Bracket Racket: February 2nd

Posted on February 2, 2015 by David Griggs

Chad, David and Joby are joined by Michael.  They go conference by conference and run through all the teams who they feel have a shot at making the NCAA Tournament as an at-large bid.

 

And for all you radio lovers, below is an mp3 version of the show…

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Puppet Ramblings, and Highlighted Games for Monday, Feb. 2nd

Posted on February 2, 2015 by David Griggs

PUPPET RAMBLINGS

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

-Some teams are just so schizophrenic they’re too hard to peg.  Take this year’s Miami FL’ team, for instance.  They have a decisive win at Duke, but they also have a blowout loss at home to Eastern Kentucky.  And, they’ve done everything else in between.  They were blasted at home by Georgia Tech earlier this week.  Georgia Tech has been awful both in conference and away from home, yet they go to Miami and get a conference road win.  But, Miami also has road wins at Florida and at Syracuse who while not overly impressive, are still tough teams to beat at home.  I don’t know where to seed this team.  They’ve shown us that they’re good enough to go to the Final Four by winning decisively at Duke, and that they’re bad enough to go out in the quarterfinals of the OVC Tournament by getting their doors blown off at home by Eastern Kentucky.

-Providence is another team that’s all over the map.  They’ve won at Butler, and have a neutral floor win against Notre Dame.  Those are two very high caliber wins.  But, they’ve also lost at home to Brown, and have two other losses to Marquette and Boston College on the road, neither of which appear to be close to the NIT right now.  Two losses to bubbly Saint John’s are also noteworthy.  Again, it’s hard to decide what to do with them.

-Last week, I talked about how I thought Virginia was better than Kentucky.  Up until the last under 4 timeout in their game against Duke this past weekend, I thought I was looking like a genius, then Duke kicked on the afterburners and won their third true road game against a top fifteen team.  You’re welcome, Virginia, for the jinx.  They have a big one in Chapel Hill tonight.

-We are not unanimous on this, but with true road wins at Wisconsin, Louisville and now Virginia, how in the hell is Duke not a #1 seed??  If you’ve followed me over the years, you’re probably dying of shock hearing me say that because my normal critique is that Duke is NOT worthy of a #1 seed, but that the committee will give it to them anyway.  This year, they certainly are.  That’s unreal.  In fact, Louisville, Virginia and Wisky have a combined total of four home losses.  Duke is responsible for three of them.

-A UTR note, I now think Green Bay needs the automatic bid to get in.  It’s not easy to win at Cleveland State, but to get to the tournament you have to be able to win games that aren’t easy to win.  Green Bay did not.  In fact, they got creamed.

-Prior to the start of the season I said I thought Northern Iowa had a good chance of making the tournament.  We were probably giving them more credit than anyone else at the time, but we still underestimated them.  They WILL make the tournament.  They MAY get a protected seed.  They blew out Wichita State over the weekend, and even though they were at home, Wichita is a very strong road team.  Northern Iowa may prove to be the best team in the MVC by the end of the year.

-The SEC has been so bad for so long, but this year they currently have seven teams in the picture.  Many of those teams are close to the bubble, so it should be an exciting finish.

-VCU was upset at home by crosstown conference rival Richmond.  What’s more upsetting than the upset is that they lost Briante Weber for the year, who was on pace to set an NCAA record for most steals in a career.  This was Weber’s senior year, so his career is over.  It’s a tough blow for him and his team, who have had a tremendous season up to this point.

-We will be recording our Bracket Racket Podcast tonight.  Be sure and check it out either later tonight or tomorrow morning.

-And be sure to check out our message board by clicking…..ahh, screw it.  I’m tired of linking it.  If you want to see it, it’s linked at the top of the page.

 

TONIGHT’S HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-VIRGINIA AT NORTH CAROLINA (ACC).  Both teams are coming off tough losses where they blew leads late in the game.  It’s a chance for either team to rebound and add a high quality win to their profile.  Virginia is still very much in the hunt for a #1 seed, especially if they pick up a win here.

-HAMPTON AT NJIT.  The team of the people!!!  NJIT has protected their house going 6-1 at home.  A win tonight gets them to 13-10 on the year, and one step closer to the CIT.

-IOWA STATE AT KANSAS (Big Twelve).  Iowa State has not been the best road team, and Kansas is as tough a place to win in the country as any.  Having said that, if Iowa State can pull this off, they can tie Kansas for first in the standings, and with this being the toughest conference in the country, an outright first place finish has to mean quite a bit to the committee.

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Under the Radar Game of the Day – Monday, February 2, 2015: American at Holy Cross

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Chad

American at Holy Cross, 7:30 PM Eastern, CBS Sports Network

We return again to the Patriot League for tonight’s UTR Game of the Day as the American Eagles, who at one point looked like they were ready to make a move towards the top of the conference standings, travel to Worcester, Massachusetts to take on the school that won the 1947 national championship, the Holy Cross Crusaders.

American enters tonight’s game at 11-10 overall and 4-5 in Patriot League play.  They sit half a game behind the four way tie for third place in the conference standings and are looking to move up into that tie tonight.  The Eagles are also looking to break out of a three game losing streak.  To get the win, the Eagles will need a big game from Jesse Reed.  Reed had his streak of 13 straight games in doudle-digit scoring snapped last time out with only 9 points against Navy.  Another subpar performance tonight will not be enough for the Eagles to pick up the road victory.

The Crusaders enter tonight’s game at 8-11 overall but only 3-6 in Patriot League play.  A loss will leave them all alone in 10th place in the conerence standing, while a win will put them right back into the jumbled up conference race, tied for last but only 3 games out of first.  Holy Cross began the season with a very surprising win over preseason nationally ranked Harvard, but failed to build on that success, suffering losses to the likes of Sacred Heart, Hartford, Canisuis and lowly Pittsburgh.  Malcolm Miller and Justin Burrell have been the team’s leaders so far this season, though Burrell was held scoreless by Loyola last time out and needs to play a lot better than that tonight.  If the two of them can lead the Crusaders to a victory, there is no reason why, given the parity in the Patriot League this season, the Crusaders will not be able to remain as much in contention in this conference as anyone else.

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Under the Radar Game of the Day – Sunday, February 1, 2015: Connecticut at Houston (and other highlighted games)

Posted on February 1, 2015 by Chad

Connecticut at Houston, 3:00 PM Eastern, CBS Sports Network

It is an historic day here at Hoops HD.  For the first time in the history of the SCGD/UTR Game of the Day, we are featuring the defending national champions.  The UConn Huskies, who cut the nets down at the Final Four last season, have (along with their conference) fallen and fallen and finally quite possibly hit rock bottom.  They are now Under the Radar and the feature team in this afternoon’s UTR matchup!

UConn enters today’s game at 11-8 overall and 4-3 in conference.  They have suffered losses to the likes of Yale, Temple and Tulsa while their best wins were at home over Cincinnati and in Puerto Rico over Dayton.  The Huskies, whom we all but inked in as a certain NCAA tournament team and potential American Athletic Conference champions this season, would not be in the field if it was chosen today.  On top of that, they only have two games left this season to try to prove their merit, both against SMU.  In other words, any loss other than those two games will continue to bury this team.  The best that can be said about the Huskies is that the AAC tournament will be played in Hartford this season, giving them home court advantage in an attempt to get in through the conference’s automatic bid.

One of the most mystifying losses suffered by UConn last season came on New Year’s Eve when they were upset in Houston.  The Cougars will try to make it two straight home victories over UConn today.  Houston enters the game with an 8-12 record overall and an 0-8 mark in AAC play under new head coach Kelvin Sampson.  They did break their losing streak Wednesday night with a non-conference win over Rice and will try to build a winning streak today.  A win in this game will also be Houston’s most noteworthy yet this season, though arguably the season-opening win they recorded at Murray State is, on paper at least, a better one.

Once again, we welcome UConn and their American Athletic Conference mates to Under the Radar status — at least for today.

 

OTHER HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-MIAMI FL AT FLORIDA STATE (ACC).  Miami is one of the most schizophrenic teams out there right now.  Some nights they win decisively at Duke, and other nights they get beaten badly at home by Eastern Kentucky and Georgia Tech.  All and all, they’ve got a healthy profile, and have a chance to win a road game against a conference rival.

-CINCINNATI AT EAST CAROLINA (American).  For one day only, this is a UTR conference.  Cincinnati has a good profile, but the one thing missing from it is true road wins.  This is a very winnable conference road game that they need to pick up.

-MICHIGAN AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten).  This is a rivalry game between two teams who should both be feeling a sense of urgency.  Michigan has been playing a lot better, but they still have a lot of work to do.  Winning a road game against a conference rival will give them a ton of momentum.  Michigan State appears to be just inside the bubble, so this is a pivotal game for them as well.

FORDHAM AT DAYTON (Atlantic Ten).  Dayton is coming off a close road loss, but shouldn’t have too much trouble today.  Fordham is still looking for their first conference win.

-UTAH AT USC (Pac Twelve).  Utah is highly ranked and until recently I thought they were as good as their ranking, but they have slipped a little bit.  Nevertheless, I don’t think they’ll have too much trouble getting the win today.

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Under the Radar Game of the Day – Saturday, January 31, 2015: Colgate at Bucknell

Posted on January 31, 2015 by Chad

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

Colgate at Bucknell, 7:00 PM Eastern, free streaming at patriotleague.org

Parity.  noun.  The quality or state of being equal or equivalent.  Example: the 2015 Patriot League men’s basketball standings.

Entering play today, two games separate third place in the Patriot League from tenth.  An amazing six teams are tied for fourth with identical 4-5 conference records.  Halfway through the conference season and we can honestly say that anyone can win this conference, and regardless of who captures the regular season title, it may also be anyone’s game in the conference tournament (though with all games being played at the home court of the higher seeded team, there will at least be a reward for the regular season title).  Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day is the battle for first place between the only two teams that have done anything to try to separate themselves from the rest of the field so far as the Colgate Red Raiders travel to Lewisburg, PA to take on the Bison of Bucknell.

Bucknell enters today’s game with a 7-2 record in Patriot League play and a 12-10 mark overall.  They have been the hottest team in the league the past few weeks, having run off five straight victories.  Nana Fouland and Chris Hass have led the way for the Bison, with Hass having scored 23 or more points in three of his last four games.  Bucknell can open up a two game lead in the conference standings if they get the home win tonight, though they will fall back into a first place tie, and will have been swept on the season by Colgate, should they fall.  In other words, a Colgate win will keep the Patriot League’s parity intact.

Colgate enters the game at at 6-3 in conference yet only 9-13 overall.  The Red Raiders lost 10 of their 13 non-conference games, and one of the three wins was against non-D1 SUNY Morrisville.  Whether the Red Raiders being only one game out of first place in this conference after such a rough start to their season is a sign of a turnaround by this team or of the weakness of this conference is something that has yet to be determined. What we do know is that, with the Patriot League being the definition of parity so far this season, Colgate has a good of a chance as anyone in the conference to represent the league during March Madness.

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Highlighted Games For Saturday, Jan 31st

Posted on January 31, 2015 by David Griggs

For a viewing guide of tonight’s games, and all of the games this week, check out Matt Sarzyniak’s site by – CLICKING HERE

 

-DUKE AT VIRGINIA (ACC) (***Spotlight Game***).  Duke has won some monster road games already, and almost picked up another one earlier this week at Notre Dame.  Virginia is ranked #2 in the country, and the place should be off the hook for this one.  I wouldn’t be at all surprised if we saw both of these teams up on the #1 line.

-TEXAS TECH AT WEST VIRGINIA (Big Twelve).  This is a very winnable home game for a WVU team that’s had to sweat out some wins, but keeps on winning.

-TULANE AT TEMPLE (American).  Temple is so far outside the bubble that they need to string together several wins just to get on it, but I do think the opportunity, and perhaps even the ability, is there.

-NC STATE AT GEORGIA TECH (ACC).  NC State needs to string together some wins to get back into the picture.

-NOTRE DAME AT PITTSBURGH (ACC).  Notre Dame continues to win and impress.  It’s never easy to win on the road, but they keep coming out on top.

-PROVIDENCE AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East).  The Johnnies need this win in the worst way.  Providence has a pretty impressive profile, has looked great on the court as of late, and continues to improve.

-XAVIER AT SETON HALL (Big East).  Xavier got a much needed road win earlier in the week.  If they pick up this one, then suddenly they’re 6-4 in the league with two road wins, and in the midst of a stretch where they’ve won four out of five with the only loss being in overtime to one of the conference’s hottest teams.  Seton Hall is getting dangerously close to the bubble and really needs this one as well.

-DAVIDSON AT SAINT JOSEPH’S (Atlantic Ten).  We have Davidson right outside the bubble, and if they want to get inside of it, they need road wins.

-WISCONSIN AT IOWA (Big Ten).  This is a very good Wisconsin team going up against an inconsistent Iowa team.  But, with their inconsistency, they are sometimes very good.

-AUBURN AT TENNESSEE (SEC).  It’s a homecoming of sorts for Bruce Pearl.  It’s also a must win game for a Tennessee team that is right on the bubble.

-PENN STATE AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten).  Illinois is squarely on our bubble, and every game has a pivotal feel to it.  Losing at home to a non-tournament team would not be good.

-SOUTH FLORIDA AT TULSA (American).  Tulsa keeps winning, and keeps improving their profile.  Of course a loss in a game like this could crash it pretty quickly.

-ARKANSAS AT FLORIDA (SEC).  Arkansas is on a roll and can pick up another road win against a Florida team that has a ton of work to do just to get into the discussion.

-TCU AT IOWA STATE (Big Twelve).  TCU has lost two close games to highly ranked teams in a row.  Iowa State has struggled some away from home, but they’re still really strong and they can improve to 6-2 in the league with a win today.

-KANSAS STATE AT KANSAS (Big Twelve).  Kansas State is right on the bubble, or so some of us (not me) think.  Now, if they pull off a win in this one, I will certainly begin to agree with them.

-BUTLER AT MARQUETTE (Big East).  Butler is clearly having the better year, but there are no easy road games in this league.

-VILLANOVA AT DEPAUL (Big East).  DePaul has struggled, but they’ve still played very well at home so it won’t be easy for Nova.

-GEORGETOWN AT CREIGHTON (Big East).  Creighton has just one league win, but they’re still tough to beat at home.  Georgetown is solidly in the bubble and it’s always good when you can add a road win to your profile.

-LSU AT MISSISSIPPI STATE (SEC).  LSU continues to win, and this is a winnable road game that they can add to their profile.

-GREEN BAY AT CLEVELAND STATE (Horizon League).  Green Bay needs to win out in order to get consideration.  It won’t be easy.  Cleveland State is tough at home, and they have a chance to tie them in the standings so they’ll be jacked for this one.

-EVANSVILLE AT DRAKE (Missouri Valley).  Evansville will need to take down one of the heavyweights and avoid losing to anyone else, but getting inside the bubble is still a possibility…however remote.

-RUTGERS AT INDIANA (Big Ten).  This is a good chance for Indiana to rebound after their blistering loss at Purdue.

-WICHITA STATE AT NORTHERN IOWA (Missouri Valley).  I saw something today that, if true, is almost impossible to believe, but this is the first MVC conference game between two ranked teams since 1982.  Wow.  Well, both are ranked, both appear to be first ballot teams, and if one can run away from the other they could end up as a protected seed.

-NORTH CAROLINA AT LOUISVILLE (ACC).  This is a showcase game between two good teams that, while good, still have room to improve.  The first meeting between these two was a thriller.

-RICHMOND AT VCU.  This is a great conference crosstown rivalry, but it appears to be a mismatch this year.  VCU is looking like a protected seed, whereas Richmond appears to be outside the NIT.

-GEORGIA AT SOUTH CAROLINA (SEC).  Georgia has a good profile, but they do need some more road win.

-OLE MISS AT MISSOURI (SEC).  Ole Miss is right on the bubble and could use a road win on their profile.  More pointedly, they don’t want to lose on the road to a team that’s as pitiful as Mizzou.

-GEORGE WASHINGTON AT RHODE ISLAND (Atlantic Ten).  This will not be an easy game for GW.  They’ve struggled lately, and their performance in the Diamondhead Classic are still what’s carrying them.  Rhody is not a tournament team, but they’re, so this game has a pivotal feel for GW.

-VANDERBILT AT TEXAS A&M (SEC).  TAMU is having a good season, but in order to stay inside the bubble they can’t afford to lose to non-tournament teams at home.

-MARSHALL AT LOUISIANA TECH (Conference USA).  LA Tech can get inside the bubble, possibly, but they pretty much need to win out to do it.

-TEXAS AT BAYLOR (Big Twelve).  This is a conference rivalry between two teams that are in the rankings who, while good, still have room for improvement.  Should be fun.

-PEPPERDINE AT SAINT MARY’S (West Coast).  Saint Mary’s is on the bubble, and basically can’t afford to lose to anyone.

-WESTERN KENTUCKY AT SOUTHERN MISS (Conference USA).  It’s still possible for WKU, but anything short of winning out and they’ll need the automatic bid, and even winning out may not be enough.

-NEVADA AT WYOMING (Mountain West).  We have Wyoming on the outside looking in, and they need to win to avoid falling even further out.

-FRESNO STATE AT COLORADO STATE (Mountain West).  Colorado State is having a big year, and shouldn’t have too much trouble winning this one.

-NEBRASKA AT MINNESOTA (Big Ten).  Nebraska needs to….Oh, forget it!!!!

-FLORIDA ATLANTIC AT OLD DOMINION (Conference USA).  ODU has hit the skids somewhat, but if they can right the ship and end up winning out, they can still get into a position to make the NCAAs even if they fail to win the conference tournament.

-HAWAI’I AT LONG BEACH STATE (Big West).  I’m the only one who’s saying this, but I still think this Long Beach team is good enough to win out, and if they do they’ll have a very impressive profile that could land them inside the bubble.

-ALABAMA AT KENTUCKY (SEC).  If Alabama wins this game, they’ll still have work to do.  Having said that, Kentucky won decisively at Alabama earlier this year, and shouldn’t have too much trouble winning this one tonight.

-OKLAHOMA AT OKLAHOMA STATE (Big Twelve).  BEDLAM!!!!!  Okie State used to be a snake pit.  Now it’s half empty more often than not, but it won’t be tonight.  This is a conference rivalry between two teams that are solidly inside the bubble, so it means a lot on and off paper.

-UCF AT SMU (American).  SMU is on a roll, and can continue to build their profile as they continue to win.

-UTAH STATE AT SAN DIEGO STATE (Mountain West).  San Diego State is cruising, and shouldn’t have too much trouble winning this one tonight.

-STANFORD AT WASHINGTON STATE (Pac Twelve).  Wazzu is improved.  Wazzu is at home.  But, it’s still a game that a tournament caliber team like Stanford should be able to win.

-MEMPHIS AT GONZAGA.  A showcase OOC game that, as it turns out, isn’t much of a showcase.  Gonzaga wanted a big game later in the season, and Memphis let them down!

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