Nov. 23-29, 2020
Lots of tournament games this week, and 1 feature game, so let's get to it:
11/23/20- Las Vegas Invitational First Round --
(6) TCU (Bee Mighty) vs.
(3) Colorado (Rob Nielsen) -- A battle of human coached teams that certainly didn't disappoint, as both teams shot well from the field but struggled with turnovers. In the end, it was literally 1 more made shot, 1 more made three pointer that was the difference, as the Colorado slide to begin the season was extended.
Final Score: TCU- 60, Colorado- 57
Now for the rest of weekly recap:
Hartford (David Ginsberg) -- 2-0, 0-0 America East.
11/26/20- South Carolina Showcase First Round vs. (3) St. Francis (NY) (W 66-64).
11/28/20- South Carolina Showcase Championship vs. (1) Jacksonville State (W 74-61).
Nice start for the Hawks, who win their 3rd tournament in the Coach Ginsberg era. They are definitely gaining some respect among the mid-major community.
#24 UConn (Randolph Childress) -- 3-0, 0-0 American.
No games this week for the Huskies and Coach Childress.
ECU (Al Hutt) -- 2-1, 0-0 American.
11/24/20 at Northern Iowa (W 81-56).
Just the 1 game this week for the Pirates as they win convincingly over what has been a good UNI team. Now, the question is are the Pirates much improved, or is UNI that bad this season?
Tulsa (Will Brown) -- 0-1, 0-0 American.
No games again this week for Coach Brown and the Golden Hurricane, but they get going again next week.
Duke (Dean Hoo) -- 2-1, 0-0 ACC.
11/25/20 vs. Savannah State (W 83-59).
Better effort from the Blue Devils, who have won their last 2 after, as Coach Hoo puts it, giving Army a patriotic victory.
TCU (Bee Mighty) -- 4-1, 0-0 Big 12.
11/23/20- Las Vegas Invitational First Round vs. (3) Colorado- feature game, highlighted above.
11/26/20- Las Vegas Invitational Semifinal vs. (2) Minnesota (W 82-59).
11/27/20- Las Vegas Invitational Championship vs. (1) Boise State (L 80-64).
Great week for the Horned Frogs despite the fact they didn't win the LV Invitational. Still a heck of an effort, and this is a team that has the ability to make some noise this season.
Michigan State (Al Mighty) -- 2-1, 0-0 Big Ten.
11/23/20- Hall of Fame Classic vs. (3) #1 Louisville (L 65-60).
Tough game for the Spartans, who just couldn't quite get it done. A huge free throw discrepancy really hurt them though, one in which Coach Mighty was not happy about.
Northwestern (Ess Vee) -- 2-2, 0-0 Big Ten.
11/24/20- Brooklyn Classic First Round vs. (4) Rhode Island (L 73-70).
11/27/20- Brooklyn Classic Consolation Round vs. (8) Houston (W 62-35).
11/28/20- Brooklyn Classic 5th Place Game vs. (3) West Virginia (L 79-71).
Overall, not a bad showing for the Wildcats, as they lost 2 close ones in the Brooklyn Classic, against solid teams, and rolled over a decent Houston team. I don't think we've seen their best yet.
Hawaii (B.B. Gunn) -- 2-2, 0-0 Big West.
11/25/20 vs. Portland State (W 87-61).
1 game for the Warriors this week, and they get back to .500. Now they start a 3 game road swing against Pac 12 competition.
Rice (Charlie Shocker) -- 2-1, 0-0 Conference USA.
11/29/20 vs. Texas-Rio Grande Valley (W 86-75).
The Owls get over .500 with a nice win, handing Rio Grande Valley their first loss of the season.
Colorado (Rob Nielsen) -- 3-3, 0-0 Pac 12.
11/23/20- Las Vegas Invitational First Round vs. (6) TCU- feature game, highlighted above.
11/26/20- Las Vegas Invitational Consolation Round vs. (7) USC (W 73-56).
11/27/20- Las Vegas Invitational 5th Place Game vs. (8) Niagara (W 77-57).
A good recovery for the Buffaloes to rally for 5th place in their tournament. It's still their worst finish in an 8 team tournament in the Coach Nielsen era, but they played much better ball after the TCU game.
Stanford (Benito Sanchez) -- 1-3, 0-0 Pac 12.
11/27/20- Corpus Christi Coastal Classic Consolation Round vs. (6) Boston College (L 66-49).
11/28/20- Corpus Christi Coastal Classic 7th Place Game vs. (4) Indiana State (L 74-72).
An unexplainable tournament performance for the Cardinal, who lose all 3 games after stunning North Carolina. Perhaps overconfidence, or perhaps North Carolina is down this season. Either way, Stanford better figure it out quick.
UCLA (Tim Shepard) -- 2-1, 0-0 Pac 12.
11/23/20- Legends Classic Semifinal vs. (4) #10 Florida State (L 91-74).
11/24/20- Legends Classic 3rd Place Game vs. (2) #14 San Diego State (W 61-56).
This is the first 8 team tournament that the Bruins haven't won of the 4 they've played in now. Make no mistake, Florida State is good. Real good.
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- 3-1, 0-0 Pac 12.
11/24/20- Cancun Challenge Consolation Round vs. (6) Yale (W 73-60).
11/25/20- Cancun Challenge 5th Place Game vs. (5) Toledo (W 62-49).
11/29/20 at San Jose State (W 77-58).
Great week for the cougars, who win 3 games and get their best finish in an 8 team tournament under coach St. John. Hopefully that is a sign of things to come.
Alabama (Roy Rogers) -- 3-1, 0-0 SEC.
No games this week for Coach Rogers and the Crimson Tide, who needed a few extra days off after 4 games last week. Their next 3 games will really challenge them.
Kentucky (Patrick Hutt) -- 1-1, 0-0 SEC.
No games this week either for Coach Hutt and the Wildcats.
Troy (Brett Hawkins) -- 3-2, 0-0 Sun Belt.
11/26/20- Wooden Legacy First Round vs. (2) Tennessee Tech (W 66-63).
11/27/20- Wooden Legacy Semifinal vs. (3) UNC Greensboro (W 70-58).
11/29/20- Wooden Legacy Championship vs. (1) Navy (W 82-69).
Congrats to Coach Hawkins and the Trojans, who played great basketball in the Wooden Legacy and won it as the #7 seed. Coach Hawkins will definitely be glad to have a nice winning streak started, and hopefully his team will keep it up.
Here is a look at the national top 25 for the week of November 30-December 6.
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Wisconsin (72) 4-0 1800 5 Big Ten Conference
2. Wichita State 5-0 1718 4 Missouri Valley Conference
3. Penn State 4-0 1519 13 Big Ten Conference
4. Arkansas 4-0 1463 21 Southeastern Conference
5. Louisville 4-1 1372 1 Atlantic Coast Conference
6. Vanderbilt 3-0 1288 20 Southeastern Conference
7. SMU 5-0 1189 NR American Athletic Conference
8. Florida State 3-0 1170 10 Atlantic Coast Conference
9. Western Michigan 6-0 991 NR Mid-American Conference
10. Georgia State 5-0 951 NR Horizon League
11. Ohio State 3-1 869 3 Big Ten Conference
12. Illinois State 4-0 843 23 Missouri Valley Conference
13. UAB 5-0 781 NR Conference USA
14. Oklahoma 1-1 742 18 Big 12 Conference
15. Mississippi 4-0 703 NR Southeastern Conference
16. Baylor 3-1 700 2 Big 12 Conference
17. Iowa State 4-1 559 6 Big 12 Conference
18. Wake Forest 4-0 498 NR Atlantic Coast Conference
19. Connecticut 3-0 474 24 American Athletic Conference
20. South Florida 4-0 437 NR American Athletic Conference
21. Syracuse 3-1 389 NR Atlantic Coast Conference
22. William & Mary 4-0 360 NR Colonial Athletic Association
23. Virginia 3-1 358 7 Atlantic Coast Conference
24. IPFW 4-0 290 NR Summit League
25. Boise State 4-1 262 NR Mountain West Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Southern Illinois 3-0 256 Missouri Valley Conference
Cal State Northridge 3-0 165 Big West Conference
Ball State 3-0 158 Mid-American Conference
Auburn 2-0 143 Southeastern Conference
Villanova 3-1 141 Big East Conference
Mississippi State 2-0 94 Atlantic 10 Conference
Fordham 2-0 91 Atlantic 10 Conference
Cal State Bakersfield 3-0 90 Western Athletic Conference
UTSA 3-0 85 Conference USA
Duquesne 2-0 78 Atlantic 10 Conference
Georgia 2-1 74 Southeastern Conference
Stetson 3-0 54 Atlantic Sun Conference
Illinois 2-1 45 Big Ten Conference
Northern Colorado 2-0 43 Big Sky Conference
Northwestern State 2-0 43 Southland Conference
Texas A&M Corpus Christi 3-0 43 Southland Conference
Hartford 2-0 39 America East Conference
Southern 1-0 14 Southwestern Athletic Conference
Miami 3-1 12 Atlantic Coast Conference
Michigan State 2-1 6 Big Ten Conference
Wow! Michigan State gets punished bad for their tough loss to Louisville, and UConn moves up 5 spots without even playing a game. Nice to see Hartford getting some national respect.
Now for the mid-major top 25 for the week of Nov. 30-Dec. 6:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Wichita State (72) 5-0 1800 1 Missouri Valley Conference
2. SMU 5-0 1655 6 American Athletic Conference
3. Georgia State 5-0 1581 5 Horizon League
4. Western Michigan 6-0 1468 11 Mid-American Conference
5. Illinois State 4-0 1461 4 Missouri Valley Conference
6. UAB 5-0 1408 9 Conference USA
7. Connecticut 3-0 1271 3 American Athletic Conference
8. South Florida 4-0 1208 13 American Athletic Conference
9. William & Mary 4-0 1125 7 Colonial Athletic Association
10. IPFW 4-0 1101 NR Summit League
11. Southern Illinois 3-0 1011 NR Missouri Valley Conference
12. Boise State 4-1 998 NR Mountain West Conference
13. Ball State 3-0 881 24 Mid-American Conference
14. Cal State Northridge 3-0 881 NR Big West Conference
15. Mississippi State 2-0 837 19 Atlantic 10 Conference
16. Fordham 2-0 686 NR Atlantic 10 Conference
17. UTSA 3-0 665 18 Conference USA
18. Duquesne 2-0 595 NR Atlantic 10 Conference
19. Cal State Bakersfield 3-0 546 NR Western Athletic Conference
20. Texas A&M Corpus Christi 3-0 483 NR Southland Conference
21. Stetson 3-0 406 NR Atlantic Sun Conference
22. Hartford 2-0 395 NR America East Conference
23. Northwestern State 2-0 343 NR Southland Conference
24. Northern Colorado 2-0 203 NR Big Sky Conference
25. Buffalo 2-1 190 NR Mid-American Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Southern 1-0 158 Southwestern Athletic Conference
Harvard 4-1 12 Ivy League
Middle Tennessee 4-1 10 Conference USA
Oakland 4-1 5 Horizon League
UC Santa Barbara 4-1 5 Big West Conference
Akron 4-1 4 Mid-American Conference
Green Bay 3-1 4 Horizon League
Rhode Island 3-1 2 Atlantic 10 Conference
Belmont 3-1 1 Ohio Valley Conference
Northern Illinois 4-1 1 Mid-American Conference
UConn doesn't fare so well in the mid-major poll, dropping 4 spots, while Hartford gets in after their season tournament win.