Hoops HD Daily Rundown – Tuesday, Nov 12th

Posted on November 12, 2024 by David Griggs

NEWS, NOTES, AND LINKS:

-For the latest HOOPS HD REPORT – CLICK HERE

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

-Alabama held McNeese at arms length for pretty much the entire game, and while McNeese did play well, they didn’t quite play well enough to beat the #2 ranked team on the road. But to be fair there are very few teams in the country that are capable of playing that well. The Tide picked up a nice 72-64 win.

-Austin Peay remains unbeaten after holding off Chattanooga 67-61 last night, and they are definitely worth keepin an eye on. Remember that one of their three wins came at Butler.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-VILLANOVA AT SAINT JOSEPH’S (Big 5). Both teams come into this one having lost home buy games in their previous game, so it goes without saying that both are off to a slow start. Both could use this win for what it means on paper, but they also need the momentum that comes from winning a rivalry game to build up some much needed momentum.

-MICHIGAN STATE VS KANSAS (Champions Classic – Atlanta, GA). Both teams come in unbeaten, and Kansas is coming off a really nice win against North Carolina in their last game, so they have been tested, but this is still their first big game away from home. Michigan State blew through their buy games, but this will be our first chance to really learn something about them.

-DREXEL AT TEMPLE (Big 5). Both teams come in 2-0, but neither have really been tested yet. It’s a rivalry game and it appears to be the toughest opponent either team has faced yet, so we should learn a little something about them today.

-FLORIDA ATLANTIC @ UCF. Both teams are off to really good starts and after just one week it looks like they are set to outperform their preseason expectations by a ton. UCF managed a big win against Texas A&M and FAU absolutely blew Indiana State off the floor. This is an early season match-up between two teams that appear to be better than what most people thought they’d be.

-NORTH FLORIDA AT GEORGIA. North Florida already has two wins in road buy games against South Carolina and Georgia Tech, and has a shot at picking up a 3rd tonight. This is another game that North Florida can win, especially if Georgia isn’t ready for them. The Dawgs barely got by Tennessee Tech in their opener. I know UNF is an under the radar team, but they’re starting to build up a really good looking resume.

-DUKE VS KENTUCKY (Legends Classic – Atlanta, GA). The expectations and enthusiasm has been high around this Kentucky program, but this is their first real test under new Head Coach Mark Pope and we are all seeing how they handle it. To be fair, it is also Duke’s first real test. It’s two talented teams that are still getting used to playing with each other, and we should learn quite a bit about both of them tonight.

-AKRON AT SAINT MARY’S. This is likely a mismatch, but Akron is a strong enough UTR team to potentially make this one interesting. SMC has won both their games so far, but this may be their toughest test to date.

BUY GAMES (and others worth mentioning):

-Hampton @ Providence – Providence can get to 3-0
-Cornell @ La Salle – both teams are 2-0 and La Salle has shown some promise early on
-Norfolk State @ William & Mary – Norfolk just beat James Madison and can get to 4-0 with a win in this one
-Mount Olive (nonD1) @ East Carolina – ECU can get to 3-0
-Lehigh @ Columbia – Columbia has the big win against Villanova and can stay unbeaten with a win
-NC Central @ High Point – High Point can get to 3-0
-NC A&T @ George Wahsington – GW can get to 3-0
-Tarlton State @ Florida State
-Saint Francis U @ Penn State
-UIC @ Northwestern – Northwestern looking to bounce back from a close loss at Dayton
-Colgate @ Syracuse
-Eastern Kentucky @ Clemson – both teams 2-0
-SELA @ Mississippi State
-Sam Houston @ Baylor
-South Alabama @ Ole Miss
-Ohio U @ Illinois State – both are fairly decent UTR teams
-Chicago State @ Texas
-Texas State @ TCU – both teams unbeaten
-Jackson State @ Xavier
-Denver @ Colorado State (Front Range) – We at Hoops HD LOVE the Front Range!!!
-Corban College (nonD1) @ Boise State
-TAMUCC @ New Mexico
-South Dakota @ Iowa – both teams unbeaten
-Queens @ Utah – both teams unbeaten
-Northern Arizona @ Stanford – both teams unbeaten
-Western Oregon (nonD1) @ Oregon State
-Portland @ Oregon

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Under the Radar Doubleheader – Tuesday, November 12th

Posted on November 12, 2024 by John Stalica

Belmont (1-1, 0-1 D1) at Lipscomb (2-1) – 8:00 PM ET (ESPN+)

The first half of tonight’s UTR Doubleheader includes the Battle of the Boulevard between the Belmont Bruins and the Lipscomb Bisons. Belmont will be seeking their first D1 win of the year after a tough loss at home to Furman 76-74 last Friday. Despite 26 points from Brody Peebles, the Bruins gave up a 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds left to provide the losing margin. Lipscomb already has a win at Duquesne and a home win against Wofford to their credit; their only loss to date was on the road at Arkansas.

UC-Riverside (0-2) at California Baptist (2-0) – 10:00 PM ET (ESPN+)

The second half of tonight’s doubleheader takes us to the Battle for Riverside between the UC-Riverside Highlanders and the California Baptist Lancers. UCR was a darkhorse pick in some circles to win the Big West this year, but their first week was spent on the road on the losing end of buy games at Oregon and at BYU. The Lancers, on the other hand, are in the midst of a 6-game homestand to start the season; they have defeated Incarnate Word and Kennesaw State to begin their season. Their future in the WAC looms uncertain with the departures of Grand Canyon to the Mountain West and Seattle to the West Coast Conference.

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The Hoops HD Report – Nov 11th

Posted on November 11, 2024 by David Griggs

A full panel convenes to recap a busy first week of college basketball. We start off in the Big East, and while most of the teams have held serve in terms of winning their buy games, to date no one in the conference has played anything but a buy game, and some of those teams struggled to win those. Villanova is off to a really rough start after their loss to Columbia. In the SEC, despite some trouble on the flight over, Auburn picked up a massive win against Houston which will end up looking very good on their resume. Ohio State got a big win against Texas, North Carolina had an impressive showing at Kansas, Memphis is off to a good start out in the AAC, New Mexico picked up a big win at UCLA, and Gonzaga is off to a very impressive start. We discuss all that, and much more!!

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

Posted in Hoops HD Report, Podcasts, Videocasts | 1 Comment

Hoops HD Merit Rankings (and Bracket Projections) – Nov 11th

Posted on November 11, 2024 by David Griggs

For today’s Hoops HD Daily Rundown – CLICK HERE

Before anyone goes any further, let me explain what it is that you’re looking at. This is NOT an attempt to rank the teams based on how good I think they actually are. Not at all. It is simply an attempt to rank them on their CURRENT MERIT. Simply put, how hard was it for them to win the games that they’ve actually won??

Winning home buy games is not hard to do, and I therefore award zero credit for doing it. Winning on the road against an Under the Radar team may not be that hard either, but it’s still harder than winning a home buy game. No power conference team whose only wins were home buy games made the field.

And, it is my absolute pleasure to bring this to you!! It’s ridiculous!! It’s absurd!! It gets people who whine about how useless Bracketology is before the month of February into an absolute tizzy!! AND I AM SO GLAD THAT IT DOES!!! Annoying those people makes me happy!!

Allow me to explain/defend why I do this. For starters, as an exercise, it forces me (and all of us at Hoops HD) to evaluate teams solely on what they have actually done. Getting into that state of mind this early actually helps us do a better job of evaluating the teams as the season goes on, and helps us identify teams that that are having good years sooner.

Secondly, if you look at a college basketball game, the score is on the scoreboard from the very beginning of the game. No one says “What’s the point in showing the score in the first half!!??” No one would look at the score pictured below at this point of the game and think of it as being any indication of what the final outcome would be. But, at that moment in time, this WAS the score! Howard was ahead!

So, as you look through the list below…

-I do not think Houston, who I picked to win it all before the season started and who is still my pick to win it all, will fail to make the field

-I do not think North Florida and Columbia will end up with #2 seeds

-I do not think the final rankings will look anything like this.

But, as of now, as we are metaphorically about 2 minutes into the 40 minute game, and this what I think the score is!! And it is AMAZING!!! The bracket is below. Enjoy!!!

  1. AUBURN – 2-0, win @ Houston
  2. NEW MEXICO – 2-0, win @ UCLA
  3. OHIO STATE – 1-0, neutral win vs Texas
  4. GONZAGA – 2-0, blowout home win vs Baylor, win vs Arizona State
  5. BAYLOR – 1-1, loss @ Gonzaga, neutral win vs Arkansas
  6. Tennessee – 2-0, win @ Lousville
  7. NORTH FLORIDA – 3-0, wins @ South Carolina and @ Georgia Tech
  8. UC IRVINE – 2-0, won @ LMU and @ Northern Iowa
  9. Kansas – 2-0, home win vs North Carolina
  10. WAKE FOREST – 3-0, neutral win vs Michigan
  11. MEMPHIS – 2-0, home win vs Missouri, win @ UNLV
  12. Ucf – 2-0, home win vs Texas A&M
  13. Austin Peay – 1-0, won @ Butler
  14. Wichita State – 2-0, win @ Western Kentucky
  15. COLUMBIA – 2-0, wins @ Loyola MD and @ Villanova
  16. Princeton – 3-0, neutral win vs Duquesne, win @ Northeastern
  17. CHARLESTON – 2-0, home win vs South Florida, neutral win vs Southern Illinois
  18. DAYTON – 2-0, home win vs Northwestern
  19. Davidson – 2-0, road win @ Bowling Green
  20. Eastern Kentucky – 1-0, won @ East Tennessee State
  21. MAINE – 1-1 – loss @ Duke, win @ Brown
  22. BUCKNELL – 2-1, wins @ Delaware and @ Southern Indiana, loss @ Kentucky
  23. LIBERTY – 2-0, neutral win vs Valparaiso, road win @ Seattle U
  24. Arizona State – 2-1, neutral win vs Santa Clara, loss @ Gonzaga
  25. Santa Clara – 1-1, neutral win vs Saint Louis, neutral loss vs Arizona State
  26. Florida Atlantic – 2-0, neutral win vs Indiana State
  27. Florida State – 2-0, win @ Rice
  28. Fordham – 1-1, loss @ Saint John’s, win @ Seton Hall
  29. CENTRAL CONNECTICUT – 1-1, loss @ Providence, win @ Saint Joseph’s
  30. SOUTH DAKOTA STATE – 2-0, neutral win vs McNeese
  31. San Francisco – 2-0, home buy win, home win vs Boise State
  32. North Alabama – 1-0, won @ Air Force
  33. MARIST – 1-1, lost @ Harvard, won @ Richmond
  34. TROY – 2-0, wins vs Toledo and @ New Orleans
  35. Louisiana Tech – 1-0, won @ UT Arlington
  36. KENT STATE – 1-0, won @ Louisiana
  37. FURMAN – 1-0, win @ Belmont
  38. UT MARTIN – 1-0, road win @ Illinois State
  39. Middle Tennessee – 1-0, won @ Abilene Christian
  40. Rider – 2-1, loss @ UCLA, won @ San Diego, won @ Coppin State
  41. Vcu – 2-0, neutral win vs Boston College
  42. Buffalo – 1-0, won @ Old Dominion
  43. Uc Santa Barbara – 1-0, road win @ Portland
  44. Saint Bonaventure – 2-0, road win @ Canisius
  45. UC Davis – 1-1, lost @ Washington, won @ Idaho
  46. Vermont – 1-2 – win @ UAB, loss @ Merrimack, loss @ Auburn
  47. Stony Brook – 1-1, loss @ Marquette, win @ Central Michigan
  48. New Mexico State 1-0, won @ Utah Tech
  49. Sam Houston State – 1-1, loss @ Nevada, won @ Tarlton State
  50. WRIGHT STATE – 1-1, lost @ Kentucky, won @ Miami OH
  51. Toledo – 1-1, lost @ Troy, won @ Marshall
  52. ILLINOIS STATE – home loss to UT Martin, road win @ North Dakota State
  53. Vmi – 1-0, win @ Bellarmine
  54. Penn – 2-0, won @ NJIT
  55. GARDNER WEBB – 1-1, loss @ Tennessee, win @ NC Central
  56. Northeastern – 1-1, win @ Boston U, home loss vs Princeton
  57. Siena – 2-0, won @ Bryant
  58. NORFOLK STATE – 1-0, home win vs James Madison
  59. MARQUETTE – 2-0, home win vs George Mason
  60. Miami OH – 1-1, won @ Appalachian State, home loss to Wright State
  61. Central Michigan – 1-1, won @ South Alabama, home loss to Stony Brook
  62. Youngstown State – 1-0, won @ Chicago State
  63. South Alabama – 1-1, home loss vs Central Michigan, win @ Nicholls
  64. Utah State – 2-0, home win vs Charlotte
  65. Western Illinois – 1-1, won @ San Jose State, loss @ Pepperdine
  66. Omaha – 1-1, won @ Stetson, loss @ Minnesota
  67. Saint Francis U – 1-2, 2 road buy losses, win @ Campbell
  68. Pacific – 1-0, neutral win vs San Jose State
  69. Alabama – 2-0 in home buy games
  70. Arizona – 2-0 in home buy games
  71. Connecticut – 2-0 in buy games
  72. North Carolina – 1-1, won home buy game, loss @ Kansas
  73. Temple – 2-0, won home buy game and neutral vs Monmouth
  74. Houston – 1-1, won a home buy game, lost vs Auburn
  75. Iowa State – 1-0 in home buy games
  76. Duke – 2-0 in buy games
  77. Creighton – 2-0 in buy games
  78. Kentucky – 2-0 in home buy games
  79. Purdue – 2-0 in home buy games
  80. Cincinnati – 2-0 in home buy games
  81. Illinois – 2-0 in home buy games
  82. Rutgers – 1-0 in home buy games
  83. Ucla – home buy win, home loss vs New Mexico
  84. Arkansas – 1-1, home buy win, neutral loss vs Baylor
  85. Texas – 1-1 – home buy win, neutral loss vs Ohio State
  86. Saint Mary’s – 2-0 in home buy games
  87. Byu – 2-0 in home buy games
  88. Ole Miss – 2-0 in home buy games
  89. Clemson – 2-0 in buy games
  90. Pittsburgh – 2-0 in buy games
  91. Michigan State – 2-0 in home buy games
  92. NC State – 2-0 in buy games
  93. Virginia – 1-0 in buy games
  94. Texas Tech – 2-0 in home buy games
  95. Saint John’s – 2-0 in buy games
  96. GRAND CANYON – 2-0 in home buy games
  97. Texas A&M – 1-1, home buy win, loss @ UCF
  98. Michigan – 1-1, won a home buy game, lost vs Wake Forest
  99. Virginia Tech – 2-0 in buy games
  100. Tcu – 2-0 in home buy games
  101. Florida – 2-0 in home buy games
  102. Mississippi State – 2-0 in home buy games
  103. Xavier – 2-0 in buy games
  104. Oregon – 2-0 in home buy games
  105. Wisconsin – 3-0 in home buy games
  106. Nevada – 2-0 in home buy games
  107. smu – 2-0 in buy games
  108. Loyola Chicago – 2-0 in home buy games
  109. Kansas State – 2-0 in home buy games
  110. San Diego State – 1-0 in home buy games
  111. Utah – 2-0 in home buy games
  112. Iowa – 2-0 in home buy games
  113. Oklahoma State – 2-0 in home buy games
  114. Winthrop – 1-0, home win vs Little Rock
  115. Northwestern – 1-1, home buy win, loss @ Dayton
  116. Oklahoma – 1-0 in home buy games
  117. Colorado State – 2-0 in home buy games
  118. Georgia – 2-0 in home buy games
  119. Syracuse – 1-0 in buy games
  120. Maryland – 2-0 in nome buy games
  121. Stanford – 2-0 in buy games
  122. Notre Dame – 1-0 in buy games
  123. Providence – 2-0 in buy games
  124. Lsu – 2-0 in home buy games
  125. California – 2-0 in buy games
  126. West Virginia – 2-0 in home buy games
  127. Colorado – 2-0 in home buy games
  128. Georgetown – 2-0 in buy games
  129. Vanderbilt – 2-0 in home buy games
  130. Nebraska – 2-0 in home buy games
  131. DePaul – 2-0 in buy games
  132. Boise State – 1-1, home buy win, road loss @ San Francisco
  133. EASTERN WASHINGTON – only Big Sky team with a D1 win
  134. GRAMBLING – 0-1, no SWAC teams have a D1 win, they almost beat Ole Miss
  135. MCNEESE STATE – 0-1, no Southland team has a D1 win
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Hoops HD Daily Rundown – Monday, Nov 11th

Posted on November 11, 2024 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES:

-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day, which is a good one between UT Martin and North Alabama – CLICK HERE

-Arizona State, who had shown no signs of real life in their first two games (even though they did win them) somehow hung with, and damn near beat, a Gonzaga team that had just gotten through blasting a top ten team off the court in their previous game. The Zags won 88-80, but my biggest takeaway was…WOW! Arizona State got A LOT better over the last couple of days!! They may be worth keeping an eye on.

-North Florida has been a great story this season!! They are now 3-0 with wins at South Carolina and at Georgia Tech! I know neither of those teams are likely tournament teams, but to go on the road and get two wins in road buy games is still a notable accomplishment, and it’s more than what the vast majority of teams around the country have been able to accomplish up to this point. The Ospreys were picked to finish 7th in the ASun preseason standings. Perhaps they’re better than that!

-Wake Forest held off Michigan 72-70 in a game that was close throughout and that went back and forth. Michigan didn’t get the win, but they hung with a likely tournament team on the road, which is a sign that they are VERY much improved.

-Princeton is now 3-0 after their 79-76 win against Northeastern. That’s the good news. The concerning news is they’ve won those games by 1, 7, and 3 points, and they weren’t playing against good teams. Princeton was a team I thought would be top 40 this year and inside the bubble, and they still might end up being that good, but despite winning all three games they really haven’t shown it yet.

-A team that has shown out is UC Irvine! They are off to a very impressive start. They went on the road against a pretty good Northern Iowa team and absolutely blew them off the floor 80-60. They’re now 3-0 on the season with two true road wins against failry decent teams. That’s not a bad early season profile!!

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-MCNEESE AT ALABAMA. McNeese has had this game circled for a while. They are a good team (or we think they are) with limited chances at big wins that will impress the committee, but this is certainly one of those chances. Having said that, they are sort of shooting at the moon. They’re not playing a team ranked in the mid-teens on a neutral floor. They’re playing the 2nd ranked team in the country in a true road game. They also already have a loss on their profile. If they are able to pull this off it goes without saying that it would be a massive win, but that’s far easier said than done.

-CHATTANOOGA AT AUSTIN PEAY. I know these are UTR teams, but Chattanooga competed with Saint Mary’s in their last game, and Austin Peay is a big story coming off their win at Butler. A win for the Govs gets them to 3-0 and off to a really good start.

-IDAHO AT WASHINGTON STATE. Folks, this is one of the great rivalries in all of sports!! These two teams are just eight miles apart!! And as incredible as this may sound, they’ve NEVER met in the NCAA Tournament!! (I got so sick of hearing that a hundred times a year about another rivalry that I won’t mention, so I always like to point out that the same is true about these two). Wazzu can (and should) get to 3-0 with a win.

-Youngstown State @ Ohio State – both teams 1-0
-Grambling @ Florida – Grambling gave Ole Miss a hell of a game over the weekend, and Florida is dealing with some off the court stuff
-Saint Peter’s @ Rutgers
-Gardner Webb @ Pittsburgh
-Buffalo @ Notre Dame – both teams unbeaten
-Western Michigan @ Butler
-Florida A&M @ Maryland
-Winthrop @ Virginia Tech – both teams unbeaten, and Winthrop has looked tough so far
-Coppin State @ Virginia
-Alcorn State @ Tulane – Tulane can get to 3-0
-Kansas City @ Iowa State – both teams unbeaten
-Lamar @ Texas A&M
-Yale @ Purdue
-Northwestern State @ Oklahoma
-UNC Greensboro @ SMU
-Central Michigan @ Marquette
-Mercer @ DePaul – both teams unbeaten
-Boston U @ UCLA
-Pacific @ Hawaii (Rainbow Classic) – both teams are unbeaten

Posted in Daily Rundown, News and Notes | 1 Comment

Under the Radar Game of the Day – Monday, November 11th

Posted on November 11, 2024 by John Stalica

UT-Martin (2-0, 1-0 D1) at North Alabama (2-0) – 7:00 PM ET (ESPN+)

Tonight’s UTR Game heads for the first time (we believe) to Florence, Alabama as the Lions of North Alabama host the UT-Martin Skyhawks. North Alabama opened the season with a solid 73-57 win at Air Force; Dallas Howell led the way with 17 points that included a 5-for-8 performance from 3-point territory. UNA followed that game up with a non-D1 win at home.

Like the Lions, UT-Martin opened up their season with a road win and followed it up with a non-D1 win in their home opener. The Skyhawks won at Illinois State 67-65 on Monday night; Josue Grillon led the Skyhawks with 18 points and 9 rebounds. In all, not bad for a team picked to finish tenth in the 11-team Ohio Valley Conference.

Posted in CBB on TV, Daily Rundown, News and Notes, Under the Radar | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment