Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES

-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day between Belmont and Illinois State – CLICK HERE

-A win against a top 5 team (or as it currently stands a top 4 team) away from home is normally the kind of win that separates a team from the pack and gets them on the #1 line.  That’s what Kentucky and Duke picked up last night in the Champions Classic.  Now, it is just the first game, and we don’t know for sure if those wins will look quite as big at the end of the season as they do right now, but right now they look pretty huge.  Kansas struggled with turnovers in their game against Duke, but was still right in there to the very end.  If they can get that fixed then they probably won’t lose too many the rest of the way.  Kentucky led for most of the game against Michigan State, but couldn’t quite put them away until the final minute or so.  I get the sense that all four teams feel like they have things they can work on and will likely improve as the season goes on.  Playing a tough opponent early in the year can teach you more about yourself than just devouring a bunch of cupcakes in buy games.

-Saint Mary’s got a big win against Wisconsin on a neutral floor.  SMC appeared to have the game in hand, but Wisky came back, tied it, and actually had a shot at the buzzer to win the game that didn’t go down.  SMC picked up something last night that they’ve struggled to pick up in the past.  A solid OOC win away from home.

-There were some surprises last night, most notably Penn (who we thought of as a team that would finish in the top half of the Ivy League, but not quite on top of the Ivy League) going on the road to Alabama and getting the win.  Penn freshman Jordan Dingle had a spectacular college debut with 24pts, 7 rebounds, and the game winning shot with six seconds to go.  Alabama went to the line with just two seconds to play with a chance to tie or take the lead, but missed both freethrows.  Penn played a fantastic game and got the 81-80 win.

-Georgia Tech, who had some bad news this offseason, got their season off to a good start with a road win over NC State.  This is a bit of a head-scratching loss for a Wolfpack team that many of us thought would be a solid NCAA Tournament team.  It’s just one game, so they still could be, but it’s not the kind of home loss you oftentimes see out of a tournament caliber team.

-This won’t raise many eyebrows, but Furman picked up a nice road win at Gardner Webb.  I say that because I think this Furman team could end up inside the bubble.  I also don’t think that Gardner Webb will lose too many more at home, so they could end up getting a little more credit for the win last night than what most people think.

-Utah State had to really sweat out Montana State in their opener.  I have to admit that I was more impressed with Montana State (who I didn’t see as being one of the better teams in the Big Sky) than I was disappointed in Utah State.  There are certainly things that Utah State needs to work on, but it’s early November, so that’s true for everyone.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-WAKE FOREST AT BOSTON COLLEGE (ACC).  It’s the game of the year in the ACC!!!!  Just think about this.  One of these teams will be in first place for the next two months!!

-NOTRE DAME AT NORTH CAROLINA (ACC).  The Irish are looking to rebound from a really rough year last year.  They’ve got a tall order tonight against what will once again be a really strong UNC team.

-MERRIMACK AT MAINE.  Welcome to div1 basketball Merrimack!!  Their opening game, not just of the season, but of their div1 history, is at Maine.  And that raises the question…Is this actually a winnable game??!!

-SAN JOSE STATE AT HOFSTRA.  I kind of like this Hofstra team this year.  They should be able to get off to a 1-0 start.

-BELMONT AT ILLINOIS STATE.  This is a great UTR game between a Belmont team that, while rebuilding, still looks to be one of the better teams in the OVC, and an Illinois State team that could be a dark horse in the Missouri Valley this year.

-FLORIDA STATE AT PITTSBURGH (ACC).  It’s never easy to win on the road in conference, but I like this FSU team, and while Pitt has improved, I still think they’ve got a ways to go.

-CINCINNATI AT OHIO STATE.  Last year, when at long last these two teams had agreed to a regular season series, the game was really rough to watch.  It’s a big first game for both teams who can pick up a quality win against a (sort of) rival right out of the gate.

-VIRGINIA AT SYRACUSE (ACC).  A big game here as Virginia opens their season at Syracuse.  Seeing as how this is a conference game against the defending national champs, Syracuse should get a lot more buzz for this one than what they typically do for November home games.

-MONTANA AT STANFORD.  We are highlighting this one moreso for Montana than for Stanford.  This is actually a winnable road game for a Montana team that should be a contender in the Big Sky along with Eastern Washington.

BUY GAMES

-IUPUI @ Butler
-Mercer @ Saint John’s
-Green Bay @ Purdue
-North Alabama @ South Carolina
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ Georgetown
-Incarnate Word @ Missouri
-Northwestern State @ Texas A&M
-SEMO @ Vanderbilt
-SELA @ Tulane
-Oral Roberts @ Oklahoma State
-Northern Arizona @ Arizona
-Eastern New Mexico (nondiv1) @ New Mexico
-Long Beach State @ UCLA

HAPPY COLLEGE BASKETBALL SEASON EVERYBODY!!!

NEWS AND NOTES

–CLICK HERE for our Preseason Bracket Rundown Show

For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day between Boston U and Northeastern – CLICK HERE

Regardless of anything that is said below or that was said in any of our preseason coverage, the real truth is that all teams are starting out at zero.  There are teams that are not in the preseason rankings that will crack the top ten.  There are probably about seven or eight teams in the preseason top 25 that will miss the NCAA tournament entirely.  Happens every year.  No one really knows anything yet.  For all we know, the SWAC could win 80 percent of their OOC games and end up sending over half the league to the NCAA Tournament, and the AAC could only send one team.  When it comes to putting each of today’s games into context, the best we can do right now is hypothesize.  So, here it goes…

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-CENTRAL ARKANSAS AT BAYLOR.  It’s a buy game, but it’s the first game between two div1 teams, so we will go ahead and highlight it!!

-KANSAS VS DUKE (Champions Classic) (***Spotlight Game***).  It’s two top four teams, and two potential #1 seeds.  This will actually likely be one of the more important games that either team plays this season when it comes to being able to earn #1 seed.  It would be a super high quality win.

-MICHIGAN STATE VS KENTUCKY (Champions Classic) (***Spotlight Game***).  There are seasons where you go the whole year and never see a #1 vs #2 match-up.  This year, we get one on opening night!!  This is big in the sense that both teams will likely contend for a #1 seed, and it’s possible that both could end up getting it.  This would be a huge quality win and possibly a deciding factor on whether or not a team ends up with a #1 seed.

-PRINCETON AT DUQUESNE.  I like this Duquesne team, and think they’ll be able to make some noise in the A-10.  This is a very winnable game for them to kick off the season.

LOUISVILLE AT MIAMI FL (ACC).  This is our first look at a Louisville team that many believe to be a Final Four contender.  It’s never easy to play on the road, much less open on the road in a conference game, so even though many believe Miami is down this year it wouldn’t shock me if this wasn’t a cakewalk for the Cardinals.

-VIRGINIA TECH AT CLEMSON (ACC).  I don’t think either team will end up making the NCAA Tournament, but they both get a chance to get a notable win to start off their season.

-BRADLEY AT SAINT JOSEPH’S.  Last year’s Missouri Valley champions have a winnable road game tonight to start off the year.

-UMASS LOWELL AT UMASS.  This is a buy game, but UMass better watch out.  This Lowell team is a potential dark horse in the America East

-FURMAN AT GARDNER WEBB.  I like this Furman team and think they have a chance at landing inside the bubble.  This is a rather tough road game against what should be a pretty good Gardner Webb team, but if Furman is an at-large caliber team then this is the kind of game that they should be expected to be able to win.

-NORTHEASTERN AT BOSTON U (Bean Pot).  We mention this game only because of our love for mythical conferences!!

-SAMFORD AT MOREHEAD STATE.  Samford is a potential dark horse in the SoCon this year.  This is a winnable road game for them, and the kind of game they need to be able to win if they want to position themselves for a postseason tournament.

-LONG ISLAND AT RHODE ISLAND.  It’s a buy game, but it’s interesting enough to highlight because LIU is the favorites to win the NEC and Rhody is still rebuilding.

-UTSA AT OKLAHOMA.  This actually technically isn’t a buy game.  It’s also semi-interesting because UTSA is a darkhorse in CUSA, so the Sooners better not overlook them.

-DREXEL AT TEMPLE (Sort of Big Five).  Temple is in rebuilding mode, but they can get their season off to a feelgood start if they’re able to defeat their crosstown foes.

-PENN AT ALABAMA.  Alabama looks to be the better team, but they better not completely overlook Penn.  It’s not so much of a mismatch that it isn’t worth highlighting.

-OLD DOMINION AT NORTHERN IOWA.  A pretty good UTR game on opening night.  I like this Northern Iowa team and think they can make quite a bit of noise this season.

-NORTH DAKOTA STATE AT KANSAS STATE.  This is technically a buy game, but since North Dakota State is expected to be one of the frontrunners in the Summit League, and K State is in rebuilding mode, it’s interesting enough to go ahead and highlight.  This is actually a really good first game for both teams.

-GEORGIA TECH AT NC STATE (ACC).  This should be a very winnable game for an NC State team that will most likely land inside the bubble this year.  GA Tech looks to be improved, but they are also ineligible for the postseason.

-FRESNO STATE AT OREGON.  Oregon is beginning the season against a team that actually has a pulse!  They should win, but this is far more intriguing than most of the buy games today.

-SAINT MARY’S VS WISCONSIN (game in Sioux Falls, SD).  This is the kind of game you love to see on opening night!  It’s two teams that will likely make the NCAA Tournament going at it on a neutral floor with a chance to pick up a quality win, and also allow us to learn something about each of them early on.

-DENVER AT COLORADO STATE (Front Range).  Neither team is expected to be good at all, but we at Hoops HD LOVE the Front Range!!!

-UC IRVINE AT SAN DIEGO.  This is an interesting OOC game between a UC Irvine team that is expected to be a Big West frontrunner and a San Diego team that has been improving in recent years.

-PEPPERDINE AT CALIFORNIA.  Some say that Pepperdine is a potential dark horse in the WCC this year.  They have a chance to pick up a road win against a Pac Twelve team tonight.

-UTAH AT NEVADA.  Nevada is in complete rebuilding mode, and we’ve probably got more questions than answers right now about Utah as well.  It would be big for the Utes if they’re able to start off the season with a road win.

BUY GAMES

-Wagner @ Seton Hall
-North Florida @ Florida
-Jacksonville @ Xavier
-Saint Francis U @ VCU
-Sacred Heart @ Providence
-Western Illinois @ Indiana
-UMES @ Penn State
-MIT (nondiv1) @ Harvard
-NC A&T @ UNC Greensboro – I think this UNCG team has a shot at the bubble
-Western Carolina @ Georgia
-Appalachian State @ Michigan
-UNC Asheville @ Tennessee
-Holy Cross @ Maryland
-Alabama State @ Gonzaga
-Eastern Illinois @ Texas Tech
-SC State @ Memphis
-Tennessee Tech @ Western Kentucky – WKU is talented enough to make some noise this year.
-Northern Colorado @ Texas
-Mississippi Valley State @ Iowa State
-Cleveland State @ Minnesota
-Nicholls @ Illinois
-FGCU @ Saint Louis
-Jacksonville State @ SMU – this is a winnable road game for Jax State against a rebuilding SMU team
-Arkansas Pine Bluff @ South Florida
-FIU @ Mississippi State
-Omaha @ Wichita State
-Rice @ Arkansas
-Army @ Villanova
-Georgia Southern @ Auburn – GA Southern should be good in Sun Belt play, but is overmatched today
-Cal State Fullerton @ BYU
-Alcorn State @ DePaul
-Kennesaw State @ Creighton
-UC Riverside @ Nebraska
-West New Mexico (nondiv1) @ New Mexico State
-Loyola MD @ Marquette
-Montana State @ Utah State
-Life Pacific (nondiv1) @ Boise State
-Texas Southern @ San Diego State
-Purdue Fort Wayne @ UNLV
-Cal State Northridge @ Oregon State
-Florida A&M @ USC