Dec. 27, 2021-Jan. 2, 2022
1 feature game for you this week and it takes place in the American:
1/1/22-
ECU (Al Hutt) @
Tulsa (Will Brown) -- The Pirates were dominating defensively, holding Tulsa to just 32.8% shooting and forcing 19 turnovers. ECU also got to the line 31 times as they got a New Years Day win on the road.
Final Score: ECU- 64, Tulsa- 48
Hartford (David Ginsberg) -- 8-8, 2-1 America East.
12/29/21 vs. UMBC (L 66-62).
1/2/22 at Albany (W 73-61).
A split this week for the Hawks, as they take care of business at winless Albany. That loss to UMBC could hurt in the long run though.
UConn (Randolph Childress) -- 6-6, 1-0 American.
12/29/21 vs. Cincinnati (W 79-73).
1/1/22 vs. Texas A&M (L 89-67).
The Huskies got conference play started off right, but got hammered in another non-conference game, as they still look to find consistency.
ECU (Al Hutt) -- 9-7, 2-1 American.
12/29/21 vs. #12 Memphis (L 69-46).
1/1/22 at Tulsa- feature game, highlighted above.
As is the theme so far, another split for one of our FOFC teams. No shame in losing to Memphis though, they are good, damn good.
Tulsa (Will Brown) -- 4-9, 0-2 American.
1/1/22 vs. ECU- feature game, highlighted above.
Just 1 game for the Golden Hurricane this week, but they continue to struggle in a double digit loss to ECU.
#18 Duke (Dean Hoo) -- 11-2, 1-0 ACC.
12/29/21 vs. Boston College (W 70-54).
1/1/22 vs. South Carolina (W 76-64).
2 more wins for the Blue Devils, as coach Hoo got career win #100 with that ACC opening win against BC, then followed it up with a non-conference win over South Carolina.
TCU (Bee Mighty) -- 5-6, 1-1 Big 12.
12/27/21 vs. Texas Tech (L 89-87).
1/1/22 vs. West Virginia (W 59-57).
A split for the Horned Frogs this week, in 2 completely different games. The margin of victory and defeat was the same both games, 2, but 1 was a shootout, the other was more defense.
Michigan State (Al Mighty) -- 8-3, 0-0 Big Ten.
12/27/21 at Tennessee State (W 76-66).
12/29/21 at Southern Utah (L 88-79).
The Spartans get a road split this week heading into Big Ten play, but a momentum buster in losing to Southern Utah. Those are the kind of non-conference games they have to win.
Northwestern (Ess Vee) -- 8-4, 0-0 Big Ten.
No games this week for Coach Vee and the Wildcats, who get a much needed week off to get read for conference play.
Hawaii (B.B. Gunn) -- 8-4, 0-0 Big West.
12/27/21 vs. St. Louis (W 65-60).
12/31/21 at Kent State (L 74-55).
Inconsistency this week for the Warriors, as they win over a pretty good St. Louis team, then lose on the road badly to Kent State. They'll start Big West play next week.
Rice (Charlie Shocker) -- 8-3, 0-0 Conference USA.
12/27/21 at Indiana (L 80-56).
1/1/22 at Tennessee (W 72-61).
A road split for the Owls, who have now beaten their second P5 team this season with the win at Tennessee. Too bad they couldn't give a better effort at Indiana though, but still a good start going into C-USA play.
Colorado (Rob Nielsen) -- 8-4, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/27/21 at Illinois (L 67-53).
12/31/21 vs. Weber State (W 63-61).
The Buffaloes are starting to fall apart a little bit since that huge win at Virginia. They got hammered by K-State last week, and this week they got hammered at Illinois, then needed a buzzer beater to beat a 3 win Weber State team. Looks like Coach Nielsen needs to get his teams' focus back.
Stanford (Benito Sanchez) -- 7-3, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/28/21 at Utah Valley (W 84-58).
12/31/21 vs. North Florida (W 61-40).
2 more easy non-conference wins for the Cardinal, feel good wins as they head into conference play.
UCLA (Tim Shepard) -- 8-4, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/28/21 vs. Brown (W 86-63).
1 game this week for the Bruins, a feel good win going into Pac 12 play.
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- 8-4, 0-0 Pac 12.
1/1/22 vs. Montana State (W 101-92).
A new years day shootout in the only game of the week for the Cougars, but they get the win and have won 5 in a row going into Pac 12 play, but let's be honest: the competition gets A LOT tougher.
Alabama (Roy Rogers) -- 6-6, 0-0 SEC.
12/29/21 vs. Georgia Tech (W 81-73).
1 game this week for the Crimson Tide as they looked to keep momentum following their Diamond Head Classic championship, and they did, beating a decent Georgia Tech team. They have a lot of momentum going into conference play.
#20 Kentucky (Patrick Hutt) -- 11-2, 0-0 SEC.
12/27/21 at Minnesota (W 80-65).
12/29/21 vs. Columbia (W 55-47).
2 more wins for the Wildcats, but once again they seem to be playing down to their competition, as they win by double digits at Minnesota, but only beat Columbia by 8 points at home. Hopefully they'll be ready to play now that the SEC season is starting up.
Troy (Brett Hawkins) -- 7-6, 3-3 Sun Belt.
12/30/21 vs. Texas State (L 71-57).
1/1/22 vs. Appalachian State (W 85-58).
The Trojans split this week, getting a dominating performance against Appalachian State to break a 3 game losing streak. For whatever reason, they are still trying to find that consistency in Sun Belt play. Hopefully they do.
Here's a look at the national top 25 going into the week of Jan. 3-9:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. Wisconsin (72) 13-1 1800 1 Big Ten Conference
2. Wichita State 14-1 1709 2 Missouri Valley Conference
3. Baylor 14-0 1645 3 Big 12 Conference
4. Oklahoma 13-1 1602 6 Big 12 Conference
5. Syracuse 11-1 1503 5 Atlantic Coast Conference
6. San Diego State 13-1 1435 8 Mountain West Conference
7. Iowa State 11-2 1328 4 Big 12 Conference
8. Texas 11-1 1301 10 Big 12 Conference
9. Memphis 13-1 1224 12 American Athletic Conference
10. Arkansas 10-2 1139 7 Southeastern Conference
11. Massachusetts 12-1 1022 14 Atlantic 10 Conference
12. Virginia 11-2 1021 16 Atlantic Coast Conference
13. Kentucky 11-2 955 20 Southeastern Conference
14. St. John's 10-2 895 9 Big East Conference
15. Vanderbilt 11-2 778 17 Southeastern Conference
16. Duke 11-2 706 18 Atlantic Coast Conference
17. Notre Dame 11-2 670 11 Atlantic Coast Conference
18. Oakland 13-2 552 22 Horizon League
19. Missouri 10-2 483 21 Southeastern Conference
20. North Carolina 9-3 476 13 Atlantic Coast Conference
21. Sacred Heart 11-2 303 NR Northeast Conference
22. Louisville 8-3 238 NR Atlantic Coast Conference
23. Nebraska 9-3 200 NR Big Ten Conference
24. Old Dominion 9-2 153 NR Conference USA
25. Alabama A&M 10-2 113 NR Southwestern Athletic Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Florida State 9-3 52 Atlantic Coast Conference
Xavier 10-3 34 Big East Conference
Oklahoma State 10-3 22 Big 12 Conference
Arizona 9-3 18 Pacific-12 Conference
Portland 11-3 16 West Coast Conference
Penn State 9-3 4 Big Ten Conference
Kansas State 10-3 2 Big 12 Conference
SMU 11-3 1 American Athletic Conference
So Duke and Kentucky both have nice jumps in the polls, while Michigan State loses their votes after their loss to Southern Utah this week.
Now for the mid-major top 25 going into the week of Jan. 3-9:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. Wichita State (71) 14-1 1799 1 Missouri Valley Conference
2. San Diego State (1) 13-1 1726 2 Mountain West Conference
3. Memphis 13-1 1658 3 American Athletic Conference
4. Massachusetts 12-1 1584 4 Atlantic 10 Conference
5. Oakland 13-2 1503 5 Horizon League
6. Sacred Heart 11-2 1408 9 Northeast Conference
7. Old Dominion 9-2 1381 10 Conference USA
8. Alabama A&M 10-2 1287 11 Southwestern Athletic Conference
9. Portland 11-3 1166 6 West Coast Conference
10. SMU 11-3 1137 16 American Athletic Conference
11. William & Mary 10-3 1070 7 Colonial Athletic Association
12. Florida Gulf Coast 10-3 977 8 Atlantic Sun Conference
13. UTEP 9-3 938 17 Conference USA
14. The Citadel 11-3 794 18 Southern Conference
15. VMI 11-3 709 20 Southern Conference
16. Davidson 9-3 692 21 Atlantic 10 Conference
17. Detroit 9-3 674 23 Horizon League
18. FIU 8-3 514 NR Conference USA
19. Loyola MD 11-3 482 NR Patriot League
20. Richmond 9-3 474 NR Atlantic 10 Conference
21. Manhattan 10-3 378 22 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
22. Dayton 9-3 300 NR Atlantic 10 Conference
23. Buffalo 8-4 172 NR Mid-American Conference
24. Rice 8-3 118 12 Conference USA
25. Green Bay 11-4 95 13 Horizon League
Others Receiving Votes:
UAB 7-3 90 Conference USA
Fresno State 11-4 72 Mountain West Conference
UNLV 9-4 67 Mountain West Conference
Oral Roberts 9-3 35 Summit League
Fordham 8-3 30 Atlantic 10 Conference
New Hampshire 10-3 30 America East Conference
Indiana State 11-4 26 Missouri Valley Conference
Belmont 10-4 13 Ohio Valley Conference
Louisiana Lafayette 9-4 1 Sun Belt Conference
Rice has a major drop in the mid-major top 25 after a split this week, and Hawaii loses their votes.