News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Wednesday, Nov 14th

Posted on November 14, 2018 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

-I’ll begin by mentioning a game that most of the country wasn’t even aware of, and that’s Chicago State at Illinois State.  Chicago State is a perpetually pitiful program, and based on how they had played so far this year things didn’t look to be getting any better.  But with less than three minutes to go they had a lead at Illinois State, who we feel is at least a likely NIT team.  Had Chicago State won this game, I would rate it as a bigger upset (at least in regards as to how far apart the two teams appeared to be) than when UMBC beat Virginia last year.  They weren’t able to hold on, but it was an impressive showing for a team and program that has had so few impressive showings in the last thirty years.  Hopefully they are able to build from this and experience some moments of success this year.

-Wisconsin picked up a nice road win at Xavier, which historically is not an easy place to win.  They basically controlled the game for the entire second half.

-The Atlantic Ten continues to trip over the rug while carrying their lunch tray back to their seat.  George Mason had a 20 point lead going into the second half at Georgia Southern….and lost.  They are now 0-3 on the year.

Rhode Island went down to Charleston and got beat, which isn’t too terrible considering that CofC returned a good core group of players from last year’s team, and to be fair one of the things I took away from it was that CofC is better than I thought, but it still went to show you that the Rams have fallen off quite a bit from a year ago.

UMass also dropped a home game to Harvard.  I haven’t looked this up, but I now believe that the A10 leads the nation in home losses to Ivy League teams.

-One more quick UTR note is that Furman really had to sweat out Gardner Webb at home after their big win at Loyola Chicago, but managed to pull it out 68-66.

-Other than that, there were some pretty exciting games, but nothing too surprising.  Georgetown got a nice early season win at Illinois in a game where the atmosphere was electric and the lead seesawed back and forth.  I don’t know how good either team will end up being, but it was a fun game to watch early in the season.

-Memphis hung in with LSU a lot more closely than I expected, but LSU ended up pulling it out in the end.

-Last but not least, THE TEAM OF THE PEOPLE WON THEIR SECOND GAME IN A ROW!!  A decisive win over Tennessee Tech!!!

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-MICHIGAN AT VILLANOVA (Gavitt Tipoff Games).  The last time these two met there was a little more at stake.  As it stands now, both teams come in 2-0 and are looking for their first big win of the season.

-EASTERN MICHIGAN AT DUKE.  Some of us liked Eastern Michigan so much coming into the season that they were picking them to win the MAC.  They haven’t looked up to that level yet (especially when you consider how well Buffalo has played), but they do come into this game 3-0.  I’m not expecting them to beat Duke, but it will be interesting to see how well they play against the nation’s top team (not the top team in the Sagarin ratings, but the top team in the polls).

-RADFORD AT NOTRE DAME.  It’s a buy game, and it may end up looking very much like a buy game, but this is a good Radford team that’s coming in 2-0 and that could make quite a bit of noise in the Big South later this year, so we’ll go ahead and highlight it.

-TOLEDO AT WRIGHT STATE.  A UTR game, but it’s between two pretty good teams that we think will make quite a bit of noise in their conferences.

-SETON HALL AT NEBRASKA (Gavitt Tipoff Games).  Both teams come into this game unbeaten against the collection of creampuffs that they’ve played.  This is the first real test for either team, and a chance to see if Nebraska really does belong in the rankings.

-NIAGARA AT LOYOLA CHICAGO.  Niagara comes into this game with a home win over Saint Bonaventure, and Loyola is looking to rebound from a rather surprising loss to Furman in their first game.

-RICE AT HOUSTON.  A nice cross city rivalry game.  Houston’s program continues to improve over time, and they need to take care of business in games like this if they want to be in the discussion come March.

-MARQUETTE AT INDIANA (Gavitt Tipoff Games).  Both these teams are believed to be much improved this year, so it will be fun watching them square off in an early season game.

-SAINT MARY’S AT NEW MEXICO STATE.  This is a really good series for both these programs.  Both come into this game at 2-0, and both could really use an early season win like this on their resumes.

 

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

-UL Monroe @ Michigan State – ULM hung with Texas the other night
-Sam Houston State @ Clemson
-IUPUI @ Boston College
-La Salle @ Florida
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ Marshall
-Miles (nondiv1) @ Samford – not expecting much from Samford, but a win gets them to 4-0
-Mississippi College (nondiv1) @ Auburn
-Western Carolina @ SMU
-UTEP @ Arizona
-Jacksonville State @ Bradley – Bradley can improve to 3-0
-North Dakota @ Kentucky – North Dakota comes in 2-0
-Montana State @ Colorado State – Colorado State can improve to 3-0
-Stetson @ USC
-Washington State @ Seattle
-Texas Southern @ San Diego State

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Under The Radar Game of the Day: Lafayette at Penn

Posted on November 13, 2018 by John Stalica

For today’s News, Notes and Highlighted Games – CLICK HERE

For last night’s weekly Hoops HD Report – CLICK HERE

For Jon Teitel’s All-Exhibition Teams – CLICK HERE

For the Puppet’s first checkpoint of Merit Rankings – CLICK HERE

Lafayette (1-1) at Penn (2-0) – 7:00 PM EST (ESPN+)

Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to the historic Palestra and Dollar Dog Night where the Penn Quakers will play host to the Lafayette Leopards. There have actually been 51 games played all time between both teams, but it is a rather one-sided rivalry with Penn leading the series 42-9. The Leopards do come into this game with some momentum; they made their first trip to Philadelphia over the weekend with a come-from-behind 77-76 win at La Salle. Myles Cherry led Lafayette with 18 points and 12 rebounds; it was also the first time Lafayette beat an A-10 team since Duquesne in 2004.

The Quakers are riding a modest 2-game winning streak with wins at George Mason and at home against Rice. A.J. Brodeur averaged 21 points per game in Penn’s wins – he was named Player of the Week by the Ivy League, Big 5 and CollegeInsider.com’s Lou Henson Player of the Week! Penn also honored their Ivy League championship team last Friday with another banner hung in the Palestra rafters.

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Tuesday, Nov 13th

Posted on November 13, 2018 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

-For the latest Hoops HD Report where we recap the first week of the season and preview a busy week this week – CLICK HERE

-Kansas, Kansas State, Washington, and Texas all had to sweat a little bit more than you would expect, but all ended up winning their buy games.  Having said that, from a UTR standpoint there were some very good efforts from teams like Denver, San Diego, and Vermont in those games, so the struggles weren’t entirely due to the teams not playing well.

-Most notably, Buffalo picked up another big true road win at Southern Illinois.  If you don’t follow Under the Radar that may not sound all that exciting, but Southern Illinois is really good this year and may not lose at home for the rest of the season.  If they do, it won’t be many.  It is not an easy place to win, and Buffalo beat them rather comfortably.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-TENNESSEE TECH AT SAVANNAH STATE.  YOUR TEAM!!  THE PEOPLE’S TEAM!!  Savannah State is going after their second consecutive win tonight!!

-WISCONSIN AT XAVIER (Gavitt Tipoff Games).  After playing and winning their buy games, this is the first real test for both teams, and both could use an early season win like this to establish themselves.

-MEMPHIS AT LSU.  Neither team has lost, but neither has really been tested either.  LSU appears to have a strong team this year, and they can make a statement with a win today.  Memphis should improve rather quickly, but they’re probably a year away.

-UNC ASHEVILLE AT NC STATE.  Neither team has a loss yet, but NC State clearly looks to be the superior team.

-STEPHEN F AUSTIN AT MAIMI FL.  Neither team has a loss yet, but neither team has really been tested by a tournament caliber team yet, and it could be that will still be the case after today.

-RHODE ISLAND AT CHARLESTON.  Neither team has a loss yet, but both still have a lot of work to do.

-GEORGIA AT TEMPLE.  Both teams are unbeaten and untested.  This would be a nice early season win for either one.

-HARVARD AT UMASS.  UMass, who wasn’t expected to do much in the A10 (and still may not) can improve to 3-0 and put a semi-impressive win on their profile.

-GEORGETOWN AT ILLINOIS (Gavitt Tipoff Games).  Not really all that big on either team, but both are unbeaten and this would be a good early season win for whoever pulls it off.

-GEORGIA TECH AT TENNESSEE.  Both of these teams are unbeaten, and the team that’s playing at home looks really good!!

 

BUY GAMES

-Southern @ Louisville
-Norfolk State @ South Carolina
-Holy Cross @ Providence
-Gardner Webb @ Furman – Furman can improve to 3-0
-Milwaukee @ Florida International – FIU can improve to 3-0
-Longwood @ UMES – Longwood can pick up another road win and improve to 3-0
-Lafayette @ Penn – Penn can improve to 3-0
-NC Central @ Cincinnati
-Harding (nondiv1) @ Louisiana Tech
-SELA @ Texas Tech
-North Alabama @ Saint Louis
-Drake @ Colorado
-Coastal Carolina @ Tulane – Coastal can improve to 3-0 and get their second true road win
-Pepperdine @ Northern Colorado – both teams 1-0
-Iona @ New Mexico – both teams 1-0
-Northwestern State @ BYU
-Mississippi Valley State @ Utah State
-UC Riverside @ UNLV

Posted in News and Notes | Comments Off on News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Tuesday, Nov 13th

The Hoops HD Report: November 12th

Posted on November 12, 2018 by David Griggs

We begin with a live report from Rocco from the Buffalo v Southern Illinois game!!  It is a train wreck that you will not want to miss!!

After that, we look back on what has been a busy and eventful first week of the season.  Leagues like the ACC, Big Ten, and Big East have predominantly played buy games, but they have some big games coming up this week.  Other leagues like the American and Atlantic Ten have struggled early on.

Lastly, we run through all the upcoming exempt tournaments and talk about all the teams and the potentially important match-ups…and, in true HoopsHD form, even completely mess up the teams in one of the events!

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

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Handing out the Hardware: Best players of the exhibition season

Posted on November 12, 2018 by Jon Teitel

The start of the regular season means that it is time to recognize the best players from college basketball’s exhibition season. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel has reviewed all of the numbers and is ready to announce his picks for the 6 best players from each tier of the sport based on their best games from the past month. Players are listed in a traditional 5-position lineup (G-G-F-F-C) plus a 6th man off the bench (with 1 exception). If you think that he has overlooked anyone then feel free to tweet us your comments.

Power-5 performances of the exhibition season
G: Jaylen Nowell (Washington): 26 PTS/12-15 FG in a win over Nevada
G: Marcquise Reed (Clemson): 29 PTS/3-5 3PM in a win over Barton College
F: Zion Williamson (Duke): 29 PTS/11-13 FG in a win over Virginia Union; 23 PTS/9-14 FG/10 REB in win over Ferris State
F: Dedric Lawson (Kansas): 31 PTS/11-16 FG/15 REB in a win over Emporia State
C: Moses Brown (UCLA): 20 PTS/8-9 FG/13 REB/4 BLK in a win over NYIT
6TH MAN: RJ Barrett (Duke): 32 PTS/11-18 FG/4-7 3PM in a win over Ferris State

Mid-major performances of the exhibition season
G: Sandy Cohen III (Green Bay): 28 PTS/6-6 3PM in a win over Michigan Tech
G: Tyler Hooker (Kennesaw State): 36 PTS/10-18 FG/3 STL in a win over Clayton State
F: Lamine Diane (Cal State Northridge): 30 PTS/14-21 FG/17 REB in a win over Antelope Valley; 23 PTS/14 REB/5 BLK in win over Cal State Los Angeles
F: Lachlan Anderson (Eastern Kentucky): 26 PTS/5-5 3PM/16 REB in a win over Kentucky Christian
F: Mladen Armus (East Tennessee State): 12 PTS/5-9 FG/21 REB/0 TO in a win over Southern Wesleyan
6TH MAN: Moses Greenwood (Southeastern Louisiana): 21 PTS/7-9 FG/14 REB in a win over Delta State

Non-D-1 performances of the exhibition season
G: Jamal Pollydore (Glenville State): 34 PTS/8-10 3PM in a loss to Marshall
G: Michael Baez (Lynn): 21 PTS/4-7 FG/15 REB in a win(!) over Florida Atlantic
F: Deane Williams (Augusta): 16 PTS/13 REB/3 STL in a win(!) over South Carolina
F: Ben Grandle (Multnomah): 17 PTS/15 REB/3 BLK in a loss to Portland State
C: Ryne Williams (San Francisco State): 22 PTS/4-9 3PM/12 REB/0 TO in a loss to Nevada
6TH MAN: Derek Novsek (San Diego Christian): 30 PTS/6-11 3PM in a loss to Cal State Fullerton

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The Puppet’s Bracket Projections/Merit Rankings: Monday, Nov 12th

Posted on November 12, 2018 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE for tonight’s UTR Game of the Day, as well as the rest of tonight’s action

So, let me explain exactly what it is that you’re looking at here.  If you want something that ranks how good the teams are or what seeds they will likely end up getting in March, then this is DEFINITELY NOT for you.  I am simply ranking teams on their CURRENT MERIT.  I’m really only asking myself one question.  How difficult would it be for an average team to win the games that these teams have played??  So therefore, any Under the Radar team that won any sort of a true road game is going to be ranked ahead of any P5 team that won a buy game at home, even if those P5 teams are top ten teams.

Conference USA is off to a pretty good start with LA Tech winning at Wichita State, FAU winning at UCF, and Southern Miss winning at SMU.  I think that as a group they have the most impressive collection of true road wins so far.  I’m not going to predict that they will keep winning at that pace, but it is a rather impressive first week.

Obvious outliers include Buffalo on the #1 line, UC Irvine, LA Tech, Stony Brook, Texas Southern as protected seeds, and then on the flip side teams like Tennessee, Villanova, and Virginia down in the 12-13 seed range.  Any common sense person would expect that to be flipped by the end of the year.

So, with so many irregularities that end up looking so out of whack, the number one question is why do I do this at all??  The honest answer is…..I have no freakin’ idea!  I just like doing it each week, and I like doing it this way.  I do think that it gets me in the habit of assessing all the teams very early, and the earlier I’m doing that then the more I know about them as the season goes on.  I also think that the important thing is knowing what each team has done, and not so much worrying about where to rank them.  And lastly, it’s fun giving a team some props that won a big game early in the season that many weren’t expecting them to win, even if it is just for a few weeks, and even if our little corner of the internet is the only place that’s happening.  If you think that it’s too early for brackets I’m not going to say you’re wrong.  For all practical purposes, you’re not.  If you think this is a stupid way of doing it, I can respect that as well.  But, I am doing it, and I’m doing it this way.  When you’re a puppet, you get to do whatever you want!!!

 

MERIT RANKINGS/SEED LIST

  1. DUKE – 2-0, neutral floor win vs Kentucky
  2. BUFFALO – 2-0, road win @West Virginia
  3. KANSAS – 1-0, neutral floor win vs Michigan State
  4. OHIO STATE – 1-0 with a road win @Cincinnati
  5. AUBURN – 2-0, blowout home win against Washington
  6. FURMAN – 1-0, road win @Loyola Chicago
  7. North Carolina – 2-0 in true road games with a good win @Wofford
  8. Florida State – 2-0, blowout win at home vs Florida, road win @Tulane
  9. UC IRVINE – 2-0, road win @ Texas A&M
  10. Vanderbilt – 2-0, won @USC
  11. LOUISIANA TECH – 2-0, win at Wichita State
  12. STONY BROOK – 2-0 with 2 true road wins @GW and @South Carolina
  13. Florida Atlantic – 1-0.  win @UCF
  14. Texas – 2-0, neutral floor win vs Arkansas
  15. GONZAGA – 2-0 in buy games, but beat TX Southern
  16. TEXAS SOUTHERN – 1-1, road win @Baylor, road loss @Gonzaga
  17. Southern Miss – 1-0 in div1 games, won @SMU
  18. Iowa State – 2-0, home win vs Missouri
  19. NEVADA – 2-0, home wins vs BYU and Pacific
  20. PENN – 2-0, road win @George Mason
  21. AMERICAN – 1-0, won @George Mason
  22. Purdue – 2-0 in buy games, beat Fairfield
  23. STANFORD – 2-0, road win @UNCW
  24. FAIRFIELD – 1-1, win @Bucknell, loss @Purdue
  25. Vermont – 1-0 with a win @ Boston U
  26. WICHITA STATE – 1-1 with a home loss to LA Tech, but a neutral win vs Providence
  27. Washington – 1-1, loss @Auburn, home win vs Western Kentucky
  28. Kentucky – 1-1, neutral loss to Duke, home win vs Southern Illinois
  29. North Texas – 2-0, both wins away from home including @Hawaii
  30. LONGWOOD – 1-0 with a win @ Richmond
  31. MONTANA – 1-0 with a win vs Georgia State (who is good)
  32. CENTRAL CONNECTICUT – 1-1, won @Hartrord, lost @Georgetown
  33. Wofford – 1-1, home loss to North Carolina, road win @High Point
  34. Utah State – 2-0, wins @Montana State and at home vs Hartford
  35. UC Santa Barbara – 1-1 with a win @Wyoming and a loss @North Dakota State
  36. NORTHERN KENTUCKY – 1-0, road win @Northern Illinois
  37. Toledo – 1-0, won @Oakland
  38. JAMES MADISON – 1-0 in div1 games, won @Eastern Carolina
  39. Kent State – 1-0, won @Cleveland State
  40. COASTAL CAROLINA – 1-0, road win @Campbell
  41. New Mexico – 1-0, won @CSUN
  42. Charleston – 2-0, road win @Western Carolina
  43. Oklahoma – 1-0 with a true road win @UTRGV
  44. FLORIDA A&M – 1-0, won @Jacksonville
  45. Prarie View A&M – 1-0, road win @Santa Clara
  46. San Diego – 2-0, road win @UC Davis, home win vs Weber State
  47. SOUTH DAKOTA STATE – 2-0, home win vs Grand Canyon
  48. North Dakota – 1-0, road win @Milwaukee
  49. Virginia – 2-0 in buy games
  50. Tennessee – 1-0 in buy games
  51. VILLANOVA – 1-0 in buy games
  52. Michigan State – 0-1 with loss vs Kansas
  53. Kansas State – 1-0 in buy games
  54. Oregon – 2-0 in buy games
  55. Syracuse – 2-0 in buy games
  56. Mississippi State – 1-0 in buy games
  57. Michigan – 2-0 in buy games
  58. Ucla – 2-0 in buy games
  59. Virginia Tech – 1-0 in buy games
  60. Northeastern – 1-1 with a road win @Harvard, loss at home to Boston U
  61. Boston U – 1-1, won @Northeastern, lost at home to Vermont
  62. Bucknell – 1-1 Road win @Saint Bonaventure, loss at home to Fairfield
  63. Marshall – 2-0, home win vs Hofstra, road win @Eastern Kentucky
  64. Lehigh – 1-1, won @Monmouth, lost @Miami FL
  65. Nebraska – 2-0 in buy games
  66. Marquette – 1-0 in buy games
  67. MURRAY STATE – 1-0 with a win at home vs Wright State
  68. Belmont – 1-0 with a home win vs Illinois State
  69. Lsu – 2-0 in buy games
  70. Clemson – 2-0 in buy games
  71. Louisville – 1-0 in buy games
  72. Texas Tech – 2-0 in buy games
  73. Tcu – 1-0 in buy games
  74. Vanderbilt 1-0 in buy games
  75. NEW MEXICO STATE – 2-0, home wins vs North Dakota State and UTEP
  76. Indiana – 2-0 in buy games
  77. Xavier – 2-0 in buy games
  78. Georgetown – 2-0 in buy games
  79. Temple – 2-0 in buy games
  80. SAINT JOSEPH’S – 1-0 in buy games
  81. INDIANA STATE – 1-1 on the road. Won @Green Bay, lost @Ball State
  82. Penn State – 1-0 in buy games
  83. Houston – 1-0 in buy games
  84. Creighton – 2-0 in buy games
  85. Butler – 1-0 in buy games
  86. Saint John’s – 2-0 in buy games
  87. UConn – 2-0 in buy games with a win over Southern Miss
  88. Notre Dame – 2-0 in buy games
  89. Chattanooga – 1-1, road win @Charlotte, home loss to Eastern Kentucky (
  90. ucf – 1-0 in buy games with a win over Rider (
  91. LIPSCOMB – 1-0
  92. ABILENE CHRISTIAN – 1-0

 

NOTES ON THE BRACKET

-Outside of conferences, I did not take into account at all whether or not teams played during the regular season, so there was no regard at all to try and avoid rematches.  Truth be told, at the end of the year I can remember pretty much who has and has not played each other.  At the beginning of the year, I don’t have a good grasp on all of the team’s schedules and who they are going to play.  So, I just didn’t worry about it.

-I have to admit that even by absurd early season bracket standards, this is still pretty absurd.  Some of the match-ups may be okay.  Texas Southern v Michigan State is a very plausible Round of 64 match-up.  So is Stony Brook v Syracuse, LA Tech vs Oregon, and a few others.  But, I don’t see this being where the seeds end up in the end.

 

COMMENTS FROM THE STAFF

-Coming soon…..maybe.  I can completely understand them being in such a state of shock from looking at this that there is simply too much to unpack.

Posted in Bracketology, News and Notes | Comments Off on The Puppet’s Bracket Projections/Merit Rankings: Monday, Nov 12th