For today’s Under the Radar Game of the Day and Other Highlighted Games, CLICK HERE.
NOTES ON THE BRACKET
Just to reiterate, this is a CHECKPOINT based on CURRENT MERIT, not a prediction of how I think things will look in March, or for that matter it’s not even a reflection of how good I think the teams actually are. I look at what teams have done so far, I measure how much I think they have done up to this point will help them in March, and I rank them/seed them on that basis. If a team that I believe is a solid top ten team has done nothing up to this point other than win home buy games, then they’re going to be seeded further down the bracket.
-Baylor’s profile is awesome. They’ve beaten Louisville on a neutral floor, and have other notable wins against the likes of Xavier, Oregon, VCU, and Michigan State. That’s pretty damn good.
-Indiana stays on the #1 line despite the loss at Fort Wayne. In the grand scheme of things, that loss was a setback, but it was far less of a setback than it was beating Kansas and North Carolina was a boost. I know the UNC win came at home, but it’s still a huge win.
-Winning on the road against other #1 or #2 caliber seeds is the kind of thing that makes a team a #1 or #2 caliber seed themselves. Welcome to the #1 line UCLA!!
-Xavier, Duke, Virginia, Wisconsin, Oregon, Purdue, and Iowa State are all among teams that I think will end up seeded much better than where they currently are. They’re capable of picking up the kinds of wins they need to earn good seeds. They really just haven’t done it yet, and if they have, they don’t have quite as many as the teams in front of them.
-***IMPORTANT*** Chad made a mistake when he was editing this, and…well…I’ll spare you the details, but it was definitely not my fault! TCU is in the bracket twice. Oklahoma should be the other team that was left out. At least I think it was them. I’ll have to go back and check my notes. I was moving the bracket around in order to make the First Four work, and when I moved TCU from one spot to another I forgot to delete them from the spot where they actually were. But, it’s still not my fault This is a professional site!! We’re supposed to have people here who take the blame whenever there is a screwup. That’s what our interns are for!!!
OTHERS CONSIDERED: Oklahoma, Clemson, Colorado State, Syracuse, California, NC State, Nevada, Providence, Colorado, UT Arlington, Wake Forest, Davidson, VCU, Texas Tech, Ole Miss, San Diego State, Georgia, LSU, UMass, Houston, Georgia State, Rutgers
COMMENTS FROM CHAD
David considered Rutgers! David considered Rutgers! David considered Rutgers! I don;t care what else is in this bracket because: DAVID CONSIDERED RUTGERS!!!!
But on a serious note . . . DAVID CONSIDERED RUTGERS!!!!!!!
Ok, now seriously on a serious note:
– Duke on the 5 line with only 1 loss, and that loss coming to Kansas makes no sense to me. North Carolina got a 2 seed with a fairly equivalent loss (at Indiana). I think the Blue Devils should at least be a 3 seed.
– If this is based on merit, then I would like an explanation of what Oregon is doing on the 6 line. They may belong in a 6/11 game, but as the 11 seed. This team has been a huge disappointment and has not proven themselves on the court yet.
– I would like a similar explanation for Pittsburgh. The Panthers have not looked good and lost to Duquesne for the first time since color TV was invented (or maybe longer?). They also lost to an SMU team that has shown me absolutely nothing so far this year.
– Arizona on the 10 line I agree with if this is based on merit. But can someone please tell me what Oregon and Pittsburgh have on their resumes that Arizona does not?
– I know David is high on this TCU team, but having them in twice (West Region and Midwest Region) is a bit too much. They are undefeated though, so I cannot argue with one of their inclusions.
– Syracuse belongs in this field. I will just assume David meant to give them one of TCU’s spots.
– It is a minor point, but why is Iona in this bracket? They lost yesterday and are just not that good of a team this year. Monmouth should clearly be the MAAC representative.
– Finally, and most importantly: DAVID CONSIDERED RUTGERS!!!!!
COMMENTS FROM JOHN
– I believe the puppet is not a master when it comes to baiting people, but putting Cincinnati ahead of teams like Duke, Xavier and Virginia is insane with a loss against Rhode Island.
– Umm, never mind, they actually won a close game at Iowa State for a change. I’m going to start looking at cyanide pills.
– Now, I will attempt to add to Chad’s question and ask what Pitt is doing higher than a team like Virginia Tech. If the puppet is so wowed by road wins, why don’t they get more credit for winning at Michigan? I know USC got points for winning at Texas A&M, but exactly what puts them head and shoulders above Virginia Tech? As for Oregon, he must really be “high” on the win over Valpo.
– My initial thought on seeing UCF on the 10 line was to ask where the puppet is getting his medicinal marijuana. After looking at what they’ve been able to accomplish, now I have to ask not why they’re in the field, but why he would have Dayton above the Knights. I’m very underwhelmed at how the Atlantic 10 as a whole has looked this year and pleasantly surprised how teams in the American (read: Cincinnati, Temple and Central Florida) have fared.
– I also feel bad for Oklahoma State (not that I seriously expected them to be in this field) when you consider the manner in how they lost at Maryland over the weekend. One of their players tried to rebound a missed Maryland shot and inadvertently tipped it in the Terps’ bucket. The Cowboys ended up losing that game by a single point.
– Last and sure as hell not least, props to the puppet for looking out for the Team of the People on the 13 line!
News, Notes, and Highlighted Games for Tuesday, Dec 6th
Below is a rundown of what should be an exciting night of hoops!
NEWS AND NOTES
CLICK HERE for the most recent HOOPS HD REPORT PODCAST, where we look back at a busy week in college basketball, run through the ten major conferences, and examine the genius of David Griggs’s most recent bracket projections
-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day between Marshall and Chattanooga, which is a big one – CLICK HERE
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-NEW HAMPSHIRE AT AMERICAN. THE TEAM OF THE PEOPLE!!! Your team!! EVERYONE’S TEAM!! UNH is back in action tonight as they try to pick up their third road win and improve to 6-3 on the year. #GoDancingOrDie
-HOUSTON AT ARKANSAS. Both teams come into this game at 6-1, but we really don’t know if either of them are any good yet. Both teams are going through a rebuilding phase that seems to be going well, but chances are neither are quite at the end of it just yet.
-PURDUE VS ARIZONA STATE (Jimmy V Classic). Purdue comes into this game having looked good, but who’s profile is still missing a lot of pieces (as are most teams at this stage). Picking up this win away from home against a somewhat formidible 5-3 Arizona State team should help. To date their best win is against Auburn.
-EAST CAROLINA AT VIRGINIA. East Carolina comes into this game at a very quiet 7-2. Chances are they are way overmatched, but if ECU were to pull this off, they’d go from a very quiet 7-2 to a very noisy 8-2 and suddenly be a national story.
-CHARLOTTE AT WAKE FOREST. Both teams have very respectable 6-2 records and although I’m not ready to declare them tournament caliber teams just yet, they are both off to a good start and tonight should be a fun in-state match-up.
-VILLANOVA VS LA SALLE (Big Five). Villanova has been blowing through the Big Five so far. La Salle appears to be much improved this year at 4-2. That being said, Nova will likely continue to blow through the Big Five, and La Salle will still be much improved this year, but will be 4-3.
-OLD DOMINION AT RHODE ISLAND. After two straight losses, Rhody desperately needs to rebound, pick up a win, and get their season turned back around. Tonight is no gimme game. Old Dominion has just two losses on the year, and one of those was in overtime against Louisville. In fact, if they can pick up this road win you have to start looking at the case Old Dominion is making for themselves.
-SAINT BONAVENTURE AT HOFSTRA. Both teams have a lot of work to do in order to continue building their resumes, but a win for Saint Bona gets them to 6-2 with their first true road win of the season against a Hofstra team that’s typically very tough to beat at home.
-CALIFORNIA VS PRINCETON (Pearl Harbor Classic). Cal is 6-1, but they’ve pretty much just won home buy games. This event is a chance for them to add some meat to their profile by picking up a few notable wins away from home. I still think Princeton is capable of being dangerous, but they certainly haven’t always shown it this season.
-FRESNO STATE AT MARQUETTE. Both teams have work to do, but both have potential. Fresno State comes in at 5-2 and is looking for their third true road win of the season, and this would certainly be a quality road win to pick up, which is important because the rest of the Mountain West is somewhat lacking in the quality department right now.
-FLORIDA VS DUKE (Jimmy V Classic). This is a great match-up between a Florida team that’s really looking for a defining quality win, and a Duke team by all accounts is a protected seed caliber team.
-TEXAS AT MICHIGAN. Both of these these teams have demonstrated potential, but both also have a lot of work to do. Now, both teams have a lot of time and opportunities to get that work done, so the loser of this game is far from buried, but the winner of this game will have a nice head start on getting all that work done.
-FORT WAYNE AT NOTRE DAME. Fort Wayne already has one signature win this season. If they take down the Irish at Notre Dame, then you have to start thinking of them as an NCAA Tournament caliber team and the type of team that can get an at-large bid if they fail to win their conference tournament.
-HAWAI’I VS SETON HALL (Pearl Harbor Classic). Seton Hall is off to a fair start, but they still have a lot of work to do and they need to pick up at least one win out in Hawai’i.
BUY GAMES
-Youngstown State @ Michigan State
-Florida Atlantic @ Ohio State
-Central Connecticut @ Rutgers
-Southern Mississippi @ Florida State
-South Carolina State @ Miami FL
-Saint Joseph’s Indiana (nondiv1) @ Dayton
-Brown @ Providence
-IUPUI @ Illinois
-NJIT @ Minnesota
-UMKC @ Kansas
-Prairie View A&M @ Kansas State
-Saint Louis @ Wichita State – (perhaps not technically a buy game, but it practically is)
-Arkansas Fort Smith (nondiv1) @ Colorado State
-UC Irvine @ Arizona
-San Francisco State (nondiv1) @ San Francisco