Under the Radar Game of the Day: Oakland at Milwaukee

Posted on December 28, 2017 by Chad

Oakland at Milwaukee, 8:00 PM Eastern, espn3

Conference play is starting across the nation this week, and tonight’s Under the Radar Game of the Day features an intriguing matchup from the Horizon League as preseason favorite Oakland is on the road to take on a surprising (and somewhat schizophrenic) Milwaukee team.  The visiting Golden Grizzlies enter tonight’s game at 8-5 on the season, having won back-to-back games over Towson and Eastern Michigan after a hard fought loss to Michigan State.  Oakland finally has their three-headed monster of Martez Walker, Jaylen Hayes and Kendrick Nunn healthy and playing together.  They combined for 69 of Oakland’s 86 points in a win last week over Eastern Michigan.

The Milwaukee Panthers were one of the stories of Championship Week last year when they turned a last place Horizon League finish into a run to the conference tournament title game (and a new job at Butler for head coach LaVall Jordan).  Pat Baldwin is now running the show, but the team is still doing a Jekyll and Hyde impersonation.  The Panthers are currently 7-6 with solid wins over Elon, Loyola-Chicago and at Iowa State.  They also have some inexplicable losses, including by 21 points at Western Illinois and at home by 14 points to non-D1 Concordia!  Brock Stull’s play may be the key to their success, as he missed the Western Illinois game, but has scored 23 points in each of their last two outings, including the win over Loyola-Chicago.

Posted in Under the Radar | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Under the Radar Game of the Day: Oakland at Milwaukee

Under The Radar Podcast: Wednesday, December 27th

Posted on December 27, 2017 by John Stalica

Chad, David, Rocco and John are featured in this week’s Under The Radar podcast. This week’s feature conference is the Southern Conference. The SoCon has the best singular win so far by an UTR school thanks to Wofford’s win at North Carolina, but we also look at teams like Furman, UNC-Greensboro and East Tennessee State that will figure prominently in the conference race this year.

Along with reviewing the other 21 UTR conferences, we also predict who we think will win the conference (and in some cases win the conference tournament in the event they don’t win the regular season crown).

Without further ado, here is the podcast:

And for those who go audio-only and/or listen on the go, here is the audio link:

Posted in CBB, Podcasts, Under the Radar, Videocasts | 1 Comment

News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Wednesday, Dec 27th

Posted on December 27, 2017 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

-For the latest HOOPS HD REPORT – CLICK HERE

-For John Stalica’s most recent Bracket Projections – CLICK HERE

-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE

-The Diamond Head Classic actually gave us quite a bit of excitement.  New Mexico State picked up a really nice win against Miami FL, and then led USC for most of the game in the championship game, but USC fought back and New Mexico State came up just short.  USC picked up three decent wins away from home, which is something they needed, but they didn’t get to add a high caliber win against a team like Miami to their resume.  Despite losing in the finals, New Mexico State has shown they are a very solid team, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them inside the bubble come Selection Sunday if they blow through WAC play.

Middle Tennessee ended up going 1-2 in the event, and although neither loss was bad, I get the sense that they really needed at least one good win out of this.  They played well in both losses, but at the end of the day the only win they got out of it was a neutral floor win against a very mediocre Princeton team.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-BUTLER AT GEORGETOWN (Big East).  This is probably Georgetown’s biggest test of the year.  The feasting on cupcakes is over.  Considering how weak their OOC was they’ll probably need to finish at least four games over .500 in league play to be seriously considered by the committee.  For Butler, it’s a chance to pick up a notable road win.

-EASTERN MICHIGAN AT SYRACUSE.  Syracuse has played a lot of buy games this year, but most of them have been against solid UTR teams, and they have another solid EMU team coming it today at 8-3 on the year with two true road wins already.

-VILLANOVA AT DEPAUL (Big East).  Nova has won every game they’ve played so far and they are definitely road tested.  Don’t be surprised if they roll in this one despite being the road team.

-XAVIER AT MARQUETTE (Big East).  Xavier is 12-1 on the road and is coming off a very impressive showing against a very good Northern Iowa team.  This will be another test, but it’s a test that they’re certainly up for.  Xavier is looking like a solid protected seed who could end up as high as the #1 line if they keep playing like they have been.

-UCF AT SMU (American).  Both teams look good, but both teams have resumes that need work, so even though this is the conference opener it still has a pivotal feel to it for both teams.

-SAN DIEGO STATE AT WYOMING (Mountain West).  San Diego State has been a bit schizophrenic, but all and all they look like a tournament team.  A road win against a pretty good Wyoming team would certainly help their cause.

-COLORADO STATE AT BOISE STATE (Mountain West).  I really like this Boise State team and don’t think they’ll have too much trouble in their conference opener tonight.

-NEVADA AT FRESNO STATE (Mountain west).  Nevada looks like a team that will get into the NCAAs on the first Ballot, and Fresno looks like a team that could land inside the bubble if everything falls right.  A win tonight at home in their conference opener would go a long way toward making the pieces fall right.

 

BUY GAMES

-Limestone (nondiv1) @ South Carolina
-FGCU @ Rhode Island
-Cal State Bakersfield @ Arkansas

Posted in Daily Rundown, News and Notes | Comments Off on News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Wednesday, Dec 27th

Under the Radar Game of the Day: Morgan State vs Grand Canyon

Posted on December 27, 2017 by Chad

Morgan State vs Grand Canyon, 9:00 PM Eastern, YUR-Arizona/gcu.tv/espn3

The Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada is the site of tonight’s Under the Radar Game of the Day, as the Morgan State Bears will be taking on the Grand Canyon Antelopes in what may be a lot more exciting of a game than the team’s actual records indicate.  Thunder Dan’s Lopes enter tonight’s game at 9-4 overall, ranked 128 in the nation by KenPom, good for second best in the WAC behind New Mexico State.  Although they have yet too pick up a notable win on the season, their losses are respectable, including at Louisville and in double overtime at Boise State.  Josh Braun was held to only 8 points in the Louisville loss and needs to contribute more tonight to help lead his team.

The Lopes need to be certain not to look past tonight’s game to a matchup this weekend at Illinois, because head coach Todd Bozeman’s Morgan State Bears are a lot more dangerous than their 4-7 record and 272 KenPom rating indicate.  This is because the first 10 of their 11 games were played without the services of senior swingman Tiwian Kendley.  Kendley made his season debut last time out, in a loss at George Mason, and promptly scored 31 points in an 8 point loss.  With Kendley back in the fold, the Bears are primed to make some serious noise in the MEAC this year, and his presence should have GCU fans on upset alert in tonight’s game.

Posted in Under the Radar | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Under the Radar Game of the Day: Morgan State vs Grand Canyon

The Hoops HD Report: Tuesday, December 26

Posted on December 26, 2017 by John Stalica

While the past week in college hoops was relatively light due to the holiday break, there were a few surprises along the way. North Carolina had a surprising loss at home to Wofford, and the panel discusses this game and what UNC’s prospects will look like going into ACC play.

Our panel previews all 6 major conferences along with the American, Atlantic 10, Mountain West and West Coast Conferences. This week, host Chad Sherwood is joined by David Griggs, Jon Teitel and John Stalica to discuss who they think look like the favorites to win each conference based on how nonconference play has gone so far.

Other notable teams include the USC Trojans – they won the Diamond Head Classic with wins over Akron, Middle Tennessee and a New Mexico State team that defeated previously undefeated Miami Hurricanes in the semifinal round. UCLA was another team that got a much-needed win against Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic in New Orleans over the weekend.

And without further ado, here is the video podcast:

Finally, click below for the audio-only link if you like to listen to us on the go:

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

Bracket Projection: Tuesday, December 26th

Posted on December 26, 2017 by John Stalica

With the holiday break set to conclude for many NCAA schools today, it is now John Stalica’s turn this week to submit a staff bracket this week for Hoops HD. This is a checkpoint of games played through the Diamond Head Classic that concluded last night with USC knocking off New Mexico State in the closing seconds. It was an opportunity for USC, for example, to help fortify a profile that had fallen on hard times in recent weeks. For New Mexico State, it gave the Aggies a window to bring their profile close to at-large status. Beating Miami was huge, but they missed an opportunity to add a USC win to a profile that won’t have any more chances at quality wins in the WAC.

A team like North Carolina certainly stubbed its toe a little bit with the Wofford home loss, but they still have a lot of solid wins on their profile (including a win at Tennessee that is looking more and more significant by the day). Oklahoma has also shot up the seed list in recent weeks, and they will have opportunities every single game the rest of the way to look like a protected seed after a one-year hiatus from the NCAA Tournament.

St. Bonaventure got itself a much needed win at Syracuse to give the A-10 a much-needed 2nd team into the NCAA field. The Bonnies’ highlights are wins at Syracuse and against Maryland on a neutral court. While the computers love teams like St. John’s and Missouri so far, I’d love to see how their successes so far will translate in conference play.

And with that in mind, here is the bracket:

Posted in Bracketology, CBB | Tagged , | Comments Off on Bracket Projection: Tuesday, December 26th