Under the Radar Game of the Day: Louisiana Tech vs Evansville

Posted on November 22, 2017 by Chad

Louisiana Tech vs Evansville, 8:30 PM Eastern, CBS Sports Network

A trip to Cancun is in store tonight as the Under the Radar Game of the Day heads South of the Border for the championship game of the Riviera Division of the Cancun Challenge.  Louisiana Tech knocked off George Mason 77-64 in one semifinal last night while Evansville defeated Fresno State in a close one, 59-57.  As a result, both teams are undefeated entering this evening’s title game.  La Tech has been led by Jacobi Boykins so far this year, including a 23 point output in a game against Montana State.  Evansville’s top player, Ryan Taylor, had 21 yesterday and has topped the 20 point mark in all but one game so far this year.  Although neither team was the preseason pick to win their conferences this year, the winner will remain among the ranks of the undefeated and have a trophy to take home as well, giving them a ton of momentum as we move towards the end of college basketball’s first calendar month.

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Under the Radar Game of the Day: Florida Gulf Coast at Middle Tennessee

Posted on November 21, 2017 by Chad

Florida Gulf Coast at Middle Tennessee, 7:30 PM Eastern, Stadium Facebook-Live page

For the third time already in the young season, head coach Kermit Davis’ Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders are being featured in our Under the Radar Game of the Day.  Part of this is because his team is once again among the favorites in Conference USA, where they have won back-to-back conference tournament titles and advanced to the round of 32 each time.  Even more importantly, Coach Davis has done what so many of these other Under the Radar programs fail to do — scheduled!!  As a team from a non-power conference, it is somewhere between difficult and impossible to get a power conference team to schedule you on equal terms (home and home).  So many schools therefore end up playing a ton of road “buy games” and get their home games against lesser competition.  What coach Davis has done, and should be highly commended for, is schedule series with teams that are among the elites of the mid-major ranks.  With games already against Murray State and Belmont, tonight the Blue Raiders play the front end of an in-season home-and-home with Atlantic Sun preseason favorite Florida Gulf Coast.

Middle enters today’s game at 3-1 on the season, including a solid road win at Murray State.  They did fall at home last week to Belmont, 69-63, despite once again getting strong efforts from Giddy Potts and Nick King.  Potts and King were both in double figures, including a game high 20 from King, in their most recent game — a road win over Tennessee State.  Tonight’s game is important not only to give Blue Raider fans their team’s first home win over D1 competition, but also to avoid leaving a bad taste in the team’s mouth heading into a 12 day layoff before their next game, which will be the trip down to Fort Myers for the rematch with FGCU.

Florida Gulf Coast enters tonight’s game at 2-1, having beaten Illinois State at home and won at Siena.  The Eagles suffered their lone loss last time out, at Bowling Green, 83-80.  Brandon Goodwin and Christian Terrell were the Eagle’s top two scorers in that loss, though Zach Johnson was held to only 8 points after having 27 in the opener against Illinois State.  If Johnson can step up and the rest of the team continues to perform, a road win would look very nice on Dunk City’s resume, and help make up for the Bowling Green loss.  Unlike Middle Tennessee, FGCU actually has a slew games between tonight and their rematch December 2, hosting a round-robin event this weekend that will feature matchups with Denver, Navy and St Francis-Brooklyn, plus a game against non-D1 Webber International next Wednesday.

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Tuesday, Nov 21st

Posted on November 21, 2017 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

-For our most recent HOOPS HD REPORT – CLICK HERE

-LSU is one of the biggest surprises of the season, at least as far as I’m concerned.  They beat what is by all accounts a pretty good Michigan team yesterday, and have looked good in some of their earlier games as well.  I was dogging them pretty hard 24 hours ago.  Will Wade and CO have shut me up.

-Baylor picked up a really nice neutral floor win against Wisconsin in a game where the Badgers fell way behind, but came back to make it close and actually had a chance to win in the final minutes.

-Creighton beat UCLA and now has two wins against ranked teams that had no business being ranked.  Now, that could all change tonight if they knock off Baylor, who has all the business in the world being ranked.

-Syracuse blew out Oakland.  I take two things away from that game.  Syracuse is better than I thought, and Oakland (who I know was without a key player) is worse than I thought.

-Missouri took down nondiv1 Emporia State 67-62 in what was a true statement win!!  Granted, the statement isn’t exactly favorable, but it was a statement!!

-Utah picked up a nice win against Ole Miss out in Las Vegas in a game that I really wish would have tipped off earlier.  I’m really tired this morning because of how late the game ended.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-IOWA VS SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (Cayman Islands Classic).  Iowa fell to Louisiana yesterday and now just needs to get out of this with a couple of wins so their profile won’t be completely ranked.  They face South Dakota State, who lost to a pretty good Wyoming team and is one of the stronger UTR teams this year.

-MARQUETTE VS WICHITA STATE (Maui Invitational).  Marquette had a nice win against VCU in their opener, and Wichita overcame an 18pt second half deficit against Cal to come back and win.  Both teams look to continue to build their profiles with notable OOC wins away from home.

-LOUISIANA VS WYOMING (Cayman Islands Classic).  I really like this Wyoming team, and they should be able to win this game and advance to the championship game.  If they are somehow able to beat Cincinnati then they will emerge from this tournament looking like a top 40/NCAA Tournament caliber team.

-PITTSBURGH VS OKLAHOMA STATE (Legends Classic).  We highlight this game only to say that we are not highlighting this game.  Okie State is off to a somewhat respectable 3-1 start.  They face a Pitt team that isn’t really respectable at all.

-VCU VS CALIFORNIA (Maui Invitational).  Both these teams are falling behind the pace and even though it’s as early as it is you get the sense that this is a game that both of them really need to win.  There should be a sense of urgency for both teams.

-UMKC VS GEORGIA SOUTHERN (Gulf Coast Showcase).  Georgia Southern is 4-0 with wins at Wake Forest and another against Missouri State in this tournament.  If they win it then they will be on our radar.

-PENN STATE VS TEXAS A&M (Legends Classic).  Penn State has been one of the bigger surprises this season, and TAMU has been one of the more impressive teams this season who is starting to put together what could turn out to be a protected seed caliber profile.  If Penn State can win this then you have to start thinking of them as a solid NCAA Tournament team.

-LOUISIANA TECH VS GEORGE MASON (Cancun Challenge).  I think George Mason has looked about as good as anyone else in the A10 so far with their only loss being at Louisville in their season opener.  LA Tech comes in to this event with no losses and can make a splash if they can pick up some quality wins away from home.

-RICHMOND VS CINCINNATI (Cayman Island Classic).  Richmond had looked so bad prior to yesterday’s win against UAB that it was actually kind of a surprise that they won the game.  To say that Cincinnati sweated out Buffalo in their game yesterday is overstating it, but they didn’t exactly put them away wither.  The winner gets another neutral floor win on their profile and advances to the championship game.

-WISCONSIN VS UCLA (Hall of Fame Classic).  Both teams came up short yesterday, but as far as the committee is concerned the fact that this is a third place game is entirely irrelevant.  It’s a neutral floor game between two probable NCAA Tournament teams and would count as a quality win.

-FLORIDA GULF COAST AT MIDDLE TENNESSEE.  This will likely end up being Chad’s UTR Game of the Day.  It’s a matchup between two UTR Top Ten teams.

-SAMFORD AT VALPARAISO.  Samford has been somewhat disappointing so far, but it’s still early, they can still turn it around, and they could still end up being one of the better teams in the SoCon.  They take on a currently unbeaten Valpo team on the road today.

-MICHIGAN VS CHAMINADE (nondiv1) (Maui Invitational).  Michigan was beaten by a much better than expected (at least by me) LSU team yesterday and just needs to avoid what would be a really damaging loss today.

-FRESNO STATE VS EVANSVILLE (Cancun Challenge).  Evansville comes into this unbeaten and looking to add something other than just buy game wins to their profile.  Fresno State’s only loss came against a really good Arkansas team.

-UT ARLINGTON AT ALABAMA.  UTA comes into this game without a loss and a very impressive win at BYU to go along with it.  If they can manage to follow that up with a win tonight then they’ll be on pace to end up as a top 40/NCAA Tournament caliber team.

-DAVIDSON AT NEVADA.  Both teams are unbeaten, both teams are good (we think), and both teams need quality wins.

-BAYLOR VS CREIGHTON (Hall of Fame Classic).  Creighton already has two notable wins, but this would certainly be their most notable if they could beat what appears to be a very strong Baylor team.  Baylor took care of Wisconsin yesterday in the semifinals and is looking for an early season win of note as well.

-NOTRE DAME VS LSU (Maul Invitaitonal).  I’m really looking forward to this game considering that LSU is a lot better than I thought they were.  If they can somehow pull this one off then you’re talking about a team that not many were expecting to be anywhere close to NIT caliber to them probably cracking the top 25 next week.

-WESTERN NEW MEXICO VS CAL BAPTIST (Division II/Team Of the People). The HoopsHD Team of the People is currently ranked #14 overall in D-2 hoops and #1 overall in the West region. The Lancers are unlikely to be challenged by Western New Mexico going into their own Thanksgiving tournament.

 

BUY GAMES

-Southern Illinois @ Louisville – both teams 2-0
-Houston Baptist @ Virginia Tech
-Bryant @ Rutgers
-Texas Southern @ Kansas
-Alabama A&M @ Minnesota
-Niagara @ BYU.  Niagara has lost two straight since winning their opener at Saint Bonaventure
-Pacific @ Air Force – AFA can improve to 4-0

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The Hoops HD Report: November 20th

Posted on November 20, 2017 by David Griggs

It’s November Madness!!  We are in the midst of all the exempt tournaments in one of the busiest weeks of the entire college basketball season.  Chad, David, John, and Matt look at all of the multi-bid leagues and break down what they have done so far.  We discuss what a surprise Texas Tech has been, what a disappointment Northwestern has been, Creighton’s two big early season wins, the upcoming PK80 Tournament, and much more…

 

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

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Merit Rankings/Bracket Projections: Monday, Nov 20th

Posted on November 20, 2017 by David Griggs

For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE

For a rundown of the rest of today’s action – CLICK HERE

Listed below are this week’s Merit Rankings.  I know they look ridiculous, but understand what you are looking at.  The idea is to rank teams based on CURRENT MERIT.  Nothing else.  No attempt is made to rank how good the teams actually are.  I know Villanova (and other teams) are much better than where they appear on this list, but until they do something other than win buy games at home, they won’t move up.

 

1. DUKE – 4-0, neutral floor win vs Michigan State
2. KANSAS – 3-0, netural win vs Kentucky, home win vs South Dakota State
3. XAVIER – 3-0, won @ Wisconsin
4. TEXAS A&M – 2-0, neutral floor wins vs West Virginia
5. MINNESOTA – 4-0, won @ Providence
6. USC – 3-0, won @ Vanderbilt
7. Creighton – 3-0, won @ Northwestern
8. Texas Tech – 4-0, won @ Boston College and neutral vs Northwestern
9. TEXAS ARLINGTON – 2-0, won @ BYU
10. Providence – 3-1, lost @ Minnesota, 2 neutral floor wins (Washington, SLU)
11. TEMPLE – 3-0, neutral floor wins (Old Dominion, Auburn, Clemson)
12. Virginia – 4-0, won @ VCU
13. SAINT LOUIS – 2-1 vs div1, neutral win vs Virginia Tech, neutral loss vs Providence
14. NEVADA – 4-0, 2 road wins, home win vs Rhody
15. VERMONT – 3-1, lost @ Kentucky, 3-0 on neutral floor (Bradley, Coastal, Northern KY)
16. Wichita State – 2-0, home win vs CofC
17. Purdue – 4-0, won @ Marquette
18. BELMONT – 4-1, lost @ Washington, wins vs Vandy, @ Middle Tennessee,
19. OLD DOMINION – 4-1, lost neutral vs Temple, neutral wins vs Indiana State & Dayton
20. Notre Dame – 3-0, won @ Depaul
21. Florida State – 3-0, 2 neutral floor wins (Colorado State, Fordham)
22. North Carolina – 2-0, home win vs Bucknell
23. Seton Hall – 4-0, home win vs Indiana
24. Clemson – 4-1, 2 neutral floor wins (Ohio, Hofstra)
25. Virginia Tech – 4-1, neutral floor win vs Washington
26. Tulane – 4-0, 2 neutral floor wins (Colorado State, Fordham)
27. Maryland – 4-0, home wins vs Butler and Bucknell
28. Saint Joseph’s – 2-1, win @ UIC, lost @ Toledo
29. Houston – 3-1, loss to Drexel, road win @ Liberty, Neutral win vs Wake Forest
30. Boston College – 4-1, neutral floor win vs La Salle
31. Saint John’s – 3-0, home win vs Nebraska
32. Albany – 3-0, win @ Boston U
33. George Mason – 3-1, loss at Louisville, 2 neutral floor wins (Binghamton, CS Northridge)
34. FLORIDA GULF COAST – 2-1, won @ Siena, lost @ Bowling Green
35. NORTH DAKOTA STATE – 1-2, won @ Missouri State, lost @ USC
36. Utah – 3-0, home win vs Mizzou
37. South Carolina – 4-1, won @ Wofford, neutral wins vs UTEP and Western Mich
38. Kentucky – 3-1, home win vs Vermont
39. SAINT MARY’S – 4-0, home win vs New Mexico State
40. COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON – 2-1, lost at Wichita State, won @ Charlotte
41. Villanova – 3-0 in buy games
42. PORTLAND STATE – 2-0, road wins (Portland, UC Riverside)
43. LONG BEACH – 1-1, lost @ Oregon State, won @ San Francisco
44. Ucla – 3-0, 2 buy wins and GA Tech on a neutral floor
45. NORTHERN KENTUCKY – 4-1, lost neutral vs Vermont, 2 neutral wins (James Madison, Iona)
46. TOLEDO – 2-0, home wins vs Saint Joe’s and Akron
47. Boise State – 4-1, 3 div1 wins, neutral wins vs UTEP & Illinois State, lost to Iowa St.
48. Auburn – 3-1, neutral wins vs Indiana State and Hofstra
49. Michigan State – 2-1, lost to Duke, 2 buy game wins
50. West Virginia – lost neutral floor vs Texas A&M, 2 buy game wins
51. Missouri – 2-1, home win vs Iowa State, road loss @ Utah
52. ILLINOIS STATE – 2-2, losses @ FGCU, vs Boise State, neutral wins vs South Carolina and Tulsa
53. Arizona – 3-0 in buy games
54. Gonzaga – 3-0 in buy games
55. Northwestern – 3-2, struggled to win 2 buy games, lost to Creighton and Texas Tech
56. Middle Tennessee – 2-1, won @ Murray State
57. Wyoming – 2-0, won @ Oregon State
58. MONMOUTH – 2-2, won @ Lehigh, losses @ Seton Hall & Virginia aren’t damaging
59. NEW MEXICO STATE – 2-1, home win vs New Mexico
60. Arizona State – 4-0, home win vs San Diego State
61. LIBERTY – 2-2, won @ Wake Forest
62. Smu – 4-0 in buy games
63. Colorado – 5-0, 3 neutral wins against weak teams
64. Florida – 3-0 in buy games
65. Miami FL – 3-0 in buy games
66. Cincinnati – 3-0 in buy games
67. Louisville – 2-0 in buy games
68. Baylor – 3-0 in buy games
69. Texas – 3-0 in buy games
70. Wisconsin – 2-1, lost at home vs Xavier, 2 buy game wins
71. Illinois – 4-0, home win vs DePaul
72. Rhode Island – 2-1, lost at Nevada, 2 buy game wins
73. Oregon – 4-0 in buy games
74. Tcu – 3-0 in buy games
75. Ucf – 3-0 in buy games
76. Oklahoma – 2-0 in buy games
77. Connecticut – 3-0 in buy games
78. Butler – 3-1, lost @ Maryland, 3 buy game wins
79. Southern Illinois – 2-0, won @ Winthrop
80. Arkansas – 3-0, home win vs Bucknell, two buy wins
81. Washington – 2-2, home wins vs Belmont

82. Syracuse – 3-0 in buy games
83. Kansas State – 3-0 in buy games
84. Ohio State – 4-0 in buy games
85. Davidson – 2-0 in buy games
86. NC State – 4-0 in buy games
87. Penn State – 4-0 in buy games
88. Michigan – 3-0 in buy games
89. Alabama – 3-0 in buy games
90. Oklahoma State – 3-0 in buy games
91. Iowa – 3-0 in buy games
92. Missouri State – 2-1, won @ Western KY, lost at home to North Dakota St.
93. BROWN – 1-1, road win @ Quinnipiac
94. Miami OH – 3-1, neutral loss vs Hartford, road win @ Fordham
95. Stanford – 3-1, 3 buy games wins, home loss to Eastern Washington
96. Vcu – 2-1, lost at home to Virginia, 2 buy wins
97. Georgetown – 3-0 in buy games
98. Evansville – 4-0 in buy games
99. Unlv – 3-0 in buy games
100. Valparaiso – 4-0, 2 div1 buy game wins
101. LEHIGH – 3-1, won @ Marist
102. uab – 2-0 in buy games
103. Washington State – 3-0 in buy games
104. Georgia – 3-0 in buy games
105. Ole Miss – 3-0 in buy games
106. Oregon State – 2-1 with 2 buy wins
107. LAMAR – 2-1, won @ Tulsa
108. MERCER
109. NC A&T – 2-1, div1 wins vs The Citadel, @ Jacksonville
110. WAGNER – 2-1
111. TEXAS SOUTHERN – no SWAC teams have any div1 wins

 

 

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Under the Radar Game of the Day: Missouri State vs Georgia Southern

Posted on November 20, 2017 by Chad

Missouri State vs Georgia Southern, 1:30 PM Eastern, flohoops.com

The eight team Gulf Coast Showcase starts its first game at 11:00 AM Eastern this morning (UMKC vs Manhattan), making it the first game of one of the most fun weeks in college basketball.  While we did have a few exempt tournaments last week, the next seven days will give us the vast majority of the In-Season Tournaments, and will include a handful of events with absolutely stacked fields.  Although the Gulf Coast Showcase is not one of the premiere early season events, it does have an intriguing second quarterfinal today (1:30 PM Eastern) between Missouri State and Georgia Southern.

With Wichita State now playing in the American, the Missouri Valley Conference is as wide open as it has been in years.  That said, one of the preseason favorites is head coach Paul Lusk’s Missouri State Bears.  Missouri State is 2-1 so far this season, with a nice road win at Western Kentucky and a mildly disappointing home loss to North Dakota State.  Alize Johnson has been a force so far for the Bears.  He scored 13 points to go with 8 rebounds against WKU, followed that up with 10 points, 14 boards and 5 assists in a win over Southern, and added an almost amazing 23 points and 20 rebounds (do we call that a twenty-twenty instead of a double-double?) against North Dakota State!  If he continues to have stat lines like that, the Bears should be the favorites to win the Gulf Coast Showcase this week, and do a lot more throughout the MVC regular season.

Georgia Southern enters this afternoon’s game at a perfect 3-0, including an opening night 85-83 win at Wake Forest.  Although so far this season the Demon Deacons appear to be down, the GSU Eagles can build on that victory and prove that they will contend in the Sun Belt this year with a strong showing in this event.  Five different Eagles were in double-digits in scoring in the win at Wake, including a double-double from Montae Glenn.  Also keep an eye on Tookie Brown who dropped 22 against the Demon Deacons and scored 24 in a solid win over Cal State-Bakersfield.

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