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HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!!!  On days like today we all need to step back and remember what it is that’s really important.  And what’s really important…IS COLLEGE BASKETBALL!!

CLICK HERE for our latest Under the Radar Video Podcast where we discuss, among other things Stephen F Austin

NEWS AND NOTES

-Maine scored just 26 points in their game at Virginia, but somehow still managed to cover the spread.  I wonder how many teams throughout history have failed to score 30pts, but still covered the spread?

-The game of the day…was NOT Maine vs Virginia.  It was Dayton vs Kansas in the Maui Invitational Championship game.  It may have been the game of the season s far.  After watching Dayton dismantle both Georgia and Virginia Tech, we knew they were good.  Kansas had to play their best game of the season so far to beat them in overtime, and they were lucky that they held on to do it.  Late in regulation Dayton took a 66-58 lead, but Kansas made a defensive adjustment going to a zone, which made it harder for Dayton to score in the paint.  An 11-0 run put Kansas up by 3 and it stayed close after that.  Dayton hit a deep 3-pointer at the end of regulation to force overtime, but Kansas went on to win in a thriller.  Both teams played fantastic defense and shot the ball well.  It was as good as I’ve seen any two teams to play this year, and this will likely be a notable win for Kansas as they contend for a #1 seed.  As for Dayton, you kind of hate that they played so well in this event, but didn’t get any monster wins, only decent wins against Virginia Tech and Georgia who may simply turn out to be NIT-ish caliber teams.  They will have chances later on in the season, but they are somewhat limited as the Atlantic Ten, while good, doesn’t have the number of high caliber teams that the Big 12 has.  Still, this Dayton team is legit.  I think they should be ranked in the top 15 (or perhaps higher) despite the fact that they didn’t get the win.

-Oregon trailed Seton Hall for most of the game, but managed to come back and get the lead in the final seconds, and then hold on to win.  It was two ranked teams and they did not disappoint.  Oregon faces Gonzaga today in another game that should be a lot of fun.

-Ole Miss handed Penn State their first loss in what was another exciting game.  They also had to come from behind to do it.  Neither of these teams were ranked, but it wouldn’t shock me to see both of them inside the bubble come March.

-Bradley handed Kansas State their second loss of the season in the Fort Myers Tip-Off.  A nice win for Bradley, but a rather underwhelming showing in this event for K State.

-George Mason held on to beat an injured but still improving New Mexico State team to win the Cayman Islands Classic and improve to 8-1 on the year.  They are one of many teams to keep an eye on in the Atlantic Ten this year.

-West Virginia kept Wichita State at arms length for pretty much the entire game to remain unbeaten and win the Cancun Challenge.  I really like this West Virginia team, and they now have what should turn out to be two decent neutral floor wins on their resume.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-MARYLAND VS TEMPLE (Orlando Invitational).  Both teams come into this one unbeaten, and both already have a smattering of decent wins with Temple winning out at USC and Maryland knocking off Rhode Island and George Mason.  This is another potentially resume building opportunity, not to mention the chance to get on the winners side of the bracket and have (most likely) other better opportunities in this event.

-TEXAS A&M VS HARVARD (Orlando Invitational).  Texas A&M is rebuilding, and although they come in 3-1 they really haven’t passed any tests yet.  Harvard was a team that we were really big on coming into the year, but up until now just hasn’t performed.  Maybe a strong showing in this tournament could snap them out of it.

-NORTH CAROLINA VS MICHIGAN (Battle 4 Atlantis).  Neither team has a loss yet.  North Carolina comes into this game ranked really high whereas not as much was expected from Michigan.  If the Wolverines were to win this, it would firmly catapult them onto the national scene and have people looking at them as a tournament caliber team.

-PROVIDENCE VS LONG BEACH STATE (Wooden Legacy).  Providence has been somewhat of a disappointment this year, but if they were to do well in this event it could begin to turn their season around.

-OREGON VS GONZAGA (Battle 4 Atlantis).  This should be a really fun one this afternoon between two highly ranked teams that could end up as protected seeds.  Oregon already has wins away from home against Memphis and Seton Hall, whereas Gonzaga is still looking for their first really big win of the year.  They have that opportunity today.

-NC SATE VS MEMPHIS (Barclay’s Center Classic).  Memphis is coming off of a good win against Ole Miss and is just trying to hang on until they can get back to full strength later in the year.  NC State hasn’t lost since the season opener, but they haven’t been tested like this either.

-USC VS FAIRFIELD (Orlando Invitational).  This appears to be a huge mismatch.  USC just needs to make sure they don’t slip up.

-WAKE FORST VS CHARLESTON (Wooden Legacy).  Charleston was a team we thought would be good this year, but they haven’t exactly set the world on fire yet.  This event is a good chance for them to build up their resume.

-DAVIDSON VS MARQUETTE (Orlando Invitational).  Davidson is off to a somewhat pitiful 2-3 start, and this was a team that we thought would contend in the Atlantic Ten and land inside the bubble.  This event does give them the chance to get things turned around in a hurry.  It’s a resume building opportunity for Marquette as well.

-ALABAMA VS IOWA STATE (Battle 4 Atlantis).  Both of these teams are looking to bounce back after a loss yesterday and pick up a decent neutral floor win.

-TEXAS TECH VS IOWA (Las Vegas Invitational).  Texas Tech comes in at 5-0, but this is hands down their biggest test of the year so far.  Having said that, Iowa’s only wins have been buy games, so the winner of this game will be winning their first non-buy game.

-UCF VS PENN (Wooden Legacy).  UCF is out to a respectable 3-1 start and Penn has been a little schizophrenic, but they do have wins over Alabama and Providence on the road.  If they can play well in this tournament then we may have to start thinking of Penn as a solid tournament team.

-SETON HALL VS SOUTHERN MISS (Battle 4 Atlantis).  Seton Hall shouldn’t have any trouble today.  The problem is that this win isn’t exactly the kind of win that jumps out at the committee, so they just need to hold serve to get a chance at a decent win tomorrow.

-SAN DIEGO STATE VS CREIGHTON (Las Vegas Invitational).  San Diego State is off to an impressive 6-0 start and has a chance to continue to build up their resume in this event.  Creighton is a respectable 4-1, but up until now they’ve really just won buy games.  This event is a chance for them to add some quality wins to their resume.

-PEPPERDINE VS ARIZONA (Wooden Legacy).  This game appears to be a mismatch as Arizona is unbeaten and ranked in the teens, whereas Pepperdine…well..isn’t.  If Arizona can hold serve they should get some opportunities at quality wins in the later rounds.

NEWS AND NOTES

-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day between Furman and UT Arlington – CLICK HERE

-So, something that had not happened in 27 years prior to this season has now happened twice in two weeks.  Yesterday Stephen F Austin, an obvious UTR team, went on the road to #1 ranked Duke and pulled off the upset win.  They hung in there, and you just kept waiting for Duke to blow it open, but it didn’t happen.  SFA came up empty on some key possessions at the end of regulation and at the end of OT (I guess in that situation every possession is a key possession), and Duke had the ball in what appeared to be the final possession of the overtime in a tie game.  BUT!!! SFA forced a turnover, which resulted in a fast break layup right as time expired.  It was surreal!  Again!  We saw this a very short time ago when Evansville went into Kentucky and won.

-Auburn struggled in the first half against a pesky Richmond team, but held on to win in the Legends Classic.  It was Richmond’s first loss of the year, and I get the feeling that they have a lotto wins ahead of them.

-Colorado trailed Clemson for much of the game, but came back to get the win and stay undefeated on the season.

-Wichita State, who had a sub-par year last year which seemed to have caused a lot of people to kind of forget about them, absolutely dump-trucked South Carolina to remain unbeaten on the year.  They’ve got another big one tonight against West Virginia.  This looks like a top 25 caliber team to me so far.

-Arizona State came from behind to beat Princeton!  By 2!  Princeton remains winless.  Not exactly a statement win for the Sun Devils.

-DePaul needed to overcome an 18pt deficit to come back and beat Central Michigan, but they were able to do so and are still unbeaten on the year.

-Northern Iowa led West Virginia for most of the game down in the Cancun Challenge, but let it slip away in the final minutes.  A flagrant foul late in the game didn’t help things.  It was a missed opportunity for Northern Iowa to pick up a notable win away from home and go on to play a pretty good Wichita State team tonight, which would have helped them out even more.  It was a big win for West Virginia, but they’ll have far more chances at wins like this than UNI will the rest of the way.

-New Mexico picked up their first big win of the year as they knocked off Wisconsin 59-50.  Not to take anything away from the Lobos, but when you look at Wisky you start to notice that they quality wins just aren’t there yet.

-For the second day in a row, Dayton blew someone out in the Maui Invitational.  Yesterday it was a red hot and unbeaten Virginia Tech team that was coming off a huge upset win against Michigan State.  Dayton gets Kansas tonight.  If they can win that one then not only should the Flyers be ranked, but they should be HIGHLY ranked!

-Butler held on to beat Stanford in a thriller in the Hall of Fame Classic to stay unbeaten on the year.  They have certainly exceeded all expectations so far

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-MICHIGAN VS IOWA STATE (Battle 4 Atlantis).  Iowa State comes in 3-1, but is still looking for their first notable win.  Michigan is unbeaten and already has a decent win against Creighton.  Both teams will have the opportunities to build their resume throughout this event.

-SAINT LOUIS VS BOSTON COLLEGE (Gotham Classic).  Saint Louis is a respectable 5-1 right now.  Adding a neutral floor win to their resume against a so-so Boston College team won’t be a difference maker, but it would certainly help more than it would hurt.

-MICHIGAN STATE VS UCLA (Maui Invitational).  This is probably not the fifth place game that anyone was expecting.  Michigan State struggled down the stretch against Georgia yesterday, but got the win and is looking to add another neutral floor win to their resume.  UCLA is still looking for their first win of note, and if they can pull off the upset then this would certainly qualify.

-NORTH CAROLINA VS ALABAMA (Battle 4 Atlantis).  UNC shouldn’t have too much trouble remaining undefeated against an Alabama team that looks like it’s still trying to find itself.  The Tar Heels will be tested a lot more later on in this event.

-OLE MISS VS PENN STATE (NIT Season Tip-Off).  Both teams have looked strong early on.  Penn State is unbeaten with a few notable wins and while Ole Miss has only won buy games, their only loss was by 1pt on the road to Memphis.  This is a resume building game for two teams that both look like they may be good enough to be dancing in March.

-DAYTON VS KANSAS (Maui Invitational).  Dayton has looked fantastic in this tournament so far.  Kansas appears to be the better team, but this game is hardly a gimme for them.  If anything it’s a chance for Dayton to continue to show that they’re not just good, but worthy of a high ranking if they can beat a Kansas team that thinks it can compete for a #1 seed.

-KANSAS STATE VS BRADLEY (Fort Meyers Tip-Off).  K State is looking to bounce back from a somewhat surprising loss to Pitt the other night.  They shouldn’t have too much trouble with a Bradley team that’s good by UTR standards, but not good enough to were you’d think they’d be able to beat K State.

-SOUTH CAROLINA VS NORTHERN IOWA (Cancun Challenge).  Northern Iowa had West Virginia on the ropes, but could not hold on for the win in the final minutes.  Still, they’re a good team that has a chance to land inside the bubble come March, but they need to pick up some wins away from home in games like this.  South Carolina suffered their first loss yesterday to Wichita State, but the game wasn’t even close.  They could use a win to bounce back as well.

-GONZAGA VS SOUTHERN MISS (Battle 4 Atlantis).  This would be a buy game if it wasn’t part of the Battle 4 Atlantis.  Gonzaga should roll, and will be facing much stronger competition in their next two games.

-OKLAHOMA STATE VS SYRACUSE (NIT Season Tip-Off).  Both teams have potential, but neither have won anything other than buy games yet, so this event is a chance for them to start putting some meat on their resume.

-NEW MEXICO STATE VS GEORGE MASON (Cayman Islands Classic).  New Mexico State continues to battle injuries, but they have managed to win their last two games.  George Mason comes in with a 7-1 record and can continue to build on what is shaping up to be a pretty good early season profile will a win today.

-WICHITA STATE VS WEST VIRGINIA (Cancun Challenge).  Both teams are unbeaten, both have looked good, and both are trying to continue to build their resumes and break onto the national scene.  This should be a pretty good one tonight.

-PITTBURGH VS NORTHWESTERN (Fort Meyers Tip-Off).  Both of these teams have been slow out of the gate, and both already have a few questionable losses and need to get things turned around if they want any hope at all of keeping pace.  Having said that, Pitt does have a few decent wins on their resume as well.

-GEORGIA VS CHAMINADE (nondiv1) (Maui Invitational).  If Georgia wins this, which is a safe assumption, it will be their only win in this event, and it won’t be against a div1 team.

-OREGON VS SETON HALL (Battle 4 Atlantis).  Both teams are ranked, both have already picked up some good wins, and both can continue to build their resumes today.  The committee favors teams who beat ranked teams away from home.

-OREGON STATE VS SAN JOSE STATE (Las Vegas Classic).  This isn’t the kind of win that would make people jump out of their seats, but this is a pretty good Oregon State team and it is a chance for them to pick up some winnable games way from home.

-VIRGINIA TECH VS BYU (Maui Invitational).  Virginia Tech was blasted by Dayton yesterday, but they’ve still been one of the bigger surprises of the season and if they can get out of this with another notable win away from home they’ll still be in very good shape.  It’s a good opportunity for BYU to pick up a notable win as well.

BUY GAMES (and equivalencies)

-SC State @ Tulsa
-UT Arlington @ Furman
-Maine @ Virginia
-Manhattan @ Rhode Island
-Hartford @ SMU
-Stony Brook @ Delaware – a win for Delaware gets them to 7-0
-Gallaudet (nondiv1) @ Vermont

CLICK HERE for the latest Hoops HD Report where we discuss all the action in the exempt tournaments, and more!

NEWS AND NOTES

-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day between Miami OH and South Alabama – CLICK HERE

-Let’s begin out in Maui, where Virginia Tech pulled off a stunning upset against #3 Michigan State.  I don’t think there has ever been a single game that shifted my opinion about a team more than that one did.  VA Tech lost all five of their starters from a season ago, along with their head coach.  All the buckets appeared to be empty and they looked like one of the bottom two teams in the ACC.  Now all of a sudden they are undefeated with a road win at Clemson (which is Clemson’s only loss) and a neutral floor win against Michigan State.  This is a solid top 25 caliber team.  24 hours ago I would have told you they were not even a top 100 team.

Also impressive out in Maui was Dayton, who will face Virginia Tech tonight.  They blew past a talented (but young) Georgia team in their game yesterday, and it will be interesting to see if they can keep that momentum going tonight.

-Cincinnati needed overtime to get past Valparaiso.  The good news for Cincinnati is that they’ve been winning their games.  The bad news is that they haven’t looked impressive at all in doing so.  The coaching change is probably effecting them since the style he wants to play is something they’re not used to, but to barely beat Illinois State, then lose to Bowling Green, and then barely beat Valpo….it wasn’t exactly a strong showing for them down at the Paradise Jam.

-Pittsburgh picked up a nice win against a pretty good Kansas State team, which was kind of a surprise.  Pitt now has wins against Florida State and K State, and a loss to Nicholls.  #SchizophrenicPitt

-Butler pretty much rolled past Missouri.  Butler looked to be shorthanded coming into the year, and then they lost a few more players to injury within the first couple of games, so I wasn’t expecting much from them at all.  But, they’re unbeaten and have some pretty good wins.  And on top of that, they’re starting to get healthy again.

-Stanford was another team that I wasn’t expecting much out of, but they are undefeated and looked pretty good yesterday as they absolutely rolled over Oklahoma.   Their game against Butler tonight should be a good one.

-Richmond picked up a huge win over Wisconsin.  Suddenly you have to sit up and take notice of the Spiders who are undefeated and now have a couple of notable wins on their resume.  If they can somehow knock off Auburn tonight then we may be talking Top 25 for the Spiders.

-Arkansas remained unbeaten with a bank-shot game winning three pointer at the end of overtime to knock off Georgia Tech on the road.  That’s a pretty good start for the Razorbacks.

-Nevada picked up their third straight win to win the Paradise Jam, which gets them to 5-3 on the year after a somewhat sluggish start.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-NEW MEXICO STATE VS SOUTH FLORIDA (Cayman Islands Classic).  Both of these team were set up to have big years, and I suppose that they still can, but as for now they are both dealing with big time injuries that are impacting their teams.  Still, the winner will move on to the finals of this event tomorrow.

-GEORGIA VS MICHIGAN STATE (Maui Invitational).  Georgia lost big to Dayton yesterday, which may have been a bit of a wake up call for this young roster, but they’ve got another huge test today against a Michigan State team that fell to Virginia Tech in a really big upset.  Both teams are looking to bounce back and get notable neutral floor win on their resume.

-UCLA VS CHAMINADE (nondiv1) (Maui Invitational).  If UCLA loses this one then they are really in trouble.

-WISCONSIN VS NEW MEXICO (Legends Classic).  It’s the third place game, but that means absolutely nothing.  It counts the same as it would if this were just a regular season one-off on a neutral floor.  Wisconsin suffered a somewhat surprising loss to Richmond yesterday and is looking to bounce back against a decent New Mexico team that’s still looking for its first really big win.

-WICHITA STATE VS SOUTH CAROLINA (Cancun Challenge).  Wichita State is unbeaten and has looked pretty good, but they haven’t been challenged the way that they likely will be in this event.  South Carolina has just one loss and this is a chance for them to pick up some notable wins as well.

-APPALACHIAN STATE AT EAST TENNESSEE STATE.  ETSU is good enough to land inside the bubble this March, but they have to keep winning and avoid losses in games like this.

-ARIZONA STATE AT PRINCETON.  Kind of an odd road game for the Sun Devils, but it’s a winnable road game which will help out their resume more than just a regular home buy game would.

-FURMAN AT ELON.  A win for Furman gets them to 6-1 on the year, as well as their third road win of the season

-OKLAHOMA VS MISSOURI (Hall of Fame Classic).  Both teams have looked good at times, but both could also use a notable win on their resume, so this game does have a bit of a sense of urgency to it.  That being said, both will have many opportunities between now and the end of the year to prove themselves to the selection committee.

-AUBURN VS RICHMOND (Legends Classic). Richmond has been fun to watch this season, and they picked up a huge win against Wisconsin yesterday to get to the championship game tonight against an unbeaten Auburn team that absolutely steamrolled New Mexico.  It’s a resume building opportunity for both teams.

-GEORGE MASON VS NEBRASKA (Cayman Islands Classic).  Nebraska has been awful this year and George Mason has been better than expected.  They can continue to add neutral floor wins to their resume if they can get past the Huskers.

-CENTRAL MICHIGAN AT DEPAUL.  This is a buy game, but since Central Michigan has just one loss and since DePaul is unbeaten I guess we will go ahead and highlight it.

-DAYTON VS VIRGINIA TECH (Maui Invitational).  Dayton just looked fantastic in their win against Georgia, and in one sense you wanted to see what they could do against a heavyweight like Michigan State, but in another sense you’re excited to see what they can do against a Virginia Tech team that appears to be a much bigger heavyweight than what anyone realized.  This one should be fun tonight, and like so many of these games it’s a resume building opportunity.

-NORTHERN IOWA VS WEST VIRGINIA (Cancun Challenge).  A really interesting game here between a Northern Iowa team that we think is one of the better UTR teams out there, and a West Virginia team that’s looking to have a bounce back season.  Both teams come into this one unbeaten.

-WYOMING VS TCU (MGM Resorts Main Event).  TCU is off to a fairly decent start, but needs to bounce back from their overtime loss to Clemson and take advantage of some winnable games away from home like this one.

-STANFORD VS BUTLER (Hall of Fame Classic).  I didn’t expect either of these teams to be good this year, especially Butler with all of the injuries they’ve dealt with, but both have looked fantastic and both have knocked off some solid opponents along the way.  This should be a fun one tonight.

-KANSAS VS BYU (Maui Invitational).  BYU has been up and down this season, whereas Kansas has pretty much been up ever since they lost their season opener to Duke in what was a very close game.  The winner moves on to the championship game tomorrow night.

-COLORADO VS CLEMSON (MGM Resorts Main Event).  Both teams are coming into this with quite a bit of momentum, and a win in this game would look good on an NCAA Tournament resume, so it should be a fun one.

BUY GAMES (and equivalencies)

-Hampton @ San Francisco
-Fairleigh Dickinson @ Notre Dame
-NJIT @ Rutgers
-Lindenwood (nondiv1) @ Illinois
-Houston Baptist @ Houston
-SFA @ Duke
-UC Davis @ California