A rundown of a busy Saturday in college basketball
SPOTLIGHT GAMES
-UNC WILMINGTON AT SAINT BONAVENTURE. The reason we’re spotlighting this is because both teams are good, both already have some good wins on their profile, both are fighting for a spot in the NCAA Tournament, but most people are unaware of it. It’s a game between two good teams with limited opportunities at statement wins, but who both have an opportunity today.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-TEMPLE VS DEPAUL (HoopHall Miami Invitational). Temple has been both hot and cold. Their good wins are good enough to indicate their a tournament team, but some of their losses indicate that they still have work to do. This game falls under the category of a “Should Win.” If you’re a tournament team you should win this kind of game. If DePaul wins, Chad might take Temple off of his Survival Board.
-ARIZONA AT MISSOURI. This will likely be a mismatch. It would be Arizona’s first true road win.
-VILLANOVA VS NOTRE DAME (Never Forget Tribute – Newark, NJ). Both teams are unbeaten, both teams are ranked, Nova is looking like a #1 seed, and Notre Dame is looking like they could be a protected seed. This is a great OOC game that will count as a quality win for whoever pulls it off, and it would be the second really good road win for Nova.
-UMASS AT PROVIDENCE. Both teams come into this with only two losses, which is a surprise in regards to both of them. Providence has looked good this year, and is coming off a feelgood win against rival Rhode Island. It’s possible that they’re both for real, and this is the kind of game that could help them.
-UAB AT MEMPHIS. Memphis has a long way to go, but they do seem to be improved and can improve to 7-2 on the year with a win over their old conference (sort of) rivals.
-RHODE ISLAND AT HOUSTON. You get the sense that Rhody really needs this. Houston has a ways to go before we start thinking of them as a solid tournament team, but they’re program is much improved and is continuing to improve, so this is a big game for them as well, but Rhody needs some statement wins on their profile to solidify that they are, without question, a tournament team.
-WISCONSIN AT MARQUETTE. This is an in-state rivalry where Wisconsin is looking for their first true road win, and Marquette is looking for a solid statement win. This one is important both on and off paper.
-EAST TENNESSEE STATE AT DAYTON. This is a buy game, but ETSU comes into this with just one loss, and if they pick up a win in this one you have to start thinking that it’s possible for them to end up either on or in the bubble if they keep it up. Dayton, on the other hand, needs some meat on their profile, so this is a rather big game for them. It’s a buy game, but the Flyers are in trouble if they think this will be easy.
-OHIO U AT IONA. UTR Game of the Day candidate?? Ohio is really good and has just one loss, but this is both the kind of game they need to win, and the kind of game they cannot lose.
-LA SALLE VS GEORGETOWN (HoopHall Miami Invitational). Both teams have a lot of work to do in order to get in the tournament picture, and neither one of them has done much of it yet. Both have potential, but both should also come into this with a huge sense of urgency.
-PENN STATE VS PITTSBURGH (Never Forget Tribute – Newark, NJ). Pitt hasn’t done anything great, but they’re still potentially a solid tournament team. This is another “Should Win” game. If they’re a tournament team, they need to prove they can win away from home.
-CENTRAL MICHIGAN AT ILLINOIS. Central Michigan comes into this at 8-2, and Illinois is a semi-respectable 7-3. CMU hasn’t quite been tested like they will today, though. Now, having said that, the Illini better not overlook them.
-DENVER AT AIR FORCE (Front Range). Neither team looks to be a tournament caliber team. We highlight this simply because we love the Front Range!!!
-NEBRASKA AT KANSAS. Kansas is a potential #1 seed, and Nebraska is looking like they’re an NIT team at best, and may have to extend themselves just to get that.
-TENNESSEE STATE AT NC STATE. It’s a buy game, but Tennessee State comes in with just one loss, and although it was a disappointing and very poor showing at Vanderbilt, they’ve still looked good a lot more than they’ve looked bad, including a very good win at Middle Tennessee. NC State is in trouble if they overlook them.
-WICHITA STATE VS OKLAHOMA (Oklahoma City). This is a big game for Wichita State because their opportunities at statement wins will be limited once conference play starts. Oklahoma is off to a pretty good 6-2 start and has looked better than expected so far given the massive rebuilding job they’re having to undergo.
-NORTHERN COLORADO AT COLORADO STATE (Front Range). It’s not a buy game! It’s a Front Range game! We love the Front Range, and Colorado State looks like they’re a tournament caliber team. Perhaps the one and only Mountain West team that’ll end up in a posiition to make the field with or without an automatic bid.
-CINCINNATI AT BUTLER. Last year’s game was a thriller. This year both teams are into the rankings, Cincinnati already has a big win at Iowa State, and Butler has some pretty big wins as well. This is a shot at an OOC quality win for both teams.
-OKLAHOMA STATE AT TULSA. Oklahoma State comes into this at 6-2 and is looking for their first true road win. This is a “Should Win” game for the Cowboys.
-DUKE AT UNLV. This is a road game for Duke, who may be the best team in the country, against UNLV, who will be lucky to make the NIT.
-UTAH AT XAVIER. Xavier is coming off a loss at Colorado and is looking to rebound against a Utah team that’s in rebuilding mode. This is also Utah’s first game away from home this season.
-UCONN AT OHIO STATE. Ohio State won their first six games and then put up a tremendous effort in a close loss at Virginia last week, so it was a bit of a surprise when they lost to Florida Atlantic the other night. UConn has been disappointing this year, although they are coming off of an emotional (certainly not artistic) win against their old friend Syracuse. Can their luck change as they face an OSU team looking to rebound from a somewhat damaging loss?
-RUTGERS AT STONY BROOK. Steve Pikiell, in his first year at Rutgers, returns to the Stony Brook team he was so successful with a year ago. On paper, Rutgers can pick up their second true road win and improve to 9-1 overall.
-ARIZONA STATE AT SAN DIEGO STATE. Both teams have been rather disappointing (especially San Diego State) and need to string together some wins just to raise themselves back up to the level of relevance.
-SOUTH ALABAMA AT STETSON. A win for South Alabama gets them to a very respectable 7-2 and gives them their second true road win.
-ARMY AT MONMOUTH. Monmouth will have a limited number of decent wins on their profile, so they pretty much need to come close to winning out. The loss to Army was one of the reasons the Hawks were ultimately relegated to the NIT last year, so revenge will definitely be on their minds.
-UMBC AT RICHMOND. UMBC is much improved. They still have a long way to go before they’re even considered a conference frontrunner, but they come into this game at 7 -1 and with a lot of momentum.
-WASHINGTON STATE AT KANSAS STATE. A win for K State, which they shouldn’t have too much trouble doing, gets them to 9-1.
-MICHIGAN AT UCLA. Both Michigan’s and UCLA’s schedules have tested them, and today both will be tested again. UCLA is coming off a huge road win at Kentucky, and with a #2 ranking they currently have a profile that resembles what a #1 seed would have.
-AKRON AT GONZAGA. This is a buy game, but Akron is one of the better teams in the MAC, and they come into this at 7-2, and although winning this is a long shot, don’t be surprised if they’re able to at least be competitive against the Zags.
-VALPARAISO AT MISSOURI STATE. Valpo lost badly at Kentucky earlier this week, but that isn’t the kind of loss that will hurt them. Missouri State is unbeaten at home, but this is still the kind of game Valpo needs to be able to win if they want to demonstrate to the committee that they belong in the NCAA Tournament without the automatic bid.
-VCU AT OLD DOMINION. This is an old rivalry game between two teams who have looked good at times this season, but have also looked bad at other times. Both need some consistency, and both need decent wins on their profile. This isn’t just a rivalry game, it’s an important game with a pivotal feel when it comes to what it means on paper.
-LOUISIANA TECH AT LOUISIANA LAFAYETTE. A bit of an in-state rivalry as ULL tries to improve to an impressive 8-2 on the year.
-NEW MEXICO AT NEW MEXICO STATE. This is the second leg of this rivalry series. Both come into it with respectable records and will be fighting for bragging rights.
-COLORADO AT BYU. Colorado is coming off a big home win against Xavier, and is trying to pick up their second true road win of the year, which would give them a really good early season profile.
BUY GAMES
-Saint Peter’s @ Maryland
-Cleveland State @ Purdue
-Boston U @ Syracuse
-Tennessee Tech @ Michigan State
-Texas Southern @ Louisville
-VMI @ West Virginia
-Houston Baptist @ Indiana
-Mercer @ Clemson
-Wofford @ TCU
-UMES @ UCF
-North Florida @ Arkansas
-Long Beach State @ Texas
-South Carolina State @ Texas A&M
-Stephen F Austin @ Rice
-UC Davis @ California
-David Griggs @ The English Language
Throwback Thursday: The 1955 and 1956 San Francisco (USF) Dons
For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Yale and Sacred Heart (along with today’s news and notes) – CLICK HERE
While we at HoopsHD normally do not look favorably on games against non-DI opponents, an exception needs to be made for USF earlier this week. They beat San Francisco State 91-59 in a game that was held at the ancient Kezar Pavilion at Golden Gate Park. Kezar Pavilion was home to the Dons until 1958 and was home to back-to-back national champions for the 1954-55 and 1955-56 seasons. The game against San Francisco State was the first time in 58 years that USF would play at Kezar!
Led by coach Phil Woolpert and future NBA Hall-of-Famers Bill Russell and KC Jones, the Dons were the class of what was the California Basketball Association at that time. This was a conference that included USF, Saint Mary’s, Pacific, Santa Clara and San Jose State. With only 5 teams in the conference, each school would play each other 3 times in the season, and USF swept through the regular season 12-0 in the 1954-55 season.
Their only blemish that year was at UCLA – they lost against the Bruins on December 11, 1954 but would avenge that game a week later. After sweeping 3 games in a round-robin event at Oklahoma City against Wichita State, Oklahoma City and George Washington, the Dons began their ascent in the polls and would be #1 in the country by February. When the NCAA Tournament came around in March, the Dons defeated West Texas A&M, Utah and Oregon State (in a close 1-point win) to advance to the Final Four in Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium. In the Final Four, USF defeated Colorado 62-50 and denied La Salle (77-63) a shot at their 2nd straight title in the championship game. Utah, Oregon State, Colorado and La Salle were all nationally ranked at the time the Dons defeated them in the tournament (as were UCLA, Wichita State and GW during the regular season).
While USF finished 28-1 in the 1954-55 season, they would finish a perfect 29-0 the following season. The California Basketball Association added Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine and Fresno State to their conference, but none of the other 7 teams could challenge the Dons’ supremacy in the league. DePaul, UCLA, Holy Cross and Wichita State were also noteworthy teams that USF beat during the regular season. USF would begin the year ranked #1 in the polls and would finish the year ranked #1 from start to finish.
As for the 1956 NCAA Tournament, UCLA and Utah offered little resistance in what was called the “Far West” regional (played in Corvallis, Oregon) that year to USF – Temple advanced from the East, Iowa from the Midwest and SMU won the “West” regional (if you consider Lawrence, Kansas to be “West”). The Dons defeated SMU 86-68 and Iowa 83-71 in Evanston, Illinois for their 2nd straight title. In all, USF won 59 straight games (55 against D-I opponents) before finally losing a game in the 1956-57 season at Illinois. That season, the Dons finished 3rd in the Final 4 with a loss to eventual runner-up Kansas and a win against Michigan State.