Dec. 4-10, 2023
We have 30 games on the schedule this week, and 1 of them is a feature game. We'll start there.
12/8/23-
Rice (Charlie Shocker) @
Tulsa (Will Brown) -- The Owls outscored Tulsa 46-25 in the 2nd half after trailing by 2 at halftime. They shot 52% and outrebounded the Golden Hurricane 45-31 as Rice stays hot, picking up a road victory.
Final Score: Rice- 82, Tulsa- 63
Now for the rest of the weekly recap:
Hartford (David Ginsberg) -- 4-4, 0-0 America East.
12/6/23 at Brown (W 63-51).
12/9/23 vs. Northeastern (W 61-53).
A pair of wins this week for the Hawks as they get back to .500. They continue their road trip that has 3 of their next 4 road games against the Ivy League.
UConn (Randolph Childress) -- 1-4, 0-0 American.
12/4/23 at #15 Villanova (L 71-62).
12/9/23 vs. #8 Providence (L 80-66).
2 more losses for the Huskies who continue to struggle. Some people are already talking, and there are rumors that Coach Childress might want to start filling out job applications again soon.
Tulsa (Will Brown) -- 3-5, 0-0 American.
12/5/23 at Nebraska Omaha (L 60-55).
12/8/23 vs. Rice- feature game, highlighted above.
12/10/23 vs. #13 Xavier (L 76-43).
The Golden Hurricane lose 3 more this week, losers of 4 in a row and 5 of their last 6. Coach Brown stays stuck on career win #99.
Notre Dame (Al Mighty) -- 6-3, 0-0 ACC.
12/4/23 vs. James Madison (W 64-54).
12/8/23 vs. Illinois State (L 88-73).
12/10/23 vs. Kansas (W 90-75).
2 out of 3 this week for the Fighting Irish, but now it really gets tough. Their next 6 opponents have a combined 39-7 record.
TCU (Bee Mighty) -- 6-2, 0-0 Big 12.
No games this week for Coach Mighty and the Horned Frogs who have 3 more tough non-conference games coming up before they start Big 12 play.
St. John's (Dean Hoo) -- 9-1, 0-0 Big East.
12/5/23 vs. Princeton (W 87-57).
12/7/23 vs. Rhode Island (W 78-70).
12/10/23 at Campbell (W 87-64).
While not the toughest competition in the world, the Red Storm get 3 more wins this week, as Coach Hoo has fit in nicely at his new school.
Northwestern (Ess Vee) -- 3-4, 0-0 Big Ten.
12/6/23 vs. Buffalo (L 87-72).
12/8/23 vs. St. Louis (W 73-53).
A split for the Wildcats this week, both double digit margins. It gets easier to finish off non-conference play, and then win over St. Louis broke a 3 game losing streak.
Hawaii (B.B. Gunn) -- 2-5, 0-0 Big West.
12/4/23 at Western Michigan (L 79-71).
12/9/23 vs. Santa Clara (L 82-74).
A pair of 8 point losses for the Warriors this week, as they'll take a 2-5 record into their season tournament which starts next week. Firecoachgunn.com is running rampant again after a 5 game losing streak.
FIU (Brett Hawkins) -- 2-6, 0-0 Conference USA.
12/4/23 at #16 Michigan State (L 66-60).
12/6/23 vs. Jacksonville (L 66-55).
12/8/23 vs. Savannah State (W 84-77).
The Golden Panthers finally break a quick 3 game losing streak, but the honeymoon appears to be over for Coach Hawkins, as it's starting to feel like Troy all over again. Hopefully the narrow win sparks something and gets them on a roll.
Rice (Charlie Shocker) -- 6-2, 0-0 Conference USA.
12/5/23 vs. UT Arlington (W 67-62).
12/8/23 at Tulsa- feature game, highlighted above.
2 more wins for the Owls, who have won 4 in a row and have a chance to extend that next week.
Colorado (Rob Nielsen) -- 4-4, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/5/23 at #11 Oklahoma (W 93-70).
12/9/23 at #4 Ohio State (L 78-71).
A split for the Buffaloes who rout former Big 12 foe Oklahoma before going to the wire with an undefeated Ohio State. Still 3 more grueling tests though, and that's just the non-conference schedule.
Stanford (Benito Sanchez) -- 7-1, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/5/23 vs. Lehigh (W 92-49).
12/10/23 vs. Milwaukee (W 82-58).
2 more blowout wins against easy competition for the Cardinal. Things will get a bit tougher next week though, at least we think they will.
UCLA (Tim Shepard) -- 6-2, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/7/23 vs. Lafayette (W 82-48).
Just 1 game for the Bruins this week, an easy victory. They've got 2 more at home next week, then a long, long road trip.
#17 Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- 6-0, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/7/23 vs. North Dakota (W 78-56).
Just 1 game this week for the Cougars, who continue to pad their win total, as well as ranking, with a creampuff non-conference schedule. Whatever works to build some confidence I guess.
Alabama (Roy Rogers) -- 4-4, 0-0 SEC.
12/5/23 at #9 Iowa State (L 59-44).
12/7/23 vs. Miami University (W 63-55).
12/9/23 at #2 Virginia (L 76-67).
1 outta 3 this week for the Crimson Tide, with that win sandwiched in-between 2 losses to top 10 teams. They'll play their season tournament next week.
Let's take a look at the national top 25 going into the week of Dec. 11-17:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. Syracuse (64) 9-0 1791 1 Atlantic Coast Conference
2. Virginia (7) 7-0 1711 2 Atlantic Coast Conference
3. Baylor (1) 7-0 1663 3 Big 12 Conference
4. Ohio State 7-0 1582 4 Big Ten Conference
5. Arizona 7-1 1460 7 Pacific-12 Conference
6. Iowa 6-0 1410 5 Big Ten Conference
7. Georgetown 7-1 1394 6 Big East Conference
8. Providence 7-0 1305 8 Big East Conference
9. Iowa State 7-1 1277 9 Big 12 Conference
10. Louisville 6-1 1084 12 Atlantic Coast Conference
11. Xavier 7-0 1001 13 Big East Conference
12. Vanderbilt 6-1 930 14 Southeastern Conference
13. Villanova 6-1 911 15 Big East Conference
14. Wisconsin 8-1 875 20 Big Ten Conference
15. Illinois 6-0 835 18 Big Ten Conference
16. Sam Houston State 8-0 653 22 Southland Conference
17. Washington State 6-0 632 17 Pacific-12 Conference
18. Florida Atlantic 7-0 544 19 Conference USA
19. Central Michigan 6-0 498 25 Mid-American Conference
20. Gonzaga 5-1 465 10 Pacific-12 Conference
21. Creighton 6-1 325 NR Big East Conference
22. Washington 6-1 303 NR Pacific-12 Conference
23. St. John's 9-1 235 NR Big East Conference
24. Stanford 7-1 108 NR Pacific-12 Conference
25. Memphis 7-1 96 NR American Athletic Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Miami 6-2 50 Atlantic Coast Conference
St. Bonaventure 5-1 34 Atlantic 10 Conference
UC Irvine 7-1 31 Big West Conference
Indiana State 7-1 30 Missouri Valley Conference
Yale 8-1 30 Ivy League
North Carolina 5-1 21 Atlantic Coast Conference
Michigan State 6-2 20 Big Ten Conference
DePaul 7-1 19 Big East Conference
Fresno State 7-1 18 Mountain West Conference
UAB 6-1 18 Atlantic 10 Conference
Purdue 6-1 13 Big Ten Conference
Louisiana Tech 5-1 8 Conference USA
Indiana 6-1 6 Big Ten Conference
Seton Hall 6-1 6 Big East Conference
UNLV 6-1 6 Mountain West Conference
San Francisco 6-1 1 West Coast Conference
Tennessee State 7-1 1 Ohio Valley Conference
So Washington State stays put at #17, while St. John's and Stanford are back in the top 25. No other FOFC teams got votes.
Now a look at the mid-major top 25 going into the week of Dec. 11-17:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. Sam Houston State (57) 8-0 1776 3 Southland Conference
2. Florida Atlantic (10) 7-0 1688 1 Conference USA
3. Central Michigan 6-0 1661 5 Mid-American Conference
4. Memphis 7-1 1525 6 American Athletic Conference
5. Yale (2) 8-1 1414 7 Ivy League
6. Indiana State 7-1 1392 8 Missouri Valley Conference
7. Fresno State (1) 7-1 1333 10 Mountain West Conference
8. UC Irvine 7-1 1228 15 Big West Conference
9. UAB 6-1 1193 14 Atlantic 10 Conference
10. Louisiana Tech 5-1 1127 13 Conference USA
11. St. Bonaventure (2) 5-1 1086 11 Atlantic 10 Conference
12. San Francisco 6-1 1002 2 West Coast Conference
13. UNLV 6-1 963 NR Mountain West Conference
14. Akron 6-1 855 16 Mid-American Conference
15. Houston 5-1 826 20 American Athletic Conference
16. Tennessee State 7-1 787 21 Ohio Valley Conference
17. Florida Gulf Coast 6-1 747 24 Sun Belt Conference
18. Delaware 7-1 710 17 Colonial Athletic Association
19. Florida A&M 6-1 572 NR Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
20. Wichita State 7-2 370 NR Missouri Valley Conference
21. Drake 7-2 239 12 Missouri Valley Conference
22. Long Beach State 5-2 198 NR Big West Conference
23. George Washington 4-2 114 NR Atlantic 10 Conference
24. Rice 6-2 108 NR Conference USA
25. Oakland 5-2 80 NR Horizon League
Others Receiving Votes:
Portland 4-2 55 West Coast Conference
Western Carolina 5-2 43 Southern Conference
Bradley 5-2 32 Missouri Valley Conference
UCF 5-2 32 American Athletic Conference
USC Upstate 6-2 30 Atlantic Sun Conference
Massachusetts 4-2 29 Atlantic 10 Conference
Utah State 4-2 28 Mountain West Conference
Robert Morris 7-2 27 Northeast Conference
Georgia Southern 5-2 21 Sun Belt Conference
Colorado State 5-2 17 Mountain West Conference
Columbia 5-2 17 Ivy League
Drexel 4-2 15 Colonial Athletic Association
UC Riverside 5-2 12 Big West Conference
East Tennessee State 4-2 10 Southern Conference
Northern Illinois 4-2 8 Mid-American Conference
Ohio 5-2 8 Mid-American Conference
Arkansas State 5-2 6 Sun Belt Conference
Radford 5-2 5 Big South Conference
Sacramento State 3-2 4 Big Sky Conference
Western Michigan 3-2 4 Mid-American Conference
Middle Tennessee 3-2 2 Conference USA
Saint Peter's 6-2 1 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
So Rice is in the mid-major top 25, but again, no other FOFC representation.