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

Posted on December 2, 2017 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

-Friday’s are typically dead days during the college basketball season, but not last night.

-A #16 seed has never beaten a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but occasionally we see a game during the regular season that is just as improbable.  Kansas losing to TCU back in 2013 was along those lines.  TCU was a sub 200 RPI team, and Kansas went on to earn a #1 seed.  This year’s Georgia Tech team is nowhere near as good as that Kansas team, but at the same time that year’s TCU team is nowhere near as bad as this year’s Grambling team.  Grambling’s win at Georgia Tech last night was both astounding and historic.  I believe Grambling has won only three total out of conference games against div1 teams since 2011, and I don’t believe they’ve ever beaten a P5 school.  They led for most of the game.  Georgia Tech had to come back, and actually got the lead, but on Grambling’s final possession Georgia Tech actually deflected the ball into their own basket, and then missed what would have been a game winning shot.  A HUGE win for Grambling.  It’s arguably their biggest win ever in basketball.

-Northwestern needed overtime to knock off rival Illinois in the basketball version of the Land of Lincoln trophy.  Northwestern had gotten off to a disappointing start this season, and although Illinois had not disappointed, no one was really expecting them to do much this year anyway.  It’s hard to say where the teams will go from here, but it was a much needed win for the Wildcats.

-Purdue also picked up a big road win in their conference opener at Maryland.  That caps off a pretty good week for the Boilermakers after they stumbled through the Battle 4 Atlantis.

-Boise State picked up a huge win at Oregon.  Oregon isn’t quite as good as they’ve been the last two years, but they’re still potentially an NCAA Tournament team that isn’t likely to lose too many home games.  In fact they had won 46 straight at home prior to tonight.  Boise State, along with Nevada, has put together a very good resume up to this point, and they appear to be good enough to continue to build on it.

-The showcase game of the night was actually one of the more boring games.  Creighton led for most of the first half, and for almost none of the second half as Gonzaga ended up blowing it open and running away from the Bluejays.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-CINCINNATI AT XAVIER (Crosstown Shootout).  Both teams are ranked, and both could end up as protected seeds.  On paper it’s a great looking win on a tournament resume.  Off paper, it’s all about the local bragging rights.

-INDIANA AT MICHIGAN (Big Ten).  Both teams have looked good at times, but both could use some good wins.  The fact that this is a conference game makes the stakes even higher.

-COLORADO AT COLORADO STATE (Front Range).  Not many people are that big on the Buffs, but they are out to a 6-0 start.  They have a decent (but not great profile) and picking up a true road win against a rival will add to it.

-WICHITA STATE AT BAYLOR.  This is a fantastic road test for a Wichita State team that is traditionally good on the road.  It’s also a big opportunity for Baylor.  Both teams are in the rankings, and one or both could end up as protected seeds.

-VIRGINIA TECH AT OLE MISS.  VA Tech has looked good so far, but this is their first true road game, and if they want to impress the committee they’ll need to win on the road.

-UMASS AT SOUTH CAROLINA.  South Carolina has a lot of work to do.  If they fail to win this game they’ll have even more work to do.

-GEORGIA AT MARQUETTE.  Both teams have good records and both have potential, but both need notable wins on their resume.

-SAINT LOUIS AT BUTLER.  You get the sense that both of these teams are going in the wrong direction.  The game has a pivotal feel to it due to both teams needing to get things turned around.

-SAINT BONAVENTURE AT BUFFALO (Big 4).  We still like this Bonnies team, and they’ve won four out of five since dropping their opener, but their margin for error is kind of small.  A road win in a rivalry game against a Buffalo team that’s pretty solid at home would look nice on their resume.

-AIR FORCE AT DENVER (Front Range).  We highlight this only because of how much we love the Front Range!!

-SOUTH DAKOTA AT DUKE.  This is a buy game, but South Dakota is off to an impressive 7-2 start and they played well in an earlier loss at TCU.  It will be interesting to see how competitive they are against the nation’s top ranked team.

-HARVARD AT KENTUCKY.  This is a buy game, and it will probably end up looking like a buy game given how poorly Harvard has played this year.

-MONMOUTH AT UCONN.  Can a rebuilding Monmouth team make a very inconsistent UConn team sweat in this one?

-UIC AT LOYOLA CHICAGO.  A little cross town/former conference rivalry action going on here.  A win for Loyola gets them to 8-1 on the year.

-OHIO STATE VS WISCONSIN (Big Ten).  This game is leading into the Big Ten Championship football game, which features Ohio State vs Wisconsin.  Both teams have potential, but both have blown some key opportunities and could really use this win.  This being a conference game ups the stakes even more.

-PENN STATE AT IOWA (Big Ten).  Penn State has looked solid so far.  Iowa has looked atrocious so far.  Can Penn State keep their momentum going by opening up league play with a road win?

-PROVIDENCE AT RHODE ISLAND.  This is a HUGE rivalry, at least in terms of intensity and bitterness.  With both teams being possible tournament teams the heat will be turned up even more.  This has been a fun game to watch in recent years and tonight should be no different.

-KANSAS VS SYRACUSE (Miami FL).  Both teams come into this unbeaten, but Syracuse hasn’t been quite as tested as the Jayhawks.  They will certainly be tested today.  They’ve looked good against some pretty good UTR teams at home, but if they win this we’ll have to start thinking of them as a protected seed caliber team.

-VILLANOVA AT SAINT JOSEPH’S (Big 5).  This is a very intense rivalry, but as intense as it is it’s also a huge mismatch.  Still, it’s Nova’s first true road game, so it’ll be interesting to see how they respond to their first hostile environment.

-DRAKE AT WYOMING (MWC/MVC Challenge).  Wyoming is coming off a rather bad looking loss at Denver, and their margin for error is getting to be less and less.

-HAWAII AT UTAH.  Both teams have good records, and Utah has a nice win against Missouri already.  Hawaii should be at or near the top of the Big West, but if they want the committee to really take them seriously they need a win in a game like this.

-OLD DOMINION AT VCU.  This is an old Colonial rivalry that’s still pretty heated.  Old Dominion is off to a pretty good start, and can improve the complexion of their resume even more if they’re able to win this one.

-VERMONT AT BUCKNELL.  This game isn’t quite the UTR showcase that we thought it’d be prior to the start of the season, but it’s a chance for Vermont to win their 7th in a row and pick up their third true road win.

-MIDDLE TENNESSEE AT FLORIDA GULF COAST.  Middle can improve to 5-1 on the year, and with multiple CUSA teams getting off to strong starts they could make a run for the bubble if they can continue to rack up the wins.  FGCU is also tough to beat at home.

-ARKANSAS AT HOUSTON.  An old Southwest Conference rivalry!!  Both teams come into this with 5-1 records, and it would be a nice win for an Arkansas team that I think is a solid NCAA Tournament caliber team that’s currently underrated.

-PRINCETON AT MIAMI FL.  Miami is coming off a very impressive win at Minnesota.  This may end up looking like a buy game given how much Princeton has struggled so far.

-NORTH TEXAS AT UT ARLINGTON.  A win for UTA gets them to 7-1.

-SAN FRANCISCO AT ARIZONA STATE.  Arizona State has been one of the bigger surprises of the season and I don’t expect they’ll have too much trouble improving to 8-0.

-USC AT SMU.  This is a tough road test for a really good SMU team that I think will continue to improve as the year goes along, but isn’t quite at their ceiling yet.  They already have a true road win at Vanderbilt, but SMU is a little better than Vandy.

-ARIZONA AT UNLV.  This will be a fun match-up between an Arizona team that is desperately wanting to turn things around and a much improved UNLV team that is coming off a tough road loss against Northern Iowa.

-NEVADA AT UC IRVINE.  This is a very strong Nevada team.  A win today gets them to 8-0, as well as gets them their fourth true road win.

-SAINT MARY’S AT CALIFORNIA.  SMC basically can’t lose for the rest of the season if they want to land safely inside the bubble.

-CAL BAPTIST AT CHAMINADE (Pac West, Team of the People). Barring interference, tonight’s game for your Team of the People will be the Pac West opener after heavy rains forced a postponement of the Cal Baptist/Hawaii-Hilo game from Thursday night. The game will be made up in February at CBU’s arena.

 

BUY GAMES

-Lehigh @ Virginia
-SC State @ NC State
-UC Davis @ Washington State
-Yale @ TCU
-Wright State @ Western Kentucky – not an actual buy game, but it will probably end up looking like one

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Under the Radar Games of the Day: Hall of Fame Belfast Classic (and other highlighted games)

Posted on December 1, 2017 by Chad

Holy Cross vs Manhattan, 11:30 AM Eastern, CBS Sports Network
Towson vs La Salle, 2:00 PM Eastern, CBS Sports Network

We have seen NCAA Division I basketball games played around the world, from China to Germany, from Mexico to Japan, and we even have the potential of a game in Greece coming soon (Mark Hollis wants the Michigan State Spartans to battle the USC Trojans there).  One place we have never had American college basketball go yet has been Northern Ireland . . . until today.  The Hall of Fame Belfast Classic tournament starts this afternoon (this evening for those actually in Belfast) as Holy Cross take on Manhattan in the first semifinal, followed by Towson and La Salle in the second game.  The losers will meet in a consolation game tipping at 9:30 AM Eastern tomorrow, while the title game is scheduled for Noon.

Holy Cross enters today’s game at at 2-3 overall, with a road win at Sacred Heart and a home win over Harvard.  The Crusaders have lost 3 straight, however, including a 78-62 loss at home to Albany last time out.  Caleb Green, who had been in double-digits every game before this last one, was held to only 2 points and needs to contribute more if the Crusaders want to advance to the championship game.  Their opponent, Manhattan, also started the season 2-0 and defeated Harvard at home.  The Jaspers are -0-4 since then including a 13 point loss at Fordham last time out.  Calvin Crawford did have a double-double in the losing effort.

In the second semifinal, Towson is one of the teams we have been watching closely during the early season, entering the game at 6-1, with only an opening loss at Old Dominion.  Brian Starr was one of  three Tigers in double figures in scoring in their Gulf Coast Showcase championship victory over Georgia Southern.  La Salle enters today’s game at 4-3, but does have a huge home win over a very solid Temple team.  Pookie Powell scored 29 points while BJ Johnson added 25 in that victory.  This second semifinal has a chance to be a great game, and the winner of it should be favored to claim the title, which for Towson would already be their second championship this season!

 

OTHER HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-PURDUE AT MARYLAND (Big Ten).  Purdue is coming off of a nice, feel good win against Louisville earlier in the week, but this is their first true road game.  It’s also their conference opener.  Both teams are probable tournament teams so it’s a resume building conference game.

-NORTH CAROLINA VS DAVIDSON (Charlotte).  Davidson has looked good at times, but not on the defensive end.  UNC clearly looks to be the superior team.  This is a semi-home game for Daivdson, but the crowd will be, at best, split, and at most pro-UNC.

-ILLINOIS AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten).  Illinois has beaten up on cupcakes, but not won any big games.  Northwestern has been somewhat disappointing so far, but beating a rival at home in a conference opener could give them some much needed momentum.

-BOISE STATE AT OREGON.  This is a really good game today between a Boise State team that only has one loss and that’s looked as good as anyone else in the Mountain West so far.  If they pick this one up on the road their profile will be resume pretty good.  Oregon has some work to do as well, so it’s a big game for both teams.

-CREIGHTON AT GONZAGA.  Two ranked teams going at it in a resume buliding game.  Both teams have some nice wins already and are looking to add to that.  It’s a real road test for Creighton, and it should be fun.

Grambling @ Georgia Tech – buy game

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Thursday, Nov 30th

Posted on November 30, 2017 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day, which features THE TEAM OF THE PEOPLE!!  CLICK HERE

-For our latest Under the Radar Podcast, where we recap a busy and exciting week for a lot of UTR teams including last night’s action – CLICK HERE

-There were an abundance of exciting games yesterday, but not too many cataclysmic outcomes.

-Duke had to really sweat at Indiana, but they remain unbeaten and pick up their first true road win of the year.

-Miami FL picked up a HUGE win at Minnesota in a game where they played really well against a really good team in a really hostile environment.

-Michigan kept pace at North Carolina for a half, but UNC opened it up down the stretch.  I didn’t realize that this was the first time those two had met since the infamous timeout game in the 1993 Championship Game.

-With apologies to our colleague Kyle Lamb, Clemson also got a nice road win at Ohio State (cough)just like football(cough).

-There is one final ACC/B1G Challenge game to be played, but it has been an absolute whitewash in favor of the ACC this year. The only two wins for the B1G were Purdue’s win at home against Louisville on Tuesday night and Nebraska’s win at home last night against Boston College.

-Louisiana Tech missed a huge opportunity to pick up a big road win at Alabama after they leading for pretty much the entire game.  A missed three pointer at the buzzer would have forced overtime.  LA Tech will have another shot at Texas later on.  If they can pick up that win then you have to start thinking of them as a possible at-large caliber team.

-UConn beat Columbia.  No surprise there.  They needed overtime to do it.  That is an astounding surprise.

-Northern Iowa handed UNLV their first loss of the season in an overtime thriller.  UNI now has wins over UNLV, SMU, and NC State.  Their only losses re to Villanova and North Carolina.  The Panthers are off to a fantastic start.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-SETON HALL VS TEXAS TECH (MSG, New York).  Texas Tech is off to an incredibly surprising start with a 6-0 record and some really good wins.  They have another big test today against a Seton Hall team that comes in 5-1 and is looking for a quality win on their resume.  Both teams are potential tournament teams, and this is the kind of win that can help get them there.

-NOTRE DAME AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten/ACC Challenge)  I believe this is the fifth top ten, and third top five, match-up that we’ve seen this November.  Both teams are off to incredible starts, both are likely protected seeds, and this is the kind of game that #1 seeds are able to win.  It should be a fun one.

-MEMPHIS AT UAB.  Memphis can improve to 4-1 on the year and pick up their first road win of the year.

-SOUTH CAROLINA VS TEMPLE (MSG, New York).  Both of these teams could really use this win.  South Carolina has had their struggles, and while Temple won their exempt tournament, they followed that up with a loss to LaSalle and are looking to rebound.

-NEW MEXICO STATE AT UTEP.  New Mexico State can improve to 5-1 on the year and pick up their first true road win.  For UTEP it will be their first game without Tim Floyd.

-SAN DIEGO STATE AT SAN DIEGO.  This one should be fun.  San Diego comes in without a loss and San Diego State comes in with just one loss.  Both teams are looking for notable wins, and this is a chance for them to pick one up in a rivalry game.

 

BUY GAMES

-NJIT @ West Virginia
-North Dakota State @ Mississippi State – Mississippi State is trying to remain unbeaten
-Western Carolina @ Charleston – not necessarily a buy game, but if CofC plays like they’re capable of playing it should look like one
-UTRGV @ Texas A&M
-North Texas @ Oklahoma

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Under the Radar Game of the Day: Cal Baptist at Hawai’i-Hilo

Posted on November 30, 2017 by Chad

Cal Baptist at Hawai’i-Hilo, 12:30 AM, hiloathletics.com

They are the TEAM OF THE PEOPLE!  They are OUR TEAM, YOUR TEAM, EVERYONE’s TEAM!!!  The Cal Baptists Lancers are on their quest to win the NCAA Division II title in their final season at the D2 level before beginning the four year transition up to Division I.  And after a fairly solid non-conference slate, with only a disappointing loss last time out to St. Martin’s as a mark against them, the Lancers are now ready to begin PacWest conference play, in pursuit of the conference title.

The CBU Lancers are taking a trip to Hawai’i this weekend, with a game at Hawai’i-Hilo tonight followed by a contest at Chaminade on Saturday.  CBU is now 6-1 on the season and being led on both ends of the court by Kalidou Diouf, who is averaging over 16 points and 7 rebounds per contest.  They will be favored to win tonight against the 1-4 Vulcans of Hawai’i-Hilo, but may have a tougher time on Saturday when they battle a Chaminade team that already has a very notable win over Cal in the Maui Invitational this year.  Both games should be fun ones, and really good tests for the People’s Team.  Just don’t forget to root them on — after all, they are YOUR TEAM!!!

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Under the Radar: November 29th

Posted on November 30, 2017 by David Griggs

This week’s highlighted conference is Conference USA.  We look at the great start that Western Kentucky is off to, along with Middle Tennessee and Louisiana Tech who have also looked really good so far.  We then run through all 22 UTR conferences and discuss how impressive Vermont has looked, Northern Iowa’s big wins down in the Battle 4 Atlantis, the Missouri Valley’s early dominance over the Mountain West, North Carolina A&T’s big turnaround from a year ago, and much more.  We close with this week’s UTR Top Ten.

 

And for all you radio lovers, below is an mp3 version of the show…

 

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

Awards season: HoopsHD interviews Hall of Fame VP of Basketball Operations Greg Procino

Posted on November 29, 2017 by Jon Teitel

In an effort to promote the game of basketball and recognize the best players in the nation, the Basketball Hall of Fame created awards for the men’s All-America Team in 2015.  These awards covered 5 different positions and were named after 5 of the best players to ever step onto the court: the Bob Cousy Point Guard Of The Year, the Jerry West Shooting Guard Of The Year, the Julius Erving Small Forward Of The Year, the Karl Malone Power Forward Of The Year, and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center Of The Year.  This year the Hall of Fame announced a partnership with the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) to present awards celebrating 5 of the best women to ever play the game: the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard Of The Year, the Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard Of The Year, the Cheryl Miller Small Forward Of The Year, the Katrina McClain Power Forward Of The Year, and the Lisa Leslie Center Of The Year.  The watch list for the women’s awards were announced earlier this month (see below for some of the favorites) and the winners will be revealed in April.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Greg Procino, the Basketball Hall of Fame’s Vice President of Basketball Operations, about these awesome awards.

Why did the Hall of Fame decide to create these awards? The Hall of Fame is an institution that recognizes the entire game of basketball at all levels around the world. We are active in the college space on both the men’s and women’s side, including our own awards program. Based on the success of the men’s program that was launched a few years ago we decided to expand the women’s program this year. We know there is an overload of awards on both sides but we wanted to spread the most awareness and provide ourselves with a little separation in terms of recognition. We have partnered with ESPN and the WBCA to create a platform at the Women’s Final 4, which will give us the best shot to be very relevant.

How did you identify which 5 Hall of Fame women would be participating? We wanted a diverse/inclusive representation to cover the growth of the women’s game over time and thought it was best to not focus on just 1 single generation. The idea was floated internally more than a year ago since we represent the entire game of basketball. Part of the creation was built off of the men’s version but it was more a result of representing the entire Hall of Fame. We did not consider any current players because eligibility for the Hall of Fame was 1 of our criteria.  We view this as a legacy opportunity for the 5 Hall of Famers who we did select and we wanted to highlight their accomplishments for a newer generation of basketball fans.  Nancy Lieberman (at ODU) and Annie Meyers Drysdale (at UCLA) were 2 of the pioneers of women’s basketball. They were visible players on different sides of the country and we felt they were most reflective of the game over time. Nancy’s award has been in existence for almost 2 decades and we thought they were both good choices at their respective positions, even though there were a lot of viable candidates.

How has the Hall’s coverage of the women’s game changed over time? The women’s game is still growing but we have always been an all-inclusive place. The more relevant the WNBA becomes with its own star players, the more that will ultimately spread to the Hall. However, we have always had an enshrinement voting committee for the women’s game.

How do the awards evolve during the course off the season?  The watch lists were released a few weeks ago and will be narrowed to 10 candidates and then again to 5 candidates in the months ahead. We expect everyone to be present to receive their awards during the Friday coverage at the Final 4 in Columbus, OH, and we will formally do the hand-off during the off-day that weekend. Players can play their way onto and off of the list so just because your favorite player is not on the 1st watch list does not mean that she will be excluded from winning the award in the spring. Year 1 for us will be foundational for us so that we can maximize the visibility of these awards well into the future.

Last season Washington’s Kelsey Plum won the Wade Trophy (as national player of the year) before becoming the 1st overall pick in the WNBA Draft by San Antonio Stars: how does the Wade Trophy fit into the equation with the 5 positional awards?  It will still be managed by the WBCA but the partnership means that ESPN will announce our award winners on Final 4 weekend. Based on the history of the men’s award my guess is that the Wade Trophy winner will also win a positional award, but the voting processes are 2 separate paths.

Nancy Lieberman Point Guard Award (19th year)
Watch list includes: Kelsey Mitchell from Ohio State (8th player ever to be a 3-time preseason All-American), Lexie Brown from Duke (set ACC record by making 56 consecutive FTs), Morgan William from Mississippi State (made buzzer-beater to end UConn’s record streak in Final 4)

Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard Award (inaugural year)
Watch list includes: Katie Lou Samuelson from UConn (set D-1 women’s record by making 10-10 threes in a win over South Florida), Victoria Vivians from Mississippi State (All-American)

Cheryl Miller Small Forward Award (inaugural year)
Watch list includes: Gabby Williams from UConn (2017 WBCA national DPOY), Shakayla Thomas from Florida State (ACC POY)

Katrina McClain Power Forward Award (inaugural year)
Watch list includes: Napheesa Collier from UConn (AAC preseason POY), Kristine Anigwe from California (All-American)

Lisa Leslie Center Award (inaugural year)
Watch list includes: A’ja Wilson from South Carolina (NCAA tourney MOP), Kalani Brown from Baylor (set school record with 67.9 FG%), Azura Stevens from UConn (sat out last year after transferring from Duke)

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