Hoops HD

For the latest HOOPS HD REPORT – IN SEASON TOURNAMENT SPECIAL – CLICK HERE

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

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-VCU VS BOSTON COLLEGE (Veterans Classic – Annapolis, MD). Both teams come into this game 1-0, but all signs point to VCU being the superior team. Having said that, if BC were to win it, it would very quickly change our opinions of the Golden Eagles and suddenly put them on our radar.

-NORTH CAROLINA AT KANSAS. It’s our second top ten matchup of the week! I like North Carolina a lot, but I like Kansas more and since they’re at home one would think they would have the advantage in this one. It’s a chance for both teams to get a signature win very early in the season and it’s good for teams to play resume-building games this early on instead of devouring a few cupcakes right out of the gate. It ‘s also better for the fans!

-SOUTH FLORIDA AT CHARLESTON. An interesting game here as South Florida gave Florida a fairly decent showing earlier this week even though the Gators did pull away down the stretch. Charleston started things off with a nice neutral floor win against Southern Illinois. While this may not be a chance for either team to pick up a tier-1 win, it’s still a good early season game and opportunity for both of them.

-UMASS AT WEST VIRGINIA. I don’t have a whole lot of hope that either team will be anywhere near the bubble come the end of the season, but both teams did win their openers, both have very good coaches, and both have a chance at a notable (at least for now) early season win in this one.

-SANTA CLARA VS ARIZONA STATE (Game in Henderson, NV). I was really impressed with what Santa Clara did in their opener in getting a win against what we think is a good Saint Louis team. They have a chance to pick up another notable win against an Arizona State team that also won their opener, but did so rather unimpressively against Idaho State. I’d almost be surprised if Santa Clara didn’t pick this one up. This would make the 2-0 with both wins coming on neutral floors, which is about as good as you can ask for right now.

-PRINCETON VS DUQUESNE (Jersy Jam – Trenton NJ). Princeton won their opening game, but BARELY! Beating Iona by just one point isn’t exactly a top-40-caliber statement win. They should be able to get this one tonight against a Duquesne team that is completely rebuilding and who lost their opener to Lipscomb.

-GEORGE MASON AT MARQUETTE. Both teams breezed through their openers, but both played weak teams. George Mason is probably extremely overmatched in this one, but if they were to get a win they would suddenly catapult themselves into the national spotlight.

-NORTHERN COLORADO AT COLORADO (Front Range). We at Hoops HD Love the Front Range!!! This is a BIG Front Range Mythical Conference battle between two teams that managed to win their openers. Colorado is a program I have quite a bit of respect for, but this year they just don’t seem to have the pieces. Northern Colorado looks like they have a chance to win the Big Sky, and it wouldn’t shock me at all to see them win this one tonight.

-NEW MEXICO VS UCLA (Game in Henderson, NV). Both teams won their openers, but New Mexico had to sweat out Nicholls, whereas UCLA blew out Rider and looked like they deserved their top 25 ranking. This is a much tougher test for the Bruins than Rider was, and New I think Mexico is a probable NCAA Tournament team, but it’s still a game UCLA should win. Having said that, New Mexico has a chance to get a high caliber win on their resume early if they can compete and pull off the upset.

-BRADLEY AT WASHINGTON STATE. Both teams won their openers, and while both teams are sort of outside of the spotlight right now, it wouldn’t surprise me all that much if both ended up having big years. This could be one of those games that at the end of the year we realize was more important than what we thought at the time.

BUY GAMES (and others worth mentioning):

-Cal State Fullerton @ Stanford – Stanford can improve to 2-0
-Army @ Duke – both teams 1-0
-Temple v Monmouth (Jersey Jam) – Temple can improve to 2-0
-Samford @ Cornell – both teams 1-0 and both are expected to do well in conference play
-IU Indy @ Xavier – both teams 1-0
-UMBC @ Penn State – both teams 1-0
-Austin Peay @ Butler – both teams 1-0
-Northern Kentucky @ Purdue – Purdue can get to 2-0
-Morehead State @ Cincinnati – Cincinnati can get to 2-0
-Grambling @ Ole Miss – both teams 1-0
-Georgia Southern @ UNC Wilmington – both teams 1-0
-Davidson @ Bowling Green – a winnable road game for Davidson, which would get them to 2-0, but it’s hardly a guaranteed win
-Siean @ Bryant – both teams 1-0
-Presbyterian @ NC State – NC State can get to 2-0
-Hampton @ George Washington – both teams 1-0
-Murray State @ Pittsburgh – both teams are 1-0, and Murray State has shown some promise. It’s a buy game, but it will be interesting to see how well they compete
-PFW @ UCF – both teams 1-0, and UCF is coming off a real nice win against Texas A&M
-Eastern Kentucky @ East Tennessee State – both teams 1-0
-Saint Francis U @ Clemson
-Central Connecticut @ Saint Joseph’s – Saint Joe’s won their opener, but they better not overlook CCSU who nearly took down Providence earlier this week
-Furman @ Belmont – both teams 1-0
-Georgia State @ Mississippi State – both teams 1-0
-Arkansas State @ Alabama – Arkansas State won their opener and will likely do well in the Sun Belt, but they’re probably way overmatched tonight
-TAMU Commerce @ Texas A&M – TAMU needs to bounce back after losing their opener at UCF
-Houston Christian @ Texas – Texas needs to bounce back after their opening loss to Ohio State
-Yale @ UIC – both teams are 1-0, but Yale looks to be the much better team and should pick up a road win
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ Maryland – both teams 1-0
-SIUE @ Illinois – Illinois can get to 2-0
-FGCU @ TCU – TCU can get to 2-0
-NJIT @ Villanova – Nova needs to bounce back after their home loss to Columbia
-Northwestern State @ Texas Tech – both teams 1-0
-UC Riverside @ BYU – UCR should be able to make some noise in the Big West, but they’re probably overmatched tonight
-Long Beach State @ South Dakota State – South Dakota State had a really nice win against McNeese in their opener and should be able to improve to 2-0
-Tennessee State @ Colorado State – both teams 1-0
-UC Irvine @ LMU – both teams 1-0
-Montana @ Oregon – both teams 1-0. Montana should do well in the Big Sky, but is probably overmatched tonight
-Weber State @ Oregon State – both teams 1-0

NEWS AND NOTES:

-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.

-MILWAUKEE AT NORTHERN IOWA. This is John’ Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day. CLICK HERE to read his write up on it

BUY GAMES (and other notable games):

-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

NEWS, NOTES, AND HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-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