Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES

For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Oakland, and Towson, which is a REALLY good game – CLICK HERE

-Texas A&M, Xavier, Wichita State, Syracuse, and Notre Dame all won buy games, but they were all struggles.  Syracuse didn’t put Buffalo away until the final minutes, Xavier blew a big lead against Marshall and held on to win by only 4, Wichita trailed in the second half against Arkansas State before finally pulling away, and Texas A&M didn’t put Northern Kentucky away until the final minute of the game.

-Missouri defeated SFA by a single point, but that game was far less surprising because of how strong SFA is.  It’s actually a decent win for Mizzou, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if SFA was able to win out.  They really needed a win like the win at Mizzou if they wanted to impress the committee because their remaining schedule is atrociously weak, but still.  Don’t be surprised if they win out and enter the NCAA Tournament with 30 wins.

-Auburn picked up another nice win that is much nicer than it appears.  They went into Murray State and beat a good team on the road.  Murray could end up finishing in the RPI top 75, which means the committee will give Auburn a ton of credit for that win.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-SAINT JOSEPH’S VS SAINT JOHN’S (Hall of Fame Holiday Showcase, Uncasville CT).  Saint John’s has been really impressive this year and they can add another respectable win away from home to their resume today.

-HOUSTON VS PROVIDENCE (Hall of Fame Holiday Showcase, Uncasville CT).  Both these teams have potential, and both have shown signs of having a pulse.  Having said that, you get the sense that this is a big game for both teams because both need to improve.

-EVANSVILLE AT DUKE.  Evansville comes into this game at 10-2 and is likely way overmatched.  But if they could somehow pull off this upset (which I know isn’t likely) then it’s the kind of win that could catapult them onto the national scene and solidly into the NCAA Tournament talk.

-WAGNER AT SETON HALL.  This is a buy game, and could very well end up looking like a buy game, but it’s an interesting regional match up between a Wagner team that so far has looked the best out of all the NEC teams, and comes into this game with a 7-2 record.

-NORTHEASTERN AT SAINT BONAVENTURE.  I like the way the Bonnies have been playing, and they’ve got another tough UTR team at home today.  They don’t want to overlook Northeastern, who comes in at 7-4 with five straight wins, including Bucknell and Vermont in that stretch.

-FURMAN AT TENNESSEE.  Tennessee is coming off a hard fought game against North Carolina that they lost, but still ended up earning a lot of respect for.  They need to focus on today’s game against a Furman team that comes in at 9-3 and who could possibly put themselves in the discussion if they’re able to pick up a high caliber win like this.

-ALBANY AT LOUISVILLE.  This is a buy game that Louisville should be able to blow open, but we’ll go ahead and highlight it because of Albany’s strong 11-2 start and because they should be at or near the top of the America East.

-KANSAS STATE AT WASHINGTON STATE.  Both teams have shown signs of life, both have respectable records, and Wazzu even has some notable wins.  Having said that, both teams really need more quality wins so this is big for both of them.

BUY GAMES

-Coppin State @ West Virginia
-James Madison @ Florida
-North Texas @ Georgetown
-UMES @ Iowa State
-Southern @ Baylor
-UTSA @ Nebraska
-Little Rock @ Mississippi State
-Siena @ Memphis
-Wofford @ North Carolina — Keep an eye on Wofford’s Fletcher Magee!
-SC Upstate @ Creighton
-Northwestern State @ Utah
-Central Arkansas @ Oregon
-Mississippi Valley State @ UNLV

NEWS AND NOTES

-For the latest Hoops HD Report – CLICK HERE

-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Belmont and Western Kentucky – CLICK HERE

-We had a lot of tournament teams feasting on cupcakes last night.  Having said that, Indiana, who has at times looked like a tournament team, did not look like one yesterday at home against Fort Wayne.  The game was close for about thirty minutes, and then Fort Wayne just completely blew the Hoosiers off the court.  This followed up an Indiana win against Notre Dame where it appeared they were turning things around.

-Boise State was another team we’ve been high on that just failed to show up last night.  Much credit to SMU for blowing the Broncos off the floor.

-Texas nearly choked on their cupcake as well, but held on to beat Tennessee State by a point in a game that you shouldn’t go back and watch if you like offense.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-UCF AT STETSON.  They say you need road wins, and this is the easiest way for UCF to pick one up.  They should improve to 8-3 on the year and 2-0 in true road games.

-MARSHALL AT XAVIER.  This is a buy game and it could end up being a blowout, but Marshall does come into the game at 8-3 and Xavier had to sweat out their game over the weekend against East Tennessee State.

-SOUTH CAROLINA AT CLEMSON.  South Carolina has had their struggles, but they’re still 8-2 on the year and are just one big win away from being slingshot into the NCAA Tournament talk.  Clemson is coming off a big and much needed win against Florida, and beating their rivals at home should give them even more momentum.

-BUFFALO AT SYRACUSE.  Syracuse is not at all the dumpster fire that we’d thought they’d be, and they’re actually coming off a nice come from behind win on the road against rival Georgetown.  They’ve played a string of good UTR teams at home this year, and tonight they have another one in Buffalo.  The Orange should win, but they can’t just overlook the Bulls.

-NORTH FLORIDA AT BALL STATE.  Ball State has won four in a row, and that streak could continue to grow as every game in front of them for the foreseeable future appears to be winnable.

-NORTHERN KENTUCKY AT TEXAS A&M.  NKU is one of the better teams in the Horizon League, but they have yet to win a true road game and this is their last big chance to get a high quality win.  TAMU is gunning for a #1 seed and while NKU is good, they’re way overmatched in this one.

-AUBURN AT MURRAY STATE.  We praised this Auburn team on last night’s Hoops HD Report, and they’ve got a very intriguing game tonight against a Murray State team that is not easy to beat at home.  This wouldn’t be a brand name win for Auburn, but it could end up being a win that’s highly valued by the committee, especially if Murray State continues to win at the clip they have been and can get into the RPI top 75.  Even if Auburn loses this game, it’s not all that damaging to their resume.  Murray looks to be the best team in the OVC and if they blow through the rest of their season they could be flirting with the bubble.

-GEORGIA TECH AT GEORGIA.  Clean Ol’ Fashioned Hate!!  Georgia Tech has had their good moments, and they’ve had a rather unforgettable bad moment.  In order to get things turned around it would take something like beating a rival on the road.  Georgia is 7-2 and certainly has potential, but they’re also coming off a rather surprising and damaging loss over the weekend.  Both teams need this to help build their momentum.

-STEPHEN F AUSTIN AT MISSOURI.  SFA may win the rest of their games after today, and if they somehow manage to win this game today they’ll have a solid win on their profile to go with their bloated record.  They just picked up a nice win at LSU, but this one will be even tougher given that Mizzou is better.

-MERCER VS ALABAMA (Huntsville, AL).  Alabama is cruising and will improve to 8-3 on the year if they’re able to hold serve.

-TULSA AT OKLAHOMA STATE.  This is not a buy game, but it could end up looking like one before it’s over.  Oklahoma State has been a lot better than we expected, they got a really nice win over the weekend, and they shouldn’t have too much trouble tonight.

-SOUTH DAKOTA AT UCLA.  Don’t be surprised if South Dakota is able to pull off the upset.  UCLA has struggled, and South Dakota looks to be one of the better teams in the Summit League.

-NORTHERN COLORADO AT WYOMING (Front Range).  We at Hoops HD love the Front Range!!  Both teams come into this game with just three losses, and both have shown signs of life this year, so it should be a fun one.

-DAYTON AT SAINT MARY’S.  This is a really good series for both programs.  It’s unfortunate that Dayton is in a complete rebuild mode this year and isn’t likely to be able to keep up with the Gaels.  That being said, Dayton is still one of the tougher opponents that SMC has played so far.

-UC DAVIS AT NEVADA.  I’m really looking forward to this one.  UC Davis is one of the better teams in the Big West and is out to a surprisingly good start.  This would be huge if they could get a win like this on their resume.

BUY GAMES

-Savannah State @ Virginia
-Northwestern State @ Oklahoma
-Pine Bluff @ Cincinnati
-Dartmouth @ Notre Dame
-Robert Morris @ NC State
-The Citadel @ Ohio State
-Binghamton @ Penn State
-Presbyterian @ Virginia Tech
-South Carolina State @ Charleston
-Arkansas State @ Wichita State
-Florida Atlantic @ Texas Tech
-Lewis (nondiv1) @ Northwestern
-Sam Houston State @ LSU
-Oral Roberts @ Arkansas
-Cal Poly @ SMU
-SELA @ Louisiana
-Morehead State @ Butler
-Longwood @ Arizona State
-Bethune Cookman @ Washington
-Princeton @ USC