like one of the best teams in the Big Sky, so the game should be interesting
-Butler @ Connecticut – Butler is having a much better than expected season, but it isn’t so much better that they’ve given any indication that they can go on the road and get a win in a game like this. If they were to pull the upset it would catapult the Bulldogs into the spotlight
-UC San Diego @ LMU – this is a bit of a tough road test for one of the best Under the Radar teams in the country this year. If UCSD can pull it off it will get them to 10-1 on the year and be their third true road win
BUY GAMES:
-Lipscomb @ Duke -Toledo @ Michigan State -Kansas City @ Oklahoma -FIU @ Miami FL -LeMoyne @ Texas -Abilene Christian @ Arizona -Pacific @ BYU -Queens @ Arkansas -Towson @ Kansas – Towson is a good team, but they’re overmatched in this one
A full panel is back as we recap a busy week of college hoops, and preview all the action for this upcoming week. Nebraska is one of the surprise stories of the year and we discuss their big road win at Illinois. Arizona and Michigan continue to look like the two best teams in the country as both continue to rack up impressive wins. The Big 12 is stacked. The Big Ten is stacked. The Big East is struggling some, but UConn still looks to be among the top teams in the nation. We discuss all that, and more…
And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…
-Buffalo fell at East Carolina 73-70. Buffalo had no expectations whatsoever coming into the season, but had been playing well with a 9-1 overall record going into yesterday, so it was a game we were expecting the to win.
-High Point lost again. They fell on the road to Appalachian State 86-78. And that might be the last mention we make of High Point this season other than on Under the Radar.
-The game did not impact the bubble at all, but Troy played another game that was decided by a last second shot. They knocked off UAB 86-85 in a game that seesawed back and forth. No one has played more exciting games this season than Troy!
-North Texas got a nice 58-57 road win at South Alabama, which is their first true road win of the season. North Texas has a lot of work to do, but they are looking like one of the better teams in the American (which I guess isn’t saying much).
-Boise State got a big win against Saint Mary’s 68-67 in Idaho Falls. It was one of the worst telecasts I have ever seen! But it was a big and much needed win for the Broncos.
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GAMES (I don’t want to say these are “Highlighted):
-Niagara @ VCU – VCU needs to start stringing together wins and cannot drop any home buy games
-Wyoming vs South Dakota State (Sioux Falls SD) – this is a bit of a tough road test for a Wyoming team that may be good enough to land inside the bubble. It’s not an easy game to win, but it’s the kind of game they should be able to routinely win if they are an NCAA Tournament caliber team
-Campblesville (nonD1) @ Western Kentucky -McNeese @ Houston Christian (Southland) -Incarnate Word @ TCU
-Top ranked Arizona ran away from Alabama in the second half for a very impressive 96-75 win. Arizona now has a true road win against UConn and a mostly-road win against Alabama on their resume. They have certainly earned the top ranking.
-Gonzaga held off UCLA 82-72 in Seattle for one of their better wins of the year. The Zags never really blew it open, but they did hold a lead for pretty much the entire game. I get the sense that UCLA will get better and build up a strong resume once they get into Big Ten play.
-Nebraska remains unbeaten and they’v now got a top level win on their resume. They went on the road to Illinois and pulled out an exciting 83-80 win. The Huskers held a lead for most of the game and every time Illinois seemed to be making a run they came up with an answer. The game ended on a last second 3 for the Huskers. After a road win like this I think we need to start thinking of Nebraska as a protected-seed caliber team.
-Arkansas came from behind in the second half to knock off Texas Tech 93-86 in Dallas. Arkansas also has a home win against Louisville, but given that this was a neutral floor game this is probably their biggest win of the year so far.
-Kansas needed overtime, but got a big 77-76 road win over NC State. I think this win will age well. NC State isn’t having a great year, but they’re at least having a decent year, and they’re getting better, and by the end of the year they could end up with both a really strong team and resume. Either way it was a huge win for Kansas, and their first true road win of the season.
-Michigan played with their food against Maryland, but blew it open late in the second half for a 101-83 win in a game that was more competitive than what the final score indicated for much of the game.
-Michigan State really had to sweat at Penn State, but pulled out a 76-72 conference road win. The Nittany Lions probably aren’t a tournament team, but they do appear to be good enough to give really good teams fits when they play them at home.
-UMass is a very respectable 8-3 after knocking off Florida State 103-95. We haven’t talked much about them even on the Under the Radar shows, but they are a team in the MAC that’s worth keeping an eye on.
-DePaul is now 8-3 after beating Wichita State in the Round House 61-58. DePaul probably won’t land inside the bubble, but they are VERY MUCH improved! Chris Holtman has them going in the right direction, and they are not going to be the Big East doormat this year.
-Oklahoma knocked off Oklahoma State in the Bedlam Game 85-76. It was a really nice win for the Sooners. Not only was it a win over a rival, but it was a win away from home against what has looked like a probable tournament caliber team so far. And suddenly Oklahoma’s neutral floor loss to Nebraska, which was a close game, is looking like a good effort against a top 20 caliber team. The Sooners might have more life than we thought.
-Butler’s double overtime win over Providence was the game of the day. I don’t know how many ties and lead changes their ended up being, but I think it was close to 30, and it was just big play after big play for fifty straight minutes! Butler got the win, and while Butler certainly still has work to do to get all the way inside the bubble, it’s by far the best team they’ve had since Thad Matta took back over.
-Tulsa is 10-1 after knocking off a solid New Mexico State team 83-70 on a neutral floor. They appear to be good enough to blow through the American and if they do that they should be safely inside the bubble.
-Santa Clara had what appeared to be a commanding 17pt lead at the half against Arizona State, but the Sun Devils dominated the second half and came back to win 82-79. It was a missed opportunity at a quality win that Santa Clara really could have used.
-Kentucky knocked off Indiana 72-60 in a game they really needed to win. Right now neither team has been playing like a tournament-caliber team, so I’d almost call this an important non-loss rather than a big win for Kentucky. Both teams still have a lot of work to do.
-Saint Bonaventure looked to have what should have been a lay-up level win away from home yesterday, but fell in overtime to Ohio U 88-83. This is an Ohio team that I thought would be good coming into the season, but up until yesterday had really struggled. It’s just the second loss of the year for the Bonnies, but it’s a damaging one.
-Saint Louis is still going strong after a solid 85-75 win over San Francisco. I know it’s a been a while since Saint Louis has been good, and maybe the fans have sort of forgotten about them, but they are good this year!! Spread the word!! People need to start showing up!! The attendance was kind of pathetic given how good SLU has been and that they were facing a quality opponent at home.
-LSU got a really good win over SMU 89-77. This is probably their biggest win of the year so far and they’re an SEC team that we need to really keep an eye on. It wouldn’t shock me at all of both these teams are dancing in March.
-There were a few close calls yesterday with Richmond and Georgetown needing overtime to win home buy games, and Belmont barely knocked off UIC in their conference opener
-Syracuse lost at home to Hofstra 70-69. It was more than just a close call. It’s an alarming loss for a Syracuse team that had been playing at a high level, but is still really light in terms of notable high level wins.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-SAINT MARY’S AT BOISE STATE. Both teams are good enough to make a run at the bubble, but both have work to do and both could really use this win. Saint Mary’s is 9-1 and they do have a smattering of decent wins. Their only loss was to Vanderbilt, which is not a bad loss. This would be a true road for them against a solid Boise State team.
Buffalo @ East Carolina – Buffalo continues to play well and can pick up their 4th true road win of the season today
-High Point vs Appalachian State – should be a winnable neutral floor game for High Point
-Troy @ UAB – One never knows what Troy is going to do. Neither team is likely to finish near the bubble, but both have shown moments of being able to compete at a high level and it’s a bit of a rivalry game
-Kent State @ Portland – Kent State is 9-1 on the season, but amazingly this is their first true road game
-North Texas @ South Alabama – this is one of the better games of the day. Neither team will likely land inside the bubble, but both are good teams that are having good seasons so far, and the door isn’t completely closed
-UMES @ Virginia Tech -Eastern Illinois @ Iowa State -Bethune Cookman @ Missouri -Northern New Mexico (nonD1) @ Colorado State -Western Michigan @ Iowa -FGCU @ New Mexico -Queens @ Wake Forest -Jacksonville @ Texas A&M -Washington State @ USC
