News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Wednesday, Dec 5th

Posted on December 5, 2018 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

-If you took the night off last night, you missed quite a bit of fun.  We had multiple overtime games, multiple Big Ten games that came down to the wire, and some other close calls.

-I’m gonna start with a game that most people probably missed because it was a UTR game, and that’s Lipscomb v Belmont.  This is a fun and long running rivalry that has gotten a lot more fun in recent years.  They play twice a year despite it not being a conference game, it’s called the Battle of the Boulevard because the two schools are three miles apart on the same road.  They’re also both conference frontrunners, and last night was the fourth straight time it has come down to the wire.  The game seesawed back and forth, and it ended with Lipscomb getting a three point shot off at the buzzer after inbounding the ball with less than a second to go, and it didn’t go in.  It was the second time Belmont had beaten Lipscomb this year, but these are the only two games that Lipscomb has lost.  Their wins include at TCU and at SMU, and they are the clear frontrunners in the Atlantic Sun.  Don’t be surprised to see both these teams in the NCAA Tournament, and if one or both of them blow through their conferences, we may see them pretty close to the bubble.

-Indiana picked up their second straight 2-point Big Ten Conference win as they defeated Penn State on the road.  It’s a real nice resume win for the Hoosiers, and kind of setback for a Penn State team that we thought would be really good this year (and still may be), but is now just a modest 4-4.

-Northwestern suffered their second straight 2-point Big Ten Conference loss in a thriller against Michigan.  Michigan has looked as good as anyone in the country last year, and has blown out three ranked teams.  Northwestern played a fantastic game and had a chance to pull the upset and pick up a huge resume win, but came up just short.  It’s a little soul crushing for the Wildcats, but it is far from their only opportunity at a big win.

-Providence v Boston College isn’t quite the rivalry it used to be now that it’s not a conference game, but it still has some heat, it’s still a fun series, and it’s still usually a thrilling game.  Last night was no exception as the game seesawed back and forth and went into overtime before Providence was able to pull out the win.

-Oklahoma got a really nice win against Notre Dame in the Jimmy V Classic.  I wasn’t that big on the Sooners, but they are making it impossible for me to just brush them off.

-Miami FL is making it very easy for me to just brush them off.  They lost their third straight last night, and their second straight to an Ivy League school, as Penn beat them rather handily.

-The postgame interview of the evening belongs to Georgia State coach Ron Hunter!  After coming from behind to beat Alabama with a 3-pointer at the buzzer, he proclaimed that they were 2-0 in the SEC, and therefore in first place!

-West Virginia is in trouble.  It’s better to be in trouble in early December than it is in March, but they have not looked good at all this year.  They lost to a Florida team last night that had also been struggling, but that didn’t even have to sweat last night to beat the ‘Eers.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-OHIO STATE AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten).  Ohio State is looking to bounce back from their first loss of the season, and shouldn’t have too much trouble against an Illinois team who’s program appears to be getting better, but just isn’t quite there yet.

-MARSHALL AT DUQUESNE.  Both teams are out to decent starts that are better than the kinds of starts we’re used to seeing, but probably not good enough to indicate that they’re NCAA Tournament teams without the automatic bid.  Still, this would be a nice win for whoever pulls it off.

-NORTH TEXAS AT INDIANA STATE.  This game is flying way under the radar, but both teams come into this with just one loss, and the Trees have won five straight.  We may be continuing to hear from them as the season goes along, at least on the Under the Radar show.

-MIDDLE TENNESSEE AT VANDERBILT.  We weren’t expecting too much out of Vandy.  Then the season started and they looked better than we expected.  Now, the injury bug has hit them hard with Darius Garland being out for the year.  They have a crosstown feud to deal with tonight as they begin to adjust to life without him.

-VCU AT TEXAS.  Texas is coming off a surprising home loss to Radford and is looking to bounce back.  VCU is coming off a somewhat surprising loss to Old Dominion and is not just looking to bounce back, but to pick up the kind of win that would indicate they belong in the tournament.  I don’t think they’ve got it in them, but they will certainly get the chance tonight against their old head coach, and I’ve certainly been wrong before.

-OKLAHOMA STATE AT TULSA.  Both teams have a lot of catching up to do if they want to get into the fray of relevance.  Winning tonight would be a nice start.

-WESTERN KENTUCKY AT MISSOURI STATE.  WKU is still looking for their first true road win.

-SAINT LOUIS AT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS.  The Salukis got off to a kind of sluggish start, but they have won five of their last six and their last three by double digits, so they could be stepping onto the level that we thought they’d be at.  They have a big game tonight against a pretty good Saint Louis team that really needs this win because, quite frankly, they play in an A10 conference that is predominantly made up of sub-NIT caliber teams this year.

-TEMPLE AT VILLANOVA (Big Five).  Temple hasn’t generated a whole lot of chatter this year, but they are 7-1 on the season and have won two true road games.  If they can pull off the win tonight against a Nova team that has struggled in most of their games then they will probably be catapulted into national relevance, not to mention pick up a huge win on their resume, not also not to mention win some major Big Five bragging rights.

-NEBRASKA AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten).  Nebraska is in the rankings and has a smattering of decent wins on their resume.  Picking up their second true road win, along with a conference win, will keep their momentum going.  Minney needs to win this game to help get their season back on on track.

-UTAH STATE AT BYU.  Utah State is off to a fantastic 7-1 start with some pretty nice wins away from home.  BYU is a modest 5-4, but all five wins have come at home and they should be pumped up for this game given the rivalry that the two schools have.

-IDAHO AT WASHINGTON STATE.  It is very rare that either one of these teams are in the hunt for the NCAA Tournament, but I still really like this rivalry.  Did you know that the two rival schools are about eight miles apart (7.4 according to Google Maps)?  Did you also know that they’ve never met in the NCAA Tournament?  Geez, I don’t think there is any other college basketball rivalry where that is the case!!

-DENVER AT AIR FORCE (Front Range).  We at Hoops HD Love the Front Range!!!!  Actually, as much as we love the Front Range, surely there is a better game on than this one.  Okay, moving along….

-SAN DIEGO AT SAN DIEGO STATE.  These two have played some exciting games in recent years, and this year seems to be more evenly matched than normal.  San Diego State still has an outside shot of playing their way inside the bubble, but they really need to start racking up some wins.  San Diego comes in with just two losses and is a team that we think will make some noise in the West Coast later this year, so it should be a fun match-up.

-ARKANSAS AT COLORADO STATE.  This is a tough road game (and the first true road game) for an Arkansas team that has played a lot better than what we were expecting this year.  Still, it will be good for the Razorbacks to get that first true road win on their profile.

-TCU AT SMU.  These two teams have been playing for a long time, but only recently did it become a game where both teams looked like they could be NCAA Tournament caliber teams.  Having said that, both have gotten off to slower starts than we expected, so in addition to being a rivalry game it’s a big resume and momentum game as well.

-WASHINGTON AT GONZAGA.  Stay up late for this one!  This rivalry goes beyond just the fans and extends into the administrations, although they seem to be on much better terms now.  At least the series is back.  Gonzaga is ranked #1 and playing for a #1 seed in the Tournament, and Washington is trying to pick up what would probably be their biggest win of the season, at least in terms of their resume.

-SAN FRANCISCO AT CALIFORNIA.  The Dons are coming off their first and only loss of the season against a really good Buffalo team.  Although they are the road team, they are the far better team that Cal and should get the win.

 

BUY GAMES (and other games worth mentioning, but not highlighting)

-Lafayette @ UConn
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ Saint John’s
-Ohio @ Xavier – Ohio is 5-2 and may put up a bit of a fight
-Hartford @ Duke
-VMI @ Virginia Tech
-Le Moyne (nondiv1) @ Buffalo
-Brown @ Butler
-Western Carolina @ NC State
-Central Arkansas @ Louisville
-Detroit @ Toledo – Toledo can improve to 8-1
-Pine Bluff @ Texas Tech
-UNC Wilmington @ North Carolina
-LMU @ Cal State Fullerton – LMU trying to improve to 9-1

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Hanging with the Hoyas: Part 3

Posted on December 4, 2018 by Jon Teitel

HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel will spend the upcoming months covering several Georgetown basketball home games, with a very special reward coming in March. Part 1 of his series featured Central Connecticut State (https://hoopshd.com/2018/11/11/hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-1) and Part 2 featured Richmond (https://hoopshd.com/2018/11/30/hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-2). Part 3 was a Monday night visit to DC by the Liberty Flames for the schools’ 2nd meeting all-time:

The pregame media room meal switched back to make-your-own tacos (muy bien) but the chocolate chip brownie for dessert was the star of the show! Okay Coach Ewing: let’s see what holiday gift you have in store for the 4000 and change in attendance (WHY did they schedule a 6:30PM tipoff in DC on the same night as a Redskins-Eagles Monday Night Football game that is right before final exams?!):

Like most fans the majority of my attention is focused on the offensive end of the court during a game but I could not help but notice Liberty’s defense (which began the night #6 in the nation by allowing only 56.1 PPG). Coach Ritchie McKay learned all about the “pack line” defense as an assistant coach to Tony Bennett at Virginia, and his team kept giving the Hoyas’ big men fits all night. Every time an entry pass was sent into the low post there would be an immediate double-team in an attempt to force guys like 6’10” Jessie Govan/6’9” Trey Mourning to fire the ball back out to a guard on the perimeter.

Speaking of offense, Liberty was dominant in transition (15-3 edge in points off turnovers) while Georgetown hit the offensive boards time after time (9-0 edge in 2nd-chance points) which explained how even the game was in the 1st 20 minutes (Georgetown led 40-38 at halftime).

It was still a 5-PT game early in the 2nd half before the Hoyas put together a 22-4 run to make it 71-48 with just under 10 minutes to go thanks to FR PG James Akinjo: he only had 1 assist in the 2nd stanza but scored 14 of his game-high 19 PTS via a couple of threes, a tough bank shot, a pretty spin resulting in a layup, and a step-back jumper. He has only played college basketball for 1 month but he always seems like the fastest guy on the court and is already the best FT shooter on the team:

I think I finally discovered his secret: when everyone else jumps to attention after coming back from a TV timeout, he remains seated in his chair right there on the court to take advantage of every single second of rest he can get before standing up:

Govan continued to look like the Big East player of the year: 17 PTS (including 2-2 3PM)/10 REB in an efficient 31 minutes:

However, Liberty’s Scottie James middle name must be “Efficient”: entering the game with a conference-best 71.7 FG% and coming off a career-high 17-REB effort in a win over Georgia State on Saturday, he continued to impress with a team-high 18 PTS on 7-9 FG. He is 6’8” but can do damage both inside and out: reverse pivots, a Dream Shake series of fakes that led to an easy layup, and even a pair of 3-PT shots. However, not even Scottie Pippen could help a mid-major team pull off a road upset of a Big East team when the home team has a 29-5 advantage in getting to the FT line.

When you combine that with Georgetown’s insane 11-18 3PM, it is easy to see why the Hoyas won the game 88-78. In the postgame press conference we received 2 injury updates from Coach Ewing:

I had noticed a boot on the left foot of NC State transfer Omer Yurtseven during a mid-game huddle. Someone else raised the issue and Ewing said that it was just a sprained ankle:

SR Greg Malinowski hurt his left knee late in the 2nd half and limped over to the bench so that the trainer could take a look while he grimaced through the pain:

He went to the locker room, and returned to the bench a few minutes later with some padding around his knee. I inquired about an update and Ewing said that Malinowski had just banged knees with someone and should be ready for the big rivalry game at Syracuse on Saturday. I also asked Coach McKay about James’ unique skill set: he responded that his JR PF was “relentless, a pursuer of improvement”, and that he was blessed to have such a great player:

I finished the night by seeing how the 3-PT shot fit into Govan’s offensive game plan after not making any during the previous 2 games: he said (on the right) that it is just a matter of Ewing “giving him the freedom to take it when he has a good look”.  He gets his feet set/takes the shot/tries to knock it down…which he usually does (10-21 3PM this season!):

That’s all for now, check back in the weeks ahead for Part 4.

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Tuesday, Dec 4th

Posted on December 4, 2018 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

-For our latest Hoops HD Report Podcast – CLICK HERE

-Just a few days ago I had praised Iowa for how well they’d played this season, particularly at MSG where they beat Oregon and UConn.  They’ve now lost their first two Big Ten games.  Both were tall orders, and the game at UConn over the weekend was really exciting.  Last night’s game at Michigan State was not.  I believe the Spartans led by as much as 30 at one point.  Oh well, moving on to another team that I also spoke highly of, particularly after a close road loss at Iowa…

-Pittsburgh, after having one of the worst seasons for any P5 team in recent memory a year ago, ran out to a 6-0 start and collected a nice win against Saint Louis.  They went down swinging at Iowa, and then blew out a Duquesne team that was having a much better than normal season.  Then they had an easy game last night against Niagara.  AND THEY LOST!!!  They trailed by double digits late in the game, and came back to have a chance to win, but couldn’t get it done.  This is all kinds of shocking.  Some of these UTR teams are a lot better than people realize.  Niagara is not one of those teams.  They came into the game at 2-4, and had home losses to Grambling and Saint Francis Brooklyn.  By all accounts they played in a bad league, and were not expected to do well in that bad league.  But, last night they won at Pitt.  Did Kevin Stallings buy a ticket?  That’s the only explanation.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-FURMAN AT ELON (SoCon0.  Furman has cracked the top 25, but they really had to sweat out Western Carolina in their conference opener last week, so I’m not gonna just take it for granted that they’re gonna win this one easily.

-OKLAHOMA VS NOTRE DAME (Jimmy V Classic).  Both teams have bloated records, but neither has really impressed me all that much yet.  That being said, you can’t just overlook that both are coming in with just one loss and that this would be a notable win (at least for now) for whichever team pulls it off.

-MIAMI FL AT PENN.  Miami already has one loss to an Ivy League tema and is trying to avoid losing their third game in a row.  This game won’t be easy.  Penn is tough this year, and they should have a nice crowd tonight at home.

-INDIANA AT PENN STATE (Big Ten).  Indiana is coming off an exciting home win against Northwestern, but has a tall order tonight against a Penn State team that we still think has a high ceiling, but that hasn’t really played up to it yet.  They’re coming off a loss and are looking to pick up a conference win at home.

-PROVIDENCE AT BOSTON COLLEGE.  These two old Big East rivals go at it tonight, and it’s a win that both teams could really use.  BC has just one loss, but this would probably be one of their best wins of the season so far.  Providence is playing in their first true road game and this is a win that would look pretty good both on and off paper.

-RADFORD AT JAMES MADISON.  Radford is 6-1 with road wins at Notre Dame and Texas.  This would be their fourth true road win of the season if they’re able to pull it off.

-NORTHERN KENTUCKY AT CINCINNATI.  Very interesting storyline to this game.  The two schools are in different states, but I believe are actually less than eight miles apart.  Cincinnati played their home games at NKU last year while their arena was being renovated.  NKU comes into this game with just one loss, and has looked really good in their last couple of games, so they will definitely be playing with confidence.  If they were to pull this off it’s the kind of win that would make the committee sit up and take notice.

-WOFFORD AT KANSAS.  This is a buy game, and Kansas should win rather easily, but Wofford is a very good UTR team.  I’d say they’re a lot better than the Stanford team that just took Kansas to overtime.

-CAMPBELL AT ABILENE CHRISTIAN.  You know what?  We will highlight this.  Why the hell not.  Abilene Christian comes into this game with just one loss and has been one of the more surprising UTR teams this year.  Campbell has an NBA caliber player in Chris Clemons, so they are always fun to watch, and the Camels are looking for their first road win.

-LIPSCOMB AT BELMONT.  The Battle of the Boulevard!!!!!  Part Two!!!  Belmont is coming off a rather surprising loss (at least to me) to Green Bay.  They are still a very strong team that actually won at Lipscomb earlier this season.  Lipscomb has wins at TCU and SMU under their belt.  Their only loss was that home game to Belmont that was previously mentioned, so they will be looking for a bit of revenge tonight.  This is always a fun game to watch.  It’s definitely worth tuning in to.

-MICHIGAN AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten).  Michigan has been destroying the planet this year, and that could very easily continue tonight against a decent but not great Northwestern team.

-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT MEMPHIS.  We were big on South Dakota State coming into this season, and have been pretty hard on them after they dropped the two games in Florida, but other than the one bad week they’ve looked pretty good.  If they play up to their capabilities, this game is not out of reach.

-NEW MEXICO AT NEW MEXICO STATE.  Can New Mexico complete the sweep and improve to a rather impressive 7-1 on the year?  New Mexico’s only loss was to New Mexico State and they’ve won two true road games, so I wouldn’t completely count them out.

-FLORIDA VS WEST VIRGINIA (Jimmy V Classic).  Both teams had expectations coming into the year, and as of now neither has really played up to them.  This game kind of has a sense of urgency to it because both teams really need a win of note on their resume.

 

BUY GAMES

-New Hampshire @ Seton Hall
-Northeastern @ Syracuse
-Saint Peter’s @ Clemson
-Winthrop @ Davidson
-Detroit @ Dayton
-Fordham @ Maine – you may not realize this, but a win will get Fordham to 7-1
-UNC Asheville @ Auburn
-McNeese @ Mississippi State
-Lamar @ Houston
-Georgia State @ Alabama
-UT Arlington at Missouri
-UTEP @ Marquette
-South Dakota @ Colorado

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The Hoops HD Report: December 3rd

Posted on December 3, 2018 by David Griggs

Chad and the panel review a very busy and eventful week in college basketball.  The ACC/Big Ten Challenge produced some great games, and conference play is underway in the Big Ten, and we look at the success that both those leagues are having.  We also look at the Pac Twelve and Big East and look at some of the struggles those two leagues are having.  The Atlantic Ten continues to disappoint, and we look at whether or not Saint Louis can earn an at-large bid.  And last but not least, we look at Buffalo and Furman, who are both in the Top 25.  All that, and much more!!

…and for all you radio lovers out there, below is an mp3 version of the show…

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Puppet’s Bracket Projections: Dec 3rd (and other News and Notes)

Posted on December 3, 2018 by David Griggs

As I do every week, I’d like to emphasize that this is a CHECKPOINT on CURRENT MERIT.  This is not a prediction of what I think the bracket will look like in March, nor is it based on how good I think the teams actually are.  For instance, I think Furman is having a great year, and is a good team.  They’re unbeaten, they have big wins against Villanova and Loyola Chicago, and they’re now ranked in the Top 25.  I do not think they’ll end up as a protected seed, but as of now, at this moment in time, none of the teams that I have on the lower seed lines have done more than they have, and until they do I’m going to keep Furman seeded ahead of them.

OTHERS CONSIDERED: DePaul, Georgetown, Liberty, UCF, Indiana, Clemson, Notre Dame, Colorado, Purdue, TCU, Washington, VCU, UNC Greensboro

 

NOTES ON THE BRACKET

-Michigan is my overall #1 seed, and it’s kind of hard to have anyone else there.  They have not one, but three blowout wins against good teams, and one of those was away from home against Villanova.  While the single most impressive win of the year probably belongs to Gonzaga, I still think Michigan’s overall resume is better for now.  Or, maybe not.  At this time of year we’re really just splitting hairs anyway, and this is more of an exercise in evaluating teams than it is in determining their overall potential value.

-I don’t think Radford will end up in the top half of the bracket, but for now there just isn’t anyone on the lower seedlines that has done more than they have.

-I really like this Utah State team.  They absolutely blew UC Irvine’s doors off this past weekend, and I know on the surface that may not sound like much, but UCI is a good team that has already won some big games and is tough to beat at home.  Utah State also has another nice win against Saint Mary’s, and their only loss was a close game (I know they came from behind, but still) to unbeaten Arizona State.

-People who have followed us for a while know that I’ve got a heavy hand when it comes to pouring drinks, and to rewarding wins away from home.  Perhaps I put a little too much emphasis on it, especially when you consider what the actual committee has done in recent years (although my brackets are what I think SHOULD happen, not what I think the committee will do).  This bracket is no exception.  I know UCLA just beat LMU rather badly, but it was at home, and LMU has some nice wins away from home, which is why I have them where I do.

 

COMMENTS FROM HOOPS HD STAFF

Coming Soon….

 

TONIGHT’S ACTION

-IOWA AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten).  This is a conference game between two top twenty teams that already have some nice wins on their resume and that have earned their rankings.  This would be another nice resume win for whoever pulls it off.

-LIBERTY AT GEORGETOWN.  This is a buy game, but this Liberty team is better than what you may think.  They’re probably overmatched tonight, but the Hoyas better not overlook them.

-RUTGERS AT WISCONSIN (Big Ten).  Rutgers is getting better as a program, but they’ve still got a ways to go and appear to be overmatched tonight.

-TEXAS SOUTHERN AT GEORGIA.  Dare I say upset alert?  This Texas Southern team has two really nice road wins already, and no bad losses, and as a result are actually currently inside my bubble in the bracket above. Georgia isn’t all that good, so TX Southern really has a chance to pick up yet another true road win against a P5 team.

-Morgan State @ Virginia
-Troy @ Florida State
-Niagara @ Pittsburgh
-North Dakota State @ Iowa State
-Florida A&M @ DePaul

Posted in Bracketology, Daily Rundown, News and Notes | Comments Off on Puppet’s Bracket Projections: Dec 3rd (and other News and Notes)

News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Sunday, Dec 2

Posted on December 2, 2018 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

-It was an exciting day of hoops action even though most of the final results weren’t all that cataclysmic.

-Gonzaga trailed Creighton at the half in an arena that was going berserk, but came back to get the win and actually pulled away at the end.

-UNC Greensboro was right with Kentucky until the under 8 timeout in the second half, and then UK finally blew it open in the final minutes.  The game was a lot more exciting than what the score indicated.

-Kansas needed overtime to get past a Stanford team that we all thought was asleep.  They looked good yesterday though.  I thought we were one again in for a year where Kansas was going to be better on the road than at home.

-Michigan blew out Purdue.  That’s the third top 20 team they’ve blown out this year.

-Marquette got it done in a big way against a very good Kansas State team that pick up a win that will look good on paper, but also be good for their mental health.

-Oregon lost their second game in a row as Houston picked up the big win.  They trailed by 20 at Houston late in the first half, but came storming back late in the game.  They couldn’t quite get over the top, though.

-Texas Tech trailed Memphis for most of the game down in Miami, but came from behind late and picked up the win to stay unbeaten.

-Buffalo is also unbeaten after knocking off previously unbeaten San Francisco over in Ireland 85-81.  The Hall of Fame Classic over in Belfast gave us three boring games, and one really good one.

-Villanova trailed La Salle by 12 late in the first half, and didn’t get control of the game until the final minute or so.  La Salle is now 0-8.  Losing this game would have been rather damaging for Nova.

-Saint John’s continues to not play the type of basketball that knocks me off my feet, but they’ve still won every game they’ve played.  They came from behind to beat Georgia Tech yesterday.

-Indiana knocked off Northwestern in a Big Ten thriller in a game that came down to the final seconds.  Both these teams have looked a lot better than they did a year ago.

-Perhaps the most exciting game of the day was Furman’s double overtime win against Western Carolina in their conference opener.  Western Carolina just isn’t that good, and it would have been really damaging had Furman not managed to get that win at home.

-Belmont suffered their first loss of the year in a rather surprising result at Green Bay.  That’s a bit of an unexpected setback for the Bruins.

-Yale got the win against Miami FL in the Air Force Reserve Hoophall Miami Invitational, or whatever the hell they’re calling it.  The Canes had a home loss to Rutgers, and a mostly home loss to Yale.  They’ve certainly had better weeks.

-Utah State absolutely blew out UC Irvine on the road yesterday.  I think this was one of the more surprising results of the day.  It’s not just that Utah State won, but that they blew a really good UC Irvine team out of their own arena.  Utah State is now 7-1 with a couple of decent wins on that resume.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-ARIZONA AT UCONN.  Both teams are off to very solid starts, and at this point seem to be on a trajectory that is much higher than where I thought they’d be at the beginning of the year.  This would be a really nice win on Arizona’s resume, and it would be a big win for a UConn team that’s looking to keep their momentum going.

-UCF AT MISSOURI.  After suffering a somewhat surprising loss to FAU earlier this year, UCF has looked really good.  This is their first true road game of the season, and it comes against a Missouri team that has been disappointing for most of the year.

-ILLINOIS AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten).  This is the early season conference opener for both teams.  Nebraska clearly looks like the superior team and can improve to 7-1 on the year.

MINNESOTA AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten).  Both teams come into this game at 6-1.  Ohio State is looking to bounce back from the somewhat surprising home loss to Syracuse earlier this week, and Minnesota is looking for what would be their biggest win of the year up to this point.

-UC SANTA BARBARA AT WASHINGTON .  UCSB comes into this game with just one loss.  Washington is a solid 5-2, but still doesn’t seem like they’ve played up to the ceiling that we think they’ll hit this year.  They don’t want to overlook UCSB in this one.

-LMU AT UCLA.  This is the game of the night.  UCLA is a modest 5-2, but needs some big wins on their resume before we can genuinely be excited about them.  LMU comes in at 8-0 and has looked pretty good, but this is by far their biggest test of the season so far.

 

-TAMUCC @ Tennessee
-Oral Roberts @ SMU

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