Hoops HD

-Western Kentucky is the nation’s most schizophrenic team this year.  They’ve got wins away from home against West Virginia and Arkansas, and picked up a huge win against Wisconsin yesterday.  They’ve also got losses to Missouri State and Troy.  They may make the Sweet Sixteen, or they may lose in the opening round of the Conference USA Tournament.  For Wisconsin it is a bit of a setback, but only a bit of one.  They’re still a really strong team and will have more than enough opportunities to rack up big wins in conference play.  Speaking of setbacks…

-Arizona State fell at home to Princeton.  They had at least three shots to win it on the final possession with a missed shot where Princeton got the rebound but turned it over, a rebound after another missed shot, and yet another missed shot.  Speaking of schizophrenic, let’s look at Arizona State’s last four games.  They barely beat a Georgia team that isn’t good, they get crushed by a Vanderbilt team that will likely miss the tournament, they beat top ranked Kansas at home, and they lose to Princeton at home.

-Saint John’s suffered their first loss in their conference opener at Seton Hall, but I ended up being more impressed with the Johnnies than anything else.  This was by far their toughest game of the year, and they ended up losing at the buzzer on the road to one of the better teams in the conference.  If they play like that for the rest of the season they’ll win a lot of games and end up in the tourney.

-Iowa had to sweat out Bryant, but managed to hold on.

-Notre Dame had to REALLY sweat out Coppin State, who was winless, but finally got control of the game late.

-DePaul, who’d had a semi-successful OOC run, lost their home conference opener to Xavier.  Both these teams still have a lot of work to do if they want to land inside the bubble.

-In one of the more surprising results of the day, Toledo absolutely blew out Penn.  It’s not that Toledo won because we knew that they were good, but that they completely blew a very good Penn team off the court.  Buffalo is not going to have a cakewalk in the MAC, and they may not be the only team MAC team that ends up in the NCAA Tournament.

-Congrats to Texas Southern who won yet another road buy game after knocking off Texas A&M.  They clearly look to be the best team in the SWAC, and if they do play their way into the field they’re potentially more dangerous than what we’re used to seeing.

-Florida jumped out to a 21-0 lead on Butler, and basically led by that margin or more for the rest of the game.  This was expected to be a good game.  Too bad that Butler was unable to show up.

-Furman, the mostly deserved media darlings, were blown off the planet yesterday in their first conference road game at East Tennessee State.  We’ve talked about how good we thought the SoCon was, and while that Furman had some big wins, we didn’t think they were even the best team in the conference.  Yesterday’s result has us standing by those statements.

-A really nice win for Purdue at home over Belmont yesterday.  It wasn’t the kind of win that drastically changes their resume, but it was a game where Purdue didn’t overlook a really strong Belmont team, and actually looked like a top 25 team themselves, which they haven’t always done this season.

-UCLA = Bad.  Nothing against a Liberty team that’s gonna make quite a bit of noise in the ASun, but the Bruins are reeling right now and will need to pick it up just to end up in the NIT.

-The Fresno State team that we were all big on and all excited about!!….lost at home to Utah Valley yesterday.

-Kansas State won at home against George Mason, but barely.  They nearly blew a huge lead and suffered what would have been a rather damaging loss to a George Mason team that’s nowhere close to the bubble.

-Stony Brook won their 7th true road game yesterday, which I believe leads the nation.

-LIPSCOMB AT CLEMSON.  Both teams come into this at 9-3, but Lipscomb is actually the team with the more impressive resume up to this point.  It’s been a bit of a disappointing start for Clemson, but they still have a high ceiling and are still good enough to land safely inside the bubble come March.  They’ve still got work to do, though, and a win today would be a big start.  As for Lipscomb, If they can pick up this win and then blow through the conference they may be in a position to make the field without needing the automatic bid.

-NEW MEXICO STATE AT COLORADO STATE.  New Mexico State didn’t look all that strong in their last couple of games, but they still look like one of the bests teams in the WAC and should still be in a good position if they can blow through the rest of their season, which they are good enough to do.

-ALABAMA AT STEPHEN F AUSTIN.  A rare type of road game that won’t be easy for the Crimson Tide.  SFA hasn’t done much OOC, but they’ve also not gotten to play any teams like this at home for quite some time.  They will likely be a strong force in the Southland once league play starts up.

-Binghamton @ Michigan
-Rider @ VCU
-Lehigh @ West Virginia – Lehigh has looked like one of the better Patriot League teams, but they’re probably overmatched today
-Appalachian State @ Saint Louis
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ Minnesota
-Drexel @ Hofstra (Colonial) – Hofstra can improve to 12-3 on the year
-Columbia @ Northwestern

-We’ve got another busy Saturday today!  It’s the last Saturday before most conferences begin conference play, so we’ve got quite a few buy games today.  I guess everyone wants to eat one last cupcake.  But there are quite a few big games as well.

-DAVIDSON AT NORTH CAROLINA.  Davidson is off to a halfway decent start, but they still need a really big win if they want to end up on the right side of the bubble.  This would be a season defining win for them if they’re able to pull it off.  Having said that, it is much easier said than done.

-BYU AT MISSISSIPPI STATE.  Mississippi State may be good enough to end up as a protected seed, and shouldn’t have too much trouble taking care of BYU at home.

-NEVADA AT UTAH.  Nevada clearly appears to be the superior team, and has already passed some pretty tough tests.  Utah is unbeaten at home, though, so they don’t want to completely overlook them in this one.

-KENTUCKY AT LOUISVILLE.  This is a huge rivalry game, and the build up for this year’s edition is pretty good.  Louisville already has some big wins, and arguably has the better resume, and has improved as the year has gone along.  Kentucky is coming off what is easily their most impressive showing of the year with a decisive win against North Carolina, so they’ll also come in with quite a bit of momentum.  This is the first true road game of the season for Kentucky, so if they win this one they’re suddenly looking like a solid protected seed.  Perhaps the same is true for Louisville.

-XAVIER AT DEPAUL (Big East).  DePaul still has some work to do, but at 8-3 and with a smattering of decent wins they seem to be improved.  Xavier has pretty much done nothing other than win home buy games, and has a lot of work to do in league play if they want to end up on the right side of the bubble.

-PENN AT TOLEDO.  This is a huge Under the Radar game that could have NCAA Tournament implications.  Penn comes in at 10-2 with four true road wins, and has some big wins on their resume already.  Toledo’s schedule has been weaker, but they are 11-1 on the year and will still have the opportunities to play their way inside the bubble if they can blow through most of the teams in their conference, and pick up a later win against Buffalo.  It’s a big test with a lot on the line for both teams.

-GEORGIA SOUTHERN AT DAYTON.  Dayton doesn’t have any really good wins, but they don’t really have any bad losses either, and have looked in a lot of their games.  Every year we see teams that got off to a late start make a big charge in the second half of the season.  It could be that Dayton is one of those teams.  They better not overlook Georgia Southern, though.

-NJIT AT HOUSTON.  It’s a buy game, but NJIT has a bloated record and is probably better than what most people realize.  Still, they’re likely overmatched in this one, and Houston should improve to 13-0.

-BUTLER AT FLORIDA.  Butler has played well this season, but a win like this would really strengthen their resume and move them further inside the bubble.  Florida has struggled at times, but they’ve still got a high ceiling and will have the opportunities they need to make a case for themselves.  Their resume isn’t as good as Butler’s right now, but both teams have room for improvement which is why this is a big game.

-FURMAN AT EAST TENNESSEE STATE (SoCon).  This will NOT be an easy road game for Furman.  As good as Furman has been, and as many weeks as they spent in the rankings, this is still one of the tougher games they’ve played this season up to this point.  And it’s a conference game, so there is quite a bit at stake.

-BELMONT AT PURDUE.  This is a fascinating match-up between a very good Belmont team that hasn’t gotten the respect that we think they deserve (yet) and a Purdue team that’s really talented and that’s played well at times, but still has a lot of work to do if they want to end up safely inside the bubble.  The Boilers are unbeaten at home, and they are most likely the more talented team, but they better not overlook Belmont.

-CHATTANOOGA AT UNC GREENSBORO (SoCon).  Not a whole lot of chatter about UNCG, but they are one of the better teams in the SoCon (if not the best), and with just two losses they could make a case that they belong in the field even without the automatic bid if they’re able to blow through conference play.

-SOUTHERN MISS AT LOUISIANA TECH (Conference USA).  I really like this LA Tech team, and think they’re good enough to win CUSA and end up with a very impressive resume by the end of the year.

-WISCONSIN AT WESTERN KENTUCKY.  Wisky has a really strong team that looks like they could end up as a protected seed.  WKU has been rather schizophrenic this year with some big wins mixed with questionable losses.  They are a very talented team, and this is a big showcase game for them since they’re playing a nationally ranked power program at home, so while Wisky is better this still may not be the easiest game for them to win.

-LIBERTY AT UCLA.  UCLA’s margin for error is quickly approaching zero, and it’s entirely fair to question if they’re good enough to make it no matter what their margin of error is.  They better not overlook this Liberty team.

-CHARLESTON AT UNC WILMINGTON (Colonial).  If CofC is able to win out, which they are good enough to do, they could end up right on the bubble, or even inside of it.

-OREGON AT BOISE STATE.  Oregon is falling further and further behind the pack and needs to pick up their first road win in order to have any shot at all at getting caught back up.

-GEORGE MASON AT KANSAS STATE.  George Mason is playing a little better after a horrific start to the season.  K State still looks like an NCAA Tournament caliber team and will probably be back in the rankings and safely in the field by the time it’s all over, but for now they still just look like a home court hero.

-STONY BROOK AT NORTHERN IOWA.  They probably won’t end up near the bubble, but Stony Brook is a team to keep an eye on.  A win will get them to 12-3, as well as give them their 7th road win of the season.

-SAINT JOHN’S AT SETON HALL (Big East).  Huge test for The Johnnies.  They come into this game unbeaten, but this is by far their biggest test of the year.  Seton Hall already has some big wins on their resume, and they’re on their home court for this one.

-UC IRVINE AT PACIFIC.  Similar to Stony Brook, UCI is a team to keep an eye on.  They can improve to 12-3 and pick up their 6th road win with a win.

-SAN FRANCISCO AT UC SANTA BARBARA.  This is a really good San Francisco team who’s only loss was a close game against Buffalo.  They’ve got a tough road test against a pretty good UCSB team that’s unbeaten at home.

-High Point @ Ohio State
-Coppin State @ Notre Dame
-Howard @ Georgetown
-Tennessee Tech @ Tennessee
-UMBC @ Penn State
-Fairleigh Dickinson @ South Florida – USF still has a lot of work to do, but a win will get them to 10-2
-Tennessee State @ Vanderbilt
-Eastern Michigan @ Kansas
-Northern Illinois @ Michigan State
-FGCU @ Ole Miss
-Southwest Minnesota State (nondiv1) @ Nebraska
-Morehead State @ Missouri
-Saint B0naventure @ Syracuse.  Not technically a buy game, but practically one.  Syracuse cannot afford to lose it
-Princeton @ Arizona State
-Colgate @ Pittsburgh
-North Florida @ Auburn
-Radford @ Maryland – we like Radford and think they can win the Big South.  Maryland better not overlook them
-New Orleans @ Baylor
-Buffalo @ Canisius (Big Four)
-Utah Valley @ Fresno State
-Bryant @ Iowa
-Central Connecticut @ Oregon State