NEWS AND NOTES
-For the UTR Game of the Day between Georgia Southern and Florida Atlantic – CLICK HERE
-The 2K Classic ended up a little bit upside down from what we were expecting. Iowa picked up a huge win against Oregon, and UConn knocked off Syracuse. The end result is the second day match-ups that we were all expecting to see, just not in the order that we were expecting to see them. I was genuinely impressed with both Iowa and UConn yesterday, and think they’re in for bigger seasons than what I originally thought.
-Ohio State picked up another notable road win by knocking off Creighton yesterday. The Buckeyes probably have the most impressive slate of road victories out of anyone in the country up to this point.
-DePaul picked up a really nice win against a pretty good Penn State team, and showed signs of both life and promise.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-VIRGNIIA TECH VS NORTHEASTERN (Charleston Classic). This is a huge opportunity for a Northeastern team that is coming off a nice win against Alabama. If they can pick up a neutral floor win against a ranked team then it should propel them onto the radar and do a lot for their postseason opportunities.
-INCARNATE WORD VS MONTANA (Island of the Bahamas Showcase). Montana shouldn’t have too much trouble improving to 3-0 and advancing in this tournament.
-OLD DOMINION VS OREGON STATE (Paradise Jam). We think Oregon State is a potential dark horse this year. A strong showing in the Paradise Jam will get them out of the starting gate quickly.
-SAINT JOSEPH’S VS UCF (Myrtle Beach Invitational). I know it’s November, but this game still has a pivotal feel to it. UCF is trying to rebound from a loss to FAU, and Saint Joseph’s opportunities at quality wins will probably be less than what they’re used to given the struggles of the Atlantic Ten so far.
-BALL STATE VS ALABAMA (Charleston Classic). Alabama needs to rebound by picking up a couple of wins before heading home.
-FLORIDA A&M VS CAMPBELL (Jamaica Classic at Montego Bay). As odd as this sounds, FAMU has a chance to improve to 3-0 with a win today.
-KENNESAW STATE VS MISSOURI (Paradise Jam). This game will likely end up resembling a buy game. Mizzou should have no problems moving to the winning side of the bracket.
-AIR FORCE VS UMBC (Bimini Jam). UMBC can improve to a rather impressive 3-1 with a win today.
-SYRACUSE VS OREGON (2K Classic). This is the match up we were all expecting to see!! The two ranked teams going at it in the….well….we didn’t expect to see them in the third place game, but it is the game we all thought we’d see!! The fact that this is a third place game means absolutely nothing. It is a neutral floor game between Syracuse and Oregon. The committee will look at this no differently than they would if it were the first place game, and it’s a good chance to pick up a quality neutral floor win.
-OHIO VS SOUTH FLORIDA (Jamaica Classic at Montego Bay). Both teams come in 2-0 and can build up some momentum if they do well in this event.
-APPALACHIAN STATE VS WICHITA STATE (Charleston Classic). Wichita State has been all over the map this year. The one game that they won against Providence appeared to be their toughest test of the year. You’d think they’d have had a much easier time with LA Tech and Davidson. They try and rebound today against Hot, Hot, Hot! Appalachian State.
-GEORGIA SOUTHERN VS FLORIDA ATLANTIC (Island of the Bahamas Showcase). A very interesting early season match-up that didn’t appear to be interesting a week ago, but that was before Georgia Southern came back from 20pts down to beat Davidson, and Florida Atlantic picked up a big win at UCF. Both teams come into this one 2-0, and this is suddenly a game of intrigue!
-NORTHERN IOWA VS PENN (Paradise Jam). Penn is off to a great start this year, and can land on the national stage if they do well in this tournament. A win today gets them to 4-0 and puts them on the winner’s side of the bracket.
-HOLY CROSS VS STONY BROOK (Air Force Reserve Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off). This game is noteworthy because it’s a chance for Stony Brook to improve to 3-0 with all three wins coming away from home.
-FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL VS FORDHAM (Johnny Bach Classic). FIU can improve to 4-0 with a win.
-UCONN VS IOWA (2K Classic). Both teams picked up huge wins against ranked teams yesterday, and both have really elevated themselves. This is a chance to pick up another notable win away from home, build their resume early, and carry that momentum forward. I’ve been really impressed with both teams so far. I must say I wasn’t expecting much out of either, but for now both have proven me wrong.
-PURDUE VS DAVIDSON (Charleston Classic). Davidson picked up a very nice win against Wichita State yesterday, which was a bit of a surprise since they struggled to beat Dartmouth at home earlier in the week. Nevertheless, the are 3-0 and have a chance to pick up a win that would make them nationally relevant if they were to pull it off. Easier said than done, though.
-HARVARD AT RHODE ISLAND. This is the second good UTR team that Rhody has played this year. They fell to CofC earlier in the week, and face a Harvard team that’s coming off a nice win at UMass and has the talent to be a force in the Ivy League.
-VERMONT AT LOUISVILLE. This is a buy game, but Vermont gave Kansas a good game the other night and once again looks to be one of the better teams in the America East despite losing a lot of pieces from last season. Louisville has only played buy games up to this point, so calling this their toughest test so far isn’t saying much, but nevertheless it is their toughest test so far.
-SAINT JOHN’S AT RUTGERS (Gavitt Tipoff Games). Both teams come in 2-0, but neither has really been tested yet. The Johnnies appear to be much improved. This is the kind of road game that a decent team should be able to win, so it’s a good test.
-LMU VS GEORGETOWN (Jamaica Classic at Montego Bay). Both teams come in 3-0, and Georgetown is coming off a nice road win at Illinois.
-GARDNER WEBB AT SAVANNAH STATE. Your team!! The People’s Team!!! Savannah State is going after their third win in a row!!!
-LOUISIANA TECH AT LSU. A really interesting game here between two in-state foes. LA Tech already has a notable road win at Wichita State, and if they pick up another big one tonight it should make propel them into national relevance, and if the voters are watching land them close to, or even in, the top 25.
-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT FLORIDA GULF COAST. This is a very good South Dakota State team that comes in 3-0 and is perhaps good enough to end up near the bubble by the time the season is over.
-GRAMBLING AT LOYOLA CHICAGO. We will go ahead and highlight this one simply because Grambling appears to be one of the better teams in the SWAC. It could end up being rather lopsided, but who knows?
-OLE MISS AT BUTLER. Both teams come in without a loss, but this is also the first real test for both of them.
-WESTERN KENTUCKY VS WEST VIRGINIA (Myrtle Beach Invitational). There is a lot of basketball left to be played, but this game still has an early pivotal feel to it considering that neither team has gotten off to the start they were hoping for. They can get things turned around quickly by doing well in this tournament.
-WOFFORD AT STANFORD. This is a very good Wofford team that we think could end up near the bubble at the end of the season. By no means is this an easy game on the road, but it is a game that I think they are capable of winning, and should win if they really are a top 40 caliber team.
BUY GAMES
-Nicholls @ Baylor
-Cal Baptist @ Tulsa – both teams 2-0
-Coppin State @ Virginia
-Tennessee Tech @ North Carolina
-Howard @ UMass – Howard is 3-0
-Loyola MD @ Temple – Temple can improve to 4-0
-Chicago State @ Akron
-Fort Wayne @ Dayton
-Hofstra @ Maryland
-Binghamton @ Northwestern
-Liberty @ Kent State – both teams 2-0
-Delaware State @ Longwood – Longwood can improve to 4-0
-UNC Asheville @ Northern Kentucky – NKU can improve to 4-0
-Milwaukee @ Cincinnati
-Eastern Kentucky @ Kansas State
-James Madison @ Charlotte – JMU can improve to 4-0 and pick up their second true road win
-Louisiana @ Kansas
-TAMUCC @ UT Arlington – UTA can improve to 3-0
-Alcorn State @ Vanderbilt
-The Citadel @ Texas
-Long Beach State @ Mississippi State
-Omaha @ Colorado
-Utah Valley @ Utah State – Utah State can improve to 4-0
-Little Rock @ Nevada – both teams unbeaten
-Saint Francis U @ UCLA
News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Thursday, Nov 15th
NEWS AND NOTES
-For our first regular season Under the Radar Podcast – CLICK HERE
-The month of March, beginning with Championship Week(s), is a special time of year for any college basketball fan. The second half of November is a special time of year for DIEHARD college basketball fans because of all the multi-team events (MTEs), or exempt tournaments, or whatever the hell you want to call them. It gives us a lot of unique games in the sense that it’s so many games between so many teams that would almost never play each other under normal circumstances. Most of the tournaments are bracketed, so it’s a chance for teams to ‘win and advance’ (so to speak) and in theory get the chance to play better competition with each win, pick up a lot of good NCAA Tournament resume wins, and play their way onto the national scene. And for teams that don’t win, they still get to keep playing. It’s important to point out that the selection committee does not look at any of these “losers bracket” games, or 5th place games as being anything other than a neutral floor game between the two teams. Less credit is not given to a team that wins a fifth place game than what would have been given to them if they just happened to play on a neutral floor. It’s the same.
There are more basketball games over the next week and a half than there are at any other point during the season. As someone who has been writing up each days games for the past several years, I can confirm that is absolutely the case. Many of these games are in unique settings (small gyms, ball rooms, theme parks, casinos, or wherever). It’s just a very enjoyable and unique period of the season for anyone that’s a diehard fan. And it all begins today!!
-The Big 10 picked up 3 wins against the Big East in the Gavitt Games last night – the biggest surprise was how easily Michigan demolished Villanova in Philly. The Wolverines led by as many as 31 in the first half and handed the Wildcats their worst home loss since Creighton beat Nova by 28 in the 2013-14 season.
-Radford got a big win against Notre Dame last night. Surprising, but not surprising. Even more surprising was IUPUI going into Boston College with their biggest road win in the brief Jason Gardner regime.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-BALL STATE VS VIRGINIA TECH (Charleston Classic). Ball State has looked good in their first couple of games (at least from what I’ve seen), but they’re probably in over their heads today against a VA Tech team that’s ranked in the top 15.
-SAINT JOSEPH’S VS WAKE FOREST (Myrtle Beach Invitational). Saint Joseph’s is one of the very few Atlantic Ten teams that hasn’t looked pitiful this year. If they can do well in this tournament they could catapult themselves onto the radar and add some nice wins to their resume. Wake won their opener, but hasn’t been tested yet.
-UCF VS CAL STATE FULLERTON (Myrtle Beach Invitational). This tournament is an opportunity for UCF to pick up some decent wins away from home, and rebound from a somewhat damaging loss to FAU last week.
-ALABAMA VS NORTHEASTERN (Charleston Classic). A really good game this afternoon between a Northeastern team that we think can contend in the Colonial, and an Alabama team that is trying to recover from the loss of their best player from a year ago, but still has a lot of pieces back. Neither team is really on the national radar yet, but this tournament is a chance for them to pick up some nice wins.
-PURDUE VS APPALACHIAN STATE (Charleston Classic). Hot! Hot! Hot! The Boilers come in without a loss and the Mountaineers are coming off of a close to Alabama, but Purdue clearly appears to be the superior team.
-VALPARAISO VS WESTERN KENTUCKY (Myrtle Beach Invitational). It is really important for WKU to pick up some big wins in this tournament. Although C-USA is off to a strong start, their chances at quality wins in the second half of the season are going to be limited, so if they want to be in the safe zone for an at-large then this tournament is crucial.
-SYRACUSE VS UCONN (2K Classic, MSG). The Old Big East rivals are back for this ACC vs American showdown!! This is the first real test for either team after a couple of buy game tuneups. We’re expecting a lot more out of Syracuse than UConn this year, but this is a chance for UConn to really make a statement early.
-SOUTHERN MISS AT TROY. Southern Miss can improve to a somewhat surprising 3-0 and pick up their second true road win.
-OHIO STATE AT CREIGHTON (Gavitt Tipoff Classic). Ohio State already has one really nice road win, and will really be out of the gate fast if they’re able to pick up a second one. Creighton is a little bit down this year, or so it appears, but this is a chance for them to make a statement as well.
-DAVIDSON VS WICHITA STATE (Charleston Classic). Wichita had a rough start to the season, but rebounded with a nice neutral floor win against Providence. Davidson won both their buy games, but it wasn’t easy, and they’re going to face much bigger tests in this tournament.
-BELMONT AT LIPSCOMB. The Battle of the Boulevard!! This BETTER be the UTR game of the day!! Two rivals. Two really good UTR teams that will likely be conference frontrunners.
-FRESNO STATE AT TCU. Both teams come in without a loss, although TCU got a really big scare against Bakersfield in their last game.
-PENN STATE AT DEPAUL (Gavitt Tipoff Games). Neither team has a loss yet, and Penn State has looked pretty good. This is a chance to add a road win that is at least semi-notable to their resume.
-OREGON VS IOWA (2K Classic). Like so many teams in these events, these two come in having won their buy games, but not having been tested yet. This is their first chance to add some meat to their resume.
-TEXAS A&M AT GONZAGA. A very late tipoff tonight, but we have a match-up that would have been a great game a year ago. Unfortunately for TAMU it’s not a year ago, and they’re on the road against a Gonzaga team that we think is a Final Four caliber team.
BUY GAMES (and other games worth mentioning, but not writing up)
-Central Arkansas @ Pittsburgh
-Monmouth @ West Virginia
-Mississippi Valley State @ Utah
-Oral Roberts @ BYU
-UC Irvine @ Santa Clara. – Irvine can improve to 4-0 on the year
-Detroit @ California