Sorry for the lack of updates over the past week, I've been dealing with the flu, just now start to get to the point where I feel like doing anything. But I'm here, so let's get another week in.
Dec. 4-10, 2017
1 feature game this week to tell you about, so let's get to it:
12/8/17-
Norfolk State (Payten Carrano) @
ECU (Al Hutt) -- Offensive ineptitude in this one for Norfolk State, as they committed 17 turnovers and shot just 36.4%. While ECU didn't shoot great, they did manage to shoot over 40% and the difference could have been a lot more if ECU would have made free throws. As it stands, the Pirates win.
Final Score: ECU- 60, Norfolk State- 46
Now to the rest of the weekly recap:
Hartford (David Ginsberg) -- 4-3, 0-0 America East.
12/6/17 at Iona (L 63-49).
12/9/17 at Boston College (L 73-65).
Tough week for the Hawks who played some good competition on the road. It doesn't end anytime soon, as 5 of their next 6 games are away from Hartford.
ECU (Al Hutt) -- 3-3, 0-0 American.
12/5/17 at #5 Syracuse (L 87-70).
12/8/17 vs. Norfolk State- feature game, highlighted above.
A split for the Pirates this week, as they actually hung with Syracuse for a while before getting blasted. They break the losing streak against Norfolk State though.
Tulsa (Will Brown) -- 6-3, 0-0 American.
12/5/17 at Oregon State (W 87-61).
Just 1 game this week for the Golden Hurricane, but it was a good one as they win easily. Still 4 on the road before they return home though.
Davidson (Randolph Childress) -- 5-2, 0-0 Atlantic 10.
12/6/17 vs. Ohio (W 70-48).
12/10/17 at #3 Virginia (W 86-79).
The up and down early season continues for the Wildcats, as they go on the road and upset a top 5 team in Virginia. Who would have thought? It's a shame that loss to Presbyterian last week could haunt them all season, but what a huge win over Virginia.
Clemson (Dave Johnson) -- 4-3, 0-0 ACC.
12/7/17 at #7 Wisconsin (L 64-55).
12/9/17 vs. South Carolina (W 79-52).
The Tigers get a huge win over in-state rival South Carolina, and play Wisconsin tough but can't get the win, so they split this week.
Duke (Dean Hoo) -- 5-1, 0-0 ACC.
12/4/17 vs. Creighton (W 86-80).
12/6/17 vs. Binghamton (W 74-43).
The Blue Devils win 2 this week, blowing out Binghamton. They did struggle with Creighton a little bit, but still got the win. Next week they have a big showdown with a top 5 team.
#8 Kansas (Dave Johnson) -- 6-1, 0-0 Big 12.
12/10/17 vs. Hofstra (W 94-64).
1 game this week for the Jayhawks, but it was an easy one as they dismantle Hofstra before getting into the tougher part of their non-conference schedule the rest of the month.
TCU (Bee Mighty) -- 3-3, 0-0 Big 12.
12/8/17 vs. Houston Baptist (W 64-53).
Nice win for the Horned Frogs to break a 2 game losing streak as this was their only game of the week, and they can build on this with 3 winnable games in a row before the schedule gets tougher.
Michigan (Cillian Tribble) -- 5-3, 0-0 Big Ten.
12/5/17 vs. Marshall (W 66-65).
Just 1 game this week for the Wolverines, and they had to come from behind and survive a last second shot to get the win, but hey a win is a win at this point.
Michigan State (Al Mighty) -- 6-1, 0-0 Big Ten.
12/9/17 vs. BYU (W 102-69).
1 game this week for the Spartans, and they shot lights out in scoring over 100 points. They start their season tournament next week.
#23 Northwestern (Ess Vee) -- 8-0, 0-0 Big Ten.
12/4/17 vs. Chicago State (W 89-63).
12/7/17 vs. Western Illinois (W 57-32).
12/10/17 vs. IUPUI (W 59-53).
Heavy week for the Wildcats as they play 3, blowing out 2 very bad opponents then struggling a bit with another subpar opponent. The problem with this schedule is that it will not get them ready for the Big Ten schedule, so we could see completely different results there.
Hawaii (B.B. Gunn) -- 2-7, 0-0 Big West.
12/6/17 vs. Stony Brook (L 67-57).
12/8/17 vs. Eastern Michigan (W 76-47).
12/10/17 vs. UMass (L 68-66).
Another rough week for the Warriors, who did break a 5 game losing streak, and almost beat a good UMass team. Maybe that's what they need to start going in the right direction.
Charlotte (Timmy Tribble) -- 3-4, 0-0 Conference USA.
12/5/17 at #3 Virginia (L 80-45).
1 game this week for the 49ers, and they got absolutely blasted on the road against a very good Virginia team, ironically the same Virginia team that Davidson upset this week.
Rice (Charlie Shocker) -- 4-2, 0-0 Conference USA.
12/6/17 at Texas A&M (L 82-69).
1 game this week for the Owls, who have lost 2 of 3 after starting 3-0. 2 more road games highlight the schedule next week.
Monmouth (Thomas Carrano) -- 4-4, 2-1 MAAC.
12/8/17 at Fairfield (W 55-50).
12/10/17 at Iona (L 73-52).
A split this week for the Hawks, who see their 3 game winning streak come to an end and lose their first conference game. Hopefully they can regroup next week.
Norfolk State (Payten Carrano) -- 3-4, 0-0 MEAC.
12/5/17 at William & Mary (L 70-60).
12/8/17 at ECU- feature game, highlighted above.
Bad week for the Spartans who drop 2 road games, but the road stretch is over and now they return home for 4 games.
Colorado (Rob Nielsen) -- 3-3, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/8/17 vs. Texas State (W 69-53).
1 game this week for the Buffaloes, and they take care of business and have won 2 in a row, but their next 3 games are all on the road and the combined record of the 3 opponents is 22-2. Yikes!
#20 Stanford (Benito Sanchez) -- 7-1, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/5/17 vs. Milwaukee (W 58-40).
12/7/17 at St. Mary's (W 44-36).
12/9/17 at UC Santa Barbara (L 65-46).
A bit of a shocker for the Cardinal, who win 2 of 3 this week but suffer their first loss of the season. Not a terrible loss, as UCSB is a solid team, but still unexpected.
#18 UCLA (Tim Shepard) -- 6-1, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/5/17 at UNLV (W 78-47).
12/7/17 vs. Holy Cross (W 77-47).
2 easy wins for the Bruins this week, and by almost the identical score. Now that's consistency.
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- 4-2, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/4/17 at Seattle (W 68-56).
12/9/17 vs. Utah Valley (W 66-56).
The Cougars also win 2 games this week and have won 4 in a row. Like UCLA, their 2 wins this week were almost by the same exact score, but not quite.
Alabama (Roy Rogers) -- 3-4, 0-0 SEC.
12/5/17 at Xavier (L 67-64).
12/9/17 vs. South Florida (L 60-58).
Tough week for the Crimson Tide who lose 2 games by a combined 5 points. Just couldn't quite finish in either game.
#9 Florida (Noah Oppenheimer) -- 6-0, 0-0 SEC.
12/7/17 vs. Gardner Webb (W 89-82).
Tough one for the Gators this week in their only game of the week, but they got a hard fought victory.
#2 Kentucky (Patrick Hutt) -- 7-0, 0-0 SEC.
12/4/17 vs. Coastal Carolina (W 91-79).
12/9/17 vs. Cleveland State (W 89-75).
2 more easy wins for the Wildcats, but they've got a road test against a top 15 team next week.
Troy (Brett Hawkins) -- 3-4, 0-0 Sun Belt.
12/5/17 at Western Kentucky (L 61-48).
12/8/17 at Lipscomb (L 64-48).
2 bad losses for the Trojans, especially the loss at Lipscomb. Although Lipscomb seems to be much improved, so maybe it's not quite as bad of a loss.
Here is the national top 25 heading into next week:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference
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1. Ohio State (72) 8-0 1800 1 Big Ten Conference
2. Kentucky 7-0 1721 2 Southeastern Conference
3. Baylor 8-0 1661 4 Big 12 Conference
4. Syracuse 7-0 1564 5 Atlantic Coast Conference
5. Gonzaga 8-0 1487 6 West Coast Conference
6. Wisconsin 6-0 1398 7 Big Ten Conference
7. Marquette 7-1 1359 10 Big East Conference
8. Virginia 6-1 1263 3 Atlantic Coast Conference
9. Kansas 6-1 1193 8 Big 12 Conference
10. Florida 6-0 1190 9 Southeastern Conference
11. Illinois 8-0 1042 15 Big Ten Conference
12. Villanova 5-1 1041 11 Big East Conference
13. UCLA 6-1 939 18 Pacific-12 Conference
14. Miami 7-1 875 17 Atlantic Coast Conference
15. La Salle 7-0 810 19 Atlantic 10 Conference
16. Iowa State 7-1 583 NR Big 12 Conference
17. Northwestern 8-0 546 23 Big Ten Conference
18. VCU 4-1 527 22 Southeastern Conference
19. Richmond 6-1 501 24 Atlantic 10 Conference
20. Notre Dame 8-1 427 NR Atlantic Coast Conference
21. Oakland 7-0 307 25 Horizon League
22. Cincinnati 6-2 305 12 American Athletic Conference
23. Nebraska 5-1 178 NR Big Ten Conference
24. Wichita State 8-2 174 13 Missouri Valley Conference
25. Duke 5-1 167 NR Atlantic Coast Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Oklahoma 5-2 114 Big 12 Conference
Michigan State 6-1 68 Big Ten Conference
Arizona 7-2 54 Pacific-12 Conference
Temple 8-1 23 American Athletic Conference
Xavier 7-1 19 Big East Conference
Middle Tennessee 7-1 16 Conference USA
Memphis 8-1 15 American Athletic Conference
Stanford 7-1 9 Pacific-12 Conference
Colorado State 8-1 6 Mountain West Conference
Illinois State 6-1 5 Missouri Valley Conference
Duquesne 7-1 4 Atlantic 10 Conference
George Washington 5-1 3 Atlantic 10 Conference
Utah 6-1 3 Pacific-12 Conference
Oregon 5-1 2 Pacific-12 Conference
Louisiana Tech 5-1 1 Conference USA
So Kentucky stays put at #2, while Kansas and Florida each move down a spot, even after undefeated weeks. UCLA jumps 5 spots and Northwestern jumps 6 spots. Also, Duke is now in the national top 25. Michigan State is getting very close. 2 more wins next week might seal it. Stanford suffers their only loss of the season so far this week and loses their ranking, but still receives a fair number of votes.
Now we take a look at the mid-major top 25 going into next week:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference
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1. Gonzaga (72) 8-0 1800 1 West Coast Conference
2. La Salle 7-0 1696 4 Atlantic 10 Conference
3. Cincinnati 6-2 1579 2 American Athletic Conference
4. Richmond 6-1 1567 5 Atlantic 10 Conference
5. Oakland 7-0 1511 6 Horizon League
6. Wichita State 8-2 1470 3 Missouri Valley Conference
7. Illinois State 6-1 1247 10 Missouri Valley Conference
8. Colorado State 8-1 1208 13 Mountain West Conference
9. Temple 8-1 1156 11 American Athletic Conference
10. Middle Tennessee 7-1 1096 15 Conference USA
11. Northern Iowa 8-2 1087 16 Missouri Valley Conference
12. Memphis 8-1 1027 12 American Athletic Conference
13. Duquesne 7-1 909 14 Atlantic 10 Conference
14. San Diego 6-1 852 20 West Coast Conference
15. George Washington 5-1 796 NR Atlantic 10 Conference
16. Louisiana Tech 5-1 730 18 Conference USA
17. Northern Arizona 7-1 633 7 Big Sky Conference
18. Air Force 5-1 585 NR Mountain West Conference
19. UC Irvine 5-1 545 23 Big West Conference
20. Southern Miss 6-1 437 NR Conference USA
21. Cal Poly 4-1 334 9 Big West Conference
22. Sacramento State 4-1 275 NR Big Sky Conference
23. Tulane 5-1 258 NR American Athletic Conference
24. Oral Roberts 5-1 253 NR Summit League
25. Massachusetts 6-2 174 NR Atlantic 10 Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Western Kentucky 4-1 127 Conference USA
San Diego State 3-2 25 Mountain West Conference
Davidson 5-2 12 Atlantic 10 Conference
Saint Mary's 7-2 8 West Coast Conference
American 6-2 2 Patriot League
Detroit 5-2 1 Horizon League
Rice and Hartford lose their votes after losses this week, but Davidson is receiving some votes. Hopefully their trend will continue up.