Under the Radar Game of the Day – Friday, February 6, 2015: Charleston Southern at Radford

Posted on February 6, 2015 by Chad

For our latest Bracket Rundown podcast, CLICK HERE.

Charleston Southern at Radford, 7:00 PM Eastern, free streaming at bigsouthsports.com

The UTR Game of the Day heads to Radford, Virginia tonight as two of the seven teams that are within one game of each other at the top of the Big South standings go head to had.  Radford, currently tied with High Point for first place after winning at HPU earlier this week, enters the game at 8-3 in conference and 17-7 overall.  The Highlanders have now won eight straight games are appear to be on the verge of making a move to try to pull away in the conference, especially with a season sweep of conference co-leader High Point already in hand.

Tonight, Radford welcomes in the Charleston Southern Buccaneers.  CSU is 7-4 in conference and 13-9 overall.  Most notably, they have a road win at Ole Miss to start the season back in November.  With Coastal Carolina, Gardner-Webb, UNC-Asheville and Winthrop all part of the logjam at the top of the conference standings as well, the Buccaneers, especially with a win tonight, may have just a good a chance as anyone else in the league to win the regular season title.  And while the conference tournament will be hosted by Coastal Carolina, with seven teams at the top, finishing in first will give the regular season winner a chance to play the 8 or 9 seed in the conference tournament quarterfinals, in what may be the only Big South quarterfinal that is not a “pick ’em”.  For Charleston Southern to get the win they need tonight to stay near the top of the standings, they will need a big game from Saah Nimley, who has scored in double digits every Big South game this season.  If, on the other hand, Radford is able to contain him, the Buccaneers may find themselves stuck in the chase pack the rest of the year.

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Bracket Rundown – February 5

Posted on February 6, 2015 by Chad

Chad and David are joined by John tonight as they hash out a 1-68 Seed List based on results through early Thursday evening.  The final bracket will be available later today on the Bracket Projections tab, above.  Note that due to late results Thursday night, Cincinnati was moved up to #36, Texas A&M was dropped to #37 and Stanford was dropped to #40.

 

And for those that prefer audio only, check out this:

 

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Under the Radar Game of the Day – Thursday, February 5, 2015: UC-Davis at UC-Irvine

Posted on February 5, 2015 by Chad

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

UC-Davis at UC-Irvine, 10:00 PM Eastern, espn3

The UTR Game of the Day heads to Irvine, California tonight for a first place battle in the Big West Conference.  Entering play tonight, UC-Davis, UC-Irvine and Long Beach State are locked in a three way tie for first place at 6-1 in league play.  With Long Beach scheduled to host UC-Riverside tonight, this game may decide which team remains tied with the 49ers at the top of the standings and which one will have to start playing catch up.

The UC-Davis Aggies are currently 16-4 on the season, though have done so against the #290 Strength of Schedule in the country (as opposed to Long Beach’s #38 SOS).  Regardless of their SOS this has already been the most successful season in Davis’ short D1 history and they can build on that with a road victory tonight.  Given that they already have a head-to-head win over Long Beach under their belts, a win tonight will also give the Aggies the early lead in the battle for any potential Big West conference tournament seeding tiebreakers.  Corey Hawkins has been leading the way for Davis this season with 59 made three pointers and double digits in scoring every game out so far.

UC-Irvine is currently 13-8 overall with the best BPI and KenPom ratings in the conference (though they are behind Long Beach in the RPI).  The Anteaters, who like UC-Davis are seeking their first ever NCAA tournament appearance, enter tonight’s contest on a six game winning streak.  Irvine’s recent success has been especially surprising given the continuing injuries that have kept their 7-6 300 pound big man, Mamadou Ndiaye, out of the lineup.  The Anteaters have been led by the combined efforts of Will Davis, Alex Young and Luke Nelson, and will need solid games from all three tonight in order to remain tied for first place.

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Highlighted Games for Thursday, Feb 5th

Posted on February 5, 2015 by David Griggs

-TULSA AT HOUSTON (American).  Houston is coming off a win against UConn, which was their first conference win of the year.  Tulsa is still unbeaten in league play, and can pick up their 7th true road win of the season.

-IOWA AT MICHIGAN (Big Ten).  Iowa is inside the bubble, and Michigan is a mile away from it.  They’ve dropped a number of close games, and that’s what has made the difference.

-AUBURN AT LSU (SEC).  LSU is still in good shape, but they don’t want to lose at home to what appears to be a non-NIT team.

-NORTH TEXAS AT WESTERN KENTUCKY (Conference USA).  If WKU can win out I think they’ve got a chance, but it’s only a chance, and anything short of that pretty much assures they need the automatic bid.

-CINCINNATI AT SMU (American).  SMU is solidly in the field and appears to be getting better and better.  Cincinnati is close to the bubble, especially after losing at East Carolina over the weekend.  A win like this would be huge for their resume.

-UCLA AT STANFORD (Pac Twelve).  Stanford appears to be right on the bubble and simply can’t afford to lose this game.

-GONZAGA AT SANTA CLARA (West Coast).  Gonzaga has been blowing through the West Coast, and I don’t think that’s going to change tonight.

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Highlighted Games for Wednesday, Feb 4th

Posted on February 4, 2015 by David Griggs

LINKS

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

-For our latest Under the Radar Podcast – CLICK HERE

 

TONIGHT’S HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-COLORADO STATE AT WYOMING (Mountain West, Front Range) (***Spotlight Game)***.  This is probably the game of the night.  It’s two bubble teams that are in the same conference, so it’s important on paper.  It’s a rather bitter rivalry as well, so it’s important off paper.  The first game was fun to watch, and tonight’s should be as well.

-OHIO STATE AT PURDUE (Big Ten).  Purdue is way outside the bubble now, but they’ve been playing well and they have a long stretch of winnable games in front of them.  With the way they’re playing and their upcoming schedule, don’t be surprised if they end up in the picture.  Ohio State, on the other hand, could use a road win to boost their profile.

-GEORGIA TECH AT DUKE (ACC).  Duke is playing like one of the best teams in the country right now, and shouldn’t have any trouble tonight.

-BOSTON COLLEGE AT NOTRE DAME (ACC).  Notre Dame continues to pile up wins, but the weak OOC schedule still drags them down somewhat.  They shouldn’t have too much trouble pulling this one off tonight.

-MARQUETTE AT VILLANOVA (Big East).  Nova continues to look like a #2 seed caliber team, and Marquette continues to look like a team that won’t get close to the NIT.

-SAINT BONAVENTURE AT DAVIDSON (Atlantic Ten).  Davidson is outside of the bubble and running out of strikes.  Losing to yet another non-tournament team will kill them.

-TEXAS A&M AT OLE MISS (SEC).  HUGELY important game between two bubble teams in the SEC.  It’s possible that one or both will get in, but depending on how it plays out it’s possible that one or both will also miss the field, so this is a very high stakes game.

-VCU AT GEORGE MASON (Atlantic Ten).  I remember when this was a CAA rivalry game.  It’s VCU’s first game since the injury, and it will be interesting to see how they respond.

-OKLAHOMA STATE AT TEXAS (Big Twelve).  Texas is on a downward spiral, but only somewhat because none of their losses have been bad.  With that being said, they need to pick this one up at home in order to come out of it.

-WICHITA STATE AT BRADLEY (Missouri Valley).  This is a very winnable road game for Wichita State.

-TCU AT BAYLOR (Big Twelve).  TCU is just 1-7 in league play, but they are tougher to beat than what their conference record indicates.  This is turning in to a nice little rivalry and it should be another fun one tonight.

-PENN STATE AT MARYLAND (Big Ten).  Maryland shouldn’t have too much trouble picking up the win and improving to 7-3 in league play.

-KANSAS STATE AT TEXAS TECH (Big Twelve).  I’m still not seeing it in Kansas State, but the rest of the Hoops HD contingency does.  One thing that’s for certain is that they need to win tonight.

-CREIGHTON AT XAVIER (Big East).  Creighton is in a complete nose dive and I don’t expect Xavier to have too much trouble picing this one up at home.

-PROVIDENCE AT GEORGETOWN (Big East).  These are two of the better teams in the league….at least on most nights.  Providence is very schizophrenic and you’re never sure what they’ll do.  Nevertheless, both teams appear to be safe right now and have a chance to add another quality conference win to their profile tonight.

-WASHINGTON AT OREGON (Pac Twelve).  Both teams are on the outside looking in and need to win this one if they want any shot at all.

-SAN DIEGO STATE AT NEVADA (Mountain West).  It’s never easy to go on the road, but it’s one that I think SDSU should be able to pick up.

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Under the Radar Game of the Day – Wednesday, February 4, 2015: Detroit at Valparaiso

Posted on February 4, 2015 by Chad

For our most recent Under the Radar podcast, CLICK HERE.

Detroit at Valparaiso, 8:00 PM Eastern, espn3

The Valparaiso Crusaders will be trying to stay in a tie for first place in the Horizon League tonight as they host the Detroit Titans in our UTR Game of the Day.  Valpo enters tonight’s game with a record of 20-4 overall and 7-2 in the Horizon.  They have an RPI of 87, BPI of 84 and KenPom rating of 57.  As we discussed in last night’s podcast, this team has an outside chance to get on the Selection Committee’s radar for an at-large bid, but in order to do so cannot afford a loss before the conference tournament.  Of course, winning out during the regular season would also give the Crusaders home court advantage for the conference tournament and a bye into the semifinals, meaning they would probably be favored to win it, even over the likes of Green Bay and Cleveland State, whom they are tied with at the top of the conference standings for now.

Detroit enters today’s game a somewhat disappointing 4-5 in conference play and 11-13 overall.  Their RPI is now at 206, while their BPI is 172 and KenPom is 170, all numbers a lot worse than we had expected for this team.  While they did beat a solid Toledo team and played well against Wichita State, conference losses to Wright State and Milwaukee have really set this team back in the past couple of weeks.  The Titans are led by Juwan Howard, Jr. who has been in double digits in scoring all but twice this season.  Despite their record, the Titans can still be a very dangerous team for the top contenders in the Horizon League the rest of the season, and should give Valpo all they can handle tonight.

 

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