Bracket Racket: Dec 28th, News, Notes and Highlighted Match-ups

Posted on December 29, 2014 by David Griggs

On tonight’s somewhat abbreviated version of the Bracket Racket, Chad and David look back at this past week’s action, particularly, Louisville v Kentucky and how sloppy of a game it was, the tremendous job George Washington did to win the Diamondhead Classic, and how Old Dominion has been overlooked and ignored.  They also take a look ahead at this week’s upcoming games.  All that, and much more.  Also, see the bottom of this post for an mp3 version of the show.

 

NEWS AND NOTES

-It did not go final until after the recording of the Bracket Racket, but Stony Brook overcame a double digit deficit on the road against Washington, and came back to win 61-57.  Washington had just four points in the last eight minutes of the game.  It’s a huge win for the Stony Brook program, and it’s the kind of win that helps them avoid the #15 and #16 seeds if they were to make the NCAA Tournament, and give them a slightly more manageable and winnable first round game.

 

MONDAY’S HIGHLIGHTED ACTION

For CHAD SHERWOOD’S UTR game of the day – CLICK HERE

-TOLEDO AT DUKE.  Toledo has a good team, but they’ve been sort of a disappointment this year.  If they could pull off the upset tonight it could turn everything around for them.  That being said, it’s not likely that they’ll beat one of the two best teams in the country on the road.

-SAN FRANCISCO AT SAINT MARY’S (West Coast).  Saint Mary’s has a small margin for error.  They need to avoid losses in games like this, and pick up a win or two against the likes of Gonzaga and BYU if they want to land inside the bubble.

-PORTLAND AT BYU (West Coast).  Portland has a good record, but needs some notable wins if they want to get the attention of the committee.  Winning this one on the road should do it.

-GONZAGA AT SAN DIEGO (West Coast).  Gonzaga is coming off a big win at BYU, and shouldn’t have too much trouble picking up a second conference road win.

-UC IRVINE AT OREGON.  It’s a buy game, and although this UC Irvine team has somewhat underachieved so far, they’re still really good.  Oregon can’t just sleep walk and beat them.

-RICE AT TEXAS.  Buy game.

-CLEVELAND STATE AT VCU.  Buy game.

-SOUTHERN MISS AT LSU.  Buy game.  Southern Miss has had some good seasons recently, but they’ve struggled this year.

-TENNESSEE STATE AT TCU.  Buy game.

-NORTH TEXAS AT TEXAS TECH.  Buy game.

-ARKANSAS PINE BLUFF AT STANFORD.  Buy game.

-SOUTHERN AT HAWAI’I.  Buy game.  Hawaii has been playing really well recently, though and at 10-4 they could be a force in the Big West once league play starts.

 

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Under the Radar Game of the Day – Monday, December 29, 2014: Valparaiso at James Madison

Posted on December 29, 2014 by Chad

Valparaiso at James Madison, 7:00 PM Eastern, free streaming at caa.tv

The UTR Game of the Day heads to Harrisonburg, Virginia tonight as the Colonial’s James Madison Dukes host the Horizon League’s Valparaiso Crusaders.  The Dukes enter tonight’s game with a record of 7-5, though they have dropped three of their last four to sub-KenPom 150 teams.  This will be JMU’s last chance to pick up a win before CAA play starts on Saturday, and if the Dukes are going to be able to find a way to compete with conference favorites Northeastern and William & Mary, they need to start turning their season around immediately.  Having Yohanny Dalembert become a consistent double-digit scorer could be the key for James Madison moving forward.

The road team in tonight’s game, Valparaiso, has played like they intend to be a serious contender in the Horizon League.  While the primary focus in the Horizon so far has been Green Bay, Valpo is quietly sitting at 12-2 overall with top 100 KenPom and RPI ratings.  Their wins include a solid road victory at Eastern Kentucky (who notably beat Miami) and a win at Fort Wayne, which may be among the contenders in the Summit League.  Valpo is looking for its fifth straight win in what will also be their final tuneup before the start of conference play.  Alec Peters has been leading the way so far this season for the Crusaders, having scored 23, 23 and 29 points in his last three games.

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Highlighted Games for Sunday, Dec 28th

Posted on December 28, 2014 by David Griggs

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

 

-SAINT JOHN’S VS TULANE.  Tulane has a bloated record, but all their wins have come against weak teams.  They did look pretty good against Washington earlier in the week, though, so this is a chance for them to pick up their first notable win.

-NJIT AT LAFAYETTE.  Our adopted team has a tough road test against a Lafayette team that’s been a little better than expected, and is currently unbeaten at home.

-LONG BEACH STATE AT SYRACUSE.  We keep saying it, but Long Beach has a few notable wins and no real bad losses.  Despite their currently poor record, if they can pick up another notable win and then run roughshod over the Big West, they may end up inside the bubble.

-HARVARD AT ARIZONA STATE.  Interesting match up between a Harvard team that may be challenged by Yale in conference play and could use a notable win like this, and an Arizona State team that’s trying to establish themselves.

-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT NORTHERN IOWA.  South Dakota State has looked like one of the better teams in the Summit League, but they’re probably in over their heads today against a top 25 Northern Iowa team.

-FLORIDA GULF COAST AT XAVIER.  It’s a buy game, but it’s an interesting one.  If FGCU wants any shot at landing inside the bubble and not needing the automatic bid, this is a game they pretty much have to win.  Xavier is currently outside the bubble, but will get their chances in conference to prove themselves if they are good enough.

-BELMONT AT BUTLER.  Interesting match up between a Butler team that has slid a little bit since opening the season so strongly, and a Belmont team has also slid, but is still having a good year overall.

-UCLA AT ALABAMA.  Both teams have good records, but need notable wins.

-COPPIN STATE AT EVANSVILLE.  A win gets the Aces to 10-2.

-BUFFALO AT WISCONSIN.  Buffalo has just two losses, and one of those was against Kentucky, who they played pretty well against.  Wisconsin is good enough to contend for a #1 seed, though, so this is a very tall order.

-CENTRAL CONNECTICUT AT CONNECTICUT.  Buy game.  Central Connecticut looked they were going to be one of the best teams in the NEC prior to losing a key player just before the start of the season.

-MORGAN STATE AT MARQUETTE.  Buy game.

-NORTHWESTERN STATE AT ARKANSAS.  Buy game.

-DELAWARE STATE AT TEMPLE.  Buy game.  This may not continue, but I believe Temple is currently on the bubble.

-STONY BROOK AT WASHINGTON.  Buy game.  Stony Brook may be the best team in the America East, but they’re probably way overmatched today.

-CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD AT CALIFORNIA.  Buy game.

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Under the Radar Game of the Day: Sunday, December 28, 2014: US Coast Guard at Army

Posted on December 28, 2014 by Chad

United States Coast Guard Academy at Army, 3:00 PM Eastern, free streaming at patriotleague.org

A battle between two service academies always comes with extra energy and passion beyond the relative talent and abilities of the athletes for both schools.  When Army and Navy meet on the football field every year, records do not count.  The only thing that matters is who wins the game.  While this season, as always, Army and Navy will meet at least twice in hoops during Patriot League play, the Cadets from West Point will get to take on the service academy from another branch of our armed forces this afternoon, the Division III U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

The USCG Bears actually opened the regular season television schedule this season when they played Hampden-Sydney in the Armed Forces Classic in Puerto Rico.  While they fell in that game, the Bears have played .500 ball since then and enter today’s contest at 4-5 on the season.  They are being led by junior guard Kevin Alvarez, who is averaging 15.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, and senior forward David Anderson, who is averaging 12.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.  Of course, they have their work cut out for them this afternoon with the Army Black Knights.

Army enters today’s game at 8-2 on the season, including wins over Air Force and VMI at home, plus a road win at USC.  Their two losses came at Duke and in an upset home loss to Bryant.  With a sub-150 KenPom rating, Army certainly has not done enough in non-conference play to be an at-large bid contender, but the Black Knights appear do poised to seriously contend for the Patriot League title this year (conference play starts on Wednesday).

Army is one of five teams to have been a member of Division I since 1948 without ever playing in the NCAA tournament.  As we have noted here before, unlike the other four teams (Northwestern, William & Mary, The Citadel and St. Francis(BK)), Army did get an invite to the Big Dance back in 1966, but head coach Bobby Knight turned down the bid in order to take his team, including a guard by the name of Mike Krzyzewski, into the NIT.  That guard went on to coach the Cadets to the NIT in 1978 as well, the last time this team played in the postseason.  He then left Army and went on to have a fairly decent coaching career at some ACC school.

Army appears to be well on their way to a postseason bid this season, if not by winning the Patriot League’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, then potentially in one of the smaller tournaments such as the CIT.  Either way, head coach Zach Spiker has done an amazing job turning a perennial Patriot League doormat into a legitimate contender.  The Black Knights have certainly surpassed Navy, at least this year.  But before they move on to Navy and the rest of their conference schedule, Army has one last test to get by — and they should definitely not look past another service academy this afternoon.

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Under the Radar Game of the Day – Saturday, December 27, 2014: Georgia State at Green Bay

Posted on December 27, 2014 by Chad

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

Georgia State at Green Bay, 1:00 PM, espn3

The game of the day on Saturday is obviously Kentucky at Louisville.  But if you want something else to keep an eye on during that contest, you may want to tune in to today’s UTR Game of the Day.  The Georgia State Panthers, led by Ryan Harrow, R.J. Hunter and former Louisville player Kevin Ware will be heading to Green Bay to take on the Phoenix, led by star player Keifer Sykes.  These two teams have consistently been among the Top Ten Under the Radar teams all season and it should be a great game this afternoon.

Georgia State enters with a record of 7-3, an RPI of 51 and a KenPom of 63.  Their sole losses so far this year have been to tournament-caliber teams Iowa State, Colorado State and Old Dominion.  The biggest problem the Panthers have is a lack of quality wins and a lack of a chance to pick up any more after today with the Sun Belt Conference looking weaker than normal this year.  They did, however, beat Green Bay at home handily 72-48 back on December 4, and a sweep of their home-and-home series this year will help a lot if they need an at-large bid in March.

Green Bay has a similar problem as they head into Horizon League play.  The Phoenix are 9-3 on the season with an RPI of 38 and a KenPom of 48.  In addition to the loss at Georgia State, the Phoenix lost an early season game at Wisconsin and are coming off a tough neutral court loss in Las Vegas to UC-Irvine.  The Horizon League does appear stronger than the Sun Belt, though no other team is currently better than 100 in the KenPom ratings.  Green Bay can hang their hats on a nice road win at Miami, at least, but getting swept by Georgia State will hurt if they falter in their conference tournament.

Both teams in today’s game are well aware of what happens when you slip up during conference tournament play, as Green Bay and Georgia State both dominated their conference regular seasons last year, only to fail to capture the automatic bid.  The result, in both cases, was an NIT bid.  Both teams appear better than the NIT this season, but need to keep winning if they want to Dance.  Today’s game is the start of that journey.

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Highlighted Games for Saturday, Dec 27th

Posted on December 27, 2014 by David Griggs

NOTES

-George Washington had themselves a fantastic Christmas by winning the Diamondhead Classic, and picking up a huge win against Wichita State in the championship game.  The three wins away from home against Ohio, Colorado and Wichita drastically improves their profile.

 

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES 

-KENTUCKY AT LOUISVILLE (Spotlight Game).  You start to get the sense that if Louisville doesn’t beat Kentucky than no one will.  Kentucky has played and beaten several ranked teams rather handily already, but this will likely be their biggest test of the year.  It’s a huge rivalry game between two unbeaten teams that are hoping to end up as #1 seeds.  Kentucky has won six of the last seven, including two wins in the NCAA Tournament, so as far as the rivalry goes Louisville may be feeling a little bit of pressure in regards to needing to catch up.  It should be a fun one.

-GEORGETOWN VS INDIANA.  These two are squaring off in Madison Square Garden.  Both look like tournament caliber teams, and both can add a notable win to their profile.

-GEORGIA STATE AT GREEN BAY.  This is the second meeting between these two with Georgia State winning the first in a blowout.  Both teams are good, but it will be very difficult for either to finish inside the bubble, so it’s a game both need to win if they want any chance of that happening.

-SANTA CLARA AT SAINT MARY’S (West Coast).  It’s the conference opener.  SMC has played really well at times this year, but has also been inconsistent and needs a strong showing in league play to have any chance of making the field.

-GONZAGA AT BYU (West Coast).  It’s the league opener, and it features the two best teams.  BYU needs some notable wins to end up safely inside the bubble, and Gonzaga needs a big road win like this to help their case of being a #1 seed.

-COLORADO STATE AT NEW MEXICO STATE.  New Mexico State has had a rough start, but they are a tough team to beat at home, so it would end up being a somewhat notable win for Colorado State, who is looking to remain unbeaten.

-UAB AT NORTH CAROLINA.  It’s technically not a buy game, and UAB actually won last year’s meeting, but this game will seem like a buy game.

-MAINE AT SETON HALL.  Buy game.  The Pirates can improve to 10-2.

-UNC WILMINGTON AT MINNESOTA.  Buy game.

-OAKLAND AT MARYLAND.  Buy game.

-MERCER AT GEORGIA.  Buy game.

-WRIGHT STATE AT OHIO STATE.  Buy game.

-KENNESAW STATE AT ILLINOIS.  Buy game

-SOUTHERN UTAH AT UNLV.  Buy game

-SAN DIEGO CHRISTIAN (nondiv1) AT SAN DIEGO STATE.  Buy game.

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