Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES:

-For all of the In-Season Tournament Brackets and Schedules – CLICK HERE

For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE

-Rutgers went on the road to play at Kennesaw State in a game that I didn’t really expect to be competitive despite it being a road game, and Kennesaw pulled off the massive 79-77 upest win. It was their first ever win against a ranked opponent, and now Kennesaw is suddenly 5-1 on the season.

-Wisconsin is now 7-0 on the season after winning the Greenbrier Tip-Off and knocking off Pittsburgh 81-75 yesterday. While Pitt didn’t get the win, they played really well in this event. Outside of Duke and North Carolina I think they’ve impressed me more than any other ACC team so far. I think the Panthers are set up to have a really good year this year.

-Georgia is also off to a better than expected start, and got a nice 66-63 win against Saint John’s yesterday down in the Bahamas to improve to 6-1. Their only loss so far was to Marquette, and they were actually competitive in that game.

-My preseason sleeper pick was the Miami Hurricanes, and they continue to be asleep. They fell to VCU yesterday 77-70 in the Charleston Classic. It was a game that VCU needed after dropping several close ones in the last week or so.

-LSU needed triple-OT to outlast UCF in one of the more exciting games of the season so far. LSU was someone else that we weren’t all that big on in the preseason, but is now off to a 5-1 start with a couple of decent wins.

-Liberty is emerging as a UTR team that may be able to play their way inside the bubble. They kncoked off Kansas State 67-65 in the Paradise Jam. K State had a chance to tie or win at the end, but couldn’t get a shot to fall. The Flames are now 6-1 on the year with another opportunity tonight.

-Bradley is now 6-1 after beating Middle Tennessee 80-69 in the Myrtle Beach Invitational. They are another team to keep an eye on.

-Last, but DEFINITELY not least, Drake is turning into one of the more compelling stories in all of college basketball. They are now 6-0 on the year after beating Vanderbilt in the championship game of the Charleston Classic. Drake lost their coach and all their starters from a year ago and no one expected much out of them, especially since they were rebuilding with predominantly nonD1 transfers. Well, I’m a believer now!! 6-0 with wins over Miami FL, FAU, and Vanderbilt. They’ve outperformed a lot of teams that are currently ranked in the top 25.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-BOISE STATE VS SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (Cayman Islands Classic). When I think of the Cayman Islands, and the beaches, and the warm sunny weather, of course I’m also going to think of Boise State and South Dakota State!! South Dakota State was a team we had a lot of questions about coming into the season, but so far they’ve absolutely delivered and have the chance to pick up a really nice neutral floor and resume building win today.

-MEMPHIS VS UCONN (Maui Invitational). I’m already much higher on Memphis than I’ve been in a very long time. This event is a chance for them to REALLY cement themselves as a nationally relevant program. Having said that, I don’t think they’re quite as good as UConn. A win would be huge, but a loss wouldn’t set them back all that much. In fact even if they just win one game in this event they’ll still be in really good shape.

-COLORADO VS MICHIGAN STATE (Maui Invitational). Colorado is unbeaten, but they have not been tested at all. The teams they will face in this event are just on another level. Having said that, while Michigan State hasn’t been a disaster and their record is a respectable 4-1, they haven’t exactly shown out in dominant fashion either. We’ll see what both these teams can do out in Maui.

-MICHIGAN VS VIRGINIA TECH (Fort Meyers Tip-Off). I’ve been much more impressed with Michigan than VA Tech so far. I know it’s early, but Michigan looks like an NCAA Tournament team and VA Tech looks like they’ll be a hundred miles from the NIT.

-CLEMSON VS SAN FRANCISCO (Sunshine Slam). Both teams are off to good starts, and both have a good opportunity today to pick up what should be a solid resume-building win away from home.

-MISSOURI STATE VS BOSTON COLLEGE (Cayman Islands Classic). I wasn’t big on either team coming into the year, but both have good records, both managed good wins yesterday, and both have an opportunity to continue to build momentum and add to their resumes today.

-MCNEESE VS LIBERTY (Paradise Jam). A hugely important game for two top level UTR teams that are good enough to win a game in the round of 64 and perhaps even reach the bubble. What makes this game so important is that both teams have such limited opportunities to put big wins on their resumes.

-OREGON STATE AT NORTH TEXAS. An interesting road trip for the Beavers who up until now have only won home buy games, but who also nearly beat Oregon their last time out. North Texas is also off to a 4-1 start and is starting to establish themselves.

-XAVIER VS SOUTH CAROLINA (Fort Meyers Tip-Off). This is Xavier’s first game away from home. This event is a chance for them to start building up their resume. South Carolina doesn’t appear to be the strongest team in the world, but it’s still probably the toughest test for X up to this point.

-AUBURN VS IOWA STATE (Maui Invitational). How awesome is it that we get a top 5 match-up in the QUARTERFINALS of the Maui!!?? Obviously these are two potential protected seeds and this would be a high caliber win away from home. Auburn already has a big win against Houston and has looked the part of a top 5 team all season long. Iowa State has only played three home buy games, so this is a massive first real test for them.

-DAYTON VS NORTH CAROLINA (Maui Invitaitonal). Dayton comes in at 5-0, but has only played home buy games. The caliber of competition will be slightly higher than that in this event. UNC is coming off a respectable road win at Hawaii and took Kansas to the wire earlier this year. Still, this would probably be their biggest win to date if they can take care of business.

BUY GAMES (and other games of note):

-Illinois State vs George Washington (Paradise Jam) – GW has a good record, but they need some wins in this event
-Southern Illinois vs Louisiana Tech (Gulf Coast Showcase) – LA Tech looking to remain unbeaten
-Penn State vs Fordham (Sunshine Slam) – Penn State can get to 6-0
-High Point @ Old Dominion – High Point needs to bounce back from their loss to Missouri State yesterday
-Longwoond vs Kansas State (Paradise Jam) – Longwood has had a good run to start the season and has a chance at a notable win today
-New Hampshire @ Columbia – Columbia can get to 8-0
-UMES @ Arkansas
-Green Bay @ Ohio State
-Central Michigan @ Minnesota
-Little Rock @ Illinois

For all of the In-Season Tournament Brackets and Schedules – CLICK HERE

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-SAINT JOHN’S VS GEORGIA (Nassau, Bahamas). Georgia is coming off their first loss of the season to Marquette, and has another tough test today against a Saint John’s team that is really playing well and who is looking to add another notable win away from home to their profile.

-CHARLESTON AT RHODE ISLAND. Charleston has picked up some decent wins, but they were all on their home court. This is their first test away from home. Rhode Island hasn’t really been tested at all yet, and they probably didn’t anticipate this game as being a challenge when they scheduled it. Rhody is unbeaten, but all they’ve played so far are home buy games. It’s a win that both these teams could use.

-MIAMI FL VS VCU (Charleston Classic). Both teams have been disappointing in this event, but both have a chance today to at least get out of it with a notable win. Both could still end up having decent years, which would make this an important win on either team’s resume even though it’s the 7th place game.

-VILLANOVA VS MARYLAND (Empire Classic – Newark NJ). Neither team has a win of note yet, although Maryland has probably shown more promise seeing as how they nearly beat Marquette. Nova has failed virtually every test they’ve faced and has even lost a few buy games. You get the sense that Nova should be coming into this one with a bit of desperation to get a win and turn things around even though it is still only November.

-UCF VS LSU (Greenbrier Tip-Off). Both teams are looking to bounce back from a loss, but UCF has shown some promise this year and LSU also has a notable win against Kansas State, so it’s still an opportunity for each team to add what should be a resume-building win to their resume.

-OKLAHOMA STATE VS NEVADA (Charleston Classic). Both teams have decent records and should end up having halfway decent years. This is a chance for each of them to pick up what should be a decent win.

-MISSOURI STATE VS HIGH POINT (Cayman Islands Classic). High Point is a really good team and this event is a huge opportunity for them. If they can win the whole tournament, which we certainly think they are good enough to do, it will go a long way toward them landing inside the bubble come March.

-PITTSBURGH VS WISCONSIN (Greenbrier Tip-Off). Both teams are unbeaten and both have been tested, but this is perhaps the biggest test for either team so far considering that it’s away from home. Wisky did have a nice win against Arizona earlier this season and got here by beating UCF on Friday whereas Pitt was able to get past LSU.

-LONGWOOD VS MCNEESE (Paradise Jam). Longwood is 6-0 after a somewhat surprising win against UAB on Friday, which I think means that Longwood is better than we thought and UAB isn’t anywhere near as good. McNeese is a team that we thought would be VERY good, but they haven’t quite shown it yet. This is just a fascinating game given the season the two teams have had so far versus where we thought they’d be in the preseason.

-MIDDLE TENNESSEE VS BRADLEY (Myrtle Beach Invitational). We weren’t expecting much from either team this year, but both come in with just one loss and both can leave this event with a fairly impressive resume and start to the season if they’re able to get the win today.

-FLORIDA ATLANTIC VS SETON HALL (Charleston Classic). Both teams have shown promise, but both need to put some wins on their profile, and both could really use this one today

-LIBERTY VS KANSAS STATE (Paradise Jam). Liberty has looked impressive this year, and this game is the type of opportunity an event like this can give them. It’s a chance to beat a notable team on a neutral floor, which is something they need to do in order to build their resume up and get them inside the bubble.

-DRAKE VS VANDERBILT (Charleston Classic). Both teams are unbeaten, both have been tested this year, both have picked up nice wins in this event, and both appear to be a hell of a lot better than what any of us thought about three weeks ago! This one should be fun. For Drake, it’s probably more important because they won’t have the same types of opportunities at quality wins that Vanderbilt will have throughout the year.

BUY GAMES (and other games of note):

-Portland vs Princeton (Myrtle Beach Invitational) – Princeton has struggled throughout this whole event
-Hampton vs Boise State (Cayman Islands Classic)
-Northeastern @ Cal State Bakersfield (Homewood Suites Classic) – Northeastern can improve to 6-1
-Rutgers @ Kennesaw State – this is the first road game for Rutgers, but it still hardly qualifies as a test. Having said that, Kennesaw is a surprising 4-1 so far
-South Dakota State vs Duquesne (Cayman Islands Classic) – South Dakota State can improve to 5-1
-Bryant @ Saint Bonaventure – Bona can get to 6-0 with a win
-Florida State vs UMass (Hall of Fame Tip-Off) – FSU should roll in this one and get to 6-1
-Sacramento State @ California
-Arkansas Pine-Bluff @ Missouri
-Grambling @ USC
-Old Dominion @ Boston College
-Texas Southern @ New Mexico

NEWS AND NOTES:

-For all the In-Season Tournament Brackets – CLICK HERE

-The 77-62 final score of the Tennessee v Baylor game down in the Bahamas probably doesn’t properly illustrate just how dominant Tennessee was in this game. The game was out of hand well before the half. Tennessee continues to blow out everyone they play. Baylor is probably the strongest team they’ve played so far, and the Vols didn’t sweat at all.

-Saint John’s bounced back from their double OT loss to Baylor by blowing Virginia off the floor 80-55. Virginia may not be returning to the Bahamas anytime soon. They were blown out of the building two nights in a row.

-Duke got a massively impressive road win out at Arizona 69-55. It’s hard to not be impressed with how much they seemed to improve since the game against Kentucky. Arizona was a true road game against a higher ranked team, and they not only won it, but won it in a way where they were in control of it for the latter part of the 2nd half.

-Nebraska went into Creighton and won 74-63 in a game where it never felt like they weren’t in complete control. It was a very impressive performance and game plan by the Huskers, and an equally discouraging performance by Creighton. Steven Ashworth of Creighton also had to leave the game with an ankle injury. We certainly hope he is okay.

-UCF, who I was really big on, got beaten pretty handily by Wisconsin 86-70 in the Greenbrier Tip-Off. It’s probably Wisky’s best performance of the year considering that it was away from home and against a UCF team that appears to have proven itself.

-Drake has emerged as a surprise team this year! They knocked off a pretty good Florida Atlantic team 75-63 in the Charleston Classic to stay unbeaten on the season. This followed up a very impressive win over Miami FL just the day before. Speaking of Miami FL…

-The Canes lost for the second day in a row, this time 80-74 to Oklahoma State. They were actually way behind in this game and came back to make the final score look respectable. Miami FL was one of my sleeper teams in the preseason. Well…they’ve certainly been asleep!!

-Vanderbilt has also been a bit of a surprise this year. they remain unbeaten after their 76-60 win over Seton Hall, which was also in the Charleston Classic. This event has been…well…eventful!

-Saint Joseph’s, who had a loss to Central Connecticut earlier in the year, was starting to come on strong. They had a nice win against Texas Tech last night and played well against Texas for much of the game tonight, but just went cold down the stretch and the Horns ended up with a 67-58 win in the Legends Classic Championship game. I think Saint Joseph’s is much improved, but now they need to start actually finishing some of these games off so they can build up their profile.

-Nevada also knocked off VCU 64-61, which is another tough and close loss for a VCU team that we really felt it was important for to pick up some notable wins in this event. They’re not going to leave here with much.

-Wichita State blew Saint Louis off the floor 88-63 in the Hall of Fame Classic. Wichita improves to 5-0 and is certainly a team that has our attention.

-Notre Dame, who had looked pretty impressive against Georgetown just a few days ago, did not look impressive last night as they fell at home to Elon 84-77. Elon, who is a CAA team that we weren’t expecting much out of, has now won 2 straight road games and was reasonably competitive with North Carolina in their opener. They are certainly high on our UTR radar now!

-Longwood is now 6-0 after knocking off UAB in the Paradise Jam. UAB has been a huge disappointment this year, whereas Longwood is turning out to be a really good surprise.

-Pittsburgh remains unbeaten with a nice 73-64 win over LSU in the Greenbrier Tip-Off.

-Mississippi State went on the road to SMU and picked up a nice 84-79 win.

-Last but not least, the finish of the night was UC Riverside’s overtime win at Colorado State. The end of regulation featured a game tying shot, what appeared to be a game winning 3, and then another game tying shot at the buzzer from just beyond half court!

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-MARQUETTE VS GEORGIA (Nassau, Bahamas). Both teams come in unbeaten, but Marquette is clearly the more challenged and proven team as they have managed wins over Maryland and Purdue. Still, it’s a chance for Georgia to really make some noise if they can somehow pull off the upset win.

-CINCINNATI AT GEORGIA TECH. Cincinnati is coming off a road win at Northern Kentucky, which wasn’t that big of a test, but was at least a road win. This shouldn’t be that much of a test either. While it’s not a home buy game, and while it’s not at home, it’s still a game that a top 20 team should win without too much trouble.

-NEW MEXICO STATE AT UNLV. Both teams come in 3-1, but both still have work to do if they want to build up their resumes. This would likely turn out to be a nice win for whoever is able to pull this one out tonight.

-La Salle vs Stetson (Boardwalk Battle) – a chance for La Salle to get another win away from home
-Marshall @ Purdue – Marshall is 3-1 but is probably way overmatched in this one
-Saint Francis U @ Georgetown
-UIC vs East Carolina (Boardwalk Battle) – it hasn’t been a bad showing in this event at all for these two teams, and if ECU can get to 6-1 with a win today
-Northeastern @ FGCU – a win for Northeastern gets them to 5-1 as well as their 2nd true road win
-UMES @ Illinois
-Detroit Mercy @ Wake Forest
-Southern Utah vs Idaho (San Diego) – Southern Utah can improve to 6-1 and pick up their 2nd win away from home
-Northern Illinois @ DePaul – DePaul can get to 6-0
-Louisiana vs George Washington (Paradise Jam) – GW is 4-1 but with no real wins of note
-UC San Diego vs Toledo (Boardwalk Battle) – it’s the championship game, and Toledo can finish off a really good run in this tournament
-Stony Brook @ Columbia – Columbia can get to 7-0
-Cal Poly @ Saint Mary’s
-Mississippi Valley State @ BYU
-Stanford @ Santa Clara – Stanford is 5-0, but this is their first road game