News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Sunday, Nov. 22

Posted on November 22, 2015 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

-North Carolina went on the road to Northern Iowa…and lost.  Northern Iowa has a very strong program, but this season’s edition appeared to be in complete rebuilding mode and we didn’t expect much out of them.  The Panthers lost their season opener at home to Colorado State, which is a team that is also rebuilding.  I fully expect the Tarheels to rebound and end up in the top five by the end of the year.  It’s not the first time they’ve lost an early road game to a team you’d expect them to clobber.  I’m not sure what to expect out of Northern Iowa moving forward, though.  To say this is a good win on their profile right now would be a huge understatement.

-Congratulations to Oregon State, who is 4-0 for the first time in fifteen years.  They beat UC Santa Barbara 71-59 yesterday.  And, they’re not the only Pac Twelve team that’s been really bad in recent years that’s off to a start that’s much better than what we’re used to seeing.  USC is now 3-0 after knocking off New Mexico.

-Chattanooga now has road wins at Georgia and at Illinois.  You can’t ignore that.  Most people are probably down on Illinois for losing to North Florida and Chattanooga.  I’m not going to say that I think the Illini are a strong team, but I do think this is more of a case of North Florida and Chattanooga being good than it is Illinois being bad.  Having said that, North Florida had their doors blown off at Louisville today, so it’s hard to argue that they’re a really strong team after that.

-One of the better games of the day was Dayton vs William & Mary, and it’s a shame that the broadcast on the A-10 website was so poor, and as we’re finding out, so unavailable.  People in the Dayton market weren’t able to access it because the game was blacked out, and only available on to a limited number of viewers who had some obscure Ohio Sports Channel.  Fortunately we don’t live in Ohio, and we got to see it.  William & Mary got out to a double digit lead in the first half.  Dayton fought back and their fans were into it, and it looked like they were going to run away with it.  But, W&M regrouped and actually had a chance to win in the final minute.  It’s a win that REALLY could have helped W&M’s profile, especially considering their opportunities to get notable wins are somewhat limited, but it’s not the kind of loss that hurts them at all, and if anything I think it shows some toughness considering they were able to come back on the road after blowing a lead and give themselves a chance to win.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-MIAMI FL VS BUTLER (Puerto Rico Tip Off) (***Spotlight Game***).  In a nutshell, this is a match-up between two potential protected seeds and a chance to get a high quality win on their profile.  Win or lose, I think Miami FL should be in the rankings.  They weren’t a team we were overly excited about in the preseason, but they’ve looked so good every time they’ve played that I could see them being a major player in the ACC and earning a protected seed.  Butler has looked strong as well, but this is by far their toughest test of the year so far.

-VALPARAISO AT OREGON (***Spotlight Game***).  Valpo has looked very impressive this year, and this is their biggest test of the season so far.  Their chances at high quality wins are limited, so this game is a bit pivotal.  If they win it, it will go a long way toward them not needing to win the conference tournament to make the NCAA Tournament.

-GEORGETOWN VS DUKE (2k Classic).  Both Duke and Georgetown got their first big wins of the year in the semifinals.  Georgetown beat Wisconsin and Duke sweat out VCU.  Georgetown is a solid NCAA Tournament team and Duke will likely contend for a #1 seed, so it’s a resume builder for the winner.

-VCU VS WISCONSIN (2k Classic).  Both these teams are still looking for their first big win on the year.  Even though it’s a third place game, the committee won’t view it any differently than any other neutral floor OOC game.

-FLORIDA VS PURDUE (Hall of Fame Tip Off).  Both teams are unbeaten and both beat what appear to be fairly good teams in the semifinals.  This will likely be a resume builder for whoever pulls it off, as well as a momentum builder as the season continues.

-OLD DOMINION VS SAINT JOSEPH’S (Hall of Fame Tip-Off).  Old Dominion could not hit the ocean in their game against Purdue, which led to them losing rather decisively.  Saint Joe’s came into this tournament unbeaten and they actually put up a hell of a fight against Florida despite the loss.  We thought they’d be one of the worst teams in the Atlantic Ten, but they’re proving us wrong.  Even though this game is in the loser’s bracket, the selection committee does not make that differentiation, so it’s still a chance for teams to pick up notable wins away from home.

-TEMPLE VS UTAH (Puerto Rico Tip-Off).  Utah was run out of the building by Miami FL in their last game.  Temple really hung tough against a pretty good Butler team.  Both will look to rebound with a win today.

-AKRON AT VILLANOVA.  This may turn out to be a mismatch, but both teams are coming in unbeaten and Akron is coming off a win at Arkansas.

-TULSA VS INDIANA STATE (Paradise Jam).  Tulsa had a very exciting come from behind win in their first game, and can really put together an impressive body of work for this early in the season if they can win this tournament.  They’d have three wins away from home in addition to a win over Wichita State.

-HOFSTRA VS SOUTH CAROLINA (Paradise Jam).  Hofstra had the somewhat surprising win against Florida State in their first game and can pick up another notable win away from home in this one.  South Carolina comes in unbeaten as well.

-GEORGE MASON VS VIRGINIA (Charleston Classic).  George Mason has two surprising wins (at least to me) in the tournament so far, but I think their luck runs out today as they face a Virginia team that’s been blowing through the field so far.

-OKLAHOMA STATE VS LONG BEACH STATE (Charleston Classic).  It wouldn’t surprise me if both teams faded from relevance as the season continues, but as of now both have just one loss and have the opportunity to build some early momentum with a win in this game.

MINNESOTA VS TEXAS TECH (Puerto Rico Tip-Off).  Both teams have just one loss and can build up some momentum if they can pick up some wins away from home.

-YALE AT SMU.  Yale doesn’t need to worry about landing inside the bubble because there isn’t a conference tournament for them to lose in.  And, I guess for that matter, SMU doesn’t have to worry about it either.  Having said that, Yale is unbeaten and this would be a big win on their profile, which would boost their seed if they end up finishing first in the Ivy.

-HARVARD AT BOSTON COLLEGE.  Harvard hasn’t won yet and BC hasn’t lost yet.  I’m fully expecting both of those things to change today.  It would be Harvard’s eighth straight win over BC if they pull it off.

-ARMY AT GEORGE WASHINGTON.  Both teams are unbeaten, and GW has a big win against Virginia on their profile.

-STANFORD AT SAINT MARY’S.  I’m not expecting either team to be strong in the end, but SMC hasn’t lost yet, and Stanford has just one loss.  This would be a good early season win for the Cardinal to have on their profile

 

BUY GAMES

-Arkansas Pine Bluff @ Cincinnati
-East Tennessee State @ Georgia Tech
-Omaha @ Colorado
-Tennessee Martin @ James Madison
-Southeast Louisiana @ Nebraska
-Northwestern State @ Arizona
-Gardner Webb @ Tennessee

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Under the Radar Game of the Day – November 21 2015: Lafayette at NJIT

Posted on November 21, 2015 by Chad

Under the Radar Game of the Day: Lafayette at NJIT, 4:00 PM Eastern, espn3

For the rest of today’s highlighted action and more, CLICK HERE.

Although Belmont is playing at Evansville today (1:00 PM Eastern, espn3), there are times when the best Under the Radar game has to be pushed aside in favor of an even better story, and today is one of them.  That story, of course, is the team that we here at HOOPS HD adopted last season as our first ever “Team of the People”, the NJIT Highlanders.  NJIT was the nation’s lone independent last year, but had an amazing season, winning at Michigan, defeating Yale at home, and qualifying for the CIT, where they promptly advanced all the way to the semifinals before losing a close game at Northern Arizona.  They rode that great season into an invitation to join the Atlantic Sun, where they have a chance to make their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance this year.

NJIT has started this season off with a flourish, despite falling to Kentucky in their opener (no surprise there), they went and picked up an exciting victory at South Florida and followed that up a couple nights ago by winning their home opener against Boston University.  The team is led by Damon Lynn, but has plenty of options with the likes of Tim Coleman, Ky Howard, Winfield Willis and more.  Today, the Highlanders (who suddenly have one of the wildest student sections around — even if they only started showing up late last year), welcome in another Patriot League opponent, the Lafayette Leopards.  Lafayette represented the Patriot League in the NCAA Tournament last year and has a shot to contend for the league title again this year.  They are off to a 1-1 start, losing at George Washington and defeating St. Peter’s.  They will have a tough test today, however, as we once again expect a raucous crowd at the Fleisher Center.

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Saturday, Nov. 21st

Posted on November 21, 2015 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES

-It was a very eventful afternoon in the Virgin Islands.  First, Tulsa, who was fresh off their big upset win against Wichita State, fell behind by 19 points to Ohio U.  It looked like Ohio, who was unbeaten on the year, was going make a splash on the national stage by picking up a quality win away from home, remaining unbeaten, and getting the chance to play another quality team in the next round.  But, Tulsa came roaring back for a 90-88 win.  The Golden Hurricane remain unbeaten, they’ll face Indiana State today, and if they can manage to win this tournament they’ll probably get quite a bit of attention from the Top 25 voters.

Later in the afternoon, Hofstra upset what we feel is a good Florida State team to remain unbeaten on the year.  We felt there were three really good teams in the Colonial this year, but Hofstra was not one of the three.  They’ll face South Carolina today for a chance to pick up another good early season win away from home.

-Georgetown appears to be getting progressively better.  They started off with a loss to Radford, then nearly upset Maryland, and then actually did win against Wisconsin.  They’ll face Duke on Sunday in the championship game, who got all they could handle from a really good VCU team.

-Ohio State ended up getting more than all they could handle from UT Arlington in what was probably the biggest surprise of the day.  It’s the first time Ohio State has lost an out of conference game to an unranked team in I don’t know how long.  The Buckeyes are young and have a lot of work to do.

-Miami FL had blown past everyone they had played coming into today, and we felt they’d get their first real challenge against Utah in the Puerto Rico Tip Off.  We were wrong.  They totally blew past Utah as well, and will face Butler on Sunday in a very compelling championship game.  I know it’s early and this may not end up meaning a lot, but Miami FL’s win today was the most impressive and decisive win against a highly ranked team so far.

-Last but not least, Xavier was a team I was big on, but that hadn’t looked impressive at all in their first two games against weak teams.  They went into Michigan, played with a lot of intensity, and ended up winning decisively.  The Musketeers really appear to have something this year.  If they play well in the Advocare Classic this week they’ll end up in the rankings very quickly.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-OLD DOMINION VS PURDUE (Hall of Fame Tip Off).  Both teams come in unbeaten, but also untested.  We really like this Old Dominion team, but if they want to solidify themselves as an at-large caliber team it is very important that they do well in this tournament because their chances at quality wins are limited.  Even though the season is just a week old, this game has a very pivotal feel for the Monarchs.

-NORTH FLORIDA AT LOUISVILLE.  This is a buy game, but North Florida won their opener very convincingly against Illinois, so there is reason to think they can test Louisville.  Both teams come into this game unbeaten, and although Louisville may appear to be superior, North Florida has played the tougher schedule up to this point.

-WILLIAM & MARY AT DAYTON.  Both these teams are probably much better than what most realize.  Both have blown through their competition up to this point, including a convincing road win against NC State for William & Mary, and a blowout win against Alabama for Dayton.  This is one of the better games of the day, so it should be fun.

-CHARLESTON AT DAVIDSON.  Both teams come in unbeaten, although Charleston is likely to fall fast.

-BELMONT AT EVANSVILLE.  Belmont is off to an okay start, but they need to pick up wins like this if they want to end up inside the Bubble.  Evansville won their opener and we still think they can be a dark horse.

-NORTHEASTERN AT LIPSCOMB.  Northeastern hasn’t looked that impressive so far, but they haven’t lost yet.

-NORTH CAROLINA AT NORTHERN IOWA.  This is a somewhat unusual road game for the Tarheels, and it’s a huge showcase game for the Panthers.

-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE VS TCU (Cancun Challenge).  Both teams come in at 2-0.  South Dakota State is one of the teams we like to do well in the Summit League, and we’ll get a chance to learn something about them in this tournament.

-FLORIDA VS SAINT JOSEPH’S (Hall of Fame Tipoff).  I keep waiting for Saint Joseph’s to hit the skids and fall apart, but they haven’t lost a game yet and this is a chance to kind of catapult themselves onto the national radar so to speak.  Both teams come in unbeaten.

-CHATTANOOGA AT ILLINOIS.  Chattanooga has one notable win against Georgia already.  If they can pick up this one they’ll walk away with a very impressive early profile.

-NEW MEXICO AT USC.  I don’t expect either team to be in the picture by the end of the year, but as of now both are unbeaten.

OREGON STATE AT UC SANTA BARBARA.  Oregon State is unbeaten and is trying to pick up their second road win.

-PENNSYLVANIA AT WASHINGTON.  Both teams are unbeaten.

-UALR AT SAN DIEGO STATE.  UALR comes in unbeaten, but they haven’t played in a game as challenging as this.  San Diego State has the loss to Utah, but we’re expecting them to have a big year.

-ORAL ROBERTS AT JAMES MADISON.  JMU’s only loss is at West Virginia.  I think they’re good enough to end up on or near the bubble, but they have a very small margin for error and need to take care of business in games like this.

-FLORIDA STATE VS DEPAUL (Paradise Jam).  Florida State was upset by Hofstra in the first game, but still has a good team and plays the kind of schedule that will allow them to get back on track.

 

BUY GAMES

-UMass Lowell @ Notre Dame
-Emporia State (nondiv1) @ Wichita State
-UNC Asheville @ Texas A&M
-Elon @ Syracuse
-Brown @ Providence
-Cleveland State @ Rhode Island
-Furman @ UConn
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ Gonzaga

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Friday, Nov 20th

Posted on November 20, 2015 by David Griggs

Here is a rundown of all of today’s action, and a quick recap of yesterday…

 

NEWS AND NOTES

-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE

-For the MattSarzSports.com viewing guide, which is the best on the internet – CLICK HERE

-For Warren Nolan’s men’s basketball page, which is the best of its kind on the internet – CLICK HERE

-Stony Brook led Vandy for most of regulation, but couldn’t hold on at the end.  Vandy ended up forcing overtime, then winning in overtime.

-Boise State, who I still think is good despite the fact that they lost their opener, made Arizona Sweat for about 35 minutes, but Arizona ended up pulling away.  They certainly didn’t win decisively, but they weren’t sweating in the final minutes.

-Temple pulled out a win against Minnesota in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, and George Mason picked up their first win of the year by beating Ole Miss in the Charleston Classic.  I wouldn’t go so far to say that I was surprised by either result, but those certainly weren’t the teams I would have picked to win those two games.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-WISCONSIN VS GEORGETOWN (2k Classic).  Georgetown opened with a rather surprising loss to Radford, but followed that up with a gutty performance against at Maryland in what was one of the better games of the young season so far.  I like this Georgetown team, and even though they may start off in a little bit of a hole, I think they’re still going to have a good season.  Wiscy also began the season with a surprising loss of their own, so the story line of this game is that it’s two good teams looking to climb out of a little bit of an early hole.

-DUKE VS VCU (2k Classic).  Duke is coming off a loss to Kentucky on a neutral floor that will do absolutely nothing to hurt their chances of getting a #1 seed.  This semifinal field has four really good teams in it and if Duke can win both games they’re right back to being in fantastic shape.  VCU beat a pretty good Radford team rather decisively, so they may be capable of making Duke sweat a little bit.

-MIAMI FL VS UTAH (Puerto Rico Tip-Off).  Both teams come into this game 3-0, and although not much attention has been paid to Miami FL, they have looked very impressive in all of their games so far.  This is a neutral floor game between two teams that will likely be wearing white in the round of 64, so it’s a chance for us to learn about both of them.

-TEMPLE VS BUTLER (Puerto Rico Tip-Off).  As mentioned earlier, Temple was not the team I was expecting to see in this game.  Now that they’re here, I don’t think they’ll put up much of a fight against a Butler team who has rolled over everyone they’ve faced so far.

-GEORGE MASON VS OKLAHOMA STATE (Charleston Classic).  Oklahoma State can improve to 4-0, and you can’t ask for a better start than that.

-LONG BEACH STATE VS VIRGINIA (Charleston Classic).  Long Beach is in rebuilding mode, but they’ve looked pretty good so far with notable wins against BYU and Seton Hall.  They are likely overmatched today, but they may be better than we expected.  If they pull off a stunner and win today, then suddenly we’re talking about them being a team that can land inside the bubble.

-OHIO VS TULSA (Paradise Jam).  Both teams are 2-0 and Tulsa is coming off a big home win against Wichita State.  If they can follow that up by picking up some notable neutral floor wins in this tournament it will really look good on their profile come March.

-HOFSTRA VS FLORIDA STATE (Paradise Jam).  Both teams come in unbeaten.  Hofstra is one of several teams in their conference that returned several key players from last season and appears to be improved.  For teams like them these tournaments are huge opportunities to build their NCAA resumes.

-DEPAUL VS SOUTH CAROLINA (Paradise Jam).  South Carolina is 2-0 and can give their season a big springboard if they can do well in this tournament.

-FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL VS JAMES MADISON (Men Against Breast Cancer Classic).  JMU is coming off a loss to West Virginia and needs to rebound.

-NORTHEASTERN VS FLORIDA ATLATNIC (Men Against Breast Cancer Classic).  I like this Northeastern Team.  This wouldn’t be a great win by any means, but it is a win away from home.

-SIENA VS RADFORD (2k Classic).  See Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day Here

-DELAWARE AT IONA.  Iona is our preseason favorite to win the MAAC, but they’ve looked pitiful in both games so far.  They’ll have to play a lot better if they want to beat what is a pretty good Delaware team.

-MURRAY STATE AT GEORGIA.  This is a buy game, but Murray State did win their first game despite being in rebuilding mode, and Georgia needs to rebound from their opening loss to Chattanooga, so we’ll put it with the highlighted games.

-PENN STATE AT DUQUESNE.  We’re not expecting big things out of either team, but as of now both are unbeaten.

-COLUMBIA AT NORTHWESTERN.  Northwestern can improve to 3-0 if they can knock off one of the favorites to win the Ivy League.

-XAVIER AT MICHIGAN.  Both teams are unbeaten, but untested.  Michigan has played just one div1 opponent, and Xavier didn’t exactly blow out a weak Miami OH or Missouri team.  But, it’s a great early season test and a chance to pick up an early quality win for whoever comes out on top.

-EAST CAROLINA AT CALIFORNIA.  This is likely a mismatch, but both come into this game 2-0.

 

BUY GAMES

-Arkansas Pine Bluff @ Michigan State
-East Tennessee State @ Villanova.  Both teams unbeaten.
-UT Arlington @ Ohio State
-Stetson @ West Virginia
-Rider @ Maryland
-South Dakota @ Kansas State
-Wright State @ Kentucky
-McNeese State @ Oklahoma
-Jackson State @ Baylor
-Detroit @ Pittsburgh
-Portland @ Colorado
-Georgia Southern @ Auburn
-Savannah State @ Oregon.  Both teams unbeaten

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Under the Radar Games of the Day – Friday, November 20: Siena vs Radford and Prairie View at Bryant

Posted on November 20, 2015 by Chad

Under the Radar Games of the Day: 2K Sports Subregional/Visitor’s Bracket Tournament in Smithfield, RI

Siena vs Radford, 4:00 PM Eastern, necfrontrow.com
Prairie View at Bryant, 7:00 PM Eastern, necfrontrow.com

The premiere televised games tonight will be played at Madison Square Garden in New York City as Wisconsin battles Georgetown in the first semifinal of the 2K Sports Classic followed by Duke and VCU matching up in the second (third place and championship games will be played Sunday afternoon).  However, four other teams also participated in this event, each playing a pair of road games at the four power conference schools before advancing to their own four team bracketed event at Bryant’s campus in Smithfield, Rhode Island today and tomorrow.  The semifinals of this Subregional or Visitor’s Bracket of the 2K Sports Classic begin at 4:30 PM Eastern today as Siena takes on Radford, with the winner battling the winner of Prairie View and Bryant tomorrow (and the two losers meeting in a third place game).

The biggest storyline heading into this four team event is Radford, as the Highlanders were able to come up with an amazing double overtime win at Georgetown in one of the preliminary games of this event.  Although they were unable to make it 2-0 by defeating VCU, just a split in those two games was notable enough to have this team as one of our key teams to keep an eye on throughout the season out of the Big South.  Their semifinal opponent, Siena, did go 0-2 against Duke and Wisconsin, but still has enough talent that they could prove to be a sleeper pick in the MAAC.  Just how good this year’s Saints team is may be shown in their games today and tomorrow, as winning this event would definitely get them the attention of the UTR crew here at HOOPS HD.

Bryant, the host school for this event, enters their semifinal matchup tonight at 1-1, having lost to Duke and beaten a non-D1 school (their second non-bracketed game of this event, at Georgetown, is scheduled for November 28).  The Bulldogs are led by Dan Garvin down low, but will need to get scoring from their backcourt if they want to contend in the Northeast Conference this year.  Tonight they battle Prairie View A&M.  The Panthers are off to an 0-2 start, including a loss to VCU (they play at Wisconsin Wednesday).  However, do not sleep on the SWAC this season, as the conference already has picked up 8 non-conference wins and enters today’s game as (amazingly enough) the #10 rated conference in the country by RPI (albeit RPI is fairly meaningless this early in the season), and has an overall win percentage better than 10 other leagues, including the West Coast Conference!

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Highlighted Games: Thursday, Nov 19th

Posted on November 19, 2015 by David Griggs

Below is a run down of all of today’s notable college hoops action, including all the exempt tournaments that are getting underway.

 

VERY IMPORTANT LINKS

-For our latest Under the Radar Video Podcast – CLICK HERE

-For John Stalica’s THROWBACK THURSDAY Write Up on the 1979 NCAA Tournament – CLICK HERE

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

 

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-ALCORN STATE AT GRAND CANYON.  The Team of the People will always be at or near the top of the list!!!  The Lopes are unbeaten on the year so far and we fully expect them to stay that way.  LET THE LOPES PLAY!!  #LopesWaiver

-OKLAHOMA STATE V TOWSON (Charleston Classic).  This game appears to be a mismatch, and Okie State should have no trouble improving to 3-0.

-MIAMI FL VS MISSISSIPPI STATE (Charleston Classic).  Miami blew out what we thought was a good Louisiana Lafayette team earlier this week.  This tournament is a chance to pick up notable wins away from home.

-LONG BEACH STATE VS SETON HALL (Charleston Classic) Long Beach has a notable win over BYU and if they can pick up another road win it’ll be another good thing to have on their profile. Seton Hall isn’t expected to do much this year, but they do come in to this game 2-0.

-VIRGINIA VS BRADLEY (Charleston Classic).  If Virginia can win this tournament, which they certainly can, they’ll add three neutral floor wins against notable teams to their profile, which will offset a loss at GW that really wasn’t a bad loss.

-BUTLER VS MISSOURI STATE (Puerto Rico Tip Off).  Butler hasn’t really been tested yet, and likely won’t be today, but they will be throughout this tournament.

-UTAH VS TEXAS TECH (Puerto Rico Tip Off).  Neither team has a loss yet, but this appears to be a big mismatch in Utah’s favor.

-OLE MISS VS GEORGE MASON (Puerto Rico Tip Off).  A win for Ole Miss gets them to 3-0 and positions them to pick up some notable wins away from home in the later rounds.

-TEMPLE VS MINNESOTA (Puerto Rico Tip Off).  Minnesota can improve to 3-0 with a win, like everyone else, be set up for some notable neutral floor wins in the later rounds.

-GREEN BAY AT GEORGIA TECH (Preseason NIT).  I’m not that big on Georgia Tech this year, but they do come in 2-0 and will likely improve to 3-0 with a win tonight.

-MARSHALL AT TENNESSEE.  Tennessee lost a close one on the road to Georgia Tech a few nights back and is looking to rebound.

-RUTGERS AT SAINT JOHN’S.  This is an old Big East rivalry between two teams that we think will be completely and total awful by the end of the year, but both enter today with perfect records.

-CREIGHTON AT INDIANA.  I’m not that big on Creighton this year, but they do enter this game 2-0 and can make a huge ripple on the national stage if they can knock off Indiana on the road.  That’s much easier said than done, though.

-GEORGE WASHINGTON AT SOUTH FLORIDA.  GW is already 2-0 with a home win over Virginia.  Picking up a road win will continue to add to an already impressive early profile.

-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT ILLINOIS STATE (Cancun Challenge.  SEE CHAD SHERWOOD’S UTR GAME OF THE DAY WRITE UP

-STONY BROOK AT VANDERBILT.  This is a buy game, but we’ll put it with the highlighted games because Stony Brook is one of the better teams in the America East.

-BOISE STATE AT ARIZONA.  Boise started the season off with a loss to Montana, and has a small margin for error if they want to land inside the bubble.  Having said that, a win in a game like this would widen that margin.

-IOWA AT MARQUETTE.  Iowa comes in unbeaten, whereas Marquette is 1-1 with their only win coming in overtime against IUPUI.  Even though it’s early, this game seems to have a pivotal feel to it, especially for Marquette.

-SAN FRANCISCO AT FRESNO STATE.  Both teams come in unbeaten, and we think Fresno is a potential dark horse.

-SMU AT STANFORD.  Both teams are unbeaten.  We weren’t that big on Stanford coming into the year, but a win in a game like this would certainly make us sit up and take notice.

 

BUY GAMES (brought to you by Hostess)

-Washington Adventist (nondiv1) @ William & Mary
-Texas Southern @ Clemson
-Grambling @ Memphis
-TX A&M Corpus Christi @ Texas A&M
-Trinity Christian (nondiv1) @ Valparaiso
-South Alabama @ LSU – part of Legends Classic
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ Washington

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