The SCGD heads to Philadelphia tonight for an important battle in the Colonial Athletic Association. Towson was one of the more incredible stories last season, improving from a 1-31 record in 2012 to 18-13 last year under head coach Pat Skerry. This lead many people, yours truly included, to believe that they would win the CAA this year. At the moment, the Tigers stand at 10-6 overall and 1-0 in CAA play — a respectable record, though to date they have not played like the best team in the league. That can all change tonight if they can score the road win at Drexel.
Drexel enters tonight’s game at 9-6 overall and 1-1 in CAA play, having already lost a game at William & Mary. Nonconference wins over Rutgers, Alabama and Cleveland State had this team looking, at one point, as if it could run through conference play. As seems typical with the Dragons every season though, they have come back down to earth. With Towson, William & Mary and Delaware all right there in the rankings, this should be a fun and competitive conference season. And as seems to be the case every year in the CAA, the conference tournament could be wide open for anyone to take the league’s only bid.
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Tonight is the first “Big Monday” of the season, so the SCGD heads to Cedar City, Utah for a Big Sky matchup between the Lumberjacks of Northern Arizona and the Thunderbirds of Southern Utah. While many of our SCGD entries discuss teams battling for NCAA tournament bids — tonight’s game is probably more about a bid to the Big Sky tournament (only the top 7 of its 11 members get spots), and about a championship that only HoopsHD awards.
Every season the HoopsHD team gets together to award the Centenary Award – the award given to the worst team in Division 1. While defending “champion” Grambling is currently the leader for this title again (especially after Cornell got its first win of the season on Saturday), Southern Utah is on the radar as a very real threat to take the crown this season. SUU sits at 1-11 on the season, with their lone win being over non-D1 Southwestern Arizona. KenPom rates SUU at 350 of 351 teams. Their BPI is also 350. Southern Utah currently joins Grambling, Cornell and Lamar as the only teams in the country with only one win, though Lamar’s win was over a D1 foe, something the other three teams cannot boast. If the Thunderbirds fails to win again this season, they are poised and ready to take the Centenary, especially if Grambling is able to find a way to score another victory. Of course, winning a game like tonight’s would likely take SUU right out of contention.
Northern Arizona enters tonight’s game at 5-9 on the season and 2-1 in Big Sky play, including a win over a Montana team that has captured three of the conference’s last four postseason tournament championships. While the Lumberjacks are probably not going to challenge for the league title this season, a finish in the top half of the league standings is definitely possible. However to get there they will need to begin with wins in games like tonight.
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The Bracket Racket is back for another spin through the suburbs of college hoops. Galen and David two-man this edition, as we talk about the resumes of several teams, including Iowa, Ohio State, Colorado, Duke, most of the Big East and Big 12,
and half of the Atlantic 10. We also talk about the bottom of the bubble, the lack of distinction between teams, and the issues that several squads will likely have trying to differentiate themselves in the next two months. We also talk about the effects that the hand check/foul rules have had so far on the season, and preview some of the upcoming games this week.
-SMU AT LOUISVILLE (AAC). Louisville lacks big wins, but they have avoided losses to teams outside the NCAA Tournament picture. SMU, on the other hand, is trying to play their way into the picture, and a win today would go a long way.
-SOUTHERN MISS AT TULSA (Conference USA). A win for Southern Miss gets them to 15-2.
-IOWA AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten). Iowa has played really well against some big teams on the road this year, but has come up just short every time. A win in this one would do wonders for their profile.
-GREEN BAY AT MILWAUKEE (Horizon League). Green Bay is a long shot for an at-large, but they are a dangerous team from the Horizon and could really scare someone in the NCAAs if they win the automatic bid. They have one of their tougher tests today at Milwaukee. For more on that game, see here: https://hoopshd.com/2014/01/12/small-conference-game-of-the-day-january-12/
-COLORADO AT WASHINGTON (Pac Twelve). Washington hasn’t had a good season, but they’ve looked really good since conference play began. They face a Colorado team that had to sweat out a really weak Wazzu team earlier this week.
-XAVIER AT CREIGHTON (Big East). Xavier has looked good this year, but this is by far their toughest test so far. It’s a big game for both teams. Both are good, but both still have work to do.
-SAN DIEGO STATE AT AIR FORCE (Mountain West). SDSU has had a great year, and simply needs to take care of business and avoid a bad loss today.
-STANFORD AT OREGON (Pac Twelve). Oregon is coming off a somewhat surprising loss to Cal and is looking to rebound.
-AKRON AT OHIO (MAC). Neither team is likely to get an at-large, but they are two of the better teams in the MAC.
-UTAH AT WASHINGTON STATE (Pac Twelve). Utah has a good record, but their schedule was so weak that they still have a ton of work to do.
-ILLINOIS AT NORTHWESTERN (Big Ten). Illinois was clobbered earlier in the week, and needs to rebound from that and avoid another loss. Northwestern isn’t good, but they are capable of giving Illinois fits at home.
-MARYLAND AT FLORIDA STATE (ACC). Florida State has done a few good things, but they are a long way from being able to coast.
-ARIZONA AT USC (Pac Twelve). Arizona had a big win at UCLA earlier this week and should continue to cruise.
-ARIZONA STATE AT UCLA (Pac Twelve). Arizona State still has a lot of work to do, and UCLA’s resume could use some improving as well.
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Green Bay at Milwaukee, 2:00 PM Eastern, Time Warner SportsChannel – Wisconsin, live streaming at horizonleague.org
The SCGD heads to Wisconsin today for the first of this season’s two matchups in the Horizon league between the Milwaukee Panthers and the Green Bay Phoenix. Aside from the in-state rivalry between these two teams, they have also so far shown that they will be (perhaps along with Cleveland State) the top teams in the Horizon this season. This afternoon’s trip to Milwaukee may therefore be Green Bay’s toughest challenge left this season.
Green Bay enters today’s game at 12-3 overall including 2-0 in conference play. Their RPI is a solid 46, BPI 65 and KenPom 47. They have done that all against the #65 SOS in the country — all very solid numbers for a mid-major program. the Phoenix have a home win over Virginia and gave Wisconsin its toughest game of the season to date, losing 69-66. Green Bay is particularly dangerous given their inside-out game, with 7-1 Alec Brown down low and 5-11 Keifer Sykes outside leading the way. If they can roll through the Horizon, including finding a way to win today’s game, this team may get a very serious look for an at-large bid should they falter in their conference tournament.
Milwaukee, on the other hand, enters today’s contest at 12-5 overall, though their losses include Loyola-Chicago, DePaul and Northeastern. They were blown out by Wisconsin and have already lost once in league play, at home to Cleveland State. Their best rating right now is their RPI, and that is in the triple digits at 115. However, they should still be a tough challenge every night in Horizon League play, and when it comes to an in-state rivalry on their home floor, ratings and records should be thrown aside. Today’s game has the chance to be one of the better ones all season in the Horizon, and the SCGD will be watching!
-SAINT LOUIS AT DAYTON (Atlantic Ten). Great early game in the A10 today. Both teams are trying to play their way into the field. SLU has a good team, but their profile isn’t quite up to par yet and they could really use this win. Dayton has some good wins, but they need a strong showing in conference to feel safe.
-NORTH CAROLINA AT SYRACUSE (ACC). UNC has been schizophrenic all season long, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they played well today.
-IOWA STATE AT OKLAHOMA (Big Twelve). This would be a huge win at home for Oklahoma. Iowa State has looked fantastic, but they haven’t had many true road tests.
-WAKE FOREST AT PITTSBURGH (ACC). Pitt has just one loss, but did themselves no favors with a weak OOC, so they don’t have a huge margin for error. Wake had a big win against UNC last week, so if they can get this one we may have to start looking at them.
-INDIANA AT PENN STATE (Big Ten). Indiana needs this one.
-UMASS AT SAINT BONAVENTURE (Atlantic Ten). Saint Bona has won their last four and is a respectable 11-4 on the year. They’ll really have some momentum built up if they can pull this one off.
-VILLANOVA AT SAINT JOHON’S (Big East). Nova will likely be undermatched once again.
-FLORIDA AT ARKANSAS (SEC). I don’t think Arkansas is a tournament team because of how bad they are on the road, but they’re tough to beat at home so this will be a tough test for the Gators.
-BRADLEY AT INDIANA STATE (Missouri Valley). A win for Indiana State gets them to 13-3.
-TCU AT BAYLOR (Big Twelve). Baylor is coming off a loss, but shouldn’t have too much trouble bouncing back in this one.
-DUKE AT CLEMSON (ACC). Duke is still looking for their first true road win.
-KANSAS STATE AT KANSAS (Big Twelve). A huge rivalry game between two teams that we’re still trying to learn about. K State has won some big games, but are they up for the challenge in this one??
-MISSOURI AT AUBURN (SEC). Mizzou lost at home to a really bad Georgia team earlier in the week. IF they lose this one they’re really in trouble.
-DARTMOUTH AT HARVARD (Ivy League). Harvard is a potentially dangerous NCAA team, but they have to win the Ivy first.
-MINNESOTA AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten). I’ve been impressed with the Gophers this year and am curious to see what they can do in a very hostile environment against a good team.
-RHODE ISLAND AT GEORGE WASHINGTON (Atlantic Ten). GW cannot afford to lose this one.
-MEMPHIS AT TEMPLE (AAC). Memphis got a big win against Louisville earlier in the week and cannot afford a letdown today.
-KENTUCY AT VANDERBILT (SEC). Kentucky should be able to get this one on the road.
-OKLAHOMA STATE AT WEST VIRGINIA (Big Twelve). West Virginia isn’t the best team, but it’s never easy to go out there and win.
-OLE MISS AT MISSISSIPPI STATE (SEC). This is a conference rivalry between two teams who have a lot of work to do.
-VIRGINIA AT NC STATE (ACC). Again, a game between two teams that have a lot of work to do.
-RUTGERS AT CINCINNATI (AAC). Cincinnati has looked great over the past several weeks and shouldn’t have much trouble at home today.
-UAB AT MIDDLE TENNESSEE (Conference USA). If UAB can avoid bad losses and win the league out right they may be okay for an at-large, but anything short of that won’t be enough.
-TEXAS A&M AT TENNESSEE (SEC). Tennessee has a lot of work to do and cannot afford to lose this one.
-CENTRAL MICHIGAN AT TOLEDO (MAC). Toledo is pretty much out of strikes with their loss earlier this week. They basically need to win out.
-UCF AT UCONN (AAC). UConn is off to a terrible start and needs a conference win at home.
-CAL POLY AT UCSB. If UCSB can win out, which they’re good enough to do, I think they’ll be safe.
-GEORGETOWN AT BUTLER (Big East). Neither of these teams appear to have done enough and need a very strong showing in conference. Butler did themselves no favors losing to DePaul earlier in the week.
-WICHITA STATE AT MISSOURI STATE (Missouri Valley). This is one of Wichita’s toughest remaining tests. Missouri State has just three losses and will be jacked through the roof for this one.
-TEXAS TECH AT TEXAS (Big Twelve). Texas is running out of strikes.
-FIU AT LOUISIANA TECH (Conference USA). LA Tech needs to dominate the conference if they want an at-large.
-CALIFORNIA AT OREGON STATE (Pac Twelve). Cal got a big win earlier this week at Oregon and simply needs to avoid a letdown today.
-WYOMING AT BOISE STATE (Mountain West). Boise missed a chance to get that much needs signature win earlier this week. They have a very small margin for error now.
-NEW MEXICO AT SAN JOSE STATE (Mountain West). I still like this New Mexico team, but their margin for error is small.
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