Dec. 17-23, 2018
2 feature games this week, and let's get to it.
12/21/18-
TCU (Bee Mighty) @
Clemson (Charles Johnson) -- The Tigers really needed a win here, and they did their part by forcing 20 TCU turnovers. Leading by 11 at halftime, Clemson held on to that lead the entire 2nd half and got their 2nd win of the season.
Final Score: Clemson- 88, TCU- 81
12/23/18-
Davidson (Randolph Childress) @
Michigan State (Al Mighty) -- Despite turning the ball over 16 times, the Spartans held Davidson to just 36.7% shooting and outrebounded them 45-33 en route to an easy victory.
Final Score: Michigan State- 74, Davidson- 56
Now to the rest of the weekly recap:
Hartford (David Ginsberg) -- 0-11, 0-0 America East.
12/22/18 at Northeastern (L 82-73).
The losing streak continues for the Hawks, who have 1 more non-conference game before they get into America East play.
ECU (Al Hutt) -- 3-9, 0-0 American.
12/17/18 at Texas (L 78-63).
12/20/18 at Villanova (L 86-61).
12/22/18 at Wichita State (L 84-60).
The bad news for the Pirates is that they weren't close in any of their games this week. The good news is the road trip is over, and now they go home to start American play.
Tulsa (Will Brown) -- 3-6, 0-0 American.
12/19/18 vs. Samford (W 68-58).
12/21/18 at Oral Roberts (W 75-62).
A couple good wins for the Golden Hurricane to break the 6 game losing streak. They've got a couple more non-conference road games next week.
Davidson (Randolph Childress) -- 3-6, 0-0 Atlantic 10.
12/18/18 vs. North Carolina Central (W 84-75).
12/23/18 at Michigan State- feature game, highlighted above.
A split for the Wildcats this week. The win over NC Central was nice but they fell apart at Michigan State.
Clemson (Charles Johnson) -- 2-8, 0-0 ACC.
12/21/18 vs. TCU- feature game, highlighted above.
A much needed win for the Tigers, but the schedule doesn't get any easier. 2 more tough non-conference games next week.
Duke (Dean Hoo) -- 8-1, 0-0 ACC.
12/19/18- Las Vegas Classic First Round vs. (16) Idaho (W 74-53).
12/21/18- Las Vegas Classic Quarterfinals vs. (8) Yale (W 101-79).
A couple easy victories for the Blue Devils, who get their semifinal game next week.
Kansas (Dave Johnson) -- 6-3, 0-0 Big 12.
12/22/18 vs. FIU (W 64-60).
Just 1 game this week for the Jayhawks, and they struggled, but got the win. They'll have to play a lot better than that though.
TCU (Bee Mighty) -- 6-4, 0-0 Big 12.
12/17/18 vs. Lamar (W 71-54).
12/21/18 at Clemson- feature game, highlighted above.
12/23/18 vs. Abilene Christian (L 84-73).
Bad week for the Horned Frogs who have lost 3 of their last 5. At least this weeks losses weren't terrible, the 2 teams they lost to have an average RPI of 76.
Michigan (Cillian Tribble) -- 5-4, 0-0 Big Ten.
12/23/18 vs. #3 San Diego State (W 79-74).
Nice win for the Wolverines who may be putting it together now. They've got another top 25 test next week.
Michigan State (Al Mighty) -- 5-2, 0-0 Big Ten.
12/23/18 vs. Davidson- feature game, highlighted above.
Good win for the Spartans, as Davidson will be a better team than their record shows.
Northwestern (Ess Vee) -- 2-6, 0-0 Big Ten.
12/19/18 at Boise State (L 83-50).
Yikes! The Wildcats continue to struggle, having now lost 4 in a row. They have their season tournament next week, then to the grind of the Big Ten where they are currently the only team with a losing record. Oh boy!!
Hawaii (B.B. Gunn) -- 3-4, 0-0 Big West.
12/18/18 vs. #24 Minnesota (W 85-77, OT).
12/21/18 at Columbia (W 63-55).
The firecoachgunn.com website is not as strong as it was after 3 straight Warrior wins, but they've still got some tough games coming up.
Charlotte (Timmy Tribble) -- 2-4, 0-0 Conference USA.
12/22/18 at Miami (L 66-53).
Just 1 game for the 49ers this week, and they fought valiantly but still lost. It won't get easier next week.
Rice (Charlie Shocker) -- 6-4, 0-0 Conference USA.
12/19/18- Las Vegas Classic First Round vs. (2) Oregon (W 94-79).
12/21/18- Las Vegas Classic Quarterfinal vs. (7) Eastern Michigan (L 81-68).
Huge upset for the Owls in the First Round of their season tournament, but it appears they used everything they had in that game as they came out flat against Eastern Michigan.
Monmouth (Thomas Carrano) -- 8-3, 2-2 MAAC.
12/19/18 vs. Lehigh (W 70-62).
12/21/18 at Quinnipiac (W 86-73).
12/23/18 vs. Rider (W 62-54).
Nice week for the Hawks, who win 3 games and get back even in conference play. They need to keep it going if they have any hope of a postseason berth.
Norfolk State (Payten Carrano) -- 4-5, 0-0 MEAC.
12/19/18 vs. Ohio (W 81-75).
12/21/18 at Richmond (L 67-49).
12/23/18 vs. LaSalle (L 83-59).
Good start to the week for the Spartans, then they ran up against better competition and got smoked.
Colorado (Rob Nielsen) -- 6-5, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/18/18 vs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi (L 67-65).
12/21/18 vs. North Carolina State (W 60-59).
The inconsistency of the Buffaloes bugs me. They beat a good team in N.C. State but lose to Corpus Christi? This has been a win one, lose one team all month, and they have the potential to be really good.
Stanford (Benito Sanchez) -- 6-2, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/19/18 at Cal State Fullerton (W 65-55).
The Cardinal get a win in their only game of the week, but it wasn't as easy as it should have been against a 2 win team.
#4 UCLA (Tim Shepard) -- 10-0, 0-0 Pac 12.
No games this week for Coach Shepard and the Bruins.
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- 5-3, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/21/18 vs. Boston University (W 67-44).
Good win for the Cougars who have 3 more games before conference play starts. 2 should be easy, 1 is a toss-up.
Alabama (Roy Rogers) -- 9-2, 0-0 SEC.
12/20/18 at Memphis (W 56-46).
12/23/18 at Notre Dame (L 92-66).
A split for the Crimson Tide this week, who again has a lot of potential but seems to be struggle a bit right now. Both their losses on the season have been by 23+ points.
Florida (Noah Oppenheimer) -- 7-2, 0-0 SEC.
No games this week for Coach Oppenheimer and the Gators.
Kentucky (Patrick Hutt) -- 6-3, 0-0 SEC.
12/18/18 at Oklahoma (W 59-56).
The Wildcats win their only game of the week, a match-up between 2 solid teams, and look ahead to an easier schedule next week.
Troy (Brett Hawkins) -- 3-5, 0-2 Sun Belt.
12/20/18 at Arkansas State (L 96-84).
12/22/18 vs. Northern Kentucky (L 73-59).
Not a good start to conference play for the Trojans, but never fear, things seem to be pretty wide open as nobody in the conference stands out.
Now for the national top 25 heading into next week:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Virginia (64) 9-0 1791 1 Atlantic Coast Conference
2. Iowa State (6) 9-0 1726 2 Big 12 Conference
3. North Carolina 8-0 1633 5 Atlantic Coast Conference
4. Gonzaga (2) 11-0 1596 9 West Coast Conference
5. UCLA 10-0 1508 4 Pacific-12 Conference
6. Syracuse 8-0 1423 8 Atlantic Coast Conference
7. Baylor 11-0 1326 10 Big 12 Conference
8. Texas A&M 9-0 1319 11 Southeastern Conference
9. Pittsburgh 9-1 1210 12 Atlantic Coast Conference
10. Ohio State 5-1 1121 14 Big Ten Conference
11. Butler 8-1 1028 17 Big East Conference
12. Northern Iowa 10-1 1002 15 Missouri Valley Conference
13. Iowa 7-2 904 23 Big Ten Conference
14. Vanderbilt 7-1 820 20 Southeastern Conference
15. Illinois State 9-1 818 6 Missouri Valley Conference
16. Wisconsin 7-2 738 21 Big Ten Conference
17. Notre Dame 8-2 646 25 Atlantic Coast Conference
18. LSU 9-1 601 7 Southeastern Conference
19. Duke 8-1 461 NR Atlantic Coast Conference
20. San Diego State 8-2 358 3 Mountain West Conference
21. Rutgers 9-1 244 NR Big Ten Conference
22. Oakland 10-1 212 NR Horizon League
23. Georgetown 5-2 209 NR Big East Conference
24. St. Bonaventure 8-1 141 16 Atlantic 10 Conference
25. Louisville 7-2 138 NR Atlantic Coast Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Arizona 8-2 95 Pacific-12 Conference
Toledo 8-1 94 Mid-American Conference
Cincinnati 8-2 81 American Athletic Conference
UC Santa Barbara 8-1 62 Big West Conference
Manhattan 8-1 32 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Massachusetts 8-1 31 Atlantic 10 Conference
Florida Atlantic 6-1 21 Conference USA
Illinois 10-2 6 Big Ten Conference
Alabama 9-2 2 Southeastern Conference
Providence 8-2 2 Big East Conference
Villanova 8-2 1 Big East Conference
UCLA loses their FPV and 1 spot in the rankings after their bye week, while Duke wins 2 tournament games and jumps back in the top 25. Alabama is barely sticking around, getting just 2 votes this week.
Now for the mid-major top 25 heading into next week:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Gonzaga (72) 11-0 1800 3 West Coast Conference
2. Northern Iowa 10-1 1726 5 Missouri Valley Conference
3. Illinois State 9-1 1654 2 Missouri Valley Conference
4. San Diego State 8-2 1526 1 Mountain West Conference
5. St. Bonaventure 8-1 1459 6 Atlantic 10 Conference
6. Oakland 10-1 1411 10 Horizon League
7. Cincinnati 8-2 1349 4 American Athletic Conference
8. Toledo 8-1 1316 8 Mid-American Conference
9. Manhattan 8-1 1229 7 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
10. UC Santa Barbara 8-1 1198 12 Big West Conference
11. Massachusetts 8-1 1113 13 Atlantic 10 Conference
12. Mount St. Mary's 8-1 1006 9 Northeast Conference
13. Florida Atlantic 6-1 968 17 Conference USA
14. Wichita State 7-2 863 18 Missouri Valley Conference
15. Belmont 8-2 752 19 Ohio Valley Conference
16. UTEP 6-2 643 NR Conference USA
17. Niagara 8-2 606 11 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
18. Dayton 7-2 529 NR Atlantic 10 Conference
19. Robert Morris 7-2 377 NR Northeast Conference
20. Buffalo 7-3 353 14 Mid-American Conference
21. North Dakota State 9-2 336 NR Summit League
22. Drake 7-2 314 NR Missouri Valley Conference
23. Colorado State 6-2 234 25 Mountain West Conference
24. Portland 6-2 190 NR West Coast Conference
25. Howard 7-2 187 NR Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Youngstown State 6-2 147 Horizon League
Sam Houston State 6-2 48 Southland Conference
Harvard 6-3 33 Ivy League
Saint Louis 6-2 24 Atlantic 10 Conference
Stony Brook 9-3 8 America East Conference
Rhode Island 6-3 1 Atlantic 10 Conference
None of our teams represented. A tad surprised Monmouth isn't receiving a vote, but not shocked.