Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES:

-Xavier looked like they were asleep during stretches of their first three buy games, but they were wide awake yesterday as they beat Wake Forest rather handily 75-60, and looked good doing it.

-Notre Dame went on the road and blew Georgetown out of the gym 84-63. I know it’s Georgetown, and that the Hoyas have been awful the last several years, but they appeared to be getting better (and still might be) so it was still a bit of a statement for the Irish to win so dominantly in a true road game.

-East Carolina remains unbeaten after their double OT 78-77 win against George Mason. I don’t expect to see them inside or near the bubble come March, but as for now they are off to a good start.

-Hofstra is now 4-0 with wins against Seton Hall and UMass on thier resume as they knocked off the Minutemen 75-71 on the road yesterday. They are starting to establish themselves as a top level Under the Radar team. Their next two are at Florida State and at Houston, and if they can get just one of those you have to consider that they’re putting quite a few early notable wins on their resume.

-Last, but not least, Columbia is off to a 5-0 start, which I believe makes them the first team to get to 5 wins on the year. They have a long stretch of winnable games ahead of them and have been one of the more exciting stories so far this season.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-NEW MEXICO AT SAINT JOHN’S. You could say this one is a family affair!! (Okay, bad joke). This is the first test for Saint John’s, whereas New Mexico already has a nice win at UCLA. If the Lobos can go across the country and pick up a second true road win against a ranked team then their tournament resume will already have a very solid foundation. (Fact Check: New Mexico beat UCLA on a neutral court in Henderson, Nevada. Today would be considered their first true road win of the season.)

-SAINT MARY’S VS NEBRASKA (Sioux Falls, ND). Both teams are unbeaten and untested. Saint Mary’s has probably faced tougher teams than Nebraska in their home buy games, but they were still home buy games. Both have potential and we should learn something about them today.

-CLEMSON AT BOISE STATE. This is the first real test for Clemson who has won three buy games coming into this one, and a chance for Boise (who has a loss at San Francisco) to pick up their first win of note. We feel that both teams could be NCAA Tournament teams, and this is a chance for each of them to pick up their first non-home-buy-game win of the season.

-AUSTIN PEAY AT TENNESSEE. This is a buy game, but it also has a little intrigue considering both teams are unbeaten and Austin Peay already has a road win at Butler. Tennessee is much better than Butler, so this is a real long shot for the Govs, but they’re still a good team and it will be interesting to see what they can do against a team like Tennessee.

-UTAH AT MISSISSIPPI STATE. Both teams are coming into this one at 3-0, but this is the first game for each team that isn’t a home buy game, so we should learn something about both of them today.

-LIBERTY AT CHARLESTON (Field of 68 Tip-Off). All the games in this event have been incredible so far. Charleston is coming off a dramatic double OT win against Florida Atlantic and Liberty is coming off a mere single OT loss against that same FAU team. While these games have been on Charleston’s home court, getting off to a 4-0 start would be great for the Cougars. (Also the UTR Game of the Day)

-TROY AT OREGON. I think Troy is really good. They are coming off a loss at Arkansas, but they were in that game for a fair amount of the way, and while facing the Ducks is a very tough road test, it does feel more winnable than their game at Arkansas was, and if they can get a win in a game like this it will get the attention of the selection committee. Oregon comes in at 3-0, but has only played in home buy games and actually needed overtime to get by Portland in their last one, so this is hardly a cakewalk for the Ducks.

-CALIFORNIA AT USC. It’s a vintage Pac 12 game!! It’s a classic ACC/Big Ten Challenge game!! USC is unbeaten, but also untested, and one might argue that after today they’ll still be untested. Not much is expected from Cal this year.

BUY GAMES (and other notable games):

-Princeton @ Merrimack – Princeton needs to bounce back from their loss to Loyola Chicago and pick up their 2nd road win
-Coppin State @ Miami FL
-Harvard @ Colorado
-UC Davis @ Stanford
-UC Santa Barbara @ San Jose State – UCSB can remain unbeaten and pick up their 2nd true road win
-Tarleton State @ Baylor
-Saint Thomas @ Arizona State
-UMass Lowell @ Washington

NEWS AND NOTES:

-The game of the day, and probably the game of the season so far, was Charleston’s 119-116 double overtime win against Florida Atlantic. This game had so many exciting moments, and so many runs for each team, and so many momentum shifts, and was so good overall that when Charleston hit a dramatic 3pt shot at the buzzer at the end of the second overtime, I kind of felt disappointed that it went in!! I wanted them to keep playing!! Props and congrats to the guys at The Field of 68!! This game was part of their event, and it was INCREDIBLE!!! Now I expect every game they put on to be as good as this one!!!!!

-Purdue might not be quite as good as they were last year, but they are still pretty damn good! And it’s still one of the toughest places for road teams to win. Last night they took down 2nd ranked Alabama 87-78 in a really fun game to watch that went back and forth. Purdue did get control in the final minutes and Alabama, who was pretty good offensively for a lot of the night, came up empty on some key possessions late in the game.

-It’s hard to win at Wisconsin as well. Arizona fell 103-88 in what would have been an uncharacteristically high scoring game a few years ago for the Badgers. Wisky held a lead for most of the game, and every time Arizona came back they would go on a run and regain control.

-Marquette picked up a huge 78-74 road win at Maryland in front of a high energy crowd. The fans were in mid-season form! This game was just a blast to watch. Both teams made key plays at pivotal moments, the momentum felt like it was always shifting, and even in the final minute of the game when it looked like Marquette was putting it away Maryland forced some big plays and nearly tied it.

-Ohio State, who already had a nice win against Texas, just could not get their motors started last night on the road at Texas A&M. It was a sluggish first half for the Bucks, and while they weren’t blown out in the 78-64 loss, it never really felt like they were in the game either.

-High Point is an Under the Radar team to keep a very close eye on, and UAB is a team that is in trouble even though it’s just November. High Point knocked off UAB 68-65 on their home court yesterday in a game that was close for most of the way, but where High Point did seem to have the lead for most of the time. UAB, who had a razor thin margin for error due to their weak schedule, is now just 2-2 on the season. Their losses aren’t bad in the sense that they are going to be huge setbacks, but they are in the sense that those two losses were the kinds of games they needed to be winning in order to build up their NCAA Tournament resume. Some teams’ schedules don’t have the luxury of being able to improve as the season goes on. They need to start winning in November.

-Loyola Chicago got a really big 73-68 road win against Princeton. Like the rest of Princeton’s games, it was close and came down to the final minute of play, but unlike those other ones Princeton wasn’t able to hold on this time. Princeton has a ton of potential, and I think February-Princeton will be much better than November-Princeton, and that this will actually end up being a really valued road win for Loyola Chicago come March.

-Florida had very little trouble on the road against rivals Florida State. The Gators won 87-74.

-Virginia improves to 3-0 after their 70-60 win over Villanova. Nova is now just 2-3 on the year and leaking all kinds of oil.

-Michigan picked up their first notable win of the season as they knocked off TCU 76-64.

-Northwestern needed overtime to get by Eastern Illinois 67-58. That result is a little more than slightly discouraging for the Wildcats.

-Iowa knocked off Washington State 76-66 in a game where both teams came in 3-0. Obviously the Hawkeyes are now 4-0.

-DePaul is now 4-0 on the season after knocking off Duquesne 84-58 last night. They are MUCH better under Chris Holtmann as head coach this year.

-Florida had very little trouble on the road against rivals Florida State. The Gators won 87-74.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-WAKE FOREST AT XAVIER. Both teams are unbeaten. Wake had a very nice win against Michigan a little bit ago, but Xavier has only played home buy games and they didn’t exactly blow those teams off the floor. X should have the advantage playing at home, but it’s still their toughest test of the season by far up to this point.

-GEORGETOWN AT NOTRE DAME. Both teams are 2-0, but neither team has faced a real test, and we are still a LOOOONG way from declaring either one of them worthy of national attention. But, it’s a good early season game for two teams that have a long way to go, and a win would get each of them closer to where they want to be.

-LA SALLE AT DREXEL (Big 5). La Salle has shown some early promise, and will be tested on the road (at least somewhat) tonight against Drexel in the Big 5 Classic. It’s their first true road game (even though they’re not going all that far), so a win would be a nice addition to their early resume.

-SOUTH CAROLINA AT INDIANA. This is a game that the Hoosiers should hold on and win. It’s their first non-buy game, so it is a bit of a test, but it isn’t quite a HUGE test.

-COLORADO STATE AT OLE MISS. Ole Miss has won their three buy games, but they nearly lost to Grambling and didn’t exactly bury South Alabama, so for a team that came into the season with high expectations they are leaking quite a bit of oil. Colorado State has also had to sweat out some buy games, so they haven’t looked all that impressive either. It’s the first real test for two teams that have potential, but who have struggled on their early quizzes coming into this first test.

-SANTA CLARA AT NEVADA. Santa Clara has shown some promise despite being just 1-2 so far. They have a win against Saint Louis, and close losses to Arizona State and North Dakota State, so they could REALLY use a win like this to help even out their record and give their resume a boost early on. Nevada has a nice win against Washington, but I think this may be an even slightly tougher test.

BUY GAMES (and other notable games):

-Wofford @ Duke
-Mercychurst @ Columbia – Columbia can get to 5-0
-Youngstown State @ Syracuse – PENGUIN FEVER LIVES!!
-UT Martin @ Longwood – 2 UTR teams off to better than expected starts
-Tulsa @ Missouri State – Tulsa’s 1st road game, and can get to 4-0
-Stetson @ Oklahoma
-Stephen F Austin @ Arkansas State – I like this Arkansas State team, and a win gets them to 3-1
-Jackson State @ Vanderbilt – Vandy can remain unbeaten
-Idaho @ BYU
-Texas State @ Abilene Christian – a moderately interesting UTR game. It’s a winnable road game for Texas State
-Murray State @ Middle Tennessee – a win for MTSU gets them to 4-0
-LeMoyne @ Saint Bonaventure
-George Mason @ East Carolina – GMU is off to a bit of a slow start, and ECU is unbeaten so far
-Yale @ Minnesota
-East Tennessee State @ Davidson
-Green Bay @ Providence
-Mississippi Valley State @ Texas
-Oakland @ Kansas
-Northeastern @ Central Connecticut – two UTR teams that already have some notable wins
-Bowling Green @ Michigan State
-Kansas City @ Creighton
-Siena @ UAlbany – Siena is off to a 3-0 start and can pick up their second road win today if they can knock off their crosstown rivals
-Hofstra @ UMass – Hofstra has a win against Seton Hall already and can get another nice road win and stay unbeaten today
-Capital (nonD1) @ Dayton
-Loyola MD @ VCU
-James Madison @ Towson – two solid UTR teams
-Northern Illinois @ Bradley – both teams off to nice 2-1 starts
-LMU @ Saint Louis
-Omaha @ Southern Utah – Southern Utah can improve to 4-0
-Chicago State @ San Francisco – San Francisco can get to 4-0
-Pepperdine @ UC Irvine

NEWS AND NOTES:

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

-After nearly beating Gonzaga in their last game, Arizona State did pick up a really nice win against Grand Canyon 78-69. It was a missed opportunity for GCU to get a statement win on a neutral floor, and that’s something they’ll have limited opportunities to do given the strength (or lack thereof) of their conference, but I still think the Lopes can play their way into the top 25 by the end of the year, and that this was a good win for the Sun Devils.

-LSU picked up their first road win of the season and stays unbeaten after knocking off what we think is a pretty solid Kansas State team 76-65. It’s not easy to win at the Octagon of Doom, and the Tigers did it.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-VIRGINIA VS VILLANOVA (Hall of Fame Series – Baltimore, MD). Virginia won their first two buy games, and one could say this is their first real test, but when you look at how Villanova already has losses to Columbia and Saint Joseph’s and appears to be off the rails it may not be that much of a test after all. Still, it would be the most notable win on their resume to date.

-FLORIDA AT FLORIDA STATE. It’s a rivalry game between two teams that have blown through their home buy games up to this point, and will be tested for the first time tonight in a game that means something both on and off paper. We should learn something about both of them.

-TCU AT MICHIGAN. TCU is unbeaten in three buy games, but was challenged by Texas State in their last game and will be challenged a lot more tonight at Michigan. The Wolverines lost a close one to Wake Forest in their last game and will look to bounce back tonight at home against a quality opponent.

-ALABAMA AT PURDUE. Both teams are in the top 15, both have looked good so far, but both are also facing what will be their biggest test of the year so far tonight. It’s Alabama’s first road game, and while McNeese is solid, playing a ranked Purdue team on the road is a much higher hurdle to get over. It’s a chance for both teams to pick up a likely high caliber win that will look good on either teams’ resume come March.

-FLORIDA ATLANTIC AT CHARLESTON. FAU didn’t get the win at UCF their last time out, but they played really well on the road against a really good team. I like this Charleston team as well. They come into this one unbeaten and while they don’t have any wins against the top 25, they didn’t just win easy home buy games either. They beat Southern Illinois out at the Pentagon in South Dakota and a decent South Florida team in their last game. This is the biggest test for either team so far, and we should learn something about both of them.

-UAB AT HIGH POINT. This is a VERY tough road test for UAB, and you get the sense that due to their light schedule it’s one that they kind of need on their resume. High Point is one of the better Under the Radar teams, and while I haven’t proclaimed them to be so good that I think they can make a run at the bubble just yet, I haven’t ruled out that possibility either. Another really good early season game where both teams will be tested and where we should learn something about both of them.

-LOYOLA CHICAGO AT PRINCETON. Both teams are unbeaten, and prior to the start of the season we felt that both of them had a very good chance of ending up as consensus top 40 teams and landing inside the bubble. Having said that, Princeton has had to sweat out three weak opponents, and while they did win them all, their level of play was concerning. Loyola hasn’t been tested yet and didn’t exactly blow through their first home buy game against Chicago State. Nevertheless, both teams have a lot of potential and tonight’s game is an opportunity for a solid win.

-SMU AT BUTLER. Butler has been a little disappointing so far, but has the chance to build up some momentum tonight. SMU comes in unbeaten, but this is their first road game and first real test. Like a lot of games we’re starting to see, it’s’ their first real test and we should learn something more about both of these teams.

-VIRGINIA TECH VS PENN STATE (Hall of Fame Series – Baltimore, MD). We aren’t really expecting big things from either team this year, but both are unbeaten and both have the chance to pick up what will (at least for now) be a notable win.

-MARQUETTE AT MARYLAND. This is the biggest test of the year so far for a Marquette team that we think can finish near the top of the Big East standings and end up as a protected seed. It’s their first road game against a Maryland team that’s blown through three buy games, and who is also being tested for the first time tonight.

-GEORGIA AT GEORGIA TECH. This one is usually fun. The Bulldogs are coming off a nice win against North Florida and can pick up their first road win against their rivals tonight.

-WEST VIRGINIA AT PITTSBURGH. It’s the Backyard Brawl!!! While we are happy that this series is back, and while both teams are undefeated, and while neither has faced a real test yet West Virginia has still shown a little more promise than what we were expecting. I’m not expecting either team to be inside the bubble come March, but they both certainly have a path to it and getting a win over a rival will help build up some momentum.

-WASHINGTON STATE AT IOWA. Both teams are unbeaten, but neither has faced a real test yet, so we should learn something about them tonight.

-ARIZONA AT WISCONSIN. Both teams are unbeaten, but both have played nothing but buy games. Arizona comes in ranked in the top ten and has very high expectations on the year. This is a very challenging road game, so we should learn something about the Wildcats.

-OHIO STATE AT TEXAS A&M. Ohio State already has a nice win against Texas, and if they can go on the road and beat what looks to be a really strong Texas A&M team then we’ll REALLY have to start looking at the Buckeyes. While we think TAMU is really good, they’re still looking for their first notable win of the year and have the chance to do that at home tonight.

BUY GAMES (and other games of note):

-Monmouth @ Rutgers
-Nicholls @ Cincinnati
-Tulane @ Furman – Both teams are unbeaten, and Furman has looked good so far, so this one is worth keeping an eye on
-Temple @ Boston College – it’s Temple’s first road game and a win gets them to 4-0
-American @ North Carolina
-Ohio U @ Memphis
-Eastern Illinois @ Northwestern
-Saint Joseph’s @ Pennsylvania (Big 5)
-Samford @ North Alabama – North Alabama can get to 4-0
-UMass Lowell @ Gonzaga – both teams are unbeaten, and Lowell will be a good team in the America East, but they are way overmatched tonight.
-Duquesne @ DePaul – DePaul can get to 4-0
-Cal State Fullerton @ Oregon State – Oregon State can get to 4-0