Hoops HD

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NEWS AND NOTES:

-It doesn’t seem to matter how good or bad the teams Troy plays against are. They will take that team to overtime!! Last night was their fourth overtime game of the year, and their third multiple overtime game. That’s gotta be some sort of record for the first month of the season. They lost to West Georgia 93-89.

-McNeese had looked great in their in-season event, but did not look good yesterday. They lost their conference opener at Incarnate Word 71-67 in a game that was maddening to try and watch because they never had the score bug on the screen. McNeese MIGHT get onto the bubble if they win out, but that won’t be easy.

-Kansas State is just not good. I don’t want to disparage Bowling Green because this was a really good win for them, but in a game that was a buy game K State looked like the team that was bought. Bowling Green rolled 82-66.

-California Baptist jumped out to an early lead on Colorado and held it for about 30 minutes, but the Buffs came back and got control late and ended up with a solid 78-70 win to remain unbeaten. Cal Baptist is a good team, but this was one they sort of needed if they wanted to make a serious run at landing inside the bubble.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-IOWA AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten). Both teams are unbeaten, but Michigan State is clearly the team that’s been tested more. Having said that, if Iowa could get this win, then holy crap does it make their resume look a ton better!!

-TENNESSEE AT SYRACUSE. Syracuse is a modest 4-3 overall. They’ve als0 lost three straight and haven’t really won any games of note. Tennessee is their fourth straight ranked opponent and you get the sense that there is a sense of urgency to it for the Orange. As for Tennessee, it is their first true road game of the year, so there is something at stake for them as well.

-NEW MEXICO STATE VS SOUTH ALABAMA (Katy Tx). New Mexico State is unbeaten on the year, but this will likely be their toughest test so far seeing as how it is against a solid team away from home.

-OKLAHOMA AT WAKE FOREST. Wake is a really good team that has yet to get any notable wins, but the future prognosis is a good one. Their two losses were to highly ranked teams and both were very close games. Oklahoma is decent, but Wake should be able to handle them and get what would at least be a semi-notable win on their profile

-FLORIDA AT DUKE. Florida is a damn good team, but they haven’t really shown out this year as far as getting high quality wins yet. They lost to Arizona in the opener and fell to TCU in their in-season tournament last week. None of those losses are bad, but none of their wins have been all that great yet either. If they win today, it would certainly qualify as a great win, but winning at Duke is one of those games that’s harder to win than an Elite Eight game. You’re not only playing an Elite Eight caliber team, but you’re playing them in a true road game.

-CONNECTICUT AT KANSAS. Another tough test for both these teams, who are by no means strangers to tough tests. This is actually UConn’s first true road game, so if they get a win it will make their already fairly impressive profile look even better. Kansas is coming off a fantastic come from behind win against Tennessee and should come into this one with a lot of momentum after going 3-0 in the Players Era Festival.

-MIAMI FL AT OLE MISS. Both these teams have shown signs of potential and both could end up inside the bubble, but both also need to start building up their resumes and tonight is a chance for each of these teams to do that.

-GEORGIA AT FLORIDA STATE. Basically the exact same note as above. Both have shown signs of potential, both could have big years, but both need to start building up their resumes and tonight is a chance to do that.

-NORTH CAROLINA AT KENTUCKY. Kentucky doesn’t have any wins of note yet, and seeing as how they’re at home against a team that qualifies as “notable” and who is also playing their first true road game, you get the sense that this is one that Kentucky really needs to win. For the Tarheels, it would be another good win on their resume, especially when you consider that it’s on the road.

-UC SAN DIEGO AT NEVADA. UCSD is unbeaten, but this is probably one of their toughest tests of the year so far. Nevada is solid and it won’t be easy to win on their floor, but it’s one that UCSD is good enough to win.

-SAINT LOUIS AT LMU. This is the first true road game of the season for SLU, who is off to a very solid 6-1 start and who managed a big win over Santa Clara in their in-season tournament. This will be a tough road test against a really good LMU team that’s 7-2 overall and 4-1 at home. It’s a hard game to win, but like we always say, if you want to land inside the bubble you need to win games that are hard to win.

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:

-George Washington @ Army – a somewhat odd road game for GW, but it’s also their first true road game of the year

-William & Mary @ Duquesne – this game is moderately interesting. W&M is fun to watch and is off to a good start to the season and Duquesne is a surprisingly respectable 5-2 on the year while being a perfect 5-0 at home

-East Tennessee State @ Dayton – I think this Dayton team is really good. I like ETSU as well, but they’re probably swinging over their heads in this one. Still, the Flyers do not want to overlook them

-Virginia Tech @ South Carolina – Both teams have respectable records, but both need to string together more wins in order for them to get into the spotlight

-Texas A&M @ Pittsburgh – TAMU got off to a sluggish start, but they are starting to look better. This should be a winnable road game for them (which would be their first) because Pitt is just sluggish all around

-Purdue @ Rutgers (Big Ten) – it’s the conference opener for Purdue, and this appears to be a winnable road game for the Boilers

-Sam Houston @ Oklahoma State – this is a buy game and it’s one that Okie State should win and stay unbeaten, but they better not overlook Sam Houston

-Missouri @ Notre Dame – Missouri is undefeated and has a true road win, but they really haven’t been tested yet, and probably won’t be tonight either.

-Utah at California – old Pac 12 rivals. Cal is off to a really good 6-1 start and is perfect at home. Utah has been disappionting, but is still 6-2 overall

BUY GAMES/CRAP GAMES:

-Charleston Southern @ UT Martin
-Campbell @ Penn State
-IU East (nonD1) @ Miami OH
-Cornell @ George Mason
-Eastern Michigan @ Butler
-SUNY Maratime (nonD1) @ Yale
-Houston Christian @ North Texas – this actually has the potential to be semi-interesting
-Wagner @ Maryland
-Valparaiso @ Marquette – Marquette is running out of strikes
-Sacramento State @ Baylor
-Nicholls @ Creighton

NEWS AND NOTES:

-Utah State got a scare from Montana State, but held on to win 84-81 and remain unbeaten on the year. Montana State is just 3-5, but they’ve played a tough schedule and should make some noise in the Big Sky.

-Wy0ming gave Texas Tech an absolute battle, but came up just short 76-72 in a game that wasn’t decided until there was less than a minute to go. Given how well the Cowboys played, and given how poor most of the rest of the MWC has been so far, Wyoming could be set up for a very big year.

-Yale improved to 7-1 on the year and picked up their 3rd true road win by knocking off Vermont 77-74. Yale had a lead for most of the game, but Vermont kept it within arms reach and almost tied it up at the end. It’s another notable road game for Yale against a team that isn’t likely to lose too many at home.

-Saint Bonaventure picked up their first true road win of the year and improve to 7-1 overall after knocking off FAU 70-65.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-TEMPLE AT VILLANOVA (Big 5). Nova is off to a very respectable 5-1 start with the only loss being a close game to BYU in their opener. They still don’t have any big wins yet, and while this is a rivalry game this also won’t qualify as a big win, but Nova should hold serve and may be good enough to make some noise this season.

-CALIFORNIA BAPTIST AT COLORADO. This is going to be a fun one. We knew that Cal Baptist would be good, but I don’t think we expected them to be 7-0 and have some of the wins that they do. We didn’t really expect Colorado to be good at all, but they’re also 7-0. This is a resume building opportunity for both teams, and is especially important for Cal Baptist because they have so few of these.

-UAB @ Middle Tennessee – UAB is 6-2 on the year, but their overall profile isn’t that impressive yet and they don’t have any true road wins yet

-McNeese @ Incarnate Word (Southland) – conference play opens tonight!! McNeese looks like the best team, but they aren’t just going to cakewalk through this conference

-Portland @ Stanford – Stanford is off to a somewhat surprising 6-1 start and should be able to hold serve at home tonight

-Tarleton State @ Cincinnati
-Saint Francis @ Xavier
-Coe (nonD1) @ Northern Iowa
-Bowling Green @ Kansas State

NEWS AND NOTES:

-UConn kept Illinois at arms length for pretty much the entire game and ran away with a 74-61 win at MSG. The Huskies actually never trailed in the game and at no point did it feel like they were in any danger of losing it.

-Dayton and BYU seesawed back and forth in the championship game of the ESPN Events Invitational. Dayton got a lead early, then BYU came back and built up a lead of their own, and then Dayton made big plays in the second half with seemingly each team coming up with big shots in key possessions down the stretch, but BYU survived 83-79. This loss won’t hurt Dayton at all, but a win could have really helped them in terms of building up their resume. The Flyers looked really good in this event despite the loss and should have the kind of team that will land inside the bubble.

-Vanderbilt absolutely clobbered Saint Mary’s 96-71 to win the Battle 4 Atlantis. It was hands down their most impressive showing of the year.

-San Francisco, who was a team we thought would end up inside the bubble, has not looked anything like an NCAA Tournament team so far this season. They were beaten rather handily by a so-so Nevada team yesterday 81-65 and now fall to a very modest 5-3 on the year with no real quality wins to speak of.

-Oklahoma edged out Marquette 75-74 in Chicago. Marquette has struggled all year long and is now just 4-4 on the year with no real wins of note on their profile.

-Colorado is now 7-0 after beating Washington 81-68 to win the Acrisure Holiday Classic. The Buffs are much better than we expected and are definitely worth keeping an eye on.

-Texas A&M, who has been very blah all season long, was not blah at all yesterday. They just blew Florida State off the floor 95-59 and looked a lot more like the team we were expecting them to be than what we had seen prior to yesterday. Florida State was a team that appeared to be playing pretty well coming into yesterday, but were totally blown off the court.

-TCU continues to roll after beating Wisconsin rather handily 74-63. The Horned Frogs have rebounded from their season opening loss to New Orleans, have started to build up a pretty solid profile, and are showing that they are capable of continuing to rack up big wins as the season goes on.

-Miami FL jumped out big and early on Georgetown and basically just coasted the rest of the way to a 78-65 win. The Hoyas had looked really solid coming into this event, but after losing in overtime to Dayton it’s as if they didn’t even bother showing up against Miami.

-Saint Louis, after picking up a really impressive win against Santa Clara two days ago, fell somewhat surprisingly to Stanford yesterday 78-77. Stanford is not a team that we expected much out of at all, but with this win the Cardinal are 6-1 on the year and suddenly have our attention.

-SMU needed overtime at Mississippi State, but pulled out the 87-81 win to pick up their first true road win of the season and remain unbeaten on the year.

-Ohio State suffered their first loss of the year at Pittsburgh 67-66 in a game that was a bit of a surprise. It was the first true road game for the Buckeyes, but Pitt had simply looked awful all year long so one sort of expected that Ohio State would win without too much trouble.

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-Due to time and travel commitments, we are making this a Double-Daily Rundown.

SATURDAY, NOV 29TH:

-CENTRAL ARKANSAS AT EAST TENNESSEE STATE. This is, without question, the game of the day!! It is perhaps the game of the whole weekend!! East Tennessee State can improve to 6-1 on the year, which is a very good start for them, but the reason this game is so seismically important is because this game will determine the winner of the ASun/SoCon Challenge!!!

-James Madison @ George Mason – James Madison has started to play a little bit better, but this should still be a very manageable win for George Mason, which would keep them unbeaten on the year

-Stephen F Austin @ UT Arlington – two solid UTR teams that are off to good start this year. SFA is looking for their third true road win of the season

-UC Santa Barbara vs Seattle U (Las Vegas NV) – it’s two UTR teams that are off to really good starts this season facing each other on a neutral floor. UCSB in particular is a team to keep an eye on.

-Buffalo @ Canisius (Big 4) – Buffalo shouldn’t have too much trouble getting to 8-0 on the year and picking up their second true road win

-LSU vs DePaul (Emerald Coast Classic) – LSU should be able to pick this one up and remain unbeaten on the season, although DePaul is showing signs of being better than they typically are

-California Baptist @ Oregon State – this is a winnable game for Cal Baptist. They’ve played well this season, they’ve yet to lose, and they’ve shown that this is the kind of game they are good enough to win

-Bethune-Cookman @ Indiana
-VMI @ UCF
-USC Upstate @ Nebraska
-Tennessee Tech @ Georgia
-Western Carolina @ High Point
-Norfolk State @ Arizona
-Drake @ Georgia Tech
-Montana State @ Utah State
-Sacred Heart @ Penn State

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SUNDAY, NOV 30TH

-WYOMING AT TEXAS TECH. Wyoming has just one loss on the year and has looked like one of the better teams in the Mountain West. Texas Tech hasn’t played at quite the level I had expected yet, but they are still a clear top 25 caliber team who is likely to get better as the year goes along and earn a protected seed. Wyoming is a team that they better not overlook, but this is still a game where they should hold serve.

-SAINT BONAVENTURE @ FLORIDA ATLANTIC. The Bonnies are off to a good start this season with their only loss being to North Carolina, but this is their first true road game of the year, and these are the types of games they need to expect to win in order for the committee to take them seriously.

-South Alabama @ UTSA – South Alabama can improve to 7-1 on the year and pick up their third true road win

-Yale @ Vermont – Yale is an Under the Radar team that we think can make a run at the bubble, and Vermont, while off to a somewhat slow start, is still the team we think will be the frontrunner in the America East

-Belmont @ Charleston – Belmont can improve to 8-0 and pick up their second true road win of the year

-Mercyhurst @ West Virginia
-Cal State Bakersfield @ Fresno State

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

NEWS AND NOTES:

-Duke vs Arkansas was the spotlight game from yesterday. Duke got out to an early lead, then Arkansas came back and built a lead of their own, but Duke came back again and got control down the stretch for the 80-71 win.

-TCU over Florida in the Rady Children’s Invitational was the upset of the day. TCU seemingly came out of nowhere for the 84-80 upset over the Gators. That win completely changes how I look at TCU. Now they are a team that lost their opener to a talented New Orleans team, nearly beat a very good Michigan team, and did beat the defending national champs.

-Saint Louis got a huge 73-72 win over Santa Clara. Neither team is in a power conference, but both teams appear to be good enough to land inside the bubble, which is why this game was so important. Santa Clara had a lead throughout most of the game, but it was close the entire time and Saint Louis just made the bigger plays at the end.

-Georgetown vs Dayton was another thriller that went into overtime with Dayton pulling out out 84-79 and handing Georgetown their first loss of the year. It’s a big win for Dayton who is starting to build a resume that is worthy of the tournament and who has now earned them a shot at BYU tonight.

-Michigan State pulled away from North Carolina in Fort Myers to pick up a solid and impressive 74-58 win over the Tarheels. It’s no surprise that the Spartans are looking like a protected seed right out of the gate.

-Richmond suffered their first loss of the season to Furman 73-72 in the ESPN Events Invitational. It was a close loss, but it was still damaging as Richmond hasn’t beaten anyone that’s all that noteworthy yet and they now likely won’t get the chance to do that in this event.

-Colorado remains unbeaten after picking up a solid 79-69 win over a solid San Francisco team in the Acrisure Holiday Classic. We’ve now suddenly got more eyes on Colorado and they’ve got another winnable game today against Washington.

-Oklahoma State is also unbeaten after taking care of a fairly solid Northwestern team 86-81 in Chicago.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-CONNECTICUT AT ILLINOIS. This is a showcase game between two highly ranked teams that have both already been challenged and both managed notable wins. UConn’s only loss so far was to Arizona and Illinois fell to Alabama in a home-ish type of game, but both teams have managed big wins as well, both are probable protected seeds, and can boost the level of their profile even more with a win today.

-SAINT MARY’S VS VANDERBILT (Battle 4 Atlantis). This is an interesting matchup between two unbeaten teams, both of whom have managed some pretty decent wins already, but neither of whom have a win yet that’s as good as this one would be today.

-WASHINGTON VS COLORADO (Acrisure Holiday Classic). I wasn’t all that big on either team coming into the year, but Colorado is unbeaten and picked up a nice win against San Francisco yesterday, and Washington has just one loss on the year and dominated a Nevada team that is at least formidable. This is suddenly a compelling game that will likely be an early season resume builder.

-WISCONSIN VS TCU (Rady Children’s Invitational). TCU had a shocking upset win against Florida yesterday. Not much was expected from the Horned Frogs this year, and after losing their season opener to New Orleans they appeared to be living up to those low expectations. Now all of a sudden after yesterday, they’ve got a really good win on their profile and their only other loss was a very competitive game against Michigan. It’s crazy how one win can completely change a team’s complexion. Wisconsin had no issues with Providence yesterday and was probably expecting to play Florida. This is still a big game for the Badgers and would still be their best win of the season so far if they’re able to pull it off.

-STANFORD VS SAINT LOUIS (Acrisure Invitational). Saint Louis remains unbeaten on the year after winning a thriller against a really good Santa Clara team yesterday, and will face a Stanford team that has a respectable 5-1 record, but who doesn’t have any wins as good as this one would be.

-BYU VS DAYTON (ESPN Events Invitational). This could be a fun one and it’s a big opportunity for Dayton. The Flyers have two pretty good wins on their resume already, including the win against Georgetown yesterday, but to knock off a probable protected seed on a neutral floor is just a massive statement and may catapult them into the top 25. BYU has played a tough schedule and their only loss so far was a close game to UConn in Boston, so they are certainly proven and battle-tested.

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:

-Virginia Tech vs VCU (Battle 4 Atlantis) – Not much was expected out of VA Tech this year, but they come into this one 6-1 and battled with Saint Mary’s yesterday. Quite a bit of was expected out of VCU this year, but so far they are just 4-3 and haven’t managed much in the way of notable wins

-Richmond vs Charlotte (ESPN Events Invitational) – Richmond lost to Furman 73-72 yesterday and as a result fell to the losers side of the bracket. They need to rebound and hold serve today

-Nevada vs San Francisco (Acrisure Holiday Classic) – San Francisco is coming off a somewhat surprising loss to Colorado. While we still think they can have a big year they really haven’t managed any big wins yet. They need to hold serve today

-Oklahoma vs Marquette (Chicago IL) – neither team has done much yet and both could use this win today to help jumpstart their seasons

-Providence vs Florida (Rady Children’s Invitational) – Florida is coming off a somewhat surprising loss to TCU and looking to bounce back

-Colorado State @ South Florida (Battle 4 Atlantis) – it’s unlikely that either team will end up anywhere near the bubble, but both have at least shown moments of being formidable so far this season

-Texas A&M vs Florida State (Tampa FL) – neither team has done much in the way of quality wins, but Florida State at least competed in against Florida in a game that is their only loss. TAMU is just off to a rough start, but has held serve in their buy games. This game has a sense of urgency to it because it’s one that both of these teams could really use

-Miami FL @ Georgetown (ESPN Events Invitational) – Miami is looking to bounce back from a loss to BYU, and they’ll face a Georgetown team who lost an overtime thriller to Dayton yesterday. Georgetown still looks like a tournament caliber team and can still pick up some decent wins in this event.

-Georgia Tech vs DePaul (Emerald Coast Classic) – not much is expected from either team this year, but both have respectable records early on

-SMU @ Mississippi State – SMU is 7-0 on the season and this does look like a winnable road game, but it’s also their first true road game

-Ohio State @ Pittsburgh – The Buckeyes are 6-0, but this is their first true road game

-Santa Clara vs Minnesota (Acrisure Invitational) – Santa Clara needs to bounce back from their loss to Saint Louis yesterday and hold serve in this one today

-LSU vs Drake (Emerald Coast Classic) – a win for LSU will get the Tigers to a very respectable 6-0 on the season

BUY GAMES/CRAP GAMES:

-Eastern Illinois @ Purdue
-Northeastern @ Wake Forest
-Wright State @ Butler
-Navy @ UNC Wilmington – UNCW can improve to 6-1
-NC A&T @ Davidson
-Charleston Southern @ South Carolina
-Queens @ Virginia
-TAMUCC @ Xavier
-Alabama A&M @ Clemson
-Stony Brook @ LMU