Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES

Happy Feast Week!  Thanksgiving is traditionally synonymous with football, but there are actually more college basketball games this week, and probably more important games that end up impacting how the season shapes out, then any other week of the season.

We will see a lot of exempt tournaments this week.  The one thing I would impress upon everything is that third place games and fifth place games are not weighed any less than if those two teams were playing in a regular OOC neutral floor game.  Games are games.  If a team picks up a quality win in a fifth place game, it’s the same as doing it as if it were on a neutral site in a non-tournament game.

CLICK HERE for our latest and admittedly way too early Bracket Projections

CLICK HERE for Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-WOFFORD VS VERMONT (Gulf Coast Showcase).  A win gets Vermont out to an impressive and attention grabbing 4-1 start.

-TENNESSEE VS WISCONSIN (Maui Invitational).  We think Wisconsin is a top ten caliber team, but up to this point their only wins have been home buy wins.  Doing well in this tournament will give their profile some high quality wins.

-LOYOLA CHICAGO VS WASHINGTON STATE (Paradise Jam – 5th place game).  Both teams come into this game with just one loss, and have a chance to add another neutral floor win to their profiles.

-GREEN BAY VS UMKC.  We didn’t expect much out of UMKC this year, but they come into this game with just one loss, and they’re beginning to grab our attention.

-GEORGETOWN VS OREGON (Maui Invitational).  Oregon is a Final Four caliber team, but as of now their best win is at home against Valpo.  They can really add to their profile if they do well in this tournament.  They face a Georgetown team that sucks appears to be spiraling out of control.

-KENT STATE VS SOUTH DAKOTA (Gulf Coast Showcase).  Both teams are unbeaten, and Kent State is a potential bubble crasher that we have our eyes on.

-ILLINOIS STATE AT TCU.  We like Illinois State this year despite their early loss to Murray State.  They have a chance to pick up what may be turn out to be a decent road win against a 3-0 TCU team.

-SAINT JOSEPH’S VS. NC STATE (Paradise Jam – 3rd place game).  Both teams are coming off losses and looking to add a possible notable neutral floor win to their profiles.

-BELMONT VS FLORIDA (game in Tampa).  Belmont is always tough, but we have some questions about them this year.  If they can pull off a win in this game, our questions will probably be answered.

-GEORGE WASHINGTON VS GEORGIA (Hall of Fame Classic, Kansas City).  After a roller coaster of an offseason, GW is out to a 3-0 start and they have a chance to pick up a notable neutral floor win today against a pretty good Georgia team.  The winner will most likely face Kansas, and the loser will most likely face UAB.

-NOTRE DAME VS COLORADO (Legends Classic).  Both teams are unbeaten and both are fighting for a place on the college basketball map.  Neither team has done much other than win buy games up to this point.

-MONTANA STATE VS RICE (Hardwood Showcase, Houston).  Both teams come in with decent records, so this one is worth keeping an eye on.

-CENTRAL MICHIGAN VS PEPPERDINE (Lone Star Showcase).  Neither team has any notable wins yet, but both come in at 3-0.

-OLE MISS VS CREIGHTON (Paradise Jam – Championship).  Both teams are unbeaten, and Creighton has managed to rack up some pretty good wins already.  Ole Miss is still flying low on the radar, but a win in this one will put them on the national scene.

-OKLAHOMA STATE VS UCONN (Maui Invitational).  Oklahoma State hasn’t knocked off any heavyweights yet, but they do come into this unbeaten.  UConn has played three lightweights, lost to two of them, and barely beaten the other one.  They need some wins in this tournament just to get things turned around.

-TEXAS VS NORTHWESTERN (Legends Classic).  Texas is unbeaten so far, but has only played buy games.  This is their first real test against a Northwestern team who’s only loss was a close one at Butler

-SAINT LOUIS VS BYU (MGM Grand Main Event).  BYU looks to remain unbeaten.

-UAB VS KANSAS (Hall of Fame Classic, Kansas City).  UAB looked pretty good in their last game despite losing a key player for the season to an injury, but they look to be way overmatched in this one.

-UC DAVIS VS SACRAMENTO STATE. Both Sacramento-area teams are playing each other in the inaugural collegiate basketball game in Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center. UC-Davis picked up 2 wins in the Cable Car Classic plus a non-DI win; the Hornets have a pair of losses against Big 12 powers Colorado and Nebraska along with a non-DI win of their own.

-CALIFORNIA VS SAN DIEGO STATE.  This is a good OOC game that both teams could use since neither has done anything other than win buy games yet. This is the second game of a doubleheader that is being played in Sacramento’s brand new Golden 1 Center.

-GEORGE MASON VS HOUSTON (Gulf Coast Showcase). Kind of an oddity that the only two teams from major conferences face each other in the opening round. Then again, it’s easy to see why the puppet thought this was a buy game – George Mason appears to be mismatched against a Houston team that should be favored to win this tournament.

-NORTH CAROLINA VS CHAMINADE (Non D-I – Maui Invitational).  This will likely be the biggest mismatch of the tournament, and perhaps of the entire week.

-VALPARAISO VS ALABAMA (MGM Grand Main Event).  Valpo is good, but they really need a good win on their profile and this is one of the few chances they have to get one.  It’s a winnable game against a decent Alabama team that they really need to win.

BUY GAMES 

-Western Carolina @ Ohio State
-Winthrop @ Illinois.  Watch out for Winthrop, who is one of the bettter teams in the Big South
-Norfolk State @ Butler (nonbracketed game – Las Vegas Invitational)
-Bucknell @ Vanderbilt (nonbracketed game – Las Vegas Invitational)
-Northern Colorado @ Arizona (nonbracketed game – Las Vegas Invitational)