While the SCGD is taking the day off today, below find our latest Under the Radar podcast. We take a special look this week at the six “transitional” teams and discuss the high level of play that we have been seeing from all of them this year, especially compared to some transitional teams of the past. We then run through the single-bid conferences and discuss who we feel will win each one, and end with another edition of the Under the Radar Top ten lists.
On this week’s edition, we once again look at all the teams who we feel would make the field without needing to win their conference tournaments if the season ended today. Who will the #1 seeds be?? Will Wichita State get one, and do they deserve it?? Who’s on the bubble?? Who’s in?? Who’s out??
All that, and more
UC-Santa Barbara at Hawai’i, Midnight Eastern, OC Sports/bigwest.tv
The SCGD heads west tonight…as far west as we can go. The Big Island of Hawai’i is the sight for tonight’s featured game as two of the top teams in the Big West square off. The Rainbow Warriors enter tonight’s game at 4-3 in conference, one game behind the first place tie of UCSB, UC-Irvine and Long Beach State. However, their 15-6 overall record is the best in the conference and their ratings, especially their BPI, are among the conference’s leaders as well.
Hawai’i is welcoming in the team that looked, at one point, like it had a chance to completely dominate the big West this season. Bob Williams’ UCSB Gauchos made a huge non-conference statement early this season with a dominating road win at UNLV — a win that had them on our at-large radar for a while. Unfortunately, the Gauchos suffered some bad losses as well, including conference losses to Cal Poly and CS-Fullerton. A 20 point win over UC-Irvine last week, however, seems to have them back on track. Being able to win tonight’s game on the island would be an even bigger statement, and would set the Gauchos up as the team to beat, once again, as we move through February and into March.
OHIO U. at WESTERN MICHIGAN, 7:00 PM Eastern, No TV
Coming off their victory over Toledo this past weekend, the Ohio University Bobcats have taken over as the leaders in the MAC and are our current pick to represent the conference in the NCAA tournament. However, before losing to Ohio, Toledo’s lone conference loss had come in Kalamazoo, Michigan to Steve Hawkins’ Western Michigan Broncos. Tonight, the Bobcats begin their defense of first place in the conference standings with a trip of their own to Kalamazoo.
The Ohio Bobcats are currently 16-5 overall and 6-2 in conference, technically tied with Akron at the top of the East Division standings, and with the same 6-2 record as Toledo in the West. The Bobcats have been dominant on the road in the MAC recently, with 11 road wins in MAC play in their last 12 games. The program in fact is 21-4 in its last 25 MAC regular season games, one of the most dominant streaks in MAC history. The win over Toledo may very well have established the Bobcats as the team to beat. Junior forward Maurice Ndour has been leading the way recently for Ohio, averaging 24.5 points and 11.2 boards in last week’s two games.
Western Michigan enters tonight’s game in second place in the West Division, 5-3 in conference play and 12-8 overall. They feature the MAC’s leading scorer in David Brown, who is averaging 18.4 points per game. This will be the 125th all time matchup between these long-time rivals. Western Michigan trails the all-time series by 6 games, 59-65. They will be trying to narrow that gap by one tonight, while at the same time knocking off yet another MAC leader at home.
Check out Chad Sherwood’s SCGD here: https://hoopshd.com/2014/02/04/small-conference-game-of-the-day-february-4-2/
-KANSAS AT BAYLOR (Big Twelve). Baylor snapped out of a huge tailspin with a big win over the weekend, but they still have a lot of work to do and have a tall order tonight. Kansas has five losses, but because their schedule is so tough they could still end up with a #1 seed.
-OHIO STATE AT IOWA (Big Ten). Ohio State got a much needed quality road win over the weekend, and has another tough test tonight against a very good Iowa team.
-OLE MISS AT KENTUCKY (SEC). Ole Miss needs some big wins just to get onto the bubble, much less inside of it. Kentucky is coming off a nice win at Missouri, which was their biggest road win of the year so far.
-RUTGERS AT MEMPHIS (American). Memphis shouldn’t have too much trouble picking up another conference win at home.
-TEXAS AT TCU (Big Twelve). Texas could not be on more of a roll and TCU could not be on less of a roll.
-MARYLAND AT NORTH CAROLINA (ACC). Every game continues to have a pivotal feel for UNC. That’s what happens when you’re a schizophrenic team that’s on the bubble.
-GEORGIA TECH AT CLEMSON (ACC). I cannot get Clemson inside my bubble, but I cannot get them off of my board either. It’s still within arm’s reach, but they have to start stringing together wins against good teams. BTW, I’m well aware that Georgia Tech is not a good team.
-MISSOURI AT FLORIDA (SEC). Missouri has struggled on the road, but they did get a big win last week against Arkansas. Still, this is a very tall order against a Florida team that’s playing like a #1 seed right now.
-WAKE FOREST AT DUKE (ACC). Duke is coming off an exciting loss to Syracuse, but it was by no means a damaging loss. They shouldn’t have any trouble winning tonight if they play anywhere close to as well as they did over the weekend.
-WISCONSIN AT ILLINOIS (Big Ten). Both teams are in a tailspin, but Wisconsin is still in good shape overall. They need to come out of it, and a road win tonight would be a nice start.
CHATTANOOGA at EASTERN KENTUCKY, 7:00 PM Eastern, ovcsports.com
Non-conference games in February are a rarity, but that is exactly what we have tonight as the Chattanooga Mocs out of the Southern Conference travel to Richmond, Kentucky to take on the Eastern Kentucky Colonels. These two teams are among the leaders in their conferences with the visiting Mocs currently holding a half game lead over Davidson in the SoCon, while EKU is a game behind Belmont in the East Division of the OVC.
Chattanooga has been a breakout surprise so far this season in the Southern. The Mocs went 13-19 last year and were only picked to finish in the middle of the pack, at best. However, new head coach Will Wade, Shaka Smart’s former assistant at VCU, has brought the VCU style of play to the Scenic City and has his team on top of the league standings at 9-1, with their only conference loss having come at Davidson last week. They are led offensively by a player known only as Z. Mason. Z. is averaging 17.9 points and 10.8 rebounds per game in SoCon play and is definitely the player to watch tonight.
The host Eastern Kentucky Colonels continue to be among the leaders in the Ohio Valley, right behind Belmont in the East and West Division leader Murray State. They are 16-7 overall and 7-3 in league so far. EKU has only lost once at home so far this year, to Murray State. They are led offensively by Glenn Cosey who is averaging 19.1 points per game.
