Hoops HD

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.

.

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

NEWS AND NOTES:

-For our 1st Under the Radar Video Podcast of the Season – CLICK HERE

-Auburn, Houst0n, Tennessee, Creighton, and Saint John’s all blew out their opponents in home buy wins.

-Troy ended up losing at Arkansas 65-49, but they were in this game for the majority of the time before they ran out of gas late in the second half. We were big on the Trojans coming into the season and still are. They probably needed a win in a game like this in order to make a solid run at landing inside the bubble, but even if they don’t knock off a top 25 team on the road they may still get a very serious look from the committee if they can blow through most of the rest of their schedule.

-Wake Forest REALLY struggled against USC Upstate, and was actually behind for much of the second half. They barely held on to win 85-80, but the showing was less than spectacular.

-Hofstra improved to 3-0 with their 49-48 rock-fight-like win over Seton Hall. The Pirates have now fallen to Fordham at home, and Hofstra on a neutral floor. It may be a long year for Seton Hall.

-North Texas, who has been very good in recent years but who we weren’t expecting that much from this year, is now 3-0 and they got a really nice 54-51 win at Minnesota yesterday. They are now a team we have our eyes on!

.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-NORTHERN IOWA AT WICHITA STATE. These two are old MVC rivals and I believe it’s the first time they’ve met since Wichita State left to become members of the American. The Shockers are off to a 2-0 start with one of those wins being at Western Kentucky so they have shown a fair amount of promise. Northern Iowa is a team I was big on coming into the season, but they were just dominated by UC Irvine in their last game and need to bounce back.

-NORTHERN COLORADO AT SOUTH DAKOTA STATE. This is a really solid UTR match-up. Northern Colorado nearly beat Colorado last week, and South Dakota State comes in undefeated with a notable win over McNeese State. I don’t know if either team will end up near the bubble, but the Jackrabbits are off to about as good of a start as you can ask.

-GRAND CANYON VS ARIZONA STATE (Phoenix, AZ). I’ve said for the last several months that I really like this Grand Canyon team and think they’ll be in the top 25 before the end of the season. They really struggled in their last game against Western Kentucky, but they were without two key players, so they’ll be a lot more dangerous if they are at full strength. Arizona State wasn’t a team we expected much from at all, but they nearly pulled the upset at Gonzaga last week and appear to be much better than most of us realized. This would be a high caliber win for the Sun Devils and end up looking pretty good on their resume if they can pull it off. In short, this is a very good early season opportunity for both these teams.

-LSU AT KANSAS STATE. Both teams come in 2-0, but neither has really been tested yet, so we should learn something about both of them tonight.

-Southern Illinois @ Oklahoma State
-TAMUCC @ New Mexico State – New Mexico State can improve to 3-0
-Omaha @ UNLV

NEWS AND NOTES:

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

-At the Champions Classic last night, neither Michigan State nor Kansas was a champion at shooting the basketball. Michigan State was just 3-of-24 from the outside and Kansas was under 30% from beyond the arc. Despite the poor shooting and appearing to be overmatched, Michigan State hung in. Kansas pulled it out in the end 77-69, but when I now look at Michigan State I see a team that went up against the top ranked team in the country and didn’t play their best game, but still hung in for most of the game. Imagine what they’ll look like when they do start playing their best games!

-Duke v Kentucky was played at a much higher level. Both teams were super talented, and both played together well despite it being early in the season and most of the players being new to the rosters this year. Duke appeared to be pulling away in the first half, but in the second half Kentucky made a defensive adjustment and actually came out in what looked to be a match-up zone. I think Kentucky’s defense in the second half made the difference. After about four video reviews in the final 30 seconds of the game, Kentucky got a huge 77-72 win. This is a big statement win for the Cats. They aren’t just a top 25 team, but a team that can compete against the best in the country.

-Villanova lost the Holy War to Saint Joseph’s. I know this is a rivalry, and that many think Saint Joe’s is good (despite already having a loss to Central Connecticut) and that many know that Villanova is not, but WOW has Nova fallen in the last two years!!

-UCF remains undefeated after their 100-94 win against Florida Atlantic. Considering FAU was on the road, they actually played really well in this game and kept fighting back every time it looked like UCF was about to get control. FAU may be better this year than what we were expecting despite the departure of Dusty May.

-North Florida, who had knocked off South Carolina and Georgia Tech, couldn’t get past Georgia last night. Georgia won 90-77 to stay unbeaten on the year, and while UNF didn’t get blown off the floor, it never really felt like they were in the game either. Still, from a UTR standpoint, North Florida has had a great start to the season.

-It seems like Syracuse always has trouble with Colgate, and they did again last night. It came down to the last possession with Colgate having a chance to either tie or win, but they couldn’t get a shot up and the Orange held on 74-72.

-The Battle of the Boulevard never disappoints!!! Last night was another thrilling, close, and back and forth game with Belmont grabbing the lead in the final seconds, Lipscomb having one last possession, but then failing to get a shot off. Belmont got the dramatic 80-79 win. This is one of our favorite rivalries, so we always mention it.

-Two other teams to keep an eye on that are from the Sun Belt are Texas State and Arkansas State. Texas State didn’t get the win at TCU, but they hung in there, and Arkansas State took Alabama to the wall a few days ago and blew Little Rock off the court last night. The Sun Belt is looking like a strong league this year and we will certainly be discussing that on our Under the Radar podcast tonight. So, don’t miss it!!

.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-KENT STATE AT AUBURN. This is obviously a buy game, and it’s a game that Auburn should win rather easily (especially when you consider how well they’ve been playing), but Kent State does come in undefeated and if they can some how aim at the moon, shoot at the moon, and hit the, it would catapult them onto the national scene and give them the kind of win that could land them inside the bubble come March.

-TROY AT ARKANSAS. Troy was my preseason pick to win the Sun Belt, and while they haven’t had a test like this yet they do come into this one at 2-0. Arkansas is coming off a close loss to Baylor and will be looking to bounce back from that.

-CALIFORNIA AT VANDERBILT. Neither team will likely be anywhere close to the bubble come March, but for now they both come into this one at 2-0.

-WYOMING AT TEXAS TECH. We really like this Texas Tech team and while they may be tested a little bit tonight against a Wyoming team that comes in at 2-0, they should be able to win this one at home.

BUY GAMES (and other games that might as well be):

-UMass @ Louisana Tech – LA Tech can get to 3-0
-Wagner @ Saint John’s
-Le Moyne @ UConn
-Montana @ Tennessee
-Coastal Carolina @ NC State
-Ball State @ Dayton
-SC Upstate @ Wake Forest
-Merrimack @ VCU
-Louisiana @ Houston
-Oral Roberts @ Tulsa
-Hofstra @ Seton Hall – Seton Hall is coming off a loss to Fordham and needs to be on upset alert again in this one
-Fairleigh Dickinson @ Nebraska
-Houston Christian @ Creighton
-Westminster (nonD1) @ Utah State
-Oakland @ Illinois
-Cal State Fullerton @ Colorado
-Queens @ BYU
-North Dakota State @ Santa Clara
-Fresno State @ UC Santa Barbara – both teams are unbeaten
-Weber State @ Nevada – this could be somewhat competitive, but Nevada should win at home
-Long Beach State @ San Francisco – San Francisco is off to a good start and should stay unbeaten
-UT Arlington @ USC