Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES

-It wasn’t a very busy week leading in to Saturday due to so many schools having exams, but that was made up in full force with a full slate of games yesterday.

-We begin with Kentucky and North Carolina out in Las Vegas.  Both teams were ranked in the top ten.  I do not recall a year where we had nearly as many out of conference games between highly ranked teams as we’ve had this year.  It was a high scoring, highly skilled, and very entertaining affair with both teams going after the kind of win that could land them on the #1 line.  Kentucky led for most of the game, but UNC was always within reach, and they actually came back to get the lead in the final minutes.  The lead changed several times after that with North Carolina having a chance to tie it with a three at the buzzer, but they came up short.  It was a huge win for Kentucky, and considering it was away from home, it may be the biggest win they get (minus maybe winning at Louisville) until the NCAA Tournament begins.

-There were two other games that featured two ranked teams, and you could have seen both of the others with the same ticket.  Butler led Indiana the whole way, and it looked liked they were going to run away with it, but the Hoosiers came back and had a chance with less than a minute to go.  However, the Bulldogs held on.  When you look at Butler’s profile, it not only screams protected seed, it screams a #2 or maybe even a #1 seed.  They’ve beaten Arizona and Indiana on neutral floors, Cincinnati on their home court, Northwestern who’s a tournament caliber team (more on them later), and also have a nice true road win against Utah.

-In the other game, Purdue picked up one of their biggest wins of the year up to this point as they overcame a double digit Notre Dame lead in their comeback win.  Despite the loss, I’m still very high on this Notre Dame team, and they will certainly have opportunities in ACC play to pick up the kinds of wins they need to earn a really good seed.

-Creighton trailed for much of the second half against 2-10 Oral Roberts, and they held on to win by just one point as they avoided what would have been a very damaging loss.  Throughout his career, Greg McDermott’s overall record in the final ten regular season games is below .500, so Creighton was playing the way McDermott teams typically play in late February or March, which was kind of surprising to see.  But, they avoided the loss, and are still among the nation’s unbeaten.

-USC also survived a scare against Troy, and also trailed for much of the game, and it was still in doubt with less than a minute to go, but they held on to win and remain unbeaten.

-Xavier picked up a home win against Wake Forest, but it wasn’t easy.  In fact, not much has been easy for Xavier.  They’ve been holding serve and winning the games you would expect them to, but if there is such a thing as the eye test, they’re really not passing it.

-Arizona picked up a nice win against Texas A&M in Houston.  Arizona has been clobbered with injuries, so when you consider that they could turn out to be really strong once they’re back at full strength.

-Georgetown got a big road win at Syracuse.  I’m starting to think that this was more damaging for Syracuse than it was helpful for Georgetown.  Truth be told, neither have looked all that good all that often this year.  Syracuse continues to play their old Big East rivals, but they’ve lost to Georgetown the last two years, and to UConn this year as well.  But, they also made the Final Four last year, so you can’t say they “lost everything” by playing the games.

-Memphis picked up a very nice road win against Oklahoma.  The Tigers are 8-3, they appear to be getting better, and they could make some noise in the AAC this year.

-Arkansas got a big win against Texas in Houston.  They’re now an impressive 9-1, whereas Texas’s tailspin is continuing.  It’s not unusual to see Shaka Smart team’s get off to a slow start, but it is somewhat alarming that they haven’t quite gotten in rhythm yet.

-Kansas State went into Denver, and absolutely blew Colorado State’s doors off.  I may have to concede the fact that the Rams are not as good as I thought.  K State is suddenly 10-1 and you have to pay attention to them as conference play draws nearer.

-Northwestern narrowly defeated Dayton up in Chicago in a game that was never really close except in the first minute of play (and maybe not even that long) and the last minute of play.  For about 36 of the 40 minutes Northwestern had a very comfortable lead.  It’s a nice win for the Wildcats, and one that their profile needed.  As for Dayton, it’s not a bad loss, but their margin for error is now thinner.

-Wichita State, who we all liked and felt was on the verge of cracking the Top 25….will NOT be cracking the Top 25.  Oklahoma State went into Wichita, and absolutely drilled them.  The final margin was 93-76, but the game really wasn’t even that close.

-Middle Tennessee needed a big win to go from being inside the bubble to very safely inside the bubble.  They didn’t get it at VCU, but if you watched the game and know how hard it is to win at VCU, then you saw a very well played, close, and exciting game that seesawed back and forth.  Middle had a chance to tie at the buzzer, but came up short.  The broadcast wasn’t all that good, but the game itself was excellent.  As for VCU, it was a win that they desperately needed given that they’d hit the skids recently.

-Chattanooga needed a win (or perhaps needed not to lose) at Vanderbilt today.  If the Mocs don’t win out, or lose more than one game the rest of the way, I think they’ll need the automatic bid to make the NCAAs.  Winning at Vandy isn’t easy, but making the tournament isn’t easy because it requires winning games that aren’t easy to win in order to get there.

-A shoutout to UMBC, who lost at home today to Towson by just one point.  They lost their previous game to Richmond in overtime.  Despite the two straight losses, I still feel they are the most improved team in college basketball, and can be a force in the America East conference.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-MIAMI OH AT UCF.  UCF is coming off a rather surprising loss and needs to rebound today.

-HOLY CROSS AT RHODE ISLAND.  Rhode Island needs to put together a long string of wins just to upgrade their profile to the point to where it looks like they belong in the NCAA Tournament again.

-FORDHAM VS RUTGERS (Hoops Holiday Festival, Madison Square Garden).  A win gets Rutgers to 11-1.

-FAIRFIELD AT NC STATE.  NC State shouldn’t have too much trouble at home against Fairfield, and will improve to 9-2 on the year with a win.

-CLEMSON VS ALABAMA (Birmingham AL).  This is a big game in the sense that both teams have managed to hold serve, but that’s all they’ve managed to do and they still have a lot of work to do if they want to land in the NCAA Tournament.

-GONZAGA VS TENNESSEE (Nashville TN).  This may be a big mismatch, but Tennessee has looked surprisingly good at times this year, and they’ve looked tough at home. so the Zags won’t be able to just walk all over them, even with this game being a few hours away in Nashville.

-JOHN BROWN (nondiv1) AT BAYLOR.  Buy game

-TEXAS SOUTHERN AT TCU.  Buy game

-NORTHEASTERN AT MICHIGAN STATE.  Buy game

Exams are over, and we’ve got a HUGE day of college basketball!!  Below is a rundown of all the action.

SPOTLIGHT GAMES

-NORTH CAROLINA VS KENTUCKY (CBS Sports Classic, Las Vegas NV).  Definitely the showcase game of the day.  It’s two highly ranked teams that will likely end up as protected seeds, and one or both could even wind up as #1 seeds.  Whoever wins this will definitely have a #1 seed caliber win on their profile.

-MIDDLE TENNESSEE AT VCU.  So, the first game is an obvious spotlight due to it being a showcase game.  This is spotlighted due to the importance of the game on paper.  Middle Tennessee is 10-1 and really looks good, but their chances to pick up wins against solid tournament teams are limited.  A win at VCU, who is normally very solid at home, would continue to add to what is already a pretty good MTSU profile, and perhaps be their signature win up to this point.  As for VCU, they’ve dropped some games that tournament teams should be expected to win, and although I think they’ll eventually pull themselves out of it they are in a bit of a tailspin.  A win against a good Middle Tennessee team could be what gets them turned back around.  So, it’s this game is between two good teams who both need the win for different reasons.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-UMKC AT WEST VIRGINIA. If we’re highlighting a buy game, it’s because a West Virginia win would be the 800th of Bob Huggins’ career.

-ARIZONA VS TEXAS A&M (Lone Star Shootout, Houston TX).  Both teams are out to impressive starts, and this should be a quality neutral floor match-up between two tournament teams, one of which is a possible protected seed if Arizona can get healthy.

-GEORGETOWN AT SYRACUSE (Old Big East).  This is still a rivalry, and it’s still heated.  It’s not a conference game, but it should feel like one.  The resumes of both teams could use some work, so in addition to getting the bragging rights it’s about getting their NCAA Tournament resumes shored up as well.

-MEMPHIS AT OKLAHOMA.  Both teams are having years that are probably a little better than expected, but both still have a lot of work to do and could really use this win today.

-TEXAS TECH AT RICHMOND.  Texas Tech comes into this game with a very respectable 9-1 record, but this is their first true road game of the year, and although Richmond isn’t great it’s still one of their bigger tests of the year up to this point.

-SOUTH CAROLINA AT SOUTH FLORIDA.  South Carolina is in the rankings and looks to be the better team, but they do come into this looking to rebound from a loss, and it is the first true road game for the Gamecocks. This is the return home game from last season.

-SAINT BONAVENTURE VS NIAGARA (Big Four Classic).  The Bonnies are a modest 6-3 and need to start stringing together wins if they want to play their way into the NCAA Tournament picture.

-NOTRE DAME VS PURDUE (Crossroads Classic, Indianapolis IN).  This is the first game of what should be a really fun doubleheader.  Notre Dame comes into the game with just one loss, and the one game they lost was perhaps their most impressive performance of the year as they led Villanova for most of the game before coming up just short at the end.  Both teams are in the rankings, and both have the potential to end up as protected seeds.  This is the kind of game that protected seeds are able to win.

-EAST TENNESSEE STATE AT MOREHEAD STATE.  East Tennessee State’s at-large hopes are small because their margin for error is small, but if they win out or come close to it then they should get a look.

-ARKANSAS VS TEXAS (Lone Star Shootout, Houston TX).  Texas’s ship hasn’t quite been righted yet.  At just 5-4 they need to start stringing together some wins just to get to the point to where they look like a tournament caliber team again, and the more time goes by without that happening the harder it’s going to be to do.  Arkansas comes in at 8-1, but only one of those wins was even remotely noteworthy, so this is a chance to add some meat to their profile as well.

-OHIO STATE VS UCLA (CBS Sports Classic, Las Vegas NV).  Ohio State really stubbed their toes in losing to Florida Atlantic, and I think that’s kind of soured them to a lot of people, but outside of that one game the team has looked good a lot more often than they’ve looked bad.  They nearly picked up a big win at Virginia, and have a chance to completely turn their season around if they can take down a UCLA team that’s looking like they deserve a #1 seed right now.

-KANSAS STATE VS COLORADO STATE.  Both teams have bloated records, but most of those wins have come against weaker teams.  Both teams need some notable wins if they really want to get the attention of the committee.  Colorado State did win at Colorado, but they need to do more than that, and considering how weak the Mountain West appears to be this is a game they definitely need to have circled.

-NORTHERN COLORADO AT DENVER.  (Front Range).  We at Hoops HD LOVE the Front Range!!

-CHARLOTTE VS FLORIDA (Orange Bowl Classic).  Florida is coming off tough back-to-back losses to Florida State and Duke, and need to rebound against a respectable Charlotte team.

-LOYOLA CHICAGO AT UIC.  These two teams are old Horizon League rivals that continue to play.  Loyola can pick up their first true road win, and improve to 10-2 on the season.  We’ve been excited about Wichita State and Illinois State, but it may be time to start keeping an eye on the Ramblers.

-BUTLER VS INDIANA (Crossroads Classic, Indianapolis IN).  This is the second game of a huge doubleheader.  Both teams are ranked in the top twenty, and both have already picked up notable wins.  If Butler gets this win, you have to start thinking of them as a protected seed (at least for now).  They did lose at Indiana State, but neutral floor wins against Arizona and Indiana would more than offset that.

-DELAWARE AT SETON HALL.  I know this is technically a buy game, but Delaware has enough of a pulse to where it’s worth highlighting.  A win for Seton Hall, who’s coming off a real nice win against South Carolina, will improve them to 9-2.  We talk about Nova, Butler, and Xavier, but Seton Hall has shown that they can be a force in the Big East as well.

-DAYTON VS NORTHWESTERN (United Center).  This is a “neutral” floor game in the United Center up in Chicago, and it’s a good one.  Dayton looked really good against East Tennessee State last week, and can add another good piece to their NCAA Tournament profile if they’re able to knock off a Northwestern team that, for the most part, has looked pretty good this season.  As for Northwestern, they have some feel-good wins, and they’ve looked good in close games against Butler and Notre Dame, but they still need some more meat on their profile and knocking off Dayton today would certainly qualify.

-RICE AT PITTSBURGH.  Both teams come into this game with just two losses.  Pitt looks to be the better team, but Rice is good enough to beat the Panthers if Pitt overlooks them.

-IOWA VS NORTHERN IOWA (Big Four Classic). Both teams have had their ups and downs so far, although Northern Iowa is the more likely of the two to have anything significant to play for when it comes to conference play beginning next month.

-DRAKE VS IOWA STATE (Big Four Classic).  This is the second game of the annual Big Four Classic in Iowa, but there isn’t likely to be anything classic about this.  Iowa State is in the rankings and Drake has just one win this year.

-OKLAHOMA STATE AT WICHITA STATE.  Wichita is perfect at home, 9-2 overall, and knocking on the door of the Top 25, which isn’t at all surprising.  Oklahoma State comes in with a solid 8-2 record, but will really get people’s attention if they can pull the upset in this one.

-DAVIDSON VS KANSAS (Kansas City MO).  It’s a neutral floor game, but it’s a neutral floor game that will very much favor Kansas.  Davidson is 5-3 and really showed they could play against North Carolina, so Kansas can’t just show up and go through the motions, but they’re still contending for a #1 seed whereas Davidson is just contending to land inside the bubble.

-TOWSON AT UMBC.  We highlight this game because it’s a crosstown match-up, and those are always fun, but also to point out that UMBC may be the most improved team in all of college basketball.  They are out to a very impressive 7-2 start with one of those losses coming in overtime at Richmond.

-MARSHALL AT AKRON.  Both teams will have to put together a long string of wins to end up either on or in the bubble, but it isn’t entirely out of the question that they’d be able to, especially for Akron.

-WAKE FOREST AT XAVIER (Skip Prosser Classic).  This is a long running series that was arranged to honor the late Skip Prosser, who coached at both schools.  This year, the game is actually quite important on paper.  Wake comes in at 8-2, and although we haven’t talked about them much, we will definitely need to start talking about them if they pick up this win.  It would, in fact, be their fourth true road win of the season.  Xavier keeps holding serve, but they haven’t always looked as impressive as we think they should, and this is the kind of game they could lose if they fall into a shooting funk.

-NEW MEXICO STATE AT ARIZONA STATE.  A win for New Mexico State, which is very likely, will improve them to 10-2 and be their third true road win of the season.

-CHATTANOOGA AT VANDERBILT.  The Mocs need this win if they want to end up safely inside the bubble, largely because their margin for error is small and this is probably more impressive than any win they can pick up the rest of the way with the exception of their game at East Tennessee State.

-BYU VS ILLINOIS (United Center, Chicago IL).  This is the second game of a double header, and it pairs up two teams that have looked good at times, but still need to approach this game with a sense of urgency because both still have work to do.

-UNLV AT OREGON.  This game should be a mismatch, but Oregon hasn’t really looked the part of being a top team at all this year, so it wouldn’t shock me if UNLV was able to stay with them.

BUY GAMES

-Eastern Kentucky @ Louisville
-Wagner @ Providence
-Charleston Southern @ Georgia
-The Citadel @ Virginia Tech
-Kennesaw State @ UMass
-Manhattan @ Florida State
-Fort Hays State (nondiv1) @ Colorado
-NJIT @ Temple
-Radford @ UNC Wilmington
-Cleveland State @ Ohio U – Technically not a buy game, but practically is
-Fairleigh Dickinson @ Cincinnati
-UMES @ Michigan
-Robert Morris @ Virginia
-Texas Southern @ LSU
-Prairie View A&M @ Utah
-Jackson State @ Baylor
-Cal Poly @ California
-UTVRG @ Houston
-Oral Roberts @ Creighton
-Troy @ USC