-Duke, Georgia Tech, Pepperdine and Oregon State are all potential postseason teams that have buy games tonight. Other than that, there is nothing of note. You have our permission to take tonight off.
-Be sure and check out our podcast and updated bracket projections, which should be posted by tomorrow morning.
-NJIT AT LIU BROOKLYN. UTR Game of the Day. CLICK HERE.
-GEORGE WASHINGTON AT PENN STATE. Both teams have good records, but still have a lot of work to do if they want their profiles to be good enough to make the NCAA Tournament.
-TEMPLE AT VILLANOVA (Big Five). Nova clearly looks to be the superior team, but Temple is much improved this year with a 6-3 record. If they can pull off an upset win in a game like this it will be one of the signature wins of their season.
-BUTLER AT TENNESSEE. Butler has been a surprise team this year, but as of now they still only have one true road win, and Tennessee is unbeaten at home so far.
-LOUISIANA TECH AT SYRACUSE. This LA Tech has a very high ceiling, and they’re certainly capable of winning this game. Their problem is that they don’t always play up to their ceiling, and are coming off a very damaging loss to Louisiana Lafayette. If they want any shot at all at an at-large bid, they have to pick up this win at Syracuse.
-EASTERN WASHINGTON AT WASHINGTON. This is technically a buy game, but it is a very interesting match up. Eastern Illinois has just one loss, and already has a notable win at Indiana. Washington is unbeaten and off to a much better than expected state. If Eastern can pull off the upset, you have to start thinking they’re a team that can land inside the bubble of the NCAA Tournament.
-WOFFORD AT NC STATE. It’s a buy game, but an interesting one between what appears to be the best team in the SoCon and a one loss NC State team.
-ILLINOIS STATE AT DEPAUL. At 6-2, DePaul has looked better than expected, but still has a lot of work to do.
-WEST VIRGINIA VS MARSHALL. West Virginia is off to a great start and Marshall certainly is not, but this is game that WVU has struggled to win in the past, so it may be more competitive than you would expect.
-FORDHAM AT SAINT JOHN’S. It’s a crosstown match up, but it is also a huge mismatch. The Johnnies have had a great year so far this year.
-SAINT PETER’S AT SETON HALL. Buy game. Seton Hall has just one loss.
-COPPIN STATE AT UCONN. Buy game.
-PRARIE VIEW AT TEXAS TECH. Buy game. Texas Tech has just one loss.
-MONTANA STATE AT WYOMING. We’re still keeping an eye on Wyoming, but they’ve go ta lot of work to do.
-FIU AT FGCU. FGCU has just one loss and should be able to get this one at home.
-NC A&T AT OLD DOMINION. Buy game.
-JACKSONVILLE AT FLORIDA. This is a buy game that the Gators cannot afford to lose.
-NORTH TEXAS AT SFA. If SFA can win out, they may have a chance at an at-large.
-UNC WILMINGTON AT LOUISVILLE. Buy game.
-SOUTHERN AT IOWA STATE. Buy game.
-SOUTHERN UTAH AT BOISE STATE. Buy game.
NJIT at LIU-Brookyn, 3:30 PM Eastern, free streaming at necfrontrow.com
The UTR Game of the Day heads to Brooklyn this afternoon as our adopted team, the NJIT Highlanders, attempt to pick up their second win over a team from Brooklyn this week. The Highlanders, who made national headlines last week with their historic win at Michigan, followed up that victory earlier this week with an exciting home win over the St. Francis College (Brooklyn) Terriers. They played again Friday night in Worcester, Massachusetts and were right in the game with the Holy Cross Crusaders for about 30 minutes. The Crusaders, however, turned on the gas late and NJIT’s winning streak came to an end. As a result, the Highlanders enter today’s game with a record of 4-6 as they seek a .500 or better season and a possible CIT bid.
Today’s short trip from Newark, NJ to Brooklyn, NY is to take on the LIU Blackbirds. Long Island U is coming off of their first win of the season Tuesday night when they won at Maine. At 1-6 on the season, the Blackbirds could struggle with NJIT, especially if they play as well as they have been playing the past two weeks. It is worth noting that it is less than 30 miles between NJIT’s campus and Brooklyn, where both St. Francis College and LIU are located mere blocks away from each other. It is also less than 20 miles from Newark to Teaneck, NJ, home of Fairleigh Dickinson University, and about the same to Staten Island, where Wagner is located. In other words, if NJIT was in the Northeast Conference they would instantly have four conference rivals within a drive of less than an hour from their school — an arrangement that makes perfect sense. NJIT to the Northeast Conference — LET’S MAKE THIS HAPPEN!!!
For the rest of today’s action, CLICK HERE.
Centenary at Louisiana-Lafayette, 3:00 PM Eastern, No TV
Here at HOOPSHD, at the end of every season, we hand out our annual “Centenary Award”. This award is given out to the worst team in Division I. It began at the conclusion of the 2010-11 season when it was won by the Centenary Gents in their final season at the D1 level, when they went 1-29. In 2012, Towson took the title. In 2013, we awarded it to Grambling while last season the Southern Utah Thunderbirds took the crown. The early favorite for the award this season is Florida A&M, but there are still a lot of games left to be played. Of course, any chance to focus on the team that began the award cannot be passed up.
Centenary is now a Division III team, and off to a 3-6 start to their season. This afternoon, the Gents will be in Lafayette, Louisiana to take on their lone D1 foe of the season, the Sun Belt Conference’s Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns. The Gents do have four players averaging double-digit scoring led by Kendall Demouchet’s 13.2 points per game. James Sapp is averaging 11.8 and 6.2 rebounds.
Actually picking up a Division I win will be very difficult for the Gents. The Ragin’ Cajuns are coming off of a home upset win over Louisiana Tech Wednesday night. They were led in that game by Shawn Long who scored 24 points and pulled down 15 rebounds, all in just 24 minutes of play due to foul trouble. Louisiana-Lafayette also shot well from outside, hitting 7 of 14 three pointers. If the team can even come close to repeating that performance, they will have no trouble at all with the Gents. However, it is always nice to see Centenary showing up on the daily list of scheduled games. We do miss them.
QUICK NOTES
-Our adopted team, NJIT, fell on the road to Holy Cross 76-66 the other night. Holy Cross isn’t likely to end up inside the bubble, but they’ve looked good this season.
-Iowa State went on the road and got a very impressive road win in a bitterly hostile environment against Iowa. Iowa State isn’t getting much #1 seed talk, and I don’t know if they’re that good, but as of now I think they’re the best team I’ve seen out of the Big Twelve. If they win that league you’d think they’d have to be in the #1 seed picture.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-UTAH AT KANSAS (Spotlight Game). I’ve been very impressed wit Utah this year, and they’re coming off an emotional and impressive win over bitter rival BYU. I do believe this is their toughest test of the season so far. Both teams have looked good, both want a strong seed, and winning this kind of game makes a huge statement to the committee.
-GONZAGA AT UCLA (Spotlight Game). Gonzaga has just one loss, and it was an overtime thriller at Arizona. Because their schedule limits their opportunities at big time wins, I don’t know how realistic a #1 seed is, but I do think they’re team is good enough to be in that discussion. Still, they need to pick up their first true road win (although their win at Saint John’s should count as a virtual true road win), and can do it against a very good UCLA team tonight. UCLA, on the other hand, could use a big win of their own.
ARMY AT USC (Spotlight Game). We spotlight this one just for fun. Neither team will come close to the NIT bubble, but Army has improved so much over the last two years and is having a great year, and USC comes in at a modest 6-3, but with no wins against anyone who appears to be as good as Army. So…it’s worth tuning in to.
Now, back to the serious action…..
-NORTH CAROLINA AT KENTUCKY. UNC is ranked, but has been somewhat underwhelming this year. Kentucky has looked as overhwelming as any team that we’ve seen in a long time.
-WICHITA STATE AT DETROIT. Wichita clearly appears to be the stronger team, but these types of road games can be very hard to win.
-SAINT BONAVENTURE AT PITTSBURGH. Saint Bona only has one loss, and Pitt hasn’t exactly been setting the world on fire. If the Bonnies can win this it’ll give them a ton of momentum and get the committee’s attention as well.
-DAYTON AT ARKANSAS. It’s two teams that appear to be inside the bubble, and looking to add a good win to their profile. Dayton has been poor on the road in the past, but was strong last year and already has one true road win this year, albeit not of this caliber.
-PEPPERDINE AT ARIZONA STATE. It’s a buy game, but Pepperdine has just one loss, so watch out for them if they’re able to win this.
-MURRAY STATE AT EVANSVILLE. Murray State has been very disappointing this year, but Evansville has not been. They have just one loss, and may be good enough to end up in the field.
-SAINT MARY’S AT CREIGHTON. SMC has just one loss, but this is their first true road game. Creighton has been a surprise team this year, and has played very well at home. It’s a big game for both teams who are looking to build their resume.
-OKLAHOMA AT TULSA. It should be an electric atmosphere, but Oklahoma is the much stronger team and shouldn’t have trouble winning. It would be their first true road win.
-XAVIER AT MISSOURI. Xavier is good, but they need wins away from home. Mizzou has not looked like a tournament team at any point this season, and it’s the kind of road game you’d expect a solid tournament team to be able to win.
-MICHIGAN AT ARIZONA. Michigan has lost two straight home games to seemingly weak opponents. Arizona has looked like a #1 seed this entire season. It appears to be a mismatch, but a win for Michigan would offset all their recent struggles.
-OKLAHOMA STATE AT MEMPHIS. A win for Okie State gets them to a noticeable 8-1, as well as gives them their first true road win of the year.
-MISSISSIPPI STATE AT OREGON STATE. Not really big on either team, but both come in at 5-2.
-NORTHERN COLORADO AT COLORADO (Front Range). This is a mythical conference game that Colorado cannot afford to lose. I still think they’ll end up having a big year, but they’re off to a bad start on paper. Off paper, they’re 1-2 against their Front Range rivals.
-NORTHERN IOWA AT VCU. Northern Iowa is off to a fantastic start, and although VCU has struggled, they have a tendency to improve as the year goes on. I think it would be the biggest win of the season so far for whoever ends up winning it.
-OREGON AT ILLINOIS. Illinois has played well this year. Oregon has been decent, but doesn’t have a win of this caliber yet.
-FLORIDA STATE AT NOTRE DAME. Florida State has been disappointing, and if they’re going to turn it around they need to win a big game like this. Notre Dame, on the other hand, has looked better than expected with just one loss and some pretty decent wins already.
-CINCINNATI AT NEBRASKA. Nebraska has been hugely disappointing so far this year, and while Cincinnati only has one loss, they have nothing that even comes close to resembling a good win yet. Both teams desperately need this one.
-PURDUE AT VANDERBILT. Both teams come in with two losses, but both need good wins to get the attention of the committee.
BYU AT WEBER STATE. BYU has no bad losses yet, but no good wins either. They absolutely cannot afford to not pick up this true road win against their in-state (sort of) rivals.
-UNLV AT SOUTH DAKOTA. Haven’t been impressed with UNLV yet, but we still have our eye on them. If they don’t win this one, though, we’ll probably stop watching.
-DRAKE AT GREEN BAY. It feels like a buy game, but technically it’s not. Green Bay cannot afford to lose at home.
-USC UPSTATE AT MARYLAND. It’s a buy game, but Upstate is one of the better teams in the A-Sun.
-RADFORD AT GEORGETOWN. Buy game.
-STONY BROOK AT PROVIDENCE. Buy game.
-MOREHEAD STATE AT OHIO STATE. Buy game.
-DELAWARE STATE AT RHODE ISLAND. It’s a buy game that Rhody cannot afford to lose.
-NICHOLLS STATE AT WISCONSIN. Buy game.
-GRAND CANYON AT INDIANA. Buy game.
-NIAGARA AT DAVIDSON. Buy game. A win gets Davidson to a noticeable 8-1. Can’t wait to see how they do against the Atlantic Ten.
-SAM HOUSTON STATE AT LSU. Buy game.
-TEXAS STATE AT TEXAS. Buy game.
-PRINCETON AT CALIFORNIA. Buy game.
Under the Radar: Dec 11th
It’s been a huge week of upsets. Incarnate Word took down Nebraska, Eastern Michigan beat Michigan, and NJIT had a big win over Michigan earlier in the week. We begin talking about NJIT, who is in the unique situation of being an independent program without a conference after recently reclassifying to div1, and all of the progress we feel they have made.
Then, we move on to this week’s top ten, and discuss how good teams like Old Dominion and Harvard have looked. We focus on Louisiana Tech and what little margin for error they have, and exactly how damaging their loss to Louisiana Lafayette was last night.
Lastly, as always, we look ahead to this week’s games.
It’s not a huge night of hoops tonight. Eastern Washington visits San Francisco, one loss DePaul will get a test at George Washington, and Wright State will visit Belmont in a rematch from the season opener.
For all you radio lovers out there, below is an mp3 version of our show….