Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES

-For the UTR Game of the Day between Toledo and UC Irvine, which is a good one –CLICK HERE

-Duke continues to impress, although Auburn was able to come back from large deficits and keep themselves in the game on more than one occasion.  The final score was a six point margin, and I think that accurately reflects how good both these teams are.  Arizona stayed with Gonzaga for a while, but only for a while.  That gives us the championship match-up out in Maui that most of us were hoping for!

-Lipscomb loves Dallas!  and Fort Worth!  They picked up a really impressive road win at TCU last night after winning at SMU in their previous game.  A fantastic start to the season for Lipscomb with their only loss being to rival Belmont.

-Saint John’s picked up a nice win against VCU in overtime to improve to 5-0.  It hasn’t always been decisive, but the Johnnies have won all five of their games.

-Texas Tech is good again.  No one talked about them in the preseason.  You need to talk about them now.  They blasted a pretty good Nebraska team.  They are unbeaten.  They have beaten some good teams in games where they really did not struggle.  They are good again!!

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-SAINT LOUIS VS PITTSBURGH (Barclays Center Classic).  We weren’t expecting much out of Pitt, but they do come into this game without a loss and if they can somehow pick up this win today then maybe they can have some momentum going their way for the first time in years.

-OKLAHOMA VS FLORIDA (Battle 4 Atlantis).  Neither team has managed a quality win yet, and this tournament is a chance for both of them to start building up their resume.

-SOUTHERN MISS VS WESTERN CAROLINA (Cancun Challenge).  Southern Miss can improve to 4-1 and add another win away from home to their resume.

-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT COLORADO STATE (Gulf Coast Showcase).  Both teams come into this with decent records, but South Dakota State has already lost two games that are really going to hurt their resume at the end of the year.  It’s important that they basically win out if they want to be in the discussion for an at-large bid.

-STANFORD VS WISCONSIN (Battle 4 Atlantis).  Wisky already has a nice win at Xavier on their resume, and can pick up a few more in this event.

-SAN DIEGO STATE VS IOWA STATE (Maui Invitational).  San Diego State is coming off a close win against Xavier and is looking to add another notable win to their profile.  Iowa State didn’t have any trouble with Illinois yesterday and has another chance to add a nice win to their resume today.

-DUKE VS GONZAGA (Maui Invitational).  We have a neutral floor match-up in a small intimate atmosphere between two top three teams, and two potential #1 seeds.  This would essentially be a #1 seed caliber win for whoever pulls it off.  Gonzaga has struggled a little bit more than Duke, but still looks very strong.

-LOUISVILLE VS TENNESSEE (NIT Season Tip-Off).  Both teams come in with a 3-0 record, but Tennessee is ranked in the top 5 and is expected to be the better team.  This is a chance for Louisville to make a huge statement, though.

-LOUISIANA VS TULANE (Gulf Coast Showcase).  Fun interstate match-up between a Louisiana team that should do well in the Sun Belt, and a Tulane team that is improving as a program.

-GEORGIA STATE VS GEORGIA (Cayman Islands Classic).  A fun interstate match-up between a Georgia State team that we feel will be tops in the Sun Belt, and a Georgia team that may not be expected to do well in the SEC, but would still be a feel-good win for GA State if they’re able to pull it off.

WASHINGTON VS MINNESOTA (Vancouver Showcase).  Both teams are off to good starts, and both have the chance to add a really good (we think) early season win to their resumes.

-MARQUETTE VS KANSAS (NIT Season Tip-Off).  We were expecting big wins out of Marquette this year, and although they come in 3-1 they got blasted in their only real test of the season.  Kansas already has a big win against Michigan State under their belts and can add to that by picking up more big wins away from home in this event.

-DAYTON VS BUTLER (Battle 4 Atlantis).  Dayton comes in with three buy game wins, and Butler comes in with two buy game wins and a win against Ole Miss, so this is the first real test for either team this season.

-CREIGHTON VS CLEMSON (Cayman Islands Classic).  Clemson comes in without a loss and has looked strong every time they’ve taken the floor.  Creighton has played pretty well this season as well, and can really pick up an early statement win today if they’re somehow able to pull it off.

-TOLEDO VS UC IRVINE (Gulf Coast Showcase).  UC Irvine looks to remain unbeaten and add another nice neutral floor win to their resume against a one-loss Toledo team.

-LOYOLA CHICAGO VS BOSTON COLLEGE (Fort Meyers Tip-Off).  Both teams come into this game with just one loss.  Loyola has won three straight since their loss to Furman and is looking to keep that going.

-SAINT MARY’S VS MISSISSIPPI STATE (MGM Resorts Main Event).  Saint Mary’s is always criticized for their lack of quality wins.  They have a chance to pick up a really good one on a neutral floor today.  Mississippi State is also looking for what would probably be their biggest win of the season so far.

-PENN STATE VS SMU (Cancun Challenge).  This game has a pivotal feel to it because you get the sense that the loser is really in trouble.

-XAVIER VS ILLINOIS (Maui Invitational).  This game has a pivotal feel to it because you get the sense that the loser is really in trouble.

-MIDDLE TENNESSEE VS VIRGINIA (Battle 4 Atlantis).  Middle Tennessee is coming off a fantastic three year run, but they lost a lot of key players and aren’t quite the same.  Still, they’re off to a 4-1 start and have the opportunities to catapult themselves into national relevance if they can play well in this event.  Today won’t be easy.  Virginia is ranked 4th and while they haven’t been tested yet, they are almost certainly capable of passing the tests they’ll face down in Atlantis.

-HARVARD VS SAN FRANCISCO.  Harvard has had a few bright points and should be a factor in Ivy League this year.  San Francisco is looking to improve to 5-0.

-ARIZONA STATE AT UTAH STATE (MGM Resorts Main Event).  Both teams are unbeaten, both teams have won some notable games, and in the case of Utah State, they have looked very good at times this year.  It’s a late tip, but definitely worth staying up and watching.

-AUBURN VS ARIZONA (Maui Invitational).  Also a late tip.  Also worth staying up and watching.  Auburn will likely end up as a protected seed, and we’re still trying to figure Arizona out.  If they can somehow manage to win this game, then we will have them figured out.

BUY GAMES

-Winthrop @ Kentucky
-South Wesleyan (nondiv1) @ Furman
-Dartmouth @ Buffalo
-Coppin State @ Wofford
-Colgate @ Syracuse
-Florida A&M @ South Florida
-Montana State @ Arkansas
-Alabama State @ Iowa
-Rice @ BYU
-Central Connecticut @ LMU

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