Dec. 16-22, 2019
2 feature games this week, so let's get to it.
12/16/19-
Clemson (Charles Johnson) @
Florida (Noah Oppenheimer) -- A heck of a game in this one, as Clemson shot the ball a lot better, but also committed a lot more fouls, leading to a lot more free throws for Florida. Those free throws proved to be the difference as the Gators get a tough home victory.
Final Score: Florida- 79, Clemson- 76
12/21/19-
UCLA (Tim Shepard) @
Michigan (Cillian Tribble) -- The Wolverines actually outplayed UCLA in certain aspects of this one, but had no answer for UCLA's 59.6% shooting. It's hard for any team to be beaten when shooting that well.
Final Score: UCLA- 84, Michigan- 72
Now to the rest of the weekly recap:
Hartford (David Ginsberg) -- 5-4, 0-0 America East.
12/18/19 vs. Army (W 73-65).
12/22/19 at Yale (L 79-59).
Another split for the Hawks, winning at home and losing on the road. They got a taste of what to expect in their home and home non-conference rivalry series against Yale, of which this game was not a part of.
ECU (Al Hutt) -- 4-5, 0-0 American.
12/17/19 at Gonzaga (L 72-70).
12/19/19 vs. South Carolina State (W 66-52).
A split for the Pirates. Give them all the credit in the world as they actually went into Gonzaga and outplayed them for most of the game, even leading by 5 at halftime. Just fell a little short.
Tulsa (Will Brown) -- 5-3, 0-0 American.
12/16/19 vs. Grambling (W 70-50).
12/18/19 vs. UMKC (W 84-57).
A good comeback week for the Golden Hurricane who get 2 solid victories. Granted, their 2 opponents this week have a combined record of 4-15, but hey, you gotta start somewhere to get on a roll.
Davidson (Randolph Childress) -- 4-4, 0-0 Atlantic 10.
12/16/19 at #15 Ohio State (W 77-68).
12/21/19 at N.C. State (L 78-73).
The Wildcats will take this road split, as they did so against 2 very good teams. That win at Ohio State could loom big in March.
Clemson (Charles Johnson) -- 4-4, 0-0 ACC.
12/16/19 at Florida- feature game, highlighted above.
12/20/19 vs. #25 South Carolina (W 92-84).
A pretty good week for the Tigers, who probably got robbed of a victory at Florida. They seem to be playing better ball right now.
#12 Duke (Dean Hoo) -- 9-2, 0-0 ACC.
12/19/19 at VCU (L 70-62).
1 game for the Blue Devils this week. No shame in losing to VCU, they are a good team that have worked their way into the SEC. However, they've lost some momentum going into the game against Kentucky.
Kansas (Dave Johnson) -- 6-3, 0-0 Big 12.
12/21/19 at Creighton (W 79-53).
The Jayhawks roll in their only game of the week, doing so against what was once a proud mid-major program. My how far Creighton has fallen.
TCU (Bee Mighty) -- 7-3, 0-0 Big 12.
12/17/19 at UTEP (W 100-87).
12/19/19 vs. Jackson State (W 82-74).
4 in a row for the Horned Frogs since the loss at Grand Canyon. Granted, the competition hasn't been overwhelming, although the win at UTEP could prove to be huge.
Michigan (Cillian Tribble) -- 2-8, 0-0 Big Ten.
12/18/19 vs. Radford (L 70-62).
12/21/19 vs. UCLA- feature game, highlighted above.
Ugh, it gets even rougher for the Wolverines, who lose at home to.. Radford? Coach Tribble might want to start filling out job applications, I fear his time in Ann Arbor may be over in a matter of months.
Michigan State (Al Mighty) -- 7-3, 0-0 Big Ten.
12/16/19 vs. Holy Cross (W 73-61).
12/21/19 vs. Illinois Chicago (W 96-67).
A couple easy wins for the Spartans who have now won 7 in a row. The Holy Cross win was win #100 of Coach Mighty's career. With that 100 win milestone, Coach Mighty now has the privilege of choosing a second team to have a non-conference rivalry series against. They've already chosen Notre Dame, who will be next?
Northwestern (Ess Vee) -- 6-4, 0-0 Big Ten.
12/20/19 vs. North Dakota (W 54-45).
The Wildcats win their only game of the week. They don't do it convincingly though, which might turn some heads.
Hawaii (B.B. Gunn) -- 5-4, 0-0 Big West.
12/16/19 at USC (W 65-54).
12/21/19 at Texas Tech (L 96-93, OT).
A split for the Warriors on the road against 2 opponents that could be good come March. I think they'll take it.
Charlotte (Timmy Tribble) -- 2-7, 0-0 Conference USA.
12/20/19 at Western Carolina (L 74-70).
Yikes! Things are not going well for the 49ers at all. It's a little different story losing to the likes of Georgetown and N.C. State, but Western Carolina? It's a good thing Coach Tribbles seat isn't too hot yet, because it probably will be at the end of this season.
Rice (Charlie Shocker) -- 4-5, 0-0 Conference USA.
12/16/19 vs. Houston Baptist (L 77-63).
12/18/19 at Stephen F. Austin (L 69-65).
12/22/19 at Ole Miss (W 60-55).
The Owls definitely played some head scratching games this week. They beat an SEC team in Ole Miss, at Ole Miss, but lose a home game to a brutal Houston Baptist team then lose to an almost as brutal Stephen F. Austin? Crazy!
Monmouth (Thomas Carrano) -- 5-5, 3-0 MAAC.
12/18/19 at Stony Brook (L 80-69).
12/20/19 vs. Mt. St. Mary's (L 80-57).
12/22/19 at Manhattan (W 86-72).
Give the Hawks credit, they are winning in the conference, so far. Granted, the 23 point home loss to a non-conference foe in the middle of conference play stings, and another road non-conference loss doesn't help, but if they can keep rolling along in conference, they'll be alright.
Norfolk State (Payten Carrano) -- 1-8, 0-0 MEAC.
12/17/19 at George Mason (L 73-69).
Much better effort for the Spartans tonight, but the result was still the same: a loss. That's 5 in a row as Coach Carrano begins to feel the pressure.
Colorado (Rob Nielsen) -- 2-9, 0-0 Pac 12.
No games this week for Coach Nielsen and the Buffaloes, who have had a hard week of practice to try and end this major funk they are in.
Stanford (Benito Sanchez) -- 5-4, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/18/19- Las Vegas Classic First Round vs. (16) New Hampshire (W 77-57).
12/20/19- Las Vegas Classic Quarterfinals vs. (9) Princeton (L 70-35).
Coach Sanchez got his 100th career victory with the win over New Hampshire, giving him the right to choose another non-conference rivalry series. He also chose Notre Dame for Stanford's first 1. As far as the Princeton game goes, I think the team was celebrating way too hard the night before because they didn't show up to play.
UCLA (Tim Shepard) -- 7-1, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/17/19 vs. Lafayette (W 86-78).
12/19/19 vs. Incarnate Word (W 82-43).
12/21/19 at Michigan- feature game, highlighted above.
Good week for the Bruins with 3 solid victories. The competition wasn't tough by any means (sorry Michigan), but winning 3 games in a week is pretty taxing anyways.
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- 6-3, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/18/19 vs. Utah State (W 54-46).
The Cougars just had 1 game this week, but they made the most of it getting a good win over a pretty strong Utah State team.
Alabama (Roy Rogers) -- 7-1, 0-0 SEC.
12/19/19 vs. Marshall (W 93-63).
1 game this week for the Crimson Tide, but they rolled over a Marshall team that has an RPI of 100. However, we'll find out more about them in the next couple weeks, as they go on a 3 game road trip against 3 tough non-conference opponents. 2 are ranked, the other 1 could be.
Florida (Noah Oppenheimer) -- 7-4, 0-0 SEC.
12/16/19 vs. Clemson- feature game, highlighted above.
12/21/19 at Wichita State (L 71-62).
Wichita State seems to want to be the FOFC killer. Last week it was Michigan, now Florida. Coach Oppenheimer is 3 wins away from career win #100.
#3 Kentucky (Patrick Hutt) -- 8-1, 0-0 SEC.
12/17/19 vs. Butler (W 65-56).
12/20/19 at Memphis (L 87-82).
A split for the Wildcats this week, as they fall short on the road against a Memphis team that is always tough. Hopefully this is just a small bump in the road, as they've got 1 more tune-up before the big showdown with Duke.
Troy (Brett Hawkins) -- 6-3, 1-1 Sun Belt.
12/19/19 vs. UL Monroe (L 72-66).
12/21/19 at Georgia Southern (W 80-57).
A split for the Trojans. When you're a struggling team, splits are nice, but Coach Hawkins will tell you that he wants 2 win weeks, not splits.
Here's a look at the national top 25 going into next week:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference
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1. North Carolina (68) 9-0 1796 1 Atlantic Coast Conference
2. Maryland (4) 9-0 1731 2 Big Ten Conference
3. Baylor 11-1 1655 4 Big 12 Conference
4. Indiana 8-0 1565 7 Big Ten Conference
5. Syracuse 7-0 1457 5 Atlantic Coast Conference
6. Vanderbilt 8-1 1351 6 Southeastern Conference
7. New Mexico 10-0 1348 9 Mountain West Conference
8. Kentucky 8-1 1297 3 Southeastern Conference
9. Iowa 5-1 1150 11 Big Ten Conference
10. Louisville 9-2 1147 14 Atlantic Coast Conference
11. Illinois 8-1 1146 10 Big Ten Conference
12. Iowa State 8-1 1042 8 Big 12 Conference
13. Texas 8-1 925 13 Big 12 Conference
14. Florida State 8-1 854 21 Atlantic Coast Conference
15. Nebraska 9-1 617 NR Big Ten Conference
16. Seton Hall 8-1 546 24 Big East Conference
17. Virginia 8-2 480 NR Atlantic Coast Conference
18. SMU 8-1 454 19 American Athletic Conference
19. UC Santa Barbara 8-1 392 NR Big West Conference
20. VCU 6-1 385 NR Southeastern Conference
21. Dayton 8-1 349 NR Atlantic 10 Conference
22. Wisconsin 8-2 348 NR Big Ten Conference
23. Connecticut 8-2 240 NR American Athletic Conference
24. Rutgers 8-1 231 NR Big Ten Conference
25. Alabama 7-1 167 NR Southeastern Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Niagara 11-1 134 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Virginia Tech 8-1 120 Atlantic Coast Conference
UCLA 7-1 103 Pacific-12 Conference
Wichita State 6-1 77 Missouri Valley Conference
Drake 8-1 71 Missouri Valley Conference
Richmond 6-1 53 Atlantic 10 Conference
Duke 9-2 46 Atlantic Coast Conference
Western Michigan 7-1 42 Mid-American Conference
Oakland 7-1 33 Horizon League
Arizona 6-3 23 Pacific-12 Conference
Ohio State 7-3 14 Big Ten Conference
South Dakota State 7-1 11 Summit League
Kentucky drops 5 spots after their loss to Memphis. Duke, on the other hand, drops all the way out of the top 25. They are still receiving votes, but the polls in this game absolutely suck. Maybe it mirrors real life, I don't know, but in real life I can't see a 9-2 Duke team being out of the top 25. Rant over, moving on. Alabama jumps into the top 25 after a win this week, and UCLA creeps closer with 3 wins.
Now for the mid-major top 25 going into next week:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference
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1. New Mexico (72) 10-0 1800 1 Mountain West Conference
2. Dayton 8-1 1646 7 Atlantic 10 Conference
3. SMU 8-1 1563 2 American Athletic Conference
4. UC Santa Barbara 8-1 1548 3 Big West Conference
5. Connecticut 8-2 1530 6 American Athletic Conference
6. Wichita State 6-1 1462 12 Missouri Valley Conference
7. Niagara 11-1 1348 10 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
8. Drake 8-1 1322 8 Missouri Valley Conference
9. Western Michigan 7-1 1233 14 Mid-American Conference
10. Oakland 7-1 1160 11 Horizon League
11. Richmond 6-1 1156 16 Atlantic 10 Conference
12. South Dakota State 7-1 1078 18 Summit League
13. UTEP 8-2 900 4 Conference USA
14. Eastern Michigan 9-2 809 NR Mid-American Conference
15. Missouri State 7-2 731 9 Missouri Valley Conference
16. USC Upstate 7-2 706 13 Atlantic Sun Conference
17. Dartmouth 6-2 608 17 Ivy League
18. Cal State Fullerton 6-2 605 NR Big West Conference
19. Fordham 6-2 497 NR Atlantic 10 Conference
20. UAB 6-2 471 20 Conference USA
21. Cal State Bakersfield 7-2 439 19 Western Athletic Conference
22. Boise State 6-3 264 21 Mountain West Conference
23. Gonzaga 8-3 152 22 West Coast Conference
24. Louisiana Tech 8-3 147 NR Conference USA
25. Cincinnati 8-3 88 23 American Athletic Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
South Florida 7-3 34 American Athletic Conference
Murray State 7-3 18 Ohio Valley Conference
San Jose State 7-3 17 Mountain West Conference
Lehigh 8-3 16 Patriot League
Northern Illinois 5-3 10 Mid-American Conference
Portland 8-3 10 West Coast Conference
Yale 7-3 10 Ivy League
Temple 7-3 7 American Athletic Conference
Louisiana Monroe 6-3 5 Sun Belt Conference
North Dakota State 6-3 5 Summit League
William & Mary 6-3 4 Colonial Athletic Association
Utah State 6-3 1 Mountain West Conference
No FOFC representation here. Not surprised, although Troy is our best option here, but it's not going to happen if they keep splitting their games every week.