Highlighted Games for Saturday, November 22, 2014

Posted on November 22, 2014 by Chad

With David away for the day, I have agreed to post his Highlighted Games, with a few additions by yours truly:

-NOTRE DAME V UMASS.  Both are both unbeaten, though this will be the toughest test yet for both teams
-Utah State and Mississippi State – Neither are expected to do much, but both are currently unbeaten.
-NORTH CAROLINA V DAVIDSON.  Game is in Charlotte.  Both are unbeaten.  Davidson has had some really good teams in the past, but doesn’t appear to be quite as strong this year.
-OMAHA (transitional) AT MARQUETTE.  Marquette should win this game easily, but if they don’t, they’re probably not a relevant team.  (Chad’s note: I think this will be a lot tougher game for Marquette than David does)
-FLORIDA STATE V PROVIDENCE.  Providence isn’t a team that’s gotten much attention.  Florida State has, but they already have a home loss to Northeastern on their profile.  Both these teams could use a notable win on their profile at this point.
-YALE AT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS.  A team that should do well in the Ivy League visits an up and coming MVC team.
-NEBRASKA AT RHODE ISLAND.  Both teams are unbeaten, and both are unproven.  Nebraska is in the rankings, but they haven’t played away from home or against anybody good.  This could be a big win for URI’s profile.
-AMERICAN AT LOUISIANA TECH.  American is the preseason favorite to win the Patriot, and LA Tech is who we thought would win CUSA.  Both have been disappointing early on, but both have a ton of potential.
-MISSOURI STATE AT TEXAS TECH.  Missouri State hasn’t lost.  Texas Tech has played well throughout the course of games, but have still had plays not go their way.  This is a pivotal game for both teams at this point in the year.
-NORTHEASTERN AT NAVY.  A win for Northeastern keeps them unbeaten and inside the bubble.   Winning at Navy is never easy (just ask Michigan State).  This game is a semifinal in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Springfield Bracket, with Manhattan vs Binghamton as the other two teams.
-NEW MEXICO STATE AT UTEP.  The preseason WAC favorite visits an NCAA Tournament caliber team.
-BOISE STATE AT WISCONSIN.  Boise has played well away from home and hasn’t lost.  They could easily end up inside the bubble by the time the year is over.  Tonight, they take on a #1 seed candidate on the road.
– ELON at NORTHWESTERN: Northwestern barely got by North Florida the other day.  They need to play a lot better.
– UNLV vs TEMPLE: The Consolation game of Coaches vs Cancer, Vegas really needs to bounce back from a drubbing last night at the hands of Stanford.
– STANFORD vs DUKE: The Championship game of Coaches vs Cancer.  Duke is looking for another high profile win.  Stanford would make a huge jump up into the national rankings if they pull this one out after what they did to UNLV last night.
– Clemson vs Nevada and LSU vs Weber State: The consolation semifinals of the Paradise Jam (the winner’s bracket semifinals are Sunday).  These are probably the two games most people would have picked for the other side of the bracket as Gardner-Webb, Illinois State and Old Dominion all pulled off upsets yesterday.  LSU was a team we thought could be in the tournament discussion by the end of the year, but they cannot afford another loss in the Virgin Islands if they want to actually be there.
–  Cal State-Northridge vs Samford and UMKC vs Arkansas-Little Rock: These two games are being played in Little Rock as a four team tournament that is part of the Maui Invitational (called Maui on the Mainland).  UMKC has played very well so far this year and while no win here would be overly notable, if they win this event they may prove that they are legitimate contenders in the WAC.
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Exempt Tourneys and Other Highlighted Games: Friday, Nov 21st

Posted on November 21, 2014 by David Griggs

For our most recent Under the Radar Podcast – CLICK HERE TO WATCH

 

EXEMPT TOURNAMENTS

-PUERTO RICO TIP-OFF.  A big game in the semifinals between Dayton and UConn.  It should be a quality neutral floor win for whoever picks it up.  Boston College, who I didn’t think would be good this year but who has a chance to prove me wrong today, goes up against what I think is a quality West Virginia team in the other game.

-CHARLESTON CLASSIC.  Akron v Miami FL is a huge game this afternoon.  Miami proved they were a strong team with their win at Florida, and we really like this Akron team as well.  The thing about Akron is that like a lot of teams that aren’t in major conferences, they have limited chances at quality wins, so this is a huge opportunity for them today.  Charlotte, who we weren’t that big on but is off to a 2-0 start, faces South Carolina in the other semifinal game.

-PARADISE JAM.  Nevada v Seton Hall, and LSU v Old Dominion square off today.  All four teams come in unbeaten.

-LEGENDS CLASSIC.  Toledo, who played a very good game against VCU earlier this week, matches up against Oregon.  They need notable wins so, this is big for them.

-MEN AGAINST BREAST CANCER CLASSIC.  This event gets highlighted based simply on it’s name.  “Men,” “Breast Cancer,” “Classic.”  It’s just….an interesting name.  A really weak UIC team will face Yale, who should be decent in the Ivy league.  Southern Illinois takes on 2-0 Kent State in the other game.

-2K CLASSIC.  Syracuse was beaten handily by California last night, and Iowa fell to Texas.  Syracuse has not looked that good and could really use a win on a neutral floor, as can Iowa.  It’s the third place game, but there seems to be a bigger sense of desperation in that one.  Texas and Cal will square off for the championship.

-COACHES VS CANCER CLASSIC.  UNLV faces off against Stanford.  You get the sense that both these teams will be in the NCAA picture, and a win is a good way to boost the profile early.  Duke and Temple face off in the other game.  Temple beat what we believe to be a good Louisiana Tech team earlier in the week, so it’ll be interesting to see what they can do tonight.

 

OTHER HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-GEORGE WASHINGTON AT VIRGINIA.  Both teams come in unbeaten.  We know Virginia is good.  This is our chance to see what GW is made of as they go on the road and face a quality opponent.

-IPFW AT GEORGIA TECH.  The consensus isn’t that high on this IPFW team, but I like them as much as anyone else in the Summit, and they come into this game 2-0.  I’m not that big on Georgia Tech (at least not by ACC standards), but  they’ve won both their games.

-SFA AT XAVIER.  SFA is a good team with limited opportunities, so this is a hugely important game for them tonight.

-MARSHALL AT LOUISVILLE.  Not that big on Marshall, but they come in unbeaten with a chance to prove themselves.

-ORAL ROBERTS AT OREGON STATE.  Our favorite to win the Summit League travels to unbeaten Oregon State.

-GEORGIA STATE AT COLORADO STATE.  We like this Georgia State team, but they have limited chances and need to pick this one up on the road against currently unbeaten Colorado State.

-PITTSBURGH AT HAWAI’I.  Pitt is unbeaten, but this may be a somewhat difficult road test.  If they’re a tournament caliber team it’s the kind of game they should be expected to win.

 

BUY GAMES

-Boston U @ Kentucky.

-Prairie View A&M @ Baylor

-Milwaukee @ Oklahoma State

-Morehead State @ LA Tech.  LA Tech cannot afford to lose this one.

-Austin Peay @ Illinois

-UC Riverside @ Utah

-Delaware State @ Arkansas

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Under the Radar: Week 2 (Nov 21st)

Posted on November 21, 2014 by David Griggs

Chad and David look back at what was a very exciting and eventful first week of college basketball.  They also reveal their latest edition of their UTR Top Ten, and look ahead to all of the games coming up this week.

 

 

Also, the new Hoops HD Bracket Projections are up.  To see them, check out the BRACKETOLOGY PAGE HERE

 

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

 

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Highlighted Games for Thursday, Nov 20th

Posted on November 20, 2014 by David Griggs

For our Most Recent Video Podcast Where We Run Through The Exempt Tournaments:  CLICK HERE

EXEMPT TOURNAMENTS

-PUERTO RICO TIPOFF. Texas A&M is a team that seems to have gotten a lot of preseason love, and this tournament is a chance for them to break out.  They play Dayton today, and if they win they’ll likely get another quality opponent in UConn, who faces College of Charleston.  George Mason v West Virginia and New Mexico v Boston College make up the other side of the bracket.  The opening game between Texas A&M and Dayton is big because it’s a notable neutral court win for whoever pulls it off, and the chance to most likely face another quality opponent.

-CHARLESTON CLASSIC.  Akron opens against USC, and they’re a good team that could use some wins of note away from home, including a potential match up against a very good Miami FL team, who takes on Drexel in their first game.  Penn State v Charlotte and Cornell v South Carolina rounds out what appears to be a rather weak bottom part of the bracket.

 

OTHER ACTION

-TEXAS V IOWA (2K Classic).  I believe Texas is overrated at #10, but I still think they’re good and expect them to be able to beat Iowa tonight.  It’s a chance for a notable neutral floor win for both teams.

-SMU AT INDIANA.  SMU really struggled in their opener at Gonzaga.  This is a chance to see what they look like against a decent, but not great, team on the road.  If they’re a top 25 caliber team, this is the kind of game you’d expect them to be able to win.

-SYRACUSE V CALIFORNIA (2K Classic). Both teams could use a quality neutral floor win.

-WINTHROP AT SAVANNAH STATE.  This is pointed out simply because Winthrop can improve to 3-0 and they already have a road win against Clemson.

-SOUTHERN MISS AT ALABAMA.  It’s early, but both teams are unbeaten at 2-0.

-DENVER AT SAINT MARY’S.  Both teams are unbeaten, and both have potential

 

BUY GAMES

Detroit @ Michigan.  This is technically part of the Legends Classic, but it has all the appearances of a buy game.

-UMES @ VCU (Legends Classic)

-Navy @ Providence.  Providence can improve to 3-0

-Jacksonville @ NC State.  NC State can improve to 3-0

-Grambling State @ Purdue

-Fordham @ Maryland.

-Bucknell @ Villanova (Legends Classic).  Bucknell has a good program, but this year’s edition seems to be lacking.  Nova is a potential #1 seed.

-CSU Bakersfield @ San Diego State

-Nicholls State @ UCLA

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Exempt Tournament Madness

Posted on November 20, 2014 by David Griggs

On this special edition, Chad and David look at all the upcoming exempt tournaments.  We run down all of the teams in each field, and talk about who we think the favorites are, and which teams have the most to gain from playing in them.

 

And for all of you radio lovers, here is the audio only mp3 format below

 

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Ramblings and Highlighted Match-Ups: Wednesday, Nov 19th

Posted on November 19, 2014 by David Griggs

PUPPET RAMBLINGS

-I don’t want to read too much into this because I know we have a long way to go, but Kentucky looked so good against Kansas, that it appears as though the only way anyone will be able to beat them is if they have an off night.  They had twice as many blocks as they did turnovers, they defended as strongly as any team I can remember, and they did this against a very good top five caliber team.  Then again, like I said on Twitter, it’s possible that Kansas was simply looking past Kentucky and ahead to Rider.

-Gonzaga was extremely impressive in their game against SMU on Monday night.  They looked like a Final Four caliber team (albeit, they were at home), and they made SMU look like…..SMU.

-Miami FL got a huge road win at Florida, which will definitely impress the selection committee come March if Florida turns out to have the kind of season we’re expecting them to have.  Miami went from being questionable to now looking like a solid NCAA Tournament caliber team.  What is perhaps as impressive as anything was how they won.  They fell down by double digits, on the road, to Florida, in a hostile environment, but made adjustments and them fought back to get the victory.  It was VERY impressive.

-I think one of the most important games of the day was Northern Iowa’s win at SFA.  It was two legitimate top forty caliber teams, but both are somewhat under the radar, and both have limited opportunities at statement wins that will impress the committee.  So, with that in mind, it was hugely important for both teams.  It seesawed back and forth, both teams made great plays, and Northern Iowa ended up pulling it off.  It will likely be the only home game SFA loses this year.  I do believe that SFA needed the game a little more because they are at home, and because the Missouri Valley will at least give UNI the chance to pick up top 100 wins.  The Southland will likely provide SFA with very few top 200 RPI wins, none of which will do the least bit to impress the committee.  SFA has Xavier next, and Memphis and Baylor on the Horizon.  They need to win some of those.  After seeing them today, they may be good enough to actually win all three of those.

-Toledo, another team we feel is good enough to get an at-large, played a hell of a game at VCU, but came up just short.  We oftentimes see teams who need big wins go in and play with a lot of valor, but come up short.  That’s what Toledo did today.  It’s an up hill battle, and sometimes these teams that are outside the major conferences feel the pressure a lot more, but at the end of the day they need to do more than just play well to impress the selection committee.  They need to win a few of those.  Toledo will have a few more chances, but not many.  I hope they’re able to make their case because they are a good team and they did show that today.

-If you missed the Wichita State v Memphis game, don’t bother watching it.  Wichita won rather easily.  Memphis followed up their exhibition loss to Christian Brothers with a poor performance yesterday.

-Northeastern is unbeaten, and both wins have come away from home.  Tonight, they won at Florida State, which is one of the more impressive road wins that anyone has managed so far.  They have notable road games at UMass, Harvard and Richmond.  If they can pick up a couple of those, which they’re good enough to do, and avoid too many slip ups in conference, they may not need to win the conference tournament.  That’s why I always say that March starts in November.

-UMKC didn’t win at Kansas State the other night, but they played really well.  This wasn’t a team that we were excited about, but now that they’ve won at Missouri and put up a hell of a fight at Kansas State, they may be the best team in the WAC.  They’ve certainly looked better than New Mexico State so far.

-San Diego State picked up a big home win against their old conference rival Utah.  The game was a rock fight, with both teams playing tough defense and struggling on offense.

 

HIGHLIGHTED MATCH-UPS

-WRIGHT STATE AT BOWLING GREEN.  Neither team has lost yet.

-EVANSVILLE AT MIAMI OH.  Evansville, who is a dark horse that we believe to be pretty good, needs to be able to win games like this on the road.

-ARMY AT SAINT FRANCIS COLLEGE.  Army hasn’t lost yet, and has a real challenge on the road against the preseason NEC favorites.

-OHIO AT FGCU.  Neither team has lost

-LIBERTY AT VIRGINIA TECH.  Technically a buy game, and it isn’t likely that either team will be in the NCAA Tourney picture, but as of now neither team has lost.

-NJIT AT ALBANY.  NJIT, our adopted team, looks to pick up a road win and improve to 2-1 on the year

-OKLAHOMA AT CREIGHTON.  Neither team has lost.  Creighton has looked pretty good, but they’ve done it against weaker competition and it isn’t known for sure yet if they can compete against top twenty caliber teams with so many new players.  The Sooners are trying to pick up what they hope turns out to be a notable road win.

-ORAL ROBERTS AT MISSOURI.  ORU opened with a big win over rival Tulsa, and is trying to improve to 2-0 with another notable win.

-DELAWARE STATE AT NORTH TEXAS.  Both teams 2-0.

SANTA CLARA AT UTAH STATE.  Both teams 2-0.

-UC IRVINE AT ARIZONA.  Very intriguing game tonight with one of the best teams in the Big West taking on one of the best teams in the nation.  It’ll be interesting to see what UC Irvine can do against a heavyweight.

-GREEN BAY AT WISCONSIN.  Green Bay barely missed the tournament last year, and they have most of their players back.  They fell to Wisconsin last year after leading for most of the game, and are looking to get revenge.  If they can pull off this upset on the road, it would go a long way toward them getting an at-large.

-WAKE FOREST AT ARKANSAS.  Neither team has lost, and both are looking for a notable win.

-SAINT JOSEPH’S AT GONZAGA.  Gonzaga looked like a Final Four caliber team in their opener.  Saint Joe’s has struggled in their first two games, so it could get ugly.

 

BUY GAMES

Morehead State @ Cincinnati

Coppin State @ Notre Dame

LIU Brooklyn @ Saint John’s.  A win for the Johnnies will get them to 3-0

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