Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES

CLICK HERE for this week’s Hoops HD Report Podcast

-Despite a lot of exciting games, nothing really earth shattering happened yesterday.  Xavier took Auburn into overtime, and Illinois really made Gonzaga sweat out in Maui, but neither team was able to pull off the upset.

-Rutgers held Eastern Michigan to 4 first half points.  It was 31-4 at the half.  That’s just…..STUPID!!!

-Saint John’s might be the least impressive 4-0 team I have ever seen.  They had to sweat out another game against Cal, who by all accounts should have been a vastly inferior opponent.

-A team to keep an eye on is Utah State.  They are unbeaten, and they blasted what I thought was a pretty good Saint Mary’s team in the MGM Resorts Main Event yesterday.  They have a big game coming up against Arizona State on Wednesday.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-UTSA VS SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (Gulf Coast Showcase).  South Dakota State is running out of strikes.  Their margin for error is basically zero the rest of the way.

-CLEMSON VS GEORGIA (Cayman Islands Classic).  It’s always fun when these two get together, even if it is in the Cayman Islands.  Clemson has looked impressive so far, and while no one is all that excited about Georgia people will definitely start to take them seriously if they pull off a win today.

-XAVIER VS SAN DIEGO STATE (Maui Invitational).  Xavier hadn’t looked all that impressive in their first couple of games, but they played really well yesterday against a very good Auburn team.  San Diego State, to the surprise of no one, was run off the floor by Duke.  Still, both teams should have decent years and this is a chance for both of them to pick up a decent win.

-NORTH FLORIDA VS SOUTHERN MISS (Cancun Challenge).  A win for Southern Miss gets them to 4-0.

-IOWA STATE VS ILLINOIS (Maui Invitational).  Both teams had strong showings yesterday in losing efforts.  Illinois was particularly surprising in how well they played against Gonzaga.  Both are looking for what would be their most notable win of the season up to this point.

-TULANE VS UC IRVINE (Gulf Coast Showcase).  Tulane is off to a fairly solid start this year, and picked up a nice win against South Dakota State yesterday.  UC Irvine is still unbeaten, and one of the top UTR teams that we’re keeping our eyes on.  Being in the Big West means they have a small margin for error in regards to making the NCAA Tournament, so every game is important.

-SAINT BONAVENTURE VS BOISE STATE (Cayman Islands Classic).  You know what?  Watch something else.

-CALIFORNIA VS TEMPLE (Legends Classic).  Temple fell way behind early to VCU, but came storming back with a chance to win it.  Cal didn’t look all that bad in their game against Saint John’s.  We’re expecting a lot more out of Temple than out of Cal this year, and they don’t want to come out of this event with no wins.

-BRADLEY VS SMU (Cancun Challenge).  SMU is off to a very slow start and needs to get things turned around.  Doing well in this event would be a good start.

-DUQUESNE AT NOTRE DAME.  Duquesne’s program still has a long way to go, but they’re off to a 3-0 start and have been playing better than what we are used to seeing.  Notre Dame hasn’t exactly looked strong this season, so don’t be surprised if Duquesne finds a way to knock them off.

-USC VS MISSOURI STATE (Hall of Fame Classic).  This wouldn’t be a great win for USC, but it would be their best win so far.

-SAVANNAH STATE AT KENT STATE.  The Team of the People!!!!  Traveling up to take on a very tough Kent State team, and trying to even their record out at 3-3 while picking up their first road win.

-TOLEDO VS LOUISIANA (Gulf Coast Showcase).  Two strong UTR teams trying to pick up a good road win in an exempt event.

-GEORGIA STATE VS CREIGHTON (Cayman Islands Classic).  Georgia State is one of the best teams in the Sun Belt who has a shot at picking up a big statement win tonight.  They are probably overmatched, but Creighton hasn’t looked totally spectacular either, and could use a few statement wins of their own.

-SAINT JOHN’S VS VCU (Legends Classic).  Both teams come in unbeaten, but Saint John’s has played a lot of bad teams and had to sweat out all the games.  Still, they got a chance to add a really good win to their resume today.  VCU wasn’t a team we were expecting all that much out of, but they looked good against Temple yesterday (especially at the beginning) and can add another decent win away from home to their resume today.

-AUBURN VS DUKE (Maui Invitational).  Nothing to see here.  Just two top ten teams going at it out in that tiny gym in Maui.  This tournament always provides us with a unique setting for high caliber basketball, and that is certainly true today.

-LIPSCOMB AT TCU.  This is a buy game, but Lipscomb has already won at SMU and returned pretty much their entire roster from a team that won the ASun and made the NCAA Tournament a year ago.  On top of that, TCU has struggled in seemingly every game so far, so they better look out.

-WRIGHT STATE VS PENN STATE (Cancun Challenge).  We liked this Penn State team coming into the year, but the loss at DePaul was a little head scratching.  They face a very good Wright State team tonight that returns six of their top seven players from a team that won 26 games a year ago.

-TEXAS TECH AT NEBRASKA (Hall of Fame Classic).  No one is all that excited about Texas Tech yet, but I think they’re good again.  They came from behind to beat USC last night, and ended up running away from them.  They came out of nowhere last year, and I think that by the time conference play starts they’re going to be in the Top 25 again this year.  They face a Nebraska team that also looks to be pretty good.  This is probably the biggest test for either team up to this point.

-ARIZONA VS GONZAGA (Maui Invitational).  It seems like these two always put on a show when they get together.  Arizona appears to be overmatched this year with how much they have working against them, but they looked good in picking up their win yesterday, and Gonzaga had to sweat a lot more than we thought they would against Illinois.

-COLORADO AT SAN DIEGO.  Interesting early season game between a Colorado team that’s out to a pretty good 2-0 start and a San Diego team that has shown some signs of life this year as well.

-TEXAS A&M VS WASHINGTON (Vancouver Showcase).  TAMU has had an awful start to the season and could really use a win in a game like this to get things turned around.

BUY GAMES

-Samford @ Ohio State – both teams are unbeaten
-Saint Peter’s @ NC State
-UT Arlington @ Indiana
-The Citadel @ James Madison – JMU is 4-0
-Cornell @ UConn
-Trevecca Nazarene (nondiv1) @ Belmont
-Tougaloo (nondiv1) @ Louisiana Tech
-Maine @ North Texas
-Santa Clara @ Minnesota
-Green Bay @ Oregon

NEWS AND NOTES

-For the UTR Game of the Day between Longwood and Charlotte – CLICK HERE

-Michigan State needs to be put in jail for the awful things they did to Tennessee Tech.  101-33.

-Virginia Tech and Purdue was a very exciting game where Purdue got the lead early, but VA Tech came back and got the win.  I was impressed by both teams, and VA Tech showed that they can play with a good team away from home.  I know playing in true road games is a different animal, but it is still a very good win for Uncle Buzz and the Hokies.

-Michigan is blowing out everyone they face.  They blew past a fairly decent Providence team yesterday.

-Oklahoma picked up a fairly impressive and somewhat surprising (at least to me) home win against Wofford yesterday.  Either the Sooners are better than I thought, or Wofford isn’t quite as good, or it’s some combination of both.

-Arkansas got a big win against Indiana in one of the more exciting games of the year.  Despite the loss, it was a gutty road performance by an IU team that looks to be better this year than they have in the last couple of years.

-UCF has rebounded from their loss to FAU.  They beat Western Kentucky rather decisively yesterday to win the Myrtle Beach Invitational.

-Alabama is suddenly worth keeping an eye on.  They improved to 4-1 with a nice win over Wichita State yesterday in the Charleston Classic.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-AKRON VS CLEMSON (Cayman Islands Classic).  Both teams come into this game without a loss, and although Clemson clearly looks to like the superior team, winning a game like this and doing well in a tournament like this is the kind of thing that can propel teams like Akron onto the national stage.

-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE VS TULANE (Gulf Coast Showcase).  South Dakota State is looking to rebound from a somewhat surprising (although only SOMEWHAT) loss at Gulf Coast.  They need to rebound by doing well in this tournament.

-UTSA VS UC IRVINE (Gulf Coast Showcase).  UCI is 4-0 with some pretty nice wins already.  They can build on that by doing well in this event.

-ILLINOIS STATE VS GEORGIA (Cayman Islands Classic).  Neither team has done much of anything yet, and doing well in this tournament is an opportunity for both teams to begin to build their resumes.

-AUBURN VS XAVIER (Maui Invitational).  Auburn has looked very impressive this year, and this tournament will probably provide them with the kinds of opportunities they need to end up as a protected seed come March.  It’s games against quality teams on a neutral floor.  Xavier has a couple of buy game wins, but that’s about it.  They haven’t looked all that impressive so far, but again this tournament is a chance for them to turn things around in a hurry.

-DUKE VS SAN DIEGO STATE (Maui Invitational).  Duke is amazing and already seems to have the kind of resume that would indicate that they are a #1 seed.  They look to be the favorites to win this tournament.

-SAINT BONAVENTURE VS GEORGIA STATE (Cayman Islands Classic).  Georgia State is a good team that could really use some decent wins away from home.

-COLORADO STATE VS LOUISIANA (Gulf Coast Showcase).  We aren’t all that excited about Colorado State, but they do come in to this event with a 3-0 record and have the chance to put some neutral floor wins on their resume.

-OREGON STATE VS PENN (Paradise Jam).  Intriguing match-up between two teams that have already done a little something this year and are looking to do more.

-LOYOLA CHICAGO VS RICHMOND (Fort Meyers Tip-Off).  Loyola Chicago doesn’t have much in the way of merit just yet, but they’re still a really good team that we need to keep an eye on and they should do well in this event.

-MISSOURI STATE VS NEBRASKA (Hall of Fame Classic).  Both teams come in without a loss, and Nebraska does have a decisive home win against Seton Hall on their resume.  It’s a chance for two teams that have some momentum built up to keep that momentum going.

-EASTERN MICHIGAN AT RUTGERS.  Semi-intriguing game between a possible MAC frontrunner and a Rutgers team that is looking to build their program up.

-SAINT JOHN’S VS CALIFORNIA (Legends Classic).  This game is at the Barclay’s Center, which is pretty much the Johnnies’ stomping ground.  The Johnnies have won a few buy games, but don’t have a whole lot of substance on their resume just yet.

-MISSOURI AT KANSAS STATE (Paradise Jam).  YES!!!  YES!!!  YESSSSSSSSSSS!!  THE BORDER WAR IS BACK!!!  WE’VE GOT…..oh wait.  It’s Mizzou v Kansas State.  Nevermind.  This game sucks.  Well, it doesn’t.  K State comes in with a perfect record after sweating out a few games, and Mizzou is 3-1 and in search of their first real notable win, so it’s a good opportunity for both teams.  BUT COMPARED TO THE REAL BORDER WAR, IT’S SUCKS!!!!

-BOISE STATE VS CREIGHTON (Cayman Islands Classic).  These are two teams that are off to average starts that could benefit from some notable wins.

-FGCU VS TOLEDO (Gulf Coast Showcase).  These are two UTR teams who both have some what notable wins under their belts already.  It should be a good match-up tonight.

-LIBERTY AT VANDERBILT.  This is essentially a buy game, but it’s a good opportunity for a Liberty team that comes in without a loss and who has a pretty decent win at Kent State.  Vandy also has a nice win this year on the road at USC.

-HOWARD AT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS.  Come March this game probably won’t mean anything, but as of now it’s the current MEAC frontrunner against a good SIU team that hasn’t quite built up their resume yet, but in all probability will by the end of the year.

-SAINT MARY’S VS UTAH STATE (MGM Resorts Main Event).  This is a really good match-up between two teams that are currently unbeaten, and who both have some good things on their resume, but are looking to build on it.

-ARIZONA VS IOWA STATE (Maui Invitational).  Both of these teams have their work cut out for them this year, but this tournament is an opportunity for both of them to get on the right track in a hurry.

-USC VS TEXAS TECH (Hall of Fame Classic).  Texas Tech hasn’t really been tested yet, and USC failed their only test so far, but both teams have potential and this is a good early season game for both of them.

-TEMPLE VS VCU (Legends Classic).  Both teams have shown the possibility of potential.  It will be interesting to see what they do against each other, and what they do in the second game tomorrow.

-MISSISSIPPI STATE VS ARIZONA STATE (MGM Resorts Main Event).  Both teams come in 3-0, but neither has been tested the way they are about to be in this event.  Like so many early season tournament where the teams come in with nothing but buy game wins, it’ll be interesting to see how they do against one another.

-GONZAGA VS ILLINOIS (Maui Invitational).  This is a very strong field, and Gonzaga could face up to two top ten opponents in this event!  But, that won’t happen until the later games.  They should blast an Illinois team that is still in the process of turning itself around.

BUY GAMES (and other games worth mentioning but not highlighting)

-Canisius @ Florida State
-Western Michigan @ Cincinnati
-NC A&T @ Marshall
-Prairie View A&M @ UNC Greensboro
-Saint Francis U @ North Carolina
-Northwestern State @ Houston
-Little Rock @ Tulsa – Tulsa can improve to 4-0
-UMBC vs South Dakota – UMBC can improve to 5-1
-Cal Poly @ Washington State
-Cal Baptist @ Nevada

NEWS AND NOTES

-For the UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE

-So I had to kind of rush through yesterday’s lineup, and after doing so I received an email from our own Jon Teitel explaining that he thought Furman @ Nova could be an interesting game and that we should include it with the highlighted match-ups.  He was right, of course.  We had been big on Furman after they had won at Loyola Chicago, so we weren’t unfamiliar with them.  But I personally was not expecting them to go into Villanova and win.  It was a gutsy performance where they fell behind early, but kept it close.  Then went ahead in the second half and had a lead late in the game, but couldn’t hold on and went into overtime.  At that point all the momentum appeared to be against them, but they played a fantastic overtime period and came out with the win.  It is the only time I can ever recall a team winning back to back true road games against teams that were in the Final Four the previous year.  It is also a huge turnaround for a team that only won one OOC road game a year ago (thanks again to Teitel for pointing that out).  I don’t know if Furman will crack the rankings or not, but they should.

Of course the other end of this question is what to make of Villanova.  It was their second straight home loss, and while the first came to a much better Michigan team, they absolutely had their doors blown off in that game earlier this week.

-Another notable UTR result was Lipscomb’s win at SMU.  We know that Lipscomb is likely the best team in the Atlantic Sun, but that is still the second straight home loss to a UTR team for SMU, so they could be in for a long season.

-As much as we’ve trashed the Atlantic Ten this year, Duquesne is off to a 3-0 start, and had a nice win against Radford yesterday.  This is a Duquesne program that we all know has been really bad for a long time, but Keith Dambrot is a good coach and he may be able to get something going there this year, especially with how weak the league appears to be.

-Saint Louis also improved to 4-0 with a nice road win at Seton Hall, so there are some sparks of life in the A10.

-With Nova losing two in a row at home, and Seton Hall losing at home, and Xavier losing at home to Wisconsin and barely beating Evansville, and Georgetown dropping a game down in their exempt tournament, and Providence not being all that impressive early…one has to start to ask how good the Big East is going to be this year.  The highlight of the year is probably DePaul’s home win against Penn State.  And when describing a league’s best highlight the terms “DePaul” and “Penn State” are included then that may be a sign of trouble.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-WAKE FOREST VS VALPARAISO (Myrtle Beach Invitaitonal).  If Wake is not able to win this game then it basically sets them on the course that we are all kind of expecting them to eventually end up on anyway, and that’s a course for no postseason.  But for now, they are 2-1 and can add a win away from home to their resume.

-SOUTH FLORIDA VS GEORGETOWN (Jamica Classic at Montego Bay).  South Florida can get off to a pretty good 4-0 start with a win.  Georgetown is looking to rebound from a loss to LMU.

-MICHIGAN VS PROVIDENCE (Hall of Fame Tip-Off).  Michigan just blew out Villanova at Villanova and appears to be rolling.  Providence is off to a decent 3-1 start and is looking for what would be their first notable win.

-ALABAMA VS WICHITA STATE (Charleston Classic).  Wichita State already looks like a schizophrenic team with some decent wins and head scratching losses.  Alabama comes in at a respectable 3-1, but hasn’t really beaten anyone of note yet.

-WOFFORD AT OKLAHOMA.  This is a buy game, but this is a very good Wofford team that I think is actually better than Oklahoma.  This would be a very nice early season win on their resume if they’re able to pull it off.  The Sooners come in at 2-0 with two road wins, but neither came against strong competition.

-INDIANA AT ARKANSAS.  This is a really good early season game.  Indiana is off to a fantastic start and is trying to pick up what would be a very nice early season road win.  Arkansas battled Texas in the first game of the year, but lost in overtime.  Still, they looked a lot better than what most at Hoops HD were expecting and have another chance at an early season win of note, as well as a chance to build up some momentum.

-CHARLESTON AT OKLAHOMA STATE.  Charleston comes into this game at 3-0 with a semi-notable win against Rhode Island.  They still appear to be good enough to where Oklahoma State better not overlook them.

-SAINT JOSEPH’S VS WEST VIRGINIA (Myrtle Beach Invitational).  This game is worth paying attention.  West Virginia already had two somewhat surprising early season losses, and the sooner they get that turned around the better.  Saint Joe’s is a respectable 3-1, but their opportunities at big wins appears to be somewhat limited so picking up a win in a game like this would be a huge help.

-OREGON STATE VS MISSOURI (Paradise Jam).  Mizzou has struggled so far, but playing well in this tournament should help them get things turned around.  Oregon State is off to a 3-0 start and we’re not ruling them out as a potential surprise team, especially if they can pick up a couple of more wins in this event.

-NORTHEASTERN VS DAVIDSON (Charleston Classic).  A chance for two decent (we think) teams to pick up a decent win away from home.

-OHIO VS LMU (Jamaica Classic at Montego Bay).  LMU is unbeaten and has a rather impressive win against Georgetown from earlier in this tournament.  If they’re able to finish things off and win this tournament then you have to start thinking of them as a team to reckon with in the West Coast Conference.

-UCF VS WESTERN KENTUCKY (Myrtle Beach Invitational).  Both teams are coming off big wins and both are looking to keep the momentum going, not to mention adding what should be another good OOC neutral floor win to their resumes.

-PENN VS KANSAS STATE (Paradise Jam).  Both teams are unbeaten, and Penn is actually the team with the better resume so far.  This should be a fun one tonight.

-MONTANA VS GEORGIA SOUTHERN (Island of the Bahamas Showcase).  Both teams come in 4-0 with some pretty decent wins on their resume.  This is a really good and unique early season match-up between two quality UTR teams.

-VIRGINIA TECH VS PURDUE (Charleston Classic).  Two top 25 teams going at it on a neutral floor in an early season tournament and looking to add what will most likely turn out to be a good win onto their NCAA Tournament resumes.  This is the biggest test for either team so far, so it should be fun.

-FLORIDA A&M VS CENTRAL CONNECTICUT (Jamaica Classic at Montego Bay).  We highlight this only because both of these teams are off to much better starts than what we were expecting, and it may be the only time we ever get to highlight a match-up between these two teams again.

-LIU BROOKLYN AT SAN FRANCISCO – Both teams 3-0.  Due to the ongoing fires and air quality issues, this game will be played at Call State-Monterey Bay.

-MINNESOTA VS TEXAS A&M (TCL Vancouver Showcase).  Minnesota comes in at 2-0, but hasn’t had any statement wins yet.  TAMU is off to a 1-2 start and is simply trying to avoid falling even further behind.

BUY GAMES

-South Carolina State @ Ohio State
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ Maryland
-Samford vs Cleveland State – Samford can improve to 5-0
-VMI @ Kentucky
-Tennessee Tech @ Michigan State
-Coastal Carolina @ Northern Kentucky – NKU can improve to 6-0
-Santa Clara @ Washington