NEWS AND NOTES:
-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE
-Michigan has had quite a week. They blew Xavier out of the gym down in Fort Myers last Wednesday, and then last night picked up what may be the most impressive true road won any team has managed this season so far when they won at Wisconsin 67-64. The Wolverines lost to Wake Forest on the second game of the year, and I think it’s safe to say that they’ve improved a little bit since then. Perhaps more than a little bit.
-Kentucky at Clemson was a great same that seesawed back and forth the whole way through, with Clemson holding on for a 70-66 win. It’s probably the biggest win of the year so far for the Tigers despite it being a home game. This was a team that was in the Elite Eight last year, and has quite a few pieces back from that team, so maybe we were undervaluing them somewhat. As for Kentucky, it was their first loss of the year, and while it was a missed opportunity to pick up a big true road win, I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a major setback. They’re good, and they’ve got a ton of big games left on their schedule, so they’ll be fine.
-Tennessee’s next close game will be their first. They continue to just blow teams off the floor, and had no trouble with Syracuse last night winning 96-70.
-Louisville, who is now having to deal with season ending injuries to key players, was blown off the floor by Ole Miss 86-63. Ole Miss is really good. We need to recognize that. But Louisville did not look like the same team that they were down in the Battle 4 Atlantis prior to the injuries.
-Cincinnati had their first real test of the season last night, and failed it. They lost to Villanova 68-60 in a game that Nova controlled pretty much the entire way. What’s concerning is that given Cincinnati’s weak overall OOC schedule, it actually puts more pressure on them to get wins, and get wins away from home, in conference play. And, the teams they’ll be playing in the Big 12 appear to be much better than Villanova.
-Iowa won 80-79 over Northwestern on a thrilling last second 3-pointer in what was the conference opener for both teams. The finish was dramatic, and the students stormed the court! Against Northwestern! How often has that happened to them throughout their history!!?? I know this is coming off as more backhanded than I’d like it to, but Northwestern’s program has elevated in recent years. I can’t recall anyone ever storming the court on them before. As for this season, it’s the 3rd loss of the year for Northwestern, and all have been close games away from home, which I know is frustrating, but they still have the potential for a big year.
-McNeese lost at home to Santa Clara 74-67 and is now a somewhat mediocre 4-4 on the season. They do have Mississippi State coming up in a couple of weeks, and if they win out and then run the table after that they may get a look from the committee, but we’ve been saying since October that they needed these early wins if they wanted any chance at all of getting inside the bubble, and they just haven’t delivered.
-For about 35 minutes last night the Miami Hurricanes were fantastic against a solid Arkansas team! They were finally starting to look like that sleeper team I talked about before the season! And then for the final 5 minutes, they once again looked like the team that has been asleep all season. Arkansas came back and got a nice (or at least I think it will be nice) 76-73 road win. Miami FL is now a disappointing 3-5 on the season and the hill they need to run up to get inside the bubble is getting steeper and steeper.
-Georgia blasted Notre Dame 69-48 to improve to 8-1 and is one of the many SEC teams that is looking like a solid tournament team.
-Princeton got a really big road win at Saint Joseph’s 77-69, which is probably their biggest of the year and certainly the best I’ve seen them look on the court. They have another very tough road test coming up this weekend at Furman, who is one of the better UTR teams in the country. They also have Rutgers in a couple of weeks, so the chances for Princeton to build up their resume are still in front of them despite a somewhat disappointing start.
-Providence blasted BYU 83-64. I’m not sure where that has been all year, but the Friars picked a good night to turn things around and start playing like a solid team. They go to Rhode Island on Saturday for what will be a very tough and tense rivalry game.
-UCLA, who has been a little quiet since losing their opener, played and won their first ever Big Ten game against Washington yesterday 69-58. Typing that just feels strange.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-BAYLOR AT UCONN. Both teams have underperformed somewhat so far this season, but both still have a ton of potential and both have a big opportunity today to turn things around with a big win. Baylor does have wins over Saint John’s and Arkansas, whereas UConn finished last out in Maui and to date their only wins have been home buy games.
-OHIO STATE AT MARYLAND (Big Ten). Ohio State is coming off a tough home loss to Pitt and is looking to bounce back in their conference opener. This is also just their 2nd true road game of the season, but they do have a nice win against Texas. This would be a big win for Maryland as well because while they’re 7-1, they’ve beaten Villanova and won 6 home buy games, so they don’t have a really good win on their profile yet.
-ALABAMA AT NORTH CAROLINA. North Carolina is just 4-3 on the year, but it’s actually an impressive 4-3 with a win over Dayton, and close losses at Kansas and against Michigan State. They’ve got another tough game tonight against Alabama who is coming off a close loss to Oregon, and who is dealing with a key injury as well. It’s a big resume-building opportunity for both teams.
-VIRGINIA AT FLORIDA. Florida has handily beaten Florida State, Wake Forest, and Wichita State, and clearly appears to be the superior team. Virginia is a modest 5-2, but has beaten no one in the same universe as the Gators yet.
-MARQUETTE AT IOWA STATE. Marquette is off to an incredible start and is well deserving of their #5 ranking. Having said that, as good as they’ve been and as many tough games as they’ve won, this will be their toughest test. Iowa State is also in the top ten, and they have one of the toughest home courts in the country. If Marquette can somehow pull this off it’s the type of win that makes you say that a team deserves a #1 seed.
-LOUISIANA TECH AT MEMPHIS. LA Tech is a team that we have been really big on, but they sort of blew it against Southern over the weekend in a game you would have thought they would have easily won. Still, that’s their only loss, and if they can somehow go on the road and win at Memphis then you’d have to start thinking of them as a tournament-caliber team. Memphis has just one loss, and it came against Auburn in the Maui Championship. They’ve had an incredible start to the season and should pick up another decent win tonight.
-KANSAS AT CREIGHTON. Creighton has been in a bit of a tailspin, and while they did edge out Notre Dame in their last game, they had been freefallig before that. Playing Kansas, even at home, is not an easy team to be playing when trying to pull yourself out of a tailspin. Having said that, while Kansas has beaten some really good teams, this is their first true road game and the crowd will almost assuredly be unhinged.
-MICHIGAN STATE AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten). Michigan State is coming off a real nice win against North Carolina, and has a few other really good wins as well. This is their first true road game, and while they appear to be better than Minney, it’s still a road game. And, it’s also the conference opener.
-WYOMING AT UTAH STATE (Mountain West). Utah State is off to a strong 7-0 start. They just won the Preseason NIT and should be able to hold serve at home against a decent-but-not-great Wyoming team.
-AUBURN AT DUKE. I believe Auburn has looked like the best team in the country so far, and already owns multiple wins that indicate that they are a #1 seed caliber team. Having said that, this is yet another extremely difficult test. They’re playing at Duke, who is in the top ten and may not lose at home all year. Duke has also been tested, and while they’ve shown their youth at times, those types of things tend to fade as the youth becomes more experienced throughout the year. This one should be fun, and if Auburn somehow wins it they’ll have done more in the first four weeks of the season than perhaps any team ever!
-PITTSBURGH AT MISSISSIPPI STATE. Pitt has looked fantastic this year and they’re coming off a nice win at Ohio State. This road test will be about that tough as Mississippi State is looking to bounce back from a loss to Butler and add another notable win to what is already a fairly decent profile.
-DEPAUL AT TEXAS TECH. DePaul is 7-0 against the weakest schedule in the country. If they can some how win this and get to 8-0, it would be a massive story! It won’t be easy, though. Texas Tech comes in at 6-1 and has a nice win against Syracuse. They’re showing all the signs of being a likely tournament team.
-TEXAS AT NC STATE. Texas has won six straight since losing their opener to Ohio State, but this is their first true road test of the year. NC State has won all five of their home games, but all were buy games. We should learn something about both of these teams tonight.
-VANDERBILT AT VIRGINIA TECH. Vandy was not a team we were all that big on coming into the year, but they are off to a 7-1 start with a couple of decent wins. This is their first true road game, but given how VA Tech has struggled it’s a came the Dores should be able to pick up.
-OREGON AT USC (Pac 12 Big Ten). Oregon had an incredible showing out in Maui, is a perfect 8-0 on the season, and has quickly (and deservedly) shot up the rankings. USC has not looked good at all in their last two games, and while they’re unbeaten at home this is by far their toughest test of the year.
-SAN DIEGO STATE AT FRESNO STATE (Mountain West). San Diego State had some great wins out at the Players Era Invitational after struggling a little bit early on, and has now cracked the rankings. This is their first true road test of the year, but it appears to be a winnable game for them.
BUY GAMES (and other games of note):
-Columbia @ Albany – a win for Columbia gets them to 9-0
-Saint Bonaventure @ Bucknell – Bona can get to 8-1 and pick up their 3rd road win of the season, which ain’t bad!
-George Washington @ American – GW can get to 8-1 and pick up their 1st road win of the year
-Georgia Southern @ VCU
-Alcorn State @ Wichita State
-San Jose State @ New Mexico (Mountain West) – conference opener. San Jose State has also won 3 straight, but none as tough as this will be
-South Dakota State @ Montana – South Dakota State can pick up their first true road win and improve to 8-2
