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
