Under the Radar Game of the Day – Monday, December 7: Belmont at Lipscomb

Posted on December 7, 2015 by Chad

Under the Radar Game of the Day: Belmont at Lipscomb, 7:30 PM Eastern, espn3

The Battle of the Boulevard.  When leaving Belmont University’s campus in Nashville, make a left onto Belmont Boulevard and head south.  Less than three miles down the “Boulevard”, on your left hand side, you will reach Lipscomb University.  There are very few Division I colleges located closer to one another than these two long-time rivals, and tonight, the teams renew their rivalry once again, in Lipscomb’s Allen Arena.  The two teams have been playing since both were NAIA schools, with the first game dating back to December 11, 1953 (a 72-53 Lipscomb victory).  The most famous games in the series were a 124-105 Lipscomb win in 1990, in a game played at Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gymnasium and in 2006, when Belmont pulled out a thrilling overtime win, 74-69, in a matchup in the Atlantic Sun conference tournament championship game.  Since Belmont moved to the Ohio Valley Conference, the two teams have met twice almost every year.  This is the second of their two games this season — Belmont won the first one last week by a score of 105-89.

Belmont is 5-4 on the season so far, almost disappointing for a team that was picked preseason to win the Ohio Valley Conference.  However, none of their losses have been bad ones by any means (at Arizona State, at Evansville, at BYU and at Valparaiso).  Their top win (other than in round 1 of this season’s Battle) was at Marquette to start the season.  Despite a record just barely over .500, Rick Byrd’s squad has looked good enough to run through the OVC, where their biggest competition will probably come from Murray State, a team that lost a lot off of last season’s conference regular season championship squad.

Lipscomb enter tonight’s game at 3-7, with only two of those wins coming over Division I competition.  Despite the Bisons’ struggles so far this season, there have been some bright spots, including the recent play of Josh Williams.  Williams has scored 17, 21, 20 and 13 points his last four times out and is starting to emerge as one of the team’s top scoring threats.  He will be looked upon, along with his teammates, to help lead the Bisons to victory tonight.  And despite the fact that, on paper at least, Belmont appears to be the stronger team this season, never count out the underdog home team in a rivalry as heated as this one is.  We fully expect a tough competitive game that could come right down to the wire.

 

 

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Sunday, Dec 6th

Posted on December 6, 2015 by David Griggs

A rundown of today’s college hoops action

NEWS AND NOTES

For Chad Sherwood’s Under the Radar Game of the Day – CLICK HERE

-On Friday, Monmouth fell to Canisius in their conference opener.  Losses are far more damaging for teams that play in Under the Radar conferences because virtually all of them come to sub-NIT caliber teams, and they won’t have the opportunities to offset those with bigger wins down the road.

-The more I see of Louisville, the more impressed I am.  Despite losing the game at Michigan State, they showed they could play with a top team on their floor.  Yesterday they absolutely obliterated Grand Canyon.  The fact that they won wasn’t surprising, but the fact that they beat them by close to 50pts was.

-UT Arlington added another win of note to their profile with their decisive win over UTEP.  UTEP is far from an at-large caliber team, but they did have a good record and are generally very tough to beat on the road.

-Georgetown and Syracuse renewed their rivalry, and Georgetown absolutely clobbered them.  As we discussed, the Hoya’s early season record was somewhat misleading because other than the head scratcher against Radford in their season opener, they’d all been close losses to really good teams.  I think we’ll see the Hoyas in the rankings before things are all done.

-Arizona and Gonzaga played in another thriller.  In every game Gonzaga has lost, they opened up what appeared to be a comfortable lead early in the game, but then just couldn’t hold on.  Many of us thought they were a Final Four caliber team coming in to the year.  They could still end up there because all of their losses have been close games to good teams that they had mounted leads against before blowing it, but it looks like they’ll need to make some adjustments.

-The new Bracket Projections should be posted either tonight or tomorrow morning.  Believe it or not, we’re to a point to where most teams have played seven or eight games.  It is at this point in the football season when the selection committee begins releasing their weekly polls.  And, as you may recall, LSU was ranked #2 in that first poll.  So, while we’re getting more and more results and data to analyze, our weekly brackets are still to be looked at as checkpoints and not forecasts.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-VCU VS FLORIDA STATE (Atlanta, GA).  Both of these teams appear to be tournament caliber teams, but they could also use some big wins on their profile.  This would be the biggest win for either team up to this point.

-MONMOUTH AT NIAGARA.  Monmouth’s profile is still good enough, but they need to rebound from their opening loss.  If they fail to do so their NCAA resume will take a major hit.

-COLORADO AT COLORADO STATE (Front Range).  Both of these teams have good records, and although they have a smattering of decent wins, neither of them have any really strong wins yet.   A win in a rivalry game like this would look good on paper as well as give them a huge momentum boost off paper.

-SAN DIEGO STATE VS SAN DIEGO.  PLAY BALL!!!  This game will be played at Petco Park.  It’s unfortunate that the storyline isn’t slightly more compelling.  San Diego is just 2-5, so on paper a loss would hurt San Diego State more than a win would help.

-DAVIDSON AT NORTH CAROLINA.  Davidson is unbeaten, and we believe they are a good team, but as of now they haven’t even played a decent team, let along a really good one.  We should learn something about them today when we see how competitive they’re able to be in this game.

-UC IRVINE AT SAINT MARY’S.  Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day.  CLICK HERE

-VANDERBILT AT BAYLOR.  Both teams are in the rankings, and both will contend for protected seeds.  This will be a high quality OOC win for whoever pulls it off.  For Vandy, it’s their first true road game, so we finally get to see what they can do against a good team on their floor.

-LONG BEACH STATE AT UCLA.  UCLA is coming off a huge win against top ranked Kentucky.  Long Beach State isn’t great, but they’re good enough to beat anyone who overlooks them.

-CAL STATE FULLERTON AT WASHINGTON.  Fullerton hasn’t lost since their season opener and has won three true road games, but this is going to be their toughest test of the season.  Washington isn’t a great team, but they’re tough at home and are better than the teams Fullerton has been playing.

 

BUY/OTHER GAMES

-Central Arkansas @ Pittsburgh
-Appalachian State vs Hofstra – This game is the second of a doubleheader (along with St Francis-Brooklyn vs St John’s) being played at Madison Square Garden today.
-Wofford @ Clemson
-Portland State @ Washington State
-Morgan State @ Cincinnati

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Under the Radar Game of the Day – Sunday, December 6: UC-Irvine at St Mary’s

Posted on December 6, 2015 by Chad

Under the Radar Game of the Day: UC-Irvine at St. Mary’s, 7:00 PM Eastern, thew.tv

The UTR Game of the Day heads out to California today for a matchup between the team we are picking to win the Big West championship, UC-Irvine, and the only undefeated team in the West Coast Conference, St. Mary’s.  The UCI Anteaters enter today’s game with a record of 6-2, including a nice road win at Central Florida.  They had been a sleeper pick to make noise in the Wooden Legacy last week, but faltered in the quarterfinals against Boise State and, after easily beating Boston College, lost again in the Fifth Place Game to Evansville.  Of course, when you talk UC-Irvine, you have to talk about the seven and a half foot tall beast in the middle, Mamadou Ndiaye.  Ndiaye scored 19 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in the team’s last game, against Pacific, and is fully capable of posting numbers like that every time he takes the court.

The St. Mary’s Gaels have very quietly gone undefeated on the young season so far, sitting at 5-0.  Perhaps one of the key reasons for that is the fact that they have yet to lave the friendly confines of McKeon Pavillion in Moraga.  They do hold a solid win over Stanford, although we are not expecting much from the Cardinal this season.  Today’s game may prove to be their toughest challenge of the season so far, and with a trip to Cal being their only non-conference road test, one of their toughest of the season before conference play starts (though keep an eye on their final game of the season coming on March 1 when they host the Grand Canyon Antelopes).  The Gaels have a balanced scoring attack, having had five or more players score in double figures three times already this season.  If they can spread things out and negate Ndiaye’s inside presence on defense tonight, stretching the record to 6-0 could happen — and will get us to pay them a lot more attention moving forward.

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Saturday, Dec 5th

Posted on December 5, 2015 by David Griggs

It’s a very busy Saturday in college hoops.  Below is a rundown of all of today’s action.

For Chad Sherwood’s Under the Radar Game of the Day – CLICK HERE

 

NEWS AND NOTES

-Kentucky fell at UCLA earlier this week, which means we’ll likely see Michigan State at #1 on Monday, assuming the Spartans can get by Binghamton.  It must be good to be a Spartan.  Their football team is also eyeing a playoff spot, and their basketball team is poised to go #1 as well.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-GRAND CANYON AT LOUISVILLE (***Spotlight Game***).  The Team of the People is visiting Louisville for what is their biggest game of the season so far!!  Louisville isn’t just good.  They’re very good, despite only being ranked in the 20s.  They are coming off a loss at Michigan State, but they stayed with one of the toughest teams in the country on their floor, and led for most of the game.  If Grand Canyon wins this, which isn’t likely, it would be a program defining moment for them.  And, it would jack up the #LopesWaiver movement!!

-SYRACUSE AT GEORGETOWN (***Spotlight Game***).  One of the signature rivalries of the classic Big East days is back!!  It’s still heated.  It’s still great.  It’s not quite the same now that it’s an OOC game, but it’s still good to see these teams get together.  Georgetown has looked good, but they’ve come up short in most of their games against tough competition.  A win in a rivalry game like this could give them a ton of momentum, as well as boos their paper.  Syracuse has already won a lot of big games, and this could be another one.  In fact, it’s been since forever ago that Syracuse had this impressive of a resume this early in the season.  We’re used to seeing them beat up on cupcakes.

-INDIANA STATE AT BUTLER.  Indiana State is decent, but Butler is really good.  They can improve to 6-1 with a win.

-SETON HALL AT RUTGERS.  This is highlighted only to say that I’m glad they kept this rivalry going.  Seton Hall can improve to 6-2 with a win, which isn’t too terribly awful.

-TEMPLE AT WISCONSIN.  Wisconsin got a big win this past week at Syracuse, which is the kind of win that can turn a team’s season around, but they still have a lot of work to do.

-CREIGHTON AT LOYOLA CHICAGO.  I’m still not that big on the Blue Jays, but this would be a good road win for them and get them to a pretty respectable 6-2 on the year.

-WILLIAM & MARY AT VIRGINIA.  We like this W&M team a lot, and feel they are good enough to land on the bubble, or even inside the bubble.  Having said that, I don’t think they’re good enough to take down a team that’s good enough to earn a #1 seed on their floor.  But, they’ve got nothing to lose and it’s a great test for them.

-NEW MEXICO AT PURDUE.  Purdue is really strong this year and just picked up an impressive win at Pitt.  New Mexico is 5-1 and hasn’t looked bad, but they’re probably in over their heads in this one.

-CALIFORNIA AT WYOMING.  Cal’s lack of depth was obvious in their two losses.  Depth will be an issue again today playing at such a high altitude against a Wyoming team that’s not great, but that is rather tough to beat at home.

-NORTHEASTERN AT DETROIT.   A win for Northeastern will be their third true road win of the season, and get them to 7-1 overall.

-WEBER STATE AT BYU.  This is an in-state match up that BYU should be able to win.  We haven’t written them off completely yet, but they were just crushed by Utah and clearly have a lot of work to do if they want the committee to consider them.

-ARIZONA AT GONZAGA.  These two played in a classic early season game last year that ended up being a huge win for Arizona.  It seems as though these two always put on a show when they play.  I hope the series comes back soon.  Both are probable protected seeds, so it’s a quality win for whoever pulls it off.

-OLE MISS AT UMASS.  I’m still not big on UMass, but there is no ignoring that they just have one loss, and a win against a fairly decent Ole Miss team will make us sit up and take notice….at least for now.

-AIR FORCE AT DENVER (Front Range).  We love the Front Range!!!  Neither team is expected to be anywhere close to the bubble come March, but as of now both come in at a very respectable 5-2.

-CENTRAL CONNECTICUT AT FORDHAM.  Yes, we ARE highlighting this game!!  Two reasons: 1) A win for Fordham gets them to an unbelievable 6-1, which by Fordham standards is amazing.  2) Central Connecticut is a Centenary Award candidate.

-ORAL ROBERTS AT TULSA.  A crosstown rivalry between two teams who have looked pretty good this year.  Both come in at 5-2, and Tulsa has wins against Wichita State and at Oklahoma State.

-SOUTH FLORIDA AT SOUTH CAROLINA.  A win for South Carolina keeps them perfect on the year. This is also a historical game in that this will be the first time that both coaches are Hispanic-American; click here for a preview of the game with Frank Martin.

-NEVADA AT OREGON STATE.  Oregon State has just one loss, and can keep their early season momentum going with a win over a Nevada team that’s been pretty respectable so far this year.

-GEORGIA TECH AT TULANE.  A win for GA Tech gets them to a respectable 6-2.

-NORTHERN IOWA AT RICHMOND.  Richmond is not an easy place to play, and if Northern Iowa can win there, we need to start looking at them as an NCAA Tournament caliber team, and not just a team that won a single big game at home.  They’ve won five straight since losing their opener to Colorado State.

-PROVIDENCE AT RHODE ISLAND.  The temperature of this rivalry is much hotter than those outside the area probably realize.  It’s a shame that Rhody is without their best player for the year.  Providence is off to an incredible start with some big wins already, and is playing like they may end up as a protected seed.

-MOREHEAD STATE AT INDIANA.  This is a buy game, but Morehead State has just one loss and Indiana has been so disappointing on defense that you have to at least ask yourself if Morehead is capable of winning this game.

-LITTLE ROCK AT IDAHO.  A win for Little Rock keeps them unbeaten and on our radar.  How can they not be??  They have wins over San Diego State and Tulsa so far.

-UT ARLINGTON AT UTEP.  Arlington has won some pretty impressive games so far, and nearly beat Texas in their last outing.  UTEP has a bloated record, but hasn’t been tested that much either.  This is an important game between two teams that are off to great starts, but need big wins to build their profile.

-EVANSVILLE AT MURRAY STATE.  Evansville has just one loss and will be tested against a Murray State team that’s typically tough at home, and who’s 3-0 at home this season.  For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day article – CLICK HERE

-WICHITA STATE AT SAINT LOUIS.  Wichita State has so much catching up to do that if they don’t start doing it soon, they’ll be so far behind that they’re unable to catch up.

-TEXAS A&M AT ARIZONA STATE.  I’ve been quite impressed with TAMU this year, and although they’ll be challenged by Arizona State and the Curtain of Distraction, it’s a challenge that I do think they’re up to.

 

BUY GAMES

-Binghamton @ Michigan State
-Bucknell @ NC State
-Kennesaw State @ West Virginia
-IPFW @ Utah
-North Florida @ Dayton
-Houston Baptist @ Michigan
-Maine @ Marquette
-SIUE @ Northwestern
-UMKC @ Iowa
-Western Carolina @ Illinois
-South Dakota @ Minnesota
-Harvard @ Kansas
-Missouri State @ Oklahoma State
-Charlotte @ Miami FL – not technically a buy game, but it practically is.
-VMI @ Ohio State.  Ohio State ought not lose a THIRD buy game.
-Buffalo @ Duke
-SEMO @ Memphis
-Western Kentucky @ Xavier

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Under the Radar Game of the Day – Saturday, December 5: Evansville at Murray State

Posted on December 5, 2015 by Chad

Under the Radar Game of the Day: Evansville at Murray State, 8:30 PM, ovcdigitalnetwork.com

The UTR Game of the Day heads to Murray, Kentucky tonight as the Ohio Valley Conference’s Murray State Racers welcome in the Missouri Valley Conference’s Evansville Aces.  The Aces enter tonight’s contest with a record of 6-1, including having picked up two victories in the Wooden Legacy last week.  They also already hold a solid home court win over Murray State’s conference foe, Belmont.  The Aces are led by DJ Balentine, one of the most exciting mid-major players in the nation.  He scored 26 points while dishing our 8 assist in a win earlier this week over Alabama State.  However, Balentine is not alone on this team, as Egidijus Mockevicius has scored a double-double in all but two games so far this season (and one of those two was an 8 point, 21 rebound effort against Santa Clara).  If the Aces’ two stars continue to play the way they have so far this season, Murray State will be in trouble tonight.

Murray State made headlines last season when the Racers won 25 games in a row en route to a 27-5 regular season.  The 5th of those losses, however, came by one point at the hands of Belmont in the OVC Tournament championship game and sent the Racers to the NIT.  This season, the roles of the OVC’s top two teams may be reversed, and Murray could be the team trying to play spoiler to Belmont.  The Racers have been solid so far this year, with a record of 5-3 that includes a win over a pretty good Middle Tennessee State team and a berth in the finals of the Gulf Coast Showcase (where they lost to Weber State).  The Racers have also handed Alabama A&M their only loss of the season, which is notable as the Bulldogs have been surprisingly strong out of the SWAC so far this year.  Wayne Langston has registered a double-double in each of his last two games for the Racers, and he will need another solid effort, together with help from his teammates, in order for Murray to score the victory tonight.

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#LopesWaiver – Why the NCAA should let the Lopes Play!

Posted on December 4, 2015 by Chad

#LopesWaiver — A repost of the case for the Lopes being eligible for the NCAA Tournament

(For David Griggs’ Puppet Ramblings and links to all our latest content, CLICK HERE.)

Two years ago, the Grand Canyon Antelopes began their transition up to the Division I level.  Under NCAA rules, a team must undergo four transitional years before they can become a full-fledged member of D1.  In terms of men’s basketball, this means that a team is ineligible during those four seasons to compete in the NCAA Tournament (or the NIT Tournament for that matter).  Thus, during these four transitional years, a team’s only chance for postseason play must come from one of the other tournaments (CBI, CIT or the new Vegas 16).  The GCU Lopes have done exactly that, qualifying for the CIT in each of their first two seasons.  This year, they were our preseason selection to win the WAC regular season championship — but because they are still in transition, a return to the CIT (which is a tournament that we do have a ton of affection for here at HOOPS HD) is their cap again.  Unless, of course, we can get the rules changed.  That is what #LopesWaiver is all about.

The rules, as they are set right now, say the GCU cannot be in the NCAA or NIT this year or next, even if they win the WAC regular season title.  The WAC has determined that because GCU is ineligible, they will not be permitted to play in the WAC Tournament (though notably the NCAA does allow conferences to have ineligible teams play in conference tournaments and set rules for who receives the automatic bid if the ineligible teams wins).  We here at HOOPS HD find this rule fundamentally unfair.  A team that wins its league title should be given a shot at the automatic bid (and if they fall in the conference tournament, should get the automatic NIT bid).  Therefore, the Rule change is simple:

“Transitional teams that play a full Division I schedule, while ineligible for at-large consideration, will be allowed to participate in the NCAA or NIT Tournament if they automatically qualify for same as their conference’s representative.”

Let’s be clear, we are not asking for a special rule for Grand Canyon alone.  Abilene Christian, Incarnate Word, Mass-Lowell and Northern Kentucky are all transitional teams this year and should be given the same opportunity.  During a team’s first year of the four year transition, it is not required to play a full Division I schedule.  If it doesn’t, then it should clearly not be eligible for the national championship tournament.  However, if a team plays a full schedule against D1 competition and proves that it is the best team in its conference (as determined by the conference rules in giving out its automatic bid), they should be given a chance!

The NCAA has set forth its core values.  This is the list:

“The Association – through its member institutions, conferences and national office staff – shares a belief in and commitment to:

  • The collegiate model of athletics in which students participate as an avocation, balancing their academic, social and athletics experiences.
  • The highest levels of integrity and sportsmanship.
  • The pursuit of excellence in both academics and athletics.
  • The supporting role that intercollegiate athletics plays in the higher education mission and in enhancing the sense of community and strengthening the identity of member institutions.
  • An inclusive culture that fosters equitable participation for student-athletes and career opportunities for coaches and administrators from diverse backgrounds.
  • Respect for institutional autonomy and philosophical differences.
  • Presidential leadership of intercollegiate athletics at the campus, conference and national levels.”

[Source: http://www.ncaa.org/about/ncaa-core-values]

The NCAA believes in participation and the highest levels of sportmanship.  It believes in excellence in athletics.  And it believes in an inclusive culture that fosters equitable participation.  How is telling a group of student athletes that has competed and won at the highest levels of its conference that they are not allowed to be one of 68 teams with a chance to compete for the national championship supporting these values?  How is it sportsmanlike?  How does it promote excellence?  How is it inclusive and equitable??????  If you want the answer to that, just ask former Nebraska-Omaha track star Sami Spenner.  You can read her story here.

LET THE LOPES PLAY!  Tweet @ncaa! Call them!  Write them! The Rules are unfair to a great group of kids that have a legitimate chance this season to play well enough to earn what may be a potentially once-in-a-lifetime dream trip to the Big Dance, but because the NCAA is not promoting participation, sportsmanship, excellence and inclusive/equitable rules, the only way that Coach Majerele’s squad will be at a Tournament game is if they buy tickets.  This is not fair!

#LopesWaiver

Let the Lopes Dance!!!!

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