Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES

-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day, which is actually one of the better games of the day overall – CLICK HERE

-For our latest Merit Rankings/Bracket Projections – CLICK HERE

-It was a rather chalky Sunday.  Vermont took Kentucky to the wall after being down double digits in the second half, but couldn’t quite get over the top.  Kentucky will win bigger games, but this was a harder game to win than most realize, and they deserve more credit for winning it than most will give them.

-Arkansas also blew past what we still think is a good Bucknell team, but Bucknell is off to a rough start.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-MINNESOTA AT PROVIDENCE (Gavitt Games).  Both teams are likely NCAA Tournament teams.  I think this Providence team is really good.  If Minney could get this one on the road it may turn out to be one of the better wins on their profile come March.

-CENTRAL MICHIGAN AT MICHIGAN.  This is a buy game, but both teams come in 1-0 and although Central Michigan appears to be overmatched, they could end up making some noise in the MAC this year.

-LA SALLE AT PENNSYLVANIA (Big Five).  I’m not expecting much out of either of these teams, but it’s the Big Five, so we gotta talk about it!

-OLD DOMINION AT JAMES MADISON.  I miss these former Colonial rivalries.  Both come into this 1-0 and can build up some early momentum with a win.

-VANDERBILT AT BELMONT.  Belmont is coming off a very close loss at Washington in their opener.  They’re a really strong UTR team, and Vandy could really have their hands full as the road team in this crosstown matchup.

-WESTERN MICHIGAN AT SOUTH CAROLINA.  This is a buy game, but we’ll highlight it because of Western Michigan’s potential and because both come into this one 1-0.

-ORAL ROBERTS AT TULSA.  Will Tulsa fall to 0-2 on the season?

-MIDDLE TENNESSEE AT MURRAY STATE.  This may be Chad’s UTR game of the day.  Both come in 1-0 and both are expected to finish at or near the top of their conferences.  Middle Tennessee has been to the Round of 32 for two consecutive years, and although they lost a lot of their key players from last year they should still be a force in CUSA.

-COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON AT WICHITA STATE.  This is a HUGELY important game for CofC.  They are one of the UTR teams that we feel has a legitimate chance to land inside the bubble and make the tournament even if they fail to win their conference tournament.  This is the kidn of game they need to be able to win in order for that to happen, though.

-NEW MEXICO STATE AT SAINT MARY’S.  New Mexico State is a solid program, but they don’t get many chances to establish themselves as being nationally relevant.  They have the chance to do that tonight.  This may actually be one of SMC’s toughest OOC games, so it’s important that they take care of business.

-WYOMING AT OREGON STATE.  Both teams are 1-0, and both appear to be much improved from a season ago.  Making The Dance may be a long shot, but this is a chance for each team to pick up some early season momentum.

-RHODE ISLAND AT NEVADA.  Rhody appears to be a solid tournament caliber team, but they’ll have limited chances to build their profile, at least up to the point to where they’d be considered for a protected seed.  Having said that, this would be a really solid road win against a good Nevada team.

BUY GAMES

-Jacksonville State @ Richmond
-Eastern Kentucky @ Ole Miss – both teams 1-0
-Gardner Webb @ Florida
-Western Carolina @ Cincinnati
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ Notre Dame
-Austin Peay @ Virginia
-New Orleans @ Oakland
-North Florida @ VCU
-Saint Peter’s @ Northwestern
-TAMUCC @ Baylor – both teams 1-0
-North Texas @ Nebraska – both teams 1-0
-Milwaukee @ Iowa State
-Charlotte @ Oklahoma State – both teams 1-0
-Rider @ Xavier
-Wagner @ Missouri – both teams 1-0
-Prairie View A&M @ Oregon
-Mississippi Valley State @ Utah
-Tennessee Tech @ TCU – both teams 1-0
-North Dakota State @ USC

NEWS AND NOTES

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

-Notre Dame picked up a nice road win at DePaul.  It’s not that beating DePaul is some fantastic feat, but it was a true road game against a team that is at least formidable, and they went in and won without really having to sweat.

-Another note from Friday that I didn’t mention yesterday was that Bill Walton issued what had to have been the greatest and most epic apology in human history!!  It occurred right as UCLA v Georgia Tech was tipping off, and I admittedly missed it live.  He spent the first thirty seconds apologizing ON BEHALF OF THE HUMAN RACE because of the shoplifting incident that involved three UCLA players.  YES!!!  YES!!!  Bill Walton may be the most Hoops HD person out there who isn’t actually on Hoops HD.  He’ll spontaneously begin talking about Grateful Dead concerts while he’s broadcasting games, he wears a t-shirt to work, he periodically gets confused or talks as if he doesn’t have the exact information of what he’s talking about at his fingertips but keeps talking anyway, and every now and then he apologizes on behalf of the human race! What a glorious response to such a stupid act!!  I LOVE THIS GUY!!!  Granted there are times I can’t stand to listen to him, but I love everything he stands for and everything about his spirit.  If nothing else the guy is a huge dose of fun in a game that’s supposed to be fun, but is covered by people who forget that because they’re so obsessed with ‘being professional.’

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-MONMOUTH AT SETON HALL.  This is a buy game, but both teams come in 1-0 and despite the fact that Monmouth lost most of their production from the last two years, they still may be good enough to make this interesting.

-GEORGE MASON AT LOUISVILLE.  It’s Louisville’s first official game since the sanctions were handed down by the NCAA, the FBI came calling, and Rick Pitino and Tom Jurich were fired.

-UMASS AT HARVARD.  Both teams come into this one 1-0, but Harvard’s win came against MIT.  We think the Crimson could end up inside the bubble come March, but in order for that to happen they can’t afford to lose games like this.

-VERMONT AT KENTUCKY.  We think Vermont can land inside the bubble, but the reason we think that is largely due to us thinking they can win this game today.  Kentucky is talented, but young.  Vermont blew through their conference last year, was right in there with Purdue in the NCAA Tournament, and has everyone back.  If they can somehow win this game, then it’s the kind of game that can land them in the NCAA Tournament even if they trip up in the conference tournament (and avoid tripping up during the regular season as well). Kentucky didn’t exactly blow out Utah Valley on Friday, so this is definitely a game worth watching today.

-YALE AT WISCONSIN.  Yale is probably overmatched, but Wiscy has a young team so it wouldn’t be surprised if the Bulldogs were able to compete.

-BUCKNELL AT ARKANSAS.  We still really like this Bucknell team despite the fact that they lost their opener at Winthrop.  The problem is that their margin for error is almost down to zero and we aren’t even 48 hours into the season.  Opening with back to back road games is no easy way to start the season, but making the NCAA Tournament and landing inside the bubble isn’t easy either, and these are the kinds of games they need to win in order to make that happen.  They face what we think is a pretty good Arkansas team today and can pick up a win that will look good on their profile.

-PRINCETON AT BUTLER.  Princeton should be reasonably strong this year, and they could compete with Butler today.  We’re still learning about Butler since their coaching change.  We should learn a little more about them today.

-EASTERN WASHINGTON AT WASHINGTON.  Both teams won their first game, and although both are kind of rebuilding, continuing to pick up early wins could help build momentum and speed up the rebuilding process.

NORTH DAKOTA AT HAWAI’I.  Highlighted simply because both teams are 1-0. This is also Chad’s UTR Game of the Day.

BUY GAMES

-Jacksonville @ Georgetown – Patrick Ewing’s head coaching debut!
-SC State @ Boston College – win gets BC to 2-0
-NC A&T @ Clemson  – both teams 1-0
-Radford @ Ohio State – both teams 1-0
-Central Connecticut @ Rutgers
-Omaha @ Oklahoma
-Navy @ Miami FL – both teams 1-0
-Chicago State @ Purdue
-Charleston Southern @ NC State
-Louisiana Monroe @ SMU
-Southern Utah @ Boise State
-Alabama State @ Iowa
-Fairleigh Dickinson @ Penn State
-UMBC @ Arizona
-UT Martin @ Illinois
-UMES @ Maryland – both teams 1-0, and UMES is an intriguing story given how much their program has improved in recent years
-The Citadel @ Virginia Tech – both teams 1-0
-Alcorn State @ Creighton
-Howard @ Indiana
-Pacific @ Stanford