Under the Radar: January 21st

This weekend, Chad and David lead off with what as an improbable first half between Baylor and NAIA member Huston Tillotson.  They also talk about the news and notes in Conference USA with Southern Miss getting a postseason ban, and the upcoming meetings that will determine whether or not UAB will be allowed to stay in the conference.  After that, they run through all 23 of the Under the Radar conferences and discuss who the major players are, followed by the weekly UTR Top Ten.

 

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

Posted in News and Notes, Podcasts, Under the Radar, Videocasts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Highlighted Games for Wednesday, Jan 21st

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

-NORTH CAROLINA AT WAKE FOREST (ACC).  I get the impression that UNC is improving as the year goes on.  They take on a Tobacco Road rival tonight that has struggled so far.

-HOUSTON AT CINCINNATI (American).  Cincinnati seems to be very much on the bubble right now, and every game has a pivotal feel to it.

-MEMPHIS AT TULSA (American).  I’m open to the idea that one or more of these teams could end up on the bubble, but am thinking that there’s a much better chance of this being an NIT preview.

-MARQUETTE AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East).  My God the Jonnies need this one.  They are just 1-4 in league play and have some major catching up to do.

-PENN STATE AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten).  Michigan State appears to be inside the bubble, but is closer to it than what we’re normally used to seeing so they don’t want to have slipups in games like this.

-MISSOURI AT TEXAS A&M (SEC).  I don’t know why anyone would have TAMU in the discussion, but a few do and I guess that means we have to pay attention to them.  If they lose tonight, they won’t be, though.

-INDIANA STATE AT NORTHERN IOWA (Missouri Valley).  I see Northern Iowa as being a first ballot team, and don’t think they’ll have too much trouble at home tonight.

-EVANSVILLE AT LOYOLA IL (Missouri Valley).  Both teams are currently way outside the bubble and they need to basically win out or come close to it if they want to have any hopes of making it.

-WICHITA STATE AT MISSOURI STATE (Missouri Valley).  Wichita State is still the best team in the conference and may even end up as a protected seed if they can run away from the rest of the league.

-WASHINGTON STATE AT UTAH (Pac Twelve).  I know Utah lost decisively to Arizona over the weekend, but I still really like this team and don’t think they’ll have too much trouble against a very much improved, but still awful, Wazzu team.

-TEXAS TECH AT OKLAHOMA STATE (Big Twelve).  There aren’t many easy games in this league, but this is probably one of the easier ones for Oklahoma State.

-SMU AT TULANE (American).  Interesting game here as SMU continues to improve, despite recent allegations (and we’ll see how that plays in) as they travel to a Tulane team that is better, but still has a long way to go.

-CREIGHTON AT BUTLER (Big East).  Butler is coming off a rough road loss to Georgetown, but I still like this team and think they’ll pick up another conference win tonight against a Creighton team that is 0-6 in league play.

-PURDUE AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten).  The Illini need to have a sense of urgency to them.  They’re pretty good, but inconsistent and they cannot afford to lose at home to teams that are not in the picture.

-NEW MEXICO AT UNLV (Mountain West).  Neither team has done anything close to what they need to do on paper to make the field, but it still feels like this should be a big game…right??

Posted in Daily Rundown, News and Notes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Highlighted Games for Wednesday, Jan 21st

Under the Radar Game of the Day – Wednesday, January 21, 2015: Buffalo at Central Michigan

Buffalo at Central Michigan, 7:00 PM Eastern, espn3

Last evening, President Obama reported on the State of the Union.  Tonight, the UTR Game of the Day is reporting on the State of the Mid-American Conference, which hopefully will not be as divisive an issue.  We started this season in the MAC looking at two top cobtenders for the conference title, Toledo in the West and Akron in the East.  Both teams proceeded to struggle during non-conference play and teams such as Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan, Buffalo and Bowling Green began to rise in the standings.  As we moved into conference play, Western Michigan rose in the West along with Toledo beginning to bounce back, while Kent State joined Akron in moving up in the East Division.  As of right now, we have a four way tie on top of the East between Buffalo, Bowling Green, Kent State and Akron.  Western Michigan has moved to the lead in the West Division, but only a game ahead of Toledo, Central Michigan, and a surprising Ball State team.  In other words, the standings in the MAC are such a complete mess and almost everyone is still alive for the regular season title.  Winning the regular season title (or coming in second) is especially important in the MAC as the top two teams, regardless of division, bye into the the conference tournament semifinals.  The third and fourth best teams bye into the quarterfinal round, while the teams that finish 5th-12th would have to win five games to capture the automatic bid.

Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day comes from Mount Pleasant, Michigan where the CMU Chippewas host Bobby Hurley and his Buffalo Bulls (or as they are now attempting to be know, the New York Bulls).  Buffalo, as we will continue to address them, enters the game at 3-1 in MAC play and 12-4 overall.  Their RPI (47), BPI (74) and KenPom (77) are all the best in the conference.  While they failed to score any major wins in non-conference play, their losses were at Kentucky, at Wisconsin, at West Division leader Western Michigan, and at local “Big Four” rival St. Bonaventure.  Receiving an at-large bid would still be a longshot for the Bulls, though with the relative top-to-bottom strength of the MAC this season, a very strong conference record could possibly have them in the discussion.  If the Bulls do make the Big Dance, either by at-large or automatic bid, it will be their first ever trip to the NCAAs.  The job that Bobby Hurley has done with this program in just two seasons at the helm cannot be understated.  The biggest question surrounding him may be just how long he stays at Buffalo before a power conference program comes calling.

Central Michigan enters tonight’s game with a 2-2 record in MAC play and 12-3 overall.  After having lost 20 or more games each of the past four seasons, we seriously questioned CMU’s 10-1 non-conference start, which featured its only notable win as a victory at Northwestern.  The Chippewas then stunned us by starting out MAC play with a win at West Division favorite Toledo.  They have come back to earth since then, losing at Ball State and at Akron.  However, a win over Buffalo tonight will have the Chippewas right back up there in the conversation for who is the best team inn the MAC.  Regardless of how tonight’s game goes, or even how the rest of the season turns out, CMU certainly appears to be on its way to turning a perennial MAC doormat program into a contender, especially with only one senior on the roster this year.

Posted in News and Notes, Under the Radar | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Highlighted Games for Tuesday, Jan 20th

-MICHIGAN AT RUTGERS (Big Ten).  Michigan got off to a very slow start and despite being 4-2 in league play they still have a lot of work to do.

-KANSAS STATE AT IOWA STATE (Big Twelve).  Kansas State has played better since conference play began, but this is probably their toughest test so far.

-BOSTON COLLEGE AT SYRACUSE (ACC).  An old Big East rivalry that is now an ACC rivalry.  Syracuse is right on the bubble and really cannot afford to lose this one.

-LSU AT FLORIDA (SEC).  I like this LSU team, but their margin for error is not unlimited.  This is the kind of road game they need to be able to win.

-OLE MISS AT GEORGIA (SEC).  I think both teams are on the outside looking in, but they are within reach of the bubble.

-DAYTON AT DAVIDSON (Atlantic Ten).  Dayton is into the rankings, and very safely inside the bubble.  This will be a tough road test, though, because Davidson ain’t  bad themselves, and they’re tough to beat at home.

-UIC AT GREEN BAY (Horizon League).  Green Bay must win out in order to land inside the bubble.  Losing even one game may be too much to overcome.

-VANDERBILT AT KENTUCKY (SEC).  Kentucky is still #1 overall, and will stay there unless someone pulls off a huge upset.

-IOWA AT WISCONSIN (Big Ten).  Both teams are in the rankings, and Wisky is a potential #1 seed.  Iowa has won some big games on the road, but none as big as this one would be.

-TENNESSEE AT SOUTH CAROLINA (SEC).  South Carolina is outside the bubble and can’t afford to lose at home to a team that’s not even in the picture.

-SAN DIEGO STATE AT AIR FORCE (Mountain West).  San Diego State is a solid team that should be able to pick up this road win.

Posted in Daily Rundown | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Highlighted Games for Tuesday, Jan 20th

Under the Radar Game of the Day – Tuesday, January 20, 2015: Harvard at Bryant

Harvard at Bryant, 5:30 PM Eastern, free streaming at necfrontrow.com

The UTR Game of the Day slips out of conference play tonight as the Harvard Crimson travel to Smithfield, Rhode Island to battle the Northeast Conference co-leader, Bryant.  Tonight’s game is the final non-conference contest for Harvard (1-0 in conference, 10-4 overall), as they get ready to head into the Ivy League regular season, which gets moving in earnest next weekend.  Harvard entered the season as one of the top Under the Radar teams in the nation, but has failed to pick up a single non-conference win of note.  As if that wasn’t bad enough, they lost games to Holy Cross, Arizona State and Boston College (which has been claimed to be an automatic disqualifier for any team searching for an at-large bid).  The good news for the Crimson is that they are still by far the best team in the Ivy League and should not have much difficulty winning the regular season title and automatic bid that comes with it.  If the Crimson prove to not be good enough to take the Ivy league regular season title, they will have suffered two or more bad losses in conference play that would clearly destroy any NCAA tournament hopes.

Bryant has leaped out to an early 5-1 start in conference play despite only being 8-7 overall.  The Bulldogs are currently on a four game winning streak that includes a home win over St. Francis (PA), one of the other top teams in the NEC.  A win at home over the Crimson tonight would clearly be the Bulldogs’ best win of the season so far and would serve notice to their conference that the 5-1 start in league play has not been a fluke.  Keep an eye on Dan Garvin for Bryant tonight, who has scored in double digits in three of his last four games.

Posted in News and Notes, Under the Radar | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Under the Radar Game of the Day – Tuesday, January 20, 2015: Harvard at Bryant

Bracket Racket: January 18th

It’s a never ending comedy of errors here at Hoops HD!!  When recording this last night, we intended for it to be an audio only show.  When trying to upload the audio, the file was simply too big.  So, what we now have for you is the VIDEO of what was intended to be an AUDIO ONLY show!!  We hope you enjoy it!!

Chad, David and Lee go through the nine multi-bid leagues, as well as the teams that are outside the multi-bid leagues, but inside the bubble, and talk about where they currently stand in regards to the NCAA Tournament this March.  As usual, Lee and David struggle to get along.

Posted in Bracketology, Commentary, News and Notes, Podcasts, Videocasts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Bracket Racket: January 18th