Small Conference Game of the Day – December 8

The SCGD heads back to Morega, California tonight for a Big Sky versus West Coast matchup as the Eastern Washington Eagles take on the St. Mary’s Gaels (8:30PM Eastern, no TV).  The Gaels have been one of the top “under the radar” teams so far this season, as they quietly have gotten out to a 6-0 start including solid wins over good teams from Louisiana Tech, Akron, North Dakota State and Drake.  They do not yet have a marquee win over a power conference team, and they still have not left their home court, but this team has looked good in its six outings to date.

St. Mary’s will be hosting the Eagles of Eastern Washington tonight before finally heading out on the road next weekend with a trip to Boise State.  Eastern Washington enters the game at 5-2 on the season, though their best win to date was over Boston University (arguably the best team in the Patriot League this year).  They have dropped their only two true road games so far, at Wahsington and at UC-Irvine.  However, their solid start to the season so far has shown that this team may be able to contend in what looks like a fairly wide open battle for the Big Sky title this season (Weber State, Northern Colorado, Montana, and North Dakota are among others that should be in this race).  While the Big Sky is not likely to produce an at-large candidate this season, the performances so far this season of its top teams has the SCGD looking forward to the conference race…and unlike other conferences, there is a ton to win in the regular season.  Only the top 7 of the 11 Big Sky members will even qualify for its conference tournament, and the top seed will host the championship and get a bye into the semifinals.  Eastern Wahsington can make a huge statement tonight that they will be a force to contend with if they can pull off the upset victory over the Gaels.

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Highlighted Games for Saturday, Dec. 7th

SPOTLIGHT GAMES

 

-UCLA AT MISSOURI.  Both are unbeaten, and although they’ve played some teams that are semi-decent, this is the toughest game for both teams up to this point.

 

-MARQUETTE AT WISCONSIN.  Wiscy has the better wins, is at home, and appears to be the better team.  Still, this is a rivalry game, and a win like this could be the boost that Marquette needs both on and off paper to jumpstart their season.

 

-KANSAS AT COLORADO.  Colorado appears to be getting better and better as the season progresses.  They’re coming off a rivalry win at Colorado State, and their fans should be jacked for this one.  Kansas is very good, and it will be interesting to see what they do in a true road game against a good team.

 

-CINCINNATI AT NEW MEXICO.  This is the first real test for the Bearcats.  I think they’re a top 25 caliber team, and if they win today they’ll certainly prove that to be the case.

 

 

 

OTHER HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

 

-LA SALLE AT STONY BROOK.  This is the kind of game La Salle needs to win if they have any hope of getting back into the at-large discussion.

 

-TEXAS AT TEMPLE.  Texas hasn’t always looked impressive, but a win does get them to 8-1.

 

-LOUISIANA LAFAYETTE AT LOUISVILLE.  Louisiana Lafayette has just two losses on the year, but is likely overmatched today.  Still, if they could pull off the win, it would land them on the national stage.

 

-NORTH DAKOTA STATE AT BRYANT.  Neither team is likely to get an at-large, but both are among the better teams in their conferences.

 

-HARVARD AT BOSTON U.  Interesting crosstown rivalry game here between a Harvard team that appears to be solid, and a Boston U team that only has two losses.  This should be a fun one.

 

-BYU AT UMASS.  Both teams look like solid tournament teams, so it’s a chance for both to add another quality win to their profile.

 

-FORDHAM AT SAINT JOHN’S.  Both teams have just two losses and could use a win in this one.

 

-CLEMSON AT ARKANSAS.  Both teams have good records, but they need notable wins.  I don’t think either has managed a win as good as this one would be up to this point.

 

-RICHMOND AT WAKE FOREST.  Both teams have looked good at times and have decent records, but both need good wins.

 

-EASTERN MICHIGAN AT PURDUE.  Purdue seems to be improving, but they have a tall order today from an EMU team whose only losses have come to Kentucky and UMass, and they looked good in those games.  Purdue is the better team, but they’ll be in trouble if they overlook them.

 

-BRADLEY AT MILWAUKEE.  A win for Milwaukee gets them to 9-2.  No one was all that big on them prior to the start of the year, but they’ve looked good so far.

 

-DELAWARE AT NOTRE DAME.  The Irish need this one, and they better not overlook Delaware because they’re one of those teams that’s good enough to beat teams that overlook them.

 

-VIRGINIA AT GREEN BAY.  Virginia is walking in to a bit of a snake pit.  UWGB may be a bubble caliber team, and they don’t lose often at home.  They took Wisconsin to the wall earlier this year, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they beat UVA Today.

 

-UNLV AT ARIZONA.  I think Zona is the best team in the country right now and they’ll likely have little trouble against a UNLV team that has struggled.

 

-VILLANOVA AT SAINT JOSEPH’S (Big Five).  Villanova is off to an incredible start.  Saint Joe’s has looked good at times, but still appears to be overmatched.  Then again, this is a very bitter rivalry, so you just never know.

 

-NORTH DAKOTA AT BUTLER.  North Dakota is off to a slow 2-4 start, but will likely make quite a bit of noise in the Big Sky.  Butler has struggled in most of their games, but did look good against Oklahoma State and LSU.  The problem is they didn’t win either of them and currently have no good wins on their profile, so this loss would be damaging.

 

-UAB AT NORTHEASTERN.  UAB is coming off a notable win against North Carolina, but this is a huge trap game.  Northeastern is 2-6, but they’ve played a tough schedule and have hung in with some good teams.  One of their two wins was over Georgetown, so UAB cannot afford to overlook them.

 

-DAYTON AT ILLINOIS STATE.  This is another chance for Dayton to pick up a true road win, which is something they’ve always struggled to do in the past.

 

-SAINT LOUIS AT VALPO.  SLU is a good team, but they need some notable wins.  Valpo isn’t great, but they are pretty good at home and it’s a win SLU would get some credit for.

 

-IOWA VS DRAKE.  Drake has just one loss, but this is by far their toughest test.  It’s also an in state rival, so the game means a lot to them both on and off paper.  Iowa has looked good this season, but could still use another decent out of conference win.

 

-PACIFIC AT UTAH STATE.  Both teams have looked good this year, and each has just one loss, so it’s a chance for both to pick up a quality win.

 

-NEW MEXICO STATE AT GONZAGA.  New Mexico State is a good team who desperately needs quality wins out of conference, but I don’t think they’re quite good enough to pull this one off.

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Under the Radar 12/6

This week, we talk about the inconsistency of the teams atop Conference USA, particularly how Charlotte and UAB have managed to earn some big wins, but at the same time have bad losses on their profiles that offset those.

We also focus on George Washington, which is another Atlantic Ten team with just one loss who also has a big win on their profile.

Drake and Missouri State are off to quick starts out of the Missouri Valley, and we talk about the high level of importance for Drake’s upcoming game against Iowa.

UC Santa Barbara out of the Big West is a team who has played well against some strong competition, but hasn’t quite pulled off a big win. We talk about the importance of some of their upcoming games.

All that, and much more.

Also, be sure and check out Chad’s SCGD for today and tomorrow

https://hoopshd.com/2013/12/06/small-conference-games-of-the-day-december-8-and-9/

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Small Conference Game(s) of the Day – December 8 and 9

The SCGD is back!  Apologies for a week or so of downtime, as a few things in the world outside of college hoops has prevented any entries.  But we are back again with a pair of games tonight and tomorrow night — games from the Lumberjack E-Tech Classic.  This of course brings up the question, “What the heck is the Lumberjack E-Tech Classic???”

Stephen F. Austin (the Lumberjacks) is hosting a four team, four game event today and tomorrow down in Nacogdoches, Texas.  The Lumberjacks will play the late game on both days, hosting James Madison at 9:00PM Eastern tonight and Towson at 9:00PM Saturday night.  The early games each night (6:30 PM) involve Sam Houston State, playing Towson tonight and James Madison tomorrow night.  Saturday’s double header will be televised regionally by Comcast Sportsnet.

Stephen F. Austin is off to a 6-2 start on the season, though their best win so far was at Marshall.  They suffered a 10 point loss at Texas and an 8 point loss at East Tennessee State.  However, they should be one of the top teams in the Southland Conference this season.  Their conference mate, Sam Houston State, is coming off a pretty bad loss to Liberty, but is 5-3 on the year with their other two losses being to Texas A&M and SMU.  However, any win picked up in this event will be their best of the season to date.

The two road teams for this event are James Madison and Towson.  JMU has struggled to a 2-6 start to the season, including an 81-49 drubbing by a fairly mediocre Valparaiso team.  Not much was expected from the Dukes this season, and so far they are living up to that lack of expectations.  Towson, on the other hand, is a solid 6-2 to date with their only losses coming to Villanova and Kansas, albeit both games being blowouts.  They have already scored a solid win over Temple and Pat Skerry’s team could do nothing but help their cause if they can sweep the two games in this weekend’s event against a pair of the top Southland teams.  After a quick trip home to play a non-D1 opponent after this event, Towson has an upcoming road trip to Oregon State and North Dakota State–two games that will go a long way into showing just how good this team is.

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HoopsHD Under Eight podcast – 12/4/13

HHDpodsThe Under Eight podcast is our midweek check of game results from college basketball, as well as a preview of the upcoming weekend of hoops. This week, we check out the action from the ACC-Big Ten challenge, and talk at length about several teams, including commentary on North Carolina, Indiana, Notre Dame, Iowa, and Ohio State. We also talked about the upcoming matchups this weekend, including Kentucky-Baylor and others.

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Highlighted Games for Wednesday, Dec. 4th

-NORTH CAROLINA AT MICHIGAN STATE (Big Ten vs ACC Challenge). The last time UNC played a top five team, they looked fantastic. They’re coming off a game where they looked far less than fantastic, though. Michigan State has had their struggles at home, but I don’t think they’re going to sleep walk through this one.

-NEW MEXICO AT NEW MEXICO STATE. This is a rivalry game that has quite a bit of meaning on paper as well. Both teams really need notable wins. It’s usually a fun one, and should be again tonight.

-MARYLAND AT OHIO STATE (Big Ten vs ACC Challenge). Maryland needs a big win if they’re going to be taken seriously. Chances are they’re overmatched today, and will be overmatched whenever they play someone who would qualify as a big win. Ohio State already has a win at Marquette and is off to a great start.

-WISCONSIN AT VIRGINIA (Big Ten vs ACC Challenge). Virginia’s only loss on the year was a close one to VCU, but they seem to have fallen off the radar somewhat. They are facing a very good Wisconsin team today at home, and it’s a good chance for them to add a big win to their profile.

-RUTGERS AT GEORGE WASHINGTON. GW is off to a 6-1 start with a notable win over Creighton. They’ll continue to be in good shape if they can pull this one out today.

-SOUTH FLORIDA AT GEORGE MASON. I don’t think we’ll be talking about either of these two at the end, but for now their records are good.

-DAVIDSON AT CHARLOTTE. This appears to be a mismatch, but it is a rivalry game. Davidson is off to a disappointing 2-5 start whereas Charlotte has just one loss (albeit a bad one), and has a notable win against Michigan down in Puerto Rico. A win gets them to 7-1 and keeps them solidly in the picture.

-BUCKNELL AT KENT STATE. They’ve played a weak schedule, but a win for Kent does get them to 9-1.

-HARVARD AT NORTHEASTERN. Northeastern is 2-5, but they’ve played a tough schedule and have played well in those games. Harvard needs to be on upset alert.

-RICHMOND AT WILLIAM & MARY. If Richmond takes care of business they should pick up a road win and improve to 7-2.

-CLEVELAND STATE AT DREXEL. This is actually Drexel’s home opener. They have close losses to UCLA and Arizona, and have played pretty well overall. Cleveland State has looked good at times as well. Drexel can make the NCAAs, but they have a thin margin for error.

-LOUISIANA LAFAYETTE AT LOUISIANA TECH. LA Tech has won six straight since losing their opener at Saint Mary’s, and should make it seven tonight.

-PENN AT VILLANOVA (Big Five). A win for Nova gets them to a very impressive 8-0.

-SAINT JOSEPH’S AT TEMPLE (Big Five). Saint Joseph’s is off to an okay start at 4-2, but needs to start racking up wins if they want to be taken seriously.

-MOREHEAD STATE AT SOUTHERN MISS. Southern Miss’s only loss is a blowout at Louisville. They’re at home tonight against a semi-decent Morehead team.

-MIAMI FL AT NEBRASKA (Big Ten vs ACC Challenge). Both teams need notable wins.

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