Small Conference Game of the Day – February 6

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Chad

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.

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Small Conference Game of the Day – February 5

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Chad

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.

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Highlighted Games for Tuesday, Feb. 4th

Posted on February 4, 2014 by David Griggs

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.

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Small Conference Game of the Day – February 4

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Chad

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.

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Bracket Racket – Feb 2 2014

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Johnny Basketball

HHDpodsOn this special pre-Super Bowl edition of the Bracket Racket, the crew breaks down some of the surprising games from the past week, including Ohio State-Wisconsin, Arizona finally losing, the overreaction to Syracuse-Duke, and the suddenly surging Texas Longhorns. We also discuss the upcoming games this week, and talk about the tournament implications of the lack of quality mid-major teams.

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Monday Morning Bracketology – February 3

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Chad

It is time for some more Monday Morning Bracketology.  Here is my projected bracket through games of February 2, plus some notes on this week’s field:

EAST REGION
Buffalo
(1) Syracuse vs (16) Davidson/Robert Morris
(8) Minnesota vs (9) George Washington

San Diego
(5) Ohio State vs (12) Tennessee
(4) Saint Louis vs (13) Stephen F. Austin

Raleigh
(6) Massachusetts vs (11) SMU
(3) Iowa vs (14) Georgia State

Buffalo
(7) Pittsburgh vs (10) Arizona State
(2) Villanova vs (15) American

MIDWEST REGION
St. Louis
(1) Wichita State vs (16) Southern/Coastal Carolina
(8) Memphis vs (9) Xavier

Orlando
(5) Iowa State vs (12) Colorado/Indiana
(4) Cincinnati vs (13) Ohio

San Antonio
(6) Oklahoma State vs (11) Southern Miss
(3) Creighton vs (14) UC-Santa Barbara

Milwaukee
(7) North Carolina vs (10) Providence
(2) Michigan State vs (15) Quinnipiac

WEST REGION
San Diego
(1) Arizona vs (16) Weber State
(8) Gonzaga vs (9) New Mexico

San Antonio
(5) Wisconsin vs (12) Stanford/Missouri
(4) Texas vs (13) North Dakota State

Raleigh
(6) Connecticut vs (11) Florida State
(3) Duke vs (14) Delaware

Spokane
(7) UCLA vs (10) Baylor
(2) San Diego State vs (15) North Carolina Central

SOUTH REGION
Orlando
(1) Florida vs (16) Stony Brook
(8) Kansas State vs (9) VCU

Spokane
(5) Kentucky vs (12) Harvard
(4) Virginia vs (13) Mercer

Milwaukee
(6) Oklahoma vs (11) Green Bay
(3) Michigan vs (14) New Mexico State

St. Louis
(7) Louisville vs (10) California
(2) Kansas vs (15) Belmont

National Semifinals: East vs Midwest, West vs South

Last four in: Stanford, Missouri, Colorado, Indiana
First four out: LSU, Richmond, Oregon, Dayton
Others considered: St. Joseph’s, Clemson, North Carolina State, Georgetown, Marquette, Nebraska, Louisiana Tech, BYU

A few notes about this week’s bracket:
The Big 12 and Big Ten lead the way with 7 bids each, followed by the ACC and Pac 12 with 6 teams apiece.  The American has 5, the A-10, Big East and SEC each have 4, and the Mountain West checks in as the only other multi-big league with 2.

There are lots of changes at the top of the bracket after this wild weekend, resulting in the Florida Gators taking the biggest jump, all the way to the #3 overall seed after they pounded Texas A&M.  The fourth 1 seed seems to be wide open, but at the moment I believe the committee would take an undefeated Wichita State team over the likes of Kansas, San Diego State, Villanova, Michigan State or Creighton.

While my field does have six Pac 12 teams in, only Arizona and UCLA are in safely.  California looks to be in decent shape after knocking off Arizona on Saturday, but they need to keep winning.  Arizona State, Stanford, and Colorado are all among the last teams that made it in.

Florida State continues to tumble down the bracket, moving from a solid single digit seed just a couple of weeks ago all the way down to an 11 seed this week.  If the Seminoles cannot pick things up soon, they may not be in the bracket at all next week.

Indiana snuck into the very last spot in my bracket after their huge win over Michigan on Sunday, knocking LSU down to the First Four out.  LSU has been playing pretty good recently and if they can have a solid week, odds are they will find a way in next time.  Oregon also appears to be ready to break out of its slump, but they are on the outside looking in at the moment.

Among the single bid teams, there are a few changes this week as well.  Ohio U takes over the lead in the MAC and is now my pick for that league’s lone bid.  Toledo’s extremely weak non-conference schedule has resulted in them not even being on my Under Consideration board.  Stephen F Austin is building a gaudy record against weak opposition and is now the highest rated team after the First Four at-large teams.  Finally, I am continuing to watch Georgia State.  This is a very good and dangerous Panthers team that is quickly rising up my board.  While they are not going to be at-large worthy if they stumble in the Sun Belt tournament, if they do get the league’s bid, whoever they draw better watch out (right now I have that as Iowa).

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