Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES:

-Seton Hall keeps winning. Last night they went on the road and took care of Providence 72-67 to win their Big East opener and improve to 11-1 on the year. I should be used to it by now, but I’m not. They’re probably the biggest surprise in all of college hoops.

-Tulsa v Western Kentucky was close all throughout with Tulsa coming from behind in the second half. There were several lead changes in the final minute before Tulsa hit an amazingly executed 3pt play to win the game right at the buzzer 82-81. This was a big road win for the Golden Hurricane and it came against a really good team that isn’t likely to lose too many at home, so it should age well on their resume.

-Belmont absolutely crushed UC Irvine on the Eaters’ own floor 84-58. Belmont is damn good!!

-UC San Diego, who we had been praising all season long, did absolutely nothing praiseworthy last night. They were upset at home by crosstown rival San Diego 82-80. I was thinking UCSD may be good enough to land inside the bubble, but this loss really hurts them.

-Seattle U got a big win over what looks to be a pretty good Washington team 70-66. I guess this means Seattle U is really good as well! They improve to 10-2 on the year and now have a nice win to go along with that record.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-SAINT JOHN’S VS KENTUCKY (CBS Sports Classic, Atlanta GA) – Kentucky has struggled all season long, but they did pick up a win against Indiana which could help jumpstart their momentum. Saint John’s hasn’t been quite as good as we expected yet, but the key word there is ‘Yet.’ They will likely start to pick up momentum over the winter break.

-COLORADO STATE AT UTAH STATE (Mountain West). These are two of the better teams in the Mountain West. Both have solid records, both have the potential to make the NCAA Tournament, but both also have limited chances at quality wins. This is actually a really exciting and high stakes conference opener that could determine who ultimately ends up winning it.

-OHIO STATE VS NORTH CAROLINA (CBS Sports Classic, Atlanta GA). Ohio State has looked pretty good. A win today would be their biggest statement win of the year and it would say to the committee that they need to start paying attention to them. But winning today won’t be easy. UNC is a very solid 10-1 on the year with the only loss being to Michigan State.

-HOUSTON VS ARKANSAS (Newark NJ). It’s odd that these two old SWC rivals are meeting in New Jersey of all places. Both teams are good, both are potential/likely protected seeds, and both could really use this win to help build up their resume. As good as Houston is, they haven’t managed any wins of this caliber yet so this is a big opportunity for them. The same holds true for Arkansas. They have some notable wins, but none as good yet as this one would be.

-AUBURN VS PURDUE (Indy Classic, Indianapolis IN). Purdue is very solidly in the hunt for a #1 seed. Auburn, while they aren’t quite as good as they were a year ago, is still a strong opponent. If Auburn were to somehow pull this upset it would slingshot their resume into the spotlight.

-DUKE VS TEXAS TECH (New York, NY). This game is at MSG. Duke has looked like one of the top teams in the country, and while Texas Tech hasn’t quite gotten there yet they were my preseason pick to win it all and I still think they can improve as the year goes on. A win today would be a HUGE statement for the Red Raiders, but that’s much easier said than done.

-STANFORD VS COLORADO (Phoenix AZ). Not much was expected from either team coming into the year, but both have solid records, both have looked good for most of the season, and both have gone seemingly completely unnoticed by the media. Both could really use this win today as a resume booster, but it could also help get whoever wins into the spotlight a little more.

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:

-Oakland vs Michigan State (Detroit MI) – it is the Ugly Sweater Game!! Oakland looks like the best team in the Horizon League, and they’ve played a brutal OOC schedule, but they are likely way overmatched in this one

-Liberty @ Dayton – We had high expectations for Liberty coming into the season, but they haven’t shown them yet. Dayton has looked solid and while Liberty is good, this is one where Dayton needs to hold serve at home

-Buffalo @ Western Michigan (MAC) – it’s the conference opener for a Buffalo team that’s had a surprisingly good season so far

-Elon @ Virginia Tech – Elon is coming off a really nice win against Richmond and appears to have a good team. VA Tech should be able to hold serve at home, but they better not overlook them

-Miami OH @ Ball State (MAC) – Miami OH is looking to remain unbeaten and pick up a road win as they begin conference play

-Kent State @ UMass (MAC) – it’s weird seeing UMass in the MAC. They’ve had a really good season so far and are hosting a pretty good Kent State team today at home. If nothing else this should be a fun game.

Marshall @ Troy (Sun Belt) – these are two of the better teams in the Sun Belt and Troy is perhaps the most entertaining team in the past decade or so

-Grand Canyon @ Wyoming – Wyoming is having a really good year, but their schedule so far has been weak so they need to hold serve

-Northwestern vs Butler (Indy Classic, Indianapolis IN) – Not much was expected from either team, but both have shown signs of life this season and this will be a good win for whoever manages to pull it off

-Maryland @ Virginia – Maryland has had a rough year and Virginia should be able to hold serve at home in this one.

-Xavier @ Georgetown (Big East) – Georgetown has had a pretty solid season so far and should be able to hold serve at home. Xavier has been up and down this year. They were way down in their last game, which was a blowout loss to Creighton

-San Jose State @ New Mexico (Mountain West) – New Mexico should be able to hold serve at home

-Boise State @ Nevada (Mountain West) – this is a tough road game for a Boise State team that has played pretty well since losing their season opener and who needs to keep that up

-San Diego State vs Arizona (Phoenix AZ) – San Diego State got off to a rough start this year and many have started to write them off. They have won three straight and while they are likely way overmatched in this one, this is a chance (albeit a long shot) to get the spotlight back on themselves. Arizona is the #1 team in the nation and they’ve certainly earned it

BUY GAMES:

-Montana @ Louisville
-Chicago State @ Indiana
-LeMoyne @ Saint Bonaventure
-Denver @ Northern Colorado (Front Range) – a win for NOCO gets them to 10-2
-Northeastern @ Syracuse
-Loyola Chicago vs Santa Clara – Game in Santa Cruz CA
-The Citadel @ Richmond
-Bucknell @ Iowa

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-SETON HALL @ PROVIDENCE (Big East). Seton Hall has been one of the biggest surprises of the season. They have what should be a tough conference road test tonight against a Providence team that that’s just 7-5 overall, but that’s a perfect 6-0 at home and starting to play better.

-TULSA AT WESTERN KENTUCKY. This is a tough road test for a Tulsa team that’s played well this season and appears to be good enough to land inside the bubble, but who won’t have that many chances to get quality wins between now and the end of the season. WKU is also a really solid team who has limited chances at quality wins and who should be way up for this one.

-WISCONSIN AT VILLANOVA. Both teams had expectations coming into the year, but both have fallen a little bit short so far and both still have work to do. Both could really use this win tonight, especially Wisconsin who was beaten badly by Nebraska in their last game and who doesn’t have a true road win yet this season.

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:

-Eastern Michigan @ Akron (MAC) – this should be a winnable conference home game for the Zips

-Belmont @ UC Irvine – this will be a tough road test for a Belmont team that’s 11-1 and may have an outside shot at making a run at the bubble. Like any Under the Radar team, they have a very thin margin for error and they need to hold serve on the road tonight

-Florida Atlantic @ Saint Mary’s – Saint Mary’s is a solid team, but they need to build up their profile. FAU is a solid opponent and the Gaels need to hold serve at home

-Washington @ Seattle U – Washington is off to a really good start and is showing signs of being good enough to make the NCAA Tournament. This is just a fun game because it’s on the road against a team from across town that’s also having a good year. Seattle U is 9-2, but they don’t have any wins as big as this one would be.

BUY GAMES:

-Alcorn State @ Baylor
-SELA @ LSU
-Abilene Christian @ BYU
-San Diego @ UC San Diego – UCSD should be able to take care of business in this one
-Cal Poly @ UCLA
-Morgan State @ California

NEWS AND NOTES:

-For our latest UNDER THE RADAR Video Podcast – CLICK HERE

-Vanderbilt got a battle from Memphis and needed overtime to finish them off, but they ended up getting the 77-70 win. Vandy is now 11-0 on the season with two true road wins.

-UCLA held off Arizona State 90-77. While Arizona State didn’t get the win, they certainly competed on the road against a really good UCLA team. The Sun Devils were not a team we thought much of coming into the year, but they may. but so far this season they’ve looked enough to make a run at the NCAA Tournament.

-Neither Creighton or Xavier are likely to end up anywhere near the bubble, but Xavier had been playing better. Last night was a night whree they DID NOT play better. Creighton won, at Xavier, 98-57. It was a stunning blowout win on the road for the Blue Jays.

-Wake Forest looks great on some nights, and on others it looks like they’re not within a thousand miles of the NIT. They held on to beat Longwood at home last night 71-68, but it was a poor showing in a home buy game.

-Santa Clara got a nice neutral(ish) win over a pretty good North Texas team 63-60. They trailed for much of the game, then got control in the final five minutes, but almost blew a 9 point lead before holding on to win.

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NOTABLE GAMES:

-Temple @ Davidson – Davidson is a very solid 8-2 on the year and should be able to handle Temple at home tonight

-Western Carolina @ Georgia
-American @ VCU
-Kansas City @ Oklahoma State
-Oral Roberts @ TCU

NEWS AND NOTES:

-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