Samford (1-0, 0-0 D1) at Cornell (1-0) – 8:00 PM ET (ESPN+)
Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to the alma mater of Andy Bernard as the Samford Bulldogs pay a visit to the Cornell Big Red. Samford comes into tonight as the preseason favorite in the SoCon; they began their season with a non-D1 tuneup against Mississippi College with a 100-58 victory. Jaden Brownell led the Bulldogs with 20 points in that game.
Cornell comes into tonight being picked to finish 4th in the Ivy League behind Princeton, Yale and Brown. This will also be their first game against a Division 1 opponent; they started their season with a 93-52 against Marywood. Jake Flegen led Cornell with 16 points in that game.
It’s the first Hoops HD Report of the regular season! While the first week gives us a ton of games, it normally doesn’t give us that many pivotal games, which is why we always choose this time to preview the upcoming In-Season Tournaments. We run through every bracketed event and discuss each of the teams that are participating, what the potential impact these games could have on their resumes, who we think can benefit the most, and who we think will win each event. Events like the Maui Invitational, the Battle 4 Atlantis, and the Players Era Thanksgiving Festival give us multiple match-ups amongst highly ranked teams…
And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…
-The game that I thought was the most interesting going into last night turned out to be an absolute boat-racing. Auburn blew Vermont off the floor 94-43. I still think Vermont will have a great year, and their opening win at UAB will still carry a lot of weight. It isn’t surprising that they lost to Auburn (who I think can be a Final Four team), but I’m a little surprised they were absolutely dominated the way that they were.
-Columbia, who if you’re paying attention isn’t expected to finish in the top half of the Ivy League by very many people this year, went into Villanova and pulled off the 90-80 upset win. We didn’t think Nova would be that good this year, but this is still surprising. Give credit to Columbia! They played a really good game and made big plays down the stretch. I still don’t think they’re as good as Princeton or Yale, but they are probably better than we thought. And Villanova is probably even worse than we thought.
-Virginia had to sweat out Campbell in their first game without Tony Bennet as a head coach. They were never in any real danger of losing, but they didn’t exactly blow the Camels off the floor either in their 65-56 win.
-San Diego State really had to sweat out UC San Diego, and were behind very late into the second half. They did hold on to win 63-58, though. You may recall that last year San Diego State barely escaped an upset as well winning just 63-62. So, for whatever reason UCSD can play with the Aztecs.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
It’s a slow night in terms of highly important games, but we do have a couple of highly interesting games!!
-UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES & PHARMACY IN SAINT LOUIS AT LINDENWOOD. Such a fascinating match-up!! What a choice for an out of conference game!! Lindenwood’s opponent (it takes too long to type the full name) plays in NAIA, was 1-26 a season ago, and most of those games weren’t close. And…this probably isn’t the most ridiculous match-up of the day!!
-MISSISSIPPI UNIVERSITY FOR WOMEN AT MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE. Okay, I have so many questions! For starters, I can confirm that yes, this is a MEN’S basketball game. According to their Wikipedia Page the Mississippi University for Women began accepting male students as long ago as 1982, but I guess never bothered to changed the name of the school. The institution’s current name is more palatable than what it was called at the time of its founding, and that’s the “Industrial Institute and College for the Education of White Girls.” I am not making that up! I’d also like to see those throwback jerseys!! The Mississippi University for Women plays in NCAA D3 and was 7-18 a year ago. Mississippi Valley State is routinely one of the worst D1 teams in the country, but they should be able to win this one.
-SOUTHERN MISS AT UAB. This game actually has a pivotal feel to it for UAB. We thought they’d be a top 40ish caliber team coming into the season, but they lost their opener the other night to Vermont, who we think is good, but were still a little surprised UAB didn’t beat them at home. UAB does not have a strong schedule, so if they don’t finish with a very bloated record then chances are they’ll need to win the conference tournament to make the NCAA Tournament. So even though it’s early, there is a fair amount on the line for the Blazers. Southern Miss did win their opener against Bowling Green, but have a much tougher assignment tonight against a UAB team that should come out incredibly focused.
-NC A&T @ Wake Forest – both teams 1-0 -Jacksonville @ Florida – both teams 1-0 -Detroit Mercy @ Loyola Chicago – both teams 1-0 -Prairie View @ DePaul – both teams 1-0, but this may be the weakest matchup of unbeaten teams of all time -Montana State @ Wisconsin – Montana State should make quite a bit of noise in the Big Sky this year, but they’re overmatched in this one -Southern @ Iowa -Omaha @ Stetson – both teams 1-0. Neither team appears to be that strong, but it’s probably still a better game than Prairie View vs DePaul -Niagara @ Michigan State – both teams 1-0 -Florida A&M @ SMU -College of Biblical Studies @ McNeese – seriously, where do some of these schools find these teams?? McNeese lost their opener, but should blow through tonight’s game -Chattanooga @ Saint Mary’s – I still think Chattanooga will do really well in the SoCon, but they didn’t look too impressive in their opener and are likely way overmatched tonight -Idaho State @ USC -Cal Poly @ California -Central Arkansas @ Utah
Milwaukee (1-0, 0-0 D1) at Northern Iowa (1-0, 0-0 D1) – 8:00 PM ET (ESPN+)
Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day features the Milwaukee Panthers and the Northern Iowa Panthers in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Milwaukee was picked to finish first in the Horizon League this year; they won their opener 118-62 against non-D1 Lakeland. Jamichael Stillwell led the way with 18 points and 14 rebounds; in all 7 of the Panthers’ players scored in double figures.
Northern Iowa was picked second in the Missouri Valley behind consensus favorite Bradley. UNI also opened their season with a non-D1 win against Dubuque 96-54. Tyan Anderson had 13 points and 6 rebounds for the Panthers on Monday night; RJ Taylor also had 13 points and 4 assists.
-For John Stalica’s Under the Radar Game of the Day – CLICK HERE
-It was a very slow night of college basketball. Most people’s attention seemed to be elsewhere for whatever reason. People were just glued to the news. I guess they were tensely and anxiously waiting for the scores of last nights games to be announced??
-Washington did get a big of a scare from a UC Davis team that may be a little better than most of us expected, but held on to win 79-73. Arizona State had to sweat out Idaho State in their 55-48 win, which means all signs are pointing to Arizona State being every bit as bad as we were expecting them to be this season.
-VERMONT AT AUBURN. Vermont started the season with a win at UAB, which so far is probably the best true road win that any team has managed. We thought the Catamounts would be dominant in the America East, but a road win at UAB is a win that looks really good on a resume. If they were to win at Auburn, who I think is even better than their #11 preseason ranking, would be AMAZINGLY good and probably warrant Vermont cracking the top 25. That being said, Vermont is probably swinging way over their heads tonight, but it’s still a really interesting game and a good opportunity for both teams.
BUY GAMES (and other games worth a mention):
-Wagner @ Rutgers – season opener for both. Rutgers looks really good this year -Sacred Heart @ UConn -Mount Olive (nonD1) @ Richmond -Stonehill @ Notre Dame -Columbia @ Villanova – both teams 1-0 -Lehigh @ Georgetown -Campbell @ Virginia -West Georgia @ Georgia Tech -Lipscomb @ Arkansas – Lipscomb will likely do very well in the ASun, but is probably overmatched tonight -SIUE @ Indiana -Oral Roberts @ Minnesota -UL Monroe @ LSU -UTRGV @ Creighton -Western Illinois @ Pepperdine – Western Illinois won their opener on the road at San Jose State -Oakland @ Boise State -Alcorn State @ Utah State -UC San Diego @ San Diego State
Seattle (0-0) at Eastern Washington (0-1) – 9:00 PM ET (ESPN+)
Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day goes to Cheney, Washington for an intrastate matchup between the Seattle Redhawks and the Eastern Washington Eagles. Eastern Washington had a lead midway through the 2nd half in their opening game at Colorado, but a 23-5 run helped turn a close game into a 76-56 rout. Nic McClain led the Eagles with 16 points in the loss.
Seattle comes into this season after winning the CBI Invitational in Daytona Beach last year. Seven players return from that team, including 1st-team All-WAC Preseason pick John Christofilis. As a team, Seattle was picked to finish 3rd in the WAC (where Grand Canyon was picked to win the league this year).
EDITOR’S NOTE: I was also going to highlight this as the season opener for Chad’s mythical Top Range league, but he neglected to add Washington and Seattle to the mix.Click HERE for all of Chad’s mythical matchups.
