NEWS AND NOTES
For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day, which highlights New Mexico State vs UTEP- CLICK HERE
-We had two surprises yesterday. The biggest one was probably Winthrop’s 61-59 win at Saint Mary’s. It’s always going to make people sit up and take notice when a UTR team takes down a ranked team, but one of the things that made this one a little shocking was that we didn’t even think Winthrop was a Big South frontrunner. You can point to Saint Mary’s and talk about the things they didn’t do, but in truth this Winthrop team really played well. In Winthrop’s previous game they nearly beat Fresno State, so while part of the story is that SMC may be ranked a little too high, the other part of the story is that Winthrop is potentially really good.
-The other surprise was DePaul’s win at Iowa. If DePaul had simply won at Iowa it would have been a little unexpected, but DePaul went into Iowa and totally boat-raced them. At no point was Iowa not getting blown out. DePaul, who has been really bad for the past decade and a half, is off to a 4-0 start with a blowout road win at Iowa. I think it’s time to start paying attention to the Blue Demons. At least for right now.
-Dartmouth, who had a nice win at Buffalo this past Friday, picked up another win and remains unbeaten. So much for me thinking they were the worst team in the Ivy!
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-PITTSBURGH AT ROBERT MORRIS. A short road trip across town for Pitt as they look to bounce back after a somewhat surprising loss to Nicholls and pick up their first road win of the season. Pitt does not play Duquesne this year, so this is the closest thing to the City Game that we are going to get.
-CREIGHTON AT MICHIGAN (Gavitt Tipoff Games). Both teams come in after beating up on a creampuff and face their first test of the season tonight. Both could use an early season quality win, and this is a resume building opportunity.
-MISSOURI AT XAVIER. Both of these teams have won a pair of buy games and face their first real test of the season tonight. Both teams missed The Dance last year and are hoping to have better seasons this year. This is an early season resume building game for whoever ends up winning it.
-DAVIDSON AT CHARLOTTE. Both teams are seeking their first win of the season in this crosstown OOC rivalry. Davidson lost their opener to Auburn, but we still think they are a potential NCAA Tournament caliber team.
-NORTHEASTERN AT UMASS. Northeastern is out to an impressive 2-0 start, and one of those wins came against a pretty good Harvard team. If they can get this one and improve to 3-0, and 2-0 in true road games then you kind of have to keep paying attention to them.
-AUBURN AT SOUTH ALABAMA. To their credit, Auburn likes to play the in-state teams on equal terms. And why not? These are winnable road games. Tonight they go on the road to South Alabama who is unbeaten on the season so far.
-MINNESOTA AT BUTLER (Gavitt Tipoff Games). Minnesota is coming off a somewhat surprising loss, so there is probably a slight sense of urgency to this game. Picking up a road win would be a great way to bounce back. Butler has blasted through two buy games, but this is their first real test.
-OREGON VS MEMPHIS (Phil Knight Invitational, Portland OR). While it’s technically a neutral site game, it will be a pro-Oregon crowd. This game is intriguing for several reasons. It’s two ranked teams who should compete for protected seeds, and this would be a huge win on the resume going toward that. It’s also the next chapter in the ongoing James Wiseman saga, who the NCAA says is likely ineligible, but who Memphis keeps playing anyway.
-OKLAHOMA VS OREGON STATE (Phil Knight Invitational, Portland OR). Both teams come into this game at 2-0, and both have actually managed at least a decent win so far. They’re also two teams that we have talked about as potential dark horses, so it’s going to be kind of fun watching them go at it tonight.
-MIAMI FL AT UCF. Neither team is expected to do much this season, but both are off to semi-good starts and can at least get a little bit of early season momentum built up with a win tonight.
-NEW MEXICO STATE AT UTEP – UTR Game of the Day
-NORTH TEXAS AT ARKANSAS. It’s a buy game, but both teams are unbeaten and since we think North Texas can make some noise in CUSA, then why not highlight it?
-WILLIAM & MARY AT WOFFORD. Both teams 2-0
-FURMAN AT CHARLESTON SOUTHERN. Furman is trying to get to 3-0 and pick up their second true road win. Again, this is a team that we think can land inside the bubble.
-TEXAS ARLINGTON AT NEVADA. I wasn’t really big on UTA this year, but if they get this win on the road and improve to 3-0 I will have to sit up and take notice.
-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT USC. It’s a buy game, but both teams are unbeaten so it is a compelling enough buy game to highlight.
-FRESNO STATE AT SAN DIEGO. Fresno State is looking to improve to 2-1 and pick up their first true road win.
-UNLV AT CALIFORNIA. I don’t expect either team to be all that good, but we will follow both of them until they give us a reason not to.
BUY GAMES
-Evansville @ Kentucky
-Central Arkansas @ Duke
-North Alabama @ Indiana
-Howard @ Notre Dame – this is actually a home and home, but it’s practically a buy game
-New Hampshire @ Saint John’s – both teams 2-0
-The Citadel @ Georgia
-Lamar @ Duquesne – both teams unbeaten
-SC State @ Liberty
-Norfolk State @ Ole Miss
-Cal Baptist @ Texas
-Northern Illinois @ Iowa State
-Alabama State @ Houston
-New Orleans @ SMU – The Southland favorite against a currently unbeaten SMU team
-Louisiana @ TCU – both teams unbeaten
-North Dakota @ Gonzaga – both teams unbeaten
-Denver @ Utah State
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ Washington
-Murray State @ Tennessee – both teams unbeaten. It’s a buy game, but an intriguing one
-Long Beach State @ Samford
