Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES

-Despite being just five days into the season, we’ve already seen five games that matched up two top fifteen teams.  I normally count the number of top fifteen OOC match ups we see in an entire season, and it is usually between ten and fifteen.  Just five days in, we are already halfway there.  All of those games have been incredibly exciting with the exception of one…

-Kentucky is good.  Kentucky is very good.  We should all be very afraid.  They absolutely curb-stomped Michigan State last night in what is the single most impressive performance of the season up to this point.  Now, having said that, Michigan State, while 0-2, has not suffered a damaging loss, so realistically they aren’t any worse off on paper than teams that have played and won two home buy games.  Home buy game wins go to the bottom of a team’s profile and are completely ignored.  Just ask anyone who’s been on a selection committee.  At the same time, losses away from home to highly ranked teams don’t really ding you either.  So, although it feels bad to be 0-2, they’re still in no worse shape than the vast majority of 2-0 teams out there.

-Monmouth, who just missed the NCAA Tournament a year ago and who many feel could be in the discussion again this year, lost a thriller at the buzzer to South Carolina.  That’s not good for Monmouth.  They have limited chances this year, and a road win against a South Carolina team who’s typically pretty good at home would have gone a long way.

-Kansas ended up with a big win against Duke.  If you’re Duke, you’re really not too concerned, though, especially when you consider they’re not at full strength.  As far as Kansas goes, it was still a high quality win away from home.

-Okay, Baylor is very good.  Every year there are teams that start off outside the rankings and then sort of explode onto the scene within the first couple of weeks.  Xavier, and even Monmouth, fell into that category last year.  This year, that team is Baylor.

-Whatever Georgetown did for the first 38 minutes of yesterday’s game against Maryland, they should keep doing for the rest of the year!!  Whatever they did in the final two minutes of yesterday’s game against Maryland, THEY SHOULD NEVER DO AGAIN!!  Maryland gets a nice road win against a rival, so this one is gonna feel good both on and off paper.  Georgetown, who is coming off a disappointing season, could have really used the huge momentum surge this game would have given them.

-Creighton picked up what had to be one of their biggest feel good wins in a couple years when they knocked off Wisconsin yesterday.  If you’re Wiscy, you’re really not sweating this loss.  Creighton won’t lose too many at home, and Wiscy will certainly have other chances at big statement wins.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-NORTHWESTERN AT BUTLER (Gavitt Tip-Off).  These games have been pretty excited so far.  This is a match up between two teams that have yet to lose, but who early on are away from the national spotlight and consciousness.  Early momentum can lead to continued success, and the winning team should gain some momentum.

-MIAMI FL AT NORTH FLORIDA.  Interesting road game (sort of) for the Miami Hurricanes as they go on the road to take on one of the ASun frontrunners.

-UT ARLINGTON AT FLORIDA GULF COAST.  Chad Sherwood’s Under the Radar Game of the Day.  CLICK HERE

-FORT WAYNE AT ILLINOIS STATE.  Illinois State is coming off a somewhat surprising loss to Murray State, at least if you think they’re as good as we think they’re going to be.  They cannot afford a second slip up against what should be a pretty good Fort Wayne team out of the Summit League.

-TULSA AT WICHITA STATE.  This isn’t a buy game.  In fact Tulsa picked up a huge win against Wichita last year, which had they not done they would have missed the NCAA Tournament.  But, this is this year, and the final score may look very much like as if it were a buy game.

-UC IRVINIE AT CALIFORNIA.  This is a buy game, but it’s a game that has a reasonable chance of being competitive, so we’ll go ahead and highlight it.

-MOREHEAD STATE AT MARSHALL.  Both teams unbeaten.

-IDAHO AT NORTHERN ILLINOIS.  Both teams unbeaten.

BUY GAMES

-Umass Lowell @ Indiana
-Seattle @ Notre Dame
-Hiwassee (nondiv1) @ Chattanooga
-Brown @ Rhode Island
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ Minnesota
-New Orleans @ Oklahoma State
-Milwaukee @ Memphis
-Angelo State (nondiv1) @ Houston
-Lamar @ Oregon State
-Fort Lewis (nondiv1) @ Colorado State
-Bristol (nondiv1) @ Utah State
-Prairie View A&M @ Saint Mary’s
-San Diego Christian (nondiv1) @ San Diego State

NEWS AND NOTES

CLICK HERE for this week’s Hoops HD Report, where we review the opening weekend, as well as go through all of the upcoming in season tournaments

For Chad Sherwood’s Under The Radar Game of the Day between Murray State and Middle Tennessee – CLICK HERE

-An important game from yesterday that I forgot to mention in the lineup (I blame Chad for not catching my mistake) was Princeton at BYU.  We really like Princeton and think they’re going to be hovering around the #12 line, which is very close to being in range of being able to make the NCAA Tournament without the automatic bid.  For the Ivy League, that takes on added importance now that there is a conference tournament, so whereas in previous years you kind of shrug off the loss because all that matters as far as making The Dance is a first place finish, now the game feels differently because they need to play their way into a position to be able to get in if they don’t win the conference tournament.  BYU pretty much led the entire way and picked up a nice win that should go a long ways toward helping them out.

-Villanova picked up a hugely impressive road win at Purdue.  What was just as impressive as the win itself was how they won.  Every time it looked like Purdue was building up momentum and that they would get control of the game, Nova had an answer.  It was a win against a very good team in a hostile environment.  You don’t see may of those.

-UConn has played two home buy games.  UConn has lost them both.  Now would be a good time to panic.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-DAYTON AT ALABAMA.  Both teams come into this game with a 1-0 record.  This is an important early season game for both teams.  A win gives them some early momentum and looks good on their NCAA resume.

-OREGON AT BAYLOR.  Oregon is high in the rankings, and if they want to contend for a #1 seed then this is the kind of game that they need to win.  Baylor is one of my dark horse teams, and a win in this game will help put them on the map this year.

-MONMOUTH AT SOUTH CAROLINA.  Neither team has a loss yet.  Monmouth is arguably better this year than last year’s team that barely missed the tournament, but their chances are limited and they really need to pick up this win if they want to get the committee’s attention.

-MARYLAND AT GEORGETOWN (Gavitt Tip-Off Series).  The Gavitt Games continue!  This is a huge rivalry game that was renewed last year, and both teams put on a show in what was one of the greatest November atmospheres that I have ever seen.  This is for bragging rights, early momentum, and a quality win on the resume.

-KENTUCKY VS MICHIGAN STATE (Champions Classic).  Michigan State is coming off a very exciting and hard fought loss to Arizona and is looking to rebound.  Even if the Spartans drop this one and fall to 0-2 they’re still in good shape because neither loss will hurt them.  Both teams have a lot to gain from a win, but not much to lose from a loss.

-SIENA AT GEORGE WASHINGTON.  We really like this Siena team and believe they’re good enough to possibly end up on the bubble and in the NCAA Tournament even if they fail to win the conference tournament.  If that’s true, then this is the kind of road game that they are expected to win.

-DELAWARE AT LA SALLE.  Delaware can improve to 3-0 if they can pick up a road win aginst a La Salle team that has a ways to go, but is still improved from last year.

-MURRAY STATE AT MIDDLE TENNESSEE.  As noted earlier, this is Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day. Both teams come into this at 1-0, and although they’re a long shot for the NCAA Tournament without the automatic bid, both appear to be good enough to make quite a bit of noise.  Murray won their season opener against a good Illinois State team, and if they can add a road win to that they’ll be off to a great start.

-LONG BEACH STATE AT NORTH CAROLINA.  Long Beach should be a major player in the Big West, but they’re coming off a blowout loss to Wichita State and will likely be swinging way over their heads again tonight.

-WISCONSIN AT CREIGHTON (Gavitt Tip-Off Series).  Wisconsin ended last season with a ton of momentum and are well deserving of their top ten ranking.  Creighton is in the rankings as well after two seasons of not making the NCAA Tournament (although they did advance to the final 8 of the NIT).  A win at home could give them a ton of momentum, as well as validate that they are deserving of the ranking.

-KANSAS VS DUKE (Champions Classic).  Kansas is coming off an overtime thriller against Indiana and now faces the nation’s top ranked team.  A win would be a huge way for them to bounce back, but a loss won’t really hurt them despite the fact that they’ll be 0-2  It’s a 30-plus game season, and it will get easier for them after this.  Wins away from home against highly ranked teams are not easy to come by, and they look great on an NCAA Tournament profile, especially if you’re contending for a #1 seed.  That’s what’s at stake tonight.

-VCU AT LIBERTY.  This is sort of a reverse buy game since VCU is on the road.  Both teams won their opener, and it’s a chance for the Rams to pick up a winnable road game.

-MIAMI OH AT WRIGHT STATE.  We at HoopsHD love fixture rivalry games, and this would fall under the Mythical Miami Valley Conference. The Raiders are coming off of a nice win at Southern Illinois, and Mother Miami plays their first D-I opponent after beating D-3 Muskingum College in their opener.

-PORTLAND AT SAN JOSE STATE.  Both teams 1-0

-WEBER STATE AT PEPPERDINE.  Both teams 1-0

BUY GAMES

-Iona @ Florida State
-Holy Cross @ Syracuse
-Saint Francis Brooklyn @ Virginia
-High Point @ Virginia
-North Texas @ Texas Tech.  Both teams 1-0
-Southern Miss @ LSU.  Both teams 1-0
-Omaha @ Kansas State
-McKendree (Non D-I) @ Illinois
-CSU Bakersfield @ Arizona.  Both teams 1-0
-Cal State Northridge @ Stanford