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PUPPET RAMBLINGS
-We said going into the week that at least one team that was way outside the national scene would jump on to it by doing well in an exempt tournament, and although we’re just one game into it, Butler appears to be that team. They are currently not receiving votes in either poll, but suddenly have a decisive win away from home against a top five North Carolina team, and have another game today against a pretty good Oklahoma team. If they can pick up just one more win, they’ll be in great shape.
-Arizona got a big win against a very good San Diego State team last night to win the Maui Invitational. San Diego State is ranked #15, but I think they’re even better than that and will end up being ranked higher than that by the end of the year. As good as everyone thinks this win is for Arizona, it’s probably going to end up being even better. San Diego State isn’t going to lose many, and Arizona beat them on a neutral floor.
-Indiana fell to Eastern Washington the other night. People are calling it an upset, and it is, but not to the degree it’s being made out to be. Eastern Washington is one of the best teams, if not the best, in the Big Sky. It shouldn’t be a surprise that they’re able to go on the road and beat an Indiana team that most of us were expecting to miss the NIT.
-Northern Iowa has blasted through the Cancun Challenge, and knocked off Northwestern and Virginia Tech in the process. Those aren’t upsets either. In fact, had Northern Iowa lost either of those games, it would have been an upset.
-I make mention of this below, but it is important to remember that to the selection committee, all of these bracketed exempt tournament games are merely looked at as neutral floor games. UCLA is playing North Carolina. It’s in the loser’s bracket, but nothing on either team’s profile will indicate that they played each other in the loser’s bracket. It is merely two teams that are currently ranked that are playing each other on a neutral floor.
-I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!! I’ll be eating KFC, drinking Wild Turkey, and watching college hoops all day!! Who could ask for a better day!!
HIGHLIGHTED MATCH-UPS
-SANTA CLARA VS TENNESSEE (Orlando Classic). I’m not sure what to make of this Tennessee team yet, but we’ll learn a lot about them in this tournament.
-BUTLER VS OKLAHOMA (Battle 4 Atlantis). This is the match-up that most were expecting to see in the loser’s bracket. Both teams managed big wins against ranked teams, and have a shot at another big win today.
-KANSAS VS RHODE ISLAND (Orlando Classic). I like this Rhody team, and they come in unbeaten, but they’ve got a very tall order today. Having said that, these are the kinds of wins that solidify teams as tournament teams.
-PRINCETON VS UTEP (Wooden Legacy). UTEP comes in at 2-0, and if they can pick up three wins away from home in this tournament it will go a long way toward landing them inside the bubble.
-GEORGETOWN VS WISCONSIN (Battle 4 Atlantis). Both teams are unbeaten and already have some notable wins on their profile.
-SAN DIEGO VS XAVIER (Wooden Legacy). Xavier is unbeaten, and has looked impressive against Murray State and SFA, who are both pretty good. This is their first game away from home, and it comes against a USD team with a lot of experience.
-ILLINOIS VS INDIANA STATE (Las Vegas Invitational). Illinois is unbeaten, and Indiana State has just one loss. We weren’t that big on Indiana State coming into the year, but if they can pull off a win in a game like this it will really boost their profile.
-MICHIGAN STATE VS RIDER (Orlando Classic). Michigan State shouldn’t have too much trouble.
-NORTH CAROLINA VS UCLA (Battle 4 Atlantis). You know you haven an intriguing tournament when you have two ranked teams going at it in the loser’s bracket. The thing to remember is that to the selection committee, this is nothing more than a neutral site game. The fact that it is occurring in the loser’s bracket of a tournament does not make it any less meaningful. It’s the same as if they were meeting in a regular season game that was not part of a tournament.
-MARQUETTE VS GEORGIA TECH (Orlando Classic). Marquette has looked pitiful this year. Georgia Tech, on the other hand, comes in at 3-0.
-LONG BEACH STATE VS WESTERN MICHIGAN (Wooden Legacy). Long Beach has played a killer schedule and comes in at 2-3. We weren’t too excited about Western Michigan, but they do come in at 3-1 and if they can do well in this tournament and pick up some notable wins away from home they could start to stand out.
-FLORIDA VS UAB (Battle 4 Atlantis). Florida lost a thriller to Georgetown, and UAB was squashed by Wisconsin in the first game.
-SAN JOSE STATE VS WASHINGTON (Wooden Legacy). Washington comes in at 3-0.
-BAYLOR VS MEMPHIS (Las Vegas Invitational). We weren’t that high on Baylor, but they do come into this 4-0. Memphis is just 1-1 and hasn’t looked that great this year.
Highlighted Games for Friday, Nov 28th
-TENNESSEE VS KANSAS (Orlando Classic). Kansas has looked like the better team, but it’s a chance for Tennessee to get a huge OOC win.
-BUTLER VS GEORGETOWN (Battle 4 Atlantis). These teams are in the same conference, but this is not a conference game. Butler looked impressive on Wednesday, but sluggish yesterday against Oklahoma. Georgetown played great in a losing effort against Wisconsin. These teams will see each other again, and this should be a quality win for whoever pulls it off.
-SANTA CLARA VS RHODE ISLAND (Orlando Classic). Rhode Island was run off the floor by Kansas and needs to rebound by getting this win today.
-UTEP VS XAVIER (Wooden Legacy). Both teams come into this game undefeated, and Xavier has looked really good in some of their games this season.
-JAMES MADISON AT OHIO STATE. This is technically a buy game that Ohio State should win, but at 4-1 James Madison shouldn’t be a complete pushover.
-PENN STATE AT BUCKNELL. I don’t think Penn State is good enough to make the NCAA Tournament, but for now a win improves them to 6-1.
-YALE AT PROVIDENCE. Yale has just one loss and has played pretty well, and Providence is undefeated and has looked very strong as well. A win for the Friars gets them to 6-0.
-OKLAHOMA VS WISCONSIN (Battle 4 Atlantis). With the exception of the second half at Creighton, Oklahoma has looked very impressive this year. Wisky has looked even better. They’re ranked #2, and I think they’re well deserving of it. It’s a neutral floor game between two teams who should safely make the field.
-MINNESOTA VS GEORGIA (PRESEASON NIT). Both teams come in at 3-2 and need some notable wins away from home.
-SFA VS AUSTIN PEAY (Las Vegas Invitational). Essentially SFA is out of strikes and probably needs to win out, which they should be able to do, just to get into the NCAA Tournament conversation.
-MIDDLE TENNESSEE VS CINCINNATI (Emerald Coast Classic). Cincinnati comes in unbeaten, but also untested. Middle comes in with just one loss, but no real quality wins.
-CHARLESTON SOUTHERN AT FLORIDA STATE. Again, this is a buy game, but Charleston Southern has just one loss and already has one win against a power conference team, and Florida State has really struggled so far.
-SAINT JOHN’S VS GONZAGA (Preseason NIT). This game is at MSG, which is where Saint John’s plays most of their home games, so don’t be surprised if the committee treats this as a true road game for Gonzaga. Josh Perkins is out with a broken jaw, but even without him Gonzaga appears to be the superior team. Both come in unbeaten, but Gonzaga has looked a lot better.
-HOLY CROSS AT SYRACUSE. Holy Cross comes in unbeaten and already has a big win on their profile against Harvard. It’s a very tall order, but if they could pull off a win in this one they’re suddenly very far inside the bubble.
-HIGH POINT AT CLEMSON. Clemson already has two losses to Big South teams. High Point comes in at 4-1 on the year. Clemson better be ready.
-BOISE STATE AT NC STATE. NC State hasn’t lost yet, and Boise has just one loss, and some decent (albeit not great) wins on their profile, so both come in with a lot of momentum.
-VANDERBILT AT RUTGERS. It’s Vandy’s first true road game, but a win gets them to 5-0.
-BRADLEY VS TCU (Corpus Christi Coastal Classic). This won’t last, but TCU does come in at 5-0.
-NORTH CAROLINA VS FLORIDA (Battle 4 Atlantis). This is the fifth place game, but that doesn’t matter. It’s two ranked teams playing on a neutral floor. Neither has looked particularly strong in this tournament, but whoever pulls this off will leave with a quality win.
-MEMPHIS VS INDIANA STATE (Las Vegas Invitational). Memphis was run off the floor in the second half against Baylor last night, and is looking less and less like an NCAA team.
-OLE MISS VS CREIGHTON (Emerald Coast Classic). We’re not that excited about Ole Miss, but they have just one loss and if they can knock off a ranked Creighton team it will pivot their season big time toward them looking good.
-MICHIGAN STATE VS MARQUETTE (Orlando Classic). Marquette’s only good game this year was last night’s win against a pretty decent (at least so far) Georgia TEch team. Tonight is a much taller order.
-LA SALLE VS VIRGINIA (Barclay’s Center Classic). Both teams come in unbeaten, but Virginia clearly appears to be the superior team. Still, it’s a chance for La Salle to get a huge statement win if they can pull the upset.
-MISSISSIPPI STATE VS SAINT LOUIS (Corpus Christi Coastal Classic). I’m not really that big on either team, but both come in with good records.
-UCLA VS UAB (Battle 4 Atlantis). UCLA hasn’t looked good at all in this tournament, and although they played Florida close the other night, UAB really hasn’t either. The winner puts a neutral floor win on their profile and at least goes home with some momentum.
-BAYLOR VS ILLINOIS (Las Vegas Invitiational). Both teams come in unbeaten, and I think both are better than what we were expecting coming into the year, so this should be a good game, and a quality win for whoever pulls it off. Don’t be surprised if we see both of these teams safely in the field.
LONG BEACH STATE VS WASHINGTON (Wooden Legacy). Washington comes in at 4-0, and although Long Beach has three losses, they’ve played a killer schedule and have looked pretty good. Don’t be surprised if the Beach pulls this off.
-SAMFORD AT LOUISIANA TECH. A win for LA Tech gets them to 5-1.
-SOUTH ALABAMA AT MIAMI FL. Buy game.
-MONMOUTH AT MARYLAND. Buy game
-UT MARTIN AT NEBRASKA. Buy game.
-NORTH TEXAS AT ARKANSAS. This is a buy game, but North Texas does come in at 4-1.
-UNC GREENSBORO AT INDIANA. Buy game.
-PACIFIC AT COLORADO STATE. They haven’t really been tested, but a win for Colorado State gets them to 5-0
-NORTH DAKOTA AT UTAH. Buy game.