Happy New Year 2015 to everyone out there from all of us here at HoopsHD!!
To start the New Year off, we get a chance to take a quick peek at one of our favorite non-Division I teams out there, Crowley’s Ridge College from Paragould, Arkansas. This tiny school with a student body of just over 300 traditionally plays one or two games against D1 opponents each season. Today, at 2:00 PM Eastern, they head to Martin, Tennessee to take on the Skyhawks of UT-Martin (free streaming at ovcsports.com).
UT-Martin enters today’s game at 7-5 overall. Like many small and mid-major schools, a majority of the Skyhawks’ games to date have been played on the road. While they have not beaten any top competition yet, 5 of their 7 wins have come away from home. Deville Smith and Twymond Howard are the two key players to keep an eye on for this team, both today and as they head into Ohio Valley Conference play starting next week.
While most teams that are not in Division I (or for that matter not even a member of the NCAA or NAIA) would be expected to be at a significant disadvantage against D1 competition, Crowley’s Ridge once again this season boasts a pair of huge players inside. 7 foot tall Skylor Guess and 6-11 Richard Forshee are a pair of monsters down low, though not much threat offensively. For that, keep an eye on Quinn Cooper and Roy Marshall. The Pioneers are looking to get their first ever win against a D1 opponent today, after coming up short the past couple of seasons as well as in a game earlier this year at New Orleans.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-BYU AT SANTA CLARA (West Coast). BYU is a good team, but they need to win the majority of their road games in league play if they want to end up inside the bubble.
-NORTHERN IOWA AT EVANSVILLE (Missouri Valley). Both these teams are really good. Northern Iowa is in the rankings, and is looking like a first ballot team. Evansville has a good record, but no hugely notable wins yet. Today’s conference opener is one of their biggest games of the year so far as they have a chance to beat a ranked team at home.
Bracket Racket: Dec 28th, News, Notes and Highlighted Match-ups
On tonight’s somewhat abbreviated version of the Bracket Racket, Chad and David look back at this past week’s action, particularly, Louisville v Kentucky and how sloppy of a game it was, the tremendous job George Washington did to win the Diamondhead Classic, and how Old Dominion has been overlooked and ignored. They also take a look ahead at this week’s upcoming games. All that, and much more. Also, see the bottom of this post for an mp3 version of the show.
NEWS AND NOTES
-It did not go final until after the recording of the Bracket Racket, but Stony Brook overcame a double digit deficit on the road against Washington, and came back to win 61-57. Washington had just four points in the last eight minutes of the game. It’s a huge win for the Stony Brook program, and it’s the kind of win that helps them avoid the #15 and #16 seeds if they were to make the NCAA Tournament, and give them a slightly more manageable and winnable first round game.
MONDAY’S HIGHLIGHTED ACTION
For CHAD SHERWOOD’S UTR game of the day – CLICK HERE
-TOLEDO AT DUKE. Toledo has a good team, but they’ve been sort of a disappointment this year. If they could pull off the upset tonight it could turn everything around for them. That being said, it’s not likely that they’ll beat one of the two best teams in the country on the road.
-SAN FRANCISCO AT SAINT MARY’S (West Coast). Saint Mary’s has a small margin for error. They need to avoid losses in games like this, and pick up a win or two against the likes of Gonzaga and BYU if they want to land inside the bubble.
-PORTLAND AT BYU (West Coast). Portland has a good record, but needs some notable wins if they want to get the attention of the committee. Winning this one on the road should do it.
-GONZAGA AT SAN DIEGO (West Coast). Gonzaga is coming off a big win at BYU, and shouldn’t have too much trouble picking up a second conference road win.
-UC IRVINE AT OREGON. It’s a buy game, and although this UC Irvine team has somewhat underachieved so far, they’re still really good. Oregon can’t just sleep walk and beat them.
-RICE AT TEXAS. Buy game.
-CLEVELAND STATE AT VCU. Buy game.
-SOUTHERN MISS AT LSU. Buy game. Southern Miss has had some good seasons recently, but they’ve struggled this year.
-TENNESSEE STATE AT TCU. Buy game.
-NORTH TEXAS AT TEXAS TECH. Buy game.
-ARKANSAS PINE BLUFF AT STANFORD. Buy game.
-SOUTHERN AT HAWAI’I. Buy game. Hawaii has been playing really well recently, though and at 10-4 they could be a force in the Big West once league play starts.