News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Sunday, Dec 30th

Posted on December 30, 2018 by David Griggs

-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

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Under The Radar Game of the Day: Florida International at Ohio

Posted on December 30, 2018 by John Stalica

Florida International (9-3, 5-3 D1) at Ohio (7-4, 6-4 D1) – 2:00 PM EST (No TV)

Today’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to Southeast Ohio where the OU Bobcats will play host to the Golden Panthers of Florida International. FIU comes into the game with a record bloated against 4 non-D1 opponents, but they do have one road win in recent weeks that came at Florida Gulf Coast. They are coming off of a non-D1 win against Florida Memorial and a tough 82-73 loss on the road against in-state foe South Florida. Brian Beard Jr. leads the Golden Panthers with 20.6 points per game and 6.6 assists per game. As a team, FIU is currently averaging 95.5 points per game at the moment.

OU also has faced South Florida, but they were blown out in their meeting in November that came in the Jersey Mike’s Jamaica Classic. However, the Bobcats’ best win of the year came at home against Marshall in a 101-84 win earlier in the season. Jason Carter leads OU with 17.9 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game; Teyvion Kirk averages 15.7 PPG and 6.0 RPG for the Bobcats as well.

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Saturday, Dec 29th

Posted on December 29, 2018 by David Griggs

-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

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Under The Radar: December 26

Posted on December 26, 2018 by David Griggs

Christmas is coming folks!!  Just 364 days away!!  Chad and David run through all 22 UTR conferences, and begin in the Atlantic Sun with Lipscomb and the incredible start they are off to this season.  We also take a look at NJIT and Liberty and discuss what their chances are.  In the America East we still like Stony Brook, the OVC has two huge teams in Murray State and Belmont, UC Irvine is looking tough out in the Big Sky, and it was a huge week for Drake, who for now looks to be the best team in the Missouri Valley.  We run through all that, and much more!  And as we do every week, we close with this week’s UTR Top Ten.

And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…

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Hanging with the Hoyas: Part 6

Posted on December 24, 2018 by Jon Teitel

HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel will spend the upcoming months covering several Georgetown basketball home games, with a very special reward coming in March. 5 down, 3 to go:
Part 1: Central Connecticut State (https://hoopshd.com/2018/11/11/hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-1)
Part 2: Richmond (https://hoopshd.com/2018/11/30/hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-2)
Part 3: Liberty (https://hoopshd.com/2018/12/04/hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-3)
Part 4: SMU (https://hoopshd.com/2018/12/15/hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-4)
Part 5: Appalachian State (https://hoopshd.com/2018/12/19/hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-5)
Part 6 was Saturday afternoon when Little Rock visited DC for the schools’ 1st meeting all-time.

‘Twas 3 days before Christmas, when all through the gym
Many Hoyas were stirring, including Jessie (Govan), Mac (McClung), & “Jim”
(aka James Akinjo);
The pregame meal was prepared in the media room with care,
In hopes that my cholesterol test would not take place there
(bacon/egg/cheese croissant, breakfast potatoes, blueberry muffin, and a chocolate glazed doughnut!);
Each Johnson was ready after a restful night in bed:
Georgetown’s Kaleb dressed in gray while Little Rock’s Kamani wore red
(I know it is technically maroon: work with me!);
And I in my winter cap had joyful feelings in my heart,
Having finally seen Josh LeBlanc make his 1st career start
(in place of Trey Mourning, who missed his 1st game of the year due to a head injury),

Akinjo’s 3 turnovers in the 1st 3 minutes caused such a clatter,
That Coach Patrick Ewing called a timeout to see what was the matter
(The Trojans started strong in getting out to an 11-5 lead).

Right to the rim Little Rock flew like a flash,
As the home team’s porous defense they did easily gash
(much like the Trojans’ entertaining pregame layup line,
There were portions of the 1st half that resembled a dunk contest).
Coach Darrell Walker picked up a T for some conduct rather low,
(despite actually leading 20-18 at the time!)
The resulting FT would be huge but at the time there was no foreshadow
(have I mentioned how much I hate picking up technical fouls in tight games?!),
When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But 3 freshmen stealing the show while too young to drink beer
(Georgetown’s starting backcourt of Akinjo/McClung combined for 33 PTS in 31 1st half minutes, while Little Rock PF Nikola Maric made 6-7 FG including a pair of threes en route to 16 PTS in only 13 minutes and change),
With a Hall of Fame coach who knows how to roll-and-pick,
I knew a passionate halftime speech was coming from Coach Patrick
(the most PTS the Hoyas’ had allowed in the 1st half all year had been 42 to Appalachian State last Tuesday…until Little Rock finished the 1st 20 minutes with a 52-51 lead).

More rapid than (Marquette’s Golden) Eagles from the locker room they came,
As Rich Chvotkin whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
(shout-out to the legendary radio play-by-play man,
Who worked his 1400th game as the Voice of the Hoyas)

“Now, Jamorko! Now, Josh! Now Jessie and Jahvon!
On, Mac! On, James! On, Jagan and Grayson!
Turnovers you should force! Try hard to steal the ball!
Now to the FT line! FT line! FT line all!”
(3 key statistical advantages for the Hoyas on Saturday:
They forced 24 TO, recorded 10 STL, and ended up with a whopping 45 FT attempts)
Kris Bankston’s 1st-half dunks showed how high he can fly,
When he picked up his 5th foul he descended from the sky
(his 3-3 FG shooting means he is now #1 in the nation with 85.3 FG%,
But fouling out with 2 minutes left means he was not around to make any baskets at crunch time);

So up to the rafters everyone’s temper flew
With the players full of testosterone, and the 3 refs too
(the refs called a double technical foul with 2 minutes left in the 1st half,
Followed by yet another double technical foul 2 minutes into the 2nd half)-
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
Karma laughing at me for making a streak go poof
(I asked Greg Malinowski after the Appalachian State game how he enjoyed being the best FT shooter in the nation [17-17], so of course I ended up jinxing him and he missed his very 1st FT this season midway through the 2nd half while his team had a 64-61 lead).
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Rayjon Tucker kept filling the stat sheet, be it point/assist/rebound
(he ended up fouling out with 46 seconds left in regulation but still put up 16 PTS/14 REB/4 AST/2 BLK).

McClung stands 6’2”, from his head to his foot,
With filthy moves all tarnished with ashes and soot
(he made a layup/foul/&1 to set a new career-high of 20 PTS while tying the game at 61-all, missed a FT with 6 seconds left in regulation that would have given his team a 3-PT lead, but somehow rebounded his own miss/got fouled/converted another FT to make it 84-81);

A bundle of young teammates Govan has carried on his back,
But for the 2nd time this week he needed freshmen to pick up the slack
(after scoring a season-low 8 PTS and not attempting a single FT vs. Appalachian State,
He had a season-low 2 REB vs. Little Rock before fouling out for the 1st time all season).

Maric’s eyes—how they twinkled! His dimples, how merry!
Atop a Saturday sundae he’s the Bosnian cherry
(he eventually fouled out with a career-high 27 PTS on 8-10 FG in addition to 8 REB)!
The Trojans had 1 final chance to put up a throw,
And Ryan Pippins’ prayer was as pure as the driven snow
(his only basket of the game came at the right time,
As his 30-footer at the buzzer banked in to tie the game at 84 and send it into OT:
Kudos to 12up.com for getting the video that I was unable to procure myself:
https://www.12up.com/posts/6254060-video-ryan-pippins-banks-in-deep-3-to-shockingly-send-arkansas-little-rock-to-ot-at-georgetown);
Akinjo has fangs, not just baby freshman teeth,
And when he gets hot the basket looks as big as a wreath
(he made his 1st 6 shots in a row on a series of jumpers/threes,
Set a new career-high in scoring late in the 2nd half,
And fouled out in OT with 25 PTS/7 AST/3 STL);

Kaleb has neither a broad face nor a little round belly
But his scoring/rebounding go together like peanut butter and jelly
(Johnson has not had a chance to shine all season with only 19 PTS/13 REB through his 1st 10 games, but with most of his teammates not bringing their “A” game he really helped save the day: season-highs of 12 PTS/9 REB in 26 big minutes off the bench).
Markquis Nowell is 5’8”/165, not much bigger than an elf,
And I was in awe when I saw him, in spite of myself;
(he only made 5-13 FG and committed a career-high 7 TO but still got it done on offense/defense: 24 PTS [including 3 FTs after being fouled by Akinjo while down by 5 with 16 seconds left in regulation], 6 AST, 5 STL while playing more than 40 minutes in a 102-94 OT loss, the 1st time that Georgetown has scored 100 PTS since November 2017);
A wink of Coach Walker’s eye and a twist of his head
Gave me comfort in the press conference with nothing to dread
(I reminded him that the last time he was a head coach in DC the arena was called the MCI Center and his best player was Chamique Holdsclaw: he admitted that DC was a “special place” and that it is always great to be back in town, he said that he was going to dinner with some friends that night and that he will make sure his old New York Knicks teammate Patrick picks up the check!);

Akinjo spoke a few words, coming straight from his work,
As the SID finally let the freshmen speak: what a nice holiday perk
(I praised him for cutting down his turnovers during his previous 2 games before committing 3 in the 1st 3 minutes against the Trojans that led to a Ewing timeout: the freshman said that his coach just told him to “settle down a bit” because everyone was too anxious due to a little miscommunication),

Mac’s 4-PT play in the final minute left him striking a pose,
And giving a smile, up the ranks he rose
(McClung had a near-perfect 1st half with 17 PTS/3 AST/0 TO, then a key offensive REB with 5 seconds left in regulation, then a 3/foul/&1 with 46 seconds left to make it 98-90 as he celebrated while lying flat on his back: I inquired what had changed over the past month since he went scoreless in a loss to LMU in November and he said he knew that it would be a learning process so he just continues “working as hard as I can”);

Ewing sprang to his feet, to his team gave a whistle,
And they all flew to the huddle like they were shot out of a missile
(I asked Ewing if his young backcourt was exceeding his expectations after only a dozen games: he is pleased that they are playing very well and that they are “growing every game”, although they still have a lot to learn).

But I heard him exclaim, ere he walked out of sight—
“my freshmen need to hit the showers”, and to all a good night!
(it was the 1st time that the Hoyas allowed freshmen to attend a postgame press conference, and instead of showering/suiting up like their elders they showed up while still in uniform)

Hope you enjoyed the holiday poem, check back in 2019 for our continuing coverage.

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Bracket Projections (from the Puppet): December 24th

Posted on December 24, 2018 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE for our latest Hoops HD Report

The bracket reflects games played through December 23rd.

I want everyone to understand what they are looking at.  This is a CHECKPOINT of CURRENT MERIT.  It is not a prediction of what I think the bracket will look like on Selection Sunday, nor is it a reflection of how good I think the teams are.  It is just me asking the question how hard would it be for an average team to win the games that these teams have played, and then ranking them based on how they’ve done.

OTHERS CONSIDERED: Arkansas, Saint Louis, Iowa State, Purdue, Pittsburgh, UConn, Maryland, Fresno State, Northwestern, Murray State, Louisiana Tech, Ole Miss, Washington, Tulsa, Oregon, Florida, Alabama, Toledo, Davidson, UCLA, Liberty, UCF, Clemson, North Texas, LMU, Colorado

 

NOTES ON THE BRACKET

-As more and more games are being played, the more and more “normalized” my brackets are becoming.

-I realize that teams like Belmont and Lipscomb may seem to be seeded really high.  I do really like both of those teams, and think both have a chance at making the field even if they don’t win their conference tournaments so long as they are able to blow through their conference regular seasons, but I don’t think either one will end up as far inside the bracket as where I currently have them.

-I’m not sure what to make of Saint John’s yet.  In one sense, they’re unbeaten.  In another sense, they’ve played a schedule that I think about fifty teams would be unbeaten against.  We will see what they’re made of when Big East play starts.  If they win their first four Big East games, then they’ll be up on at least the #3 line.

-Texas is one of the more schizophrenic teams this year.  Their good wins are really good.  Their bad losses are pretty bad, at least by NCAA Tournament standards.  We always get a few of those every year.

-I know that Gonzaga has dropped in the rankings since losing back to back games against Tennessee and North Carolina.  North Carolina was a true road game, and Tennessee is on the #1 line.  They also beat Duke on a neutral floor.  Two losses away from home, one of which was a true road game against a protected seed caliber team that is unbeaten at home, is not a reason to move them below Duke.  I don’t think Duke has won a game that is as difficult to win as either of those two, and Gonzaga did beat them head to head on a neutral floor.

-A case could easily be made that Kentucky belongs a lot higher than where I have them considering how big their win was against North Carolina.  Well, if they beat Louisville they’ll certainly jump into the protected seeded range.  As for now, I just feel that the other teams have more good/decent wins at the moment.  I also feel Kentucky has kicked it into gear and will be way up the seed list by the end of the season.

 

NEWS, NOTES, UPCOMING GAMES, AND HOLIDAY WISHES

-We at Hoops HD are basically going into Holiday mode.  There are no games on Christmas Eve, or the day after Christmas.  On Christmas Day we have the four Diamond Head Classic games.  We’ll certainly be following those, so if you happen to be watching give us a shout on Twitter.  Will Colorado’s train wreck continue to pile up by losing all three of their games? Will Bucknell get another nice win for a UTR team after some pretty good efforts recently?  And, Indiana State vs TCU is actually a really good championship game.  The Trees have played pretty well for most of the season, and TCU has just one loss and is adding some wins away from home to their resume.

On December 27th we have just one game, and that’s UMKC @ Creighton in a buy game.

On December 28th we have a smattering of what is mostly buy games.  Texas Tech, Virginia Tech, NC State, Kent State, TCU (although their game is actually on the road against nondiv1 Hawaii Pacific), Marquette, Texas, Arkansas (who may get a halfway decent battle from Austin Peay), LSU, Gonzaga, Utah State, and LMU are all going to the bakery this Friday to get a tasty cupcake as a nice wrap up to their Christmas festivities, I guess.  We will be back in full swing this Saturday for another busy day of college hoops.  We are planning to record an Under the Radar podcast this Wednesday, although it may be a somewhat abbreviated version, so be on the lookout for that.

We hope everyone has a safe and happy Holiday Season!!  I know for some people that is easier than others.  If you have big plans then I hope you’re able to enjoy whatever it is that you’re planning to do.  If you’re dreading the Holidays for whatever reason, then I hope you’re able to get through it and that things are back to normal for you soon.  If you need to escape, then just tweet at us during the Diamond Head Classic.  Truth be told there are years where stepping away and watching the Diamond Head Classic has been my favorite part of the Holidays, so we can kind of relate.

Posted in Bracketology, Daily Rundown, News and Notes | Comments Off on Bracket Projections (from the Puppet): December 24th