Dec. 14-20, 2020
Just 1 feature game this week, so let's get to it:
12/18/20-
Tulsa (Will Brown) @
TCU (Bee Mighty) -- The Horned Frogs continue to impress, as they trailed by 2 at halftime, but really locked down defensively in the 2nd half. They held Tulsa to just 31.5% for the game, and despite committing 18 turnovers, got a very important home victory.
Final Score: TCU- 63, Tulsa- 54
Now to the rest of the weekly recap:
Hartford (David Ginsberg) -- 7-2, 0-0 America East.
12/14/20 vs. Alabama State (W 74-35).
12/17/20 vs. Florida A&M (W 63-55).
12/20 at Yale (W 87-81, OT).
3 more wins for the Hawks this week, maybe not against the best competition, but still a win is a win. They are definitely taking advantage of a soft schedule.
UConn (Randolph Childress) -- 5-5, 0-0 American.
12/15/20 at #2 Louisville (L 84-75).
12/17/20 vs. Lafayette (L 74-68).
12/19/20 vs. Holy Cross (L 83-69).
Things aren't going so well for Coach Childress and the Huskies right now, as they lost all 3 games this week, 2 of them tough to explain losses against weaker teams at home. They better get it figured out because conference play is just around the corner.
ECU (Al Hutt) -- 5-4, 0-0 American.
12/15/20 at Virginia (L 92-87).
12/18/20 vs. Old Dominion (W 82-53).
A split for the Pirates, but what an effort against the ACC Virginia team. A few more minutes and they might have fought their way back from a 12 point halftime deficit. They are playing good ball to start the season.
Tulsa (Will Brown) -- 4-3, 0-0 American.
12/14/20 at Liberty (W 74-71).
12/18/20 at TCU- feature game, highlighted above.
A road split for the Golden Hurricane, who aren't playing great ball right now but seem to be ready to turn the corner.
Duke (Dean Hoo) -- 6-2, 0-0 ACC.
12/17/20 vs. Penn (W 74-55).
Just 1 game for the Blue Devils this week, but it was a home win. They go into their season tournament next week, with their first round opponent having a very surprising season.
TCU (Bee Mighty) -- 8-2, 0-0 Big 12.
12/14/20 at Presbyterian (W 62-47).
12/18/20 vs. Tulsa- feature game, highlighted above.
The Horned Frogs continue to play good basketball, but they have a couple non-conference tests coming up next week before big 12 play starts.
Michigan State (Al Mighty) -- 4-3, 0-0 Big Ten.
12/16/20 vs. St. Francis PA (L 71-67, OT).
Another tough loss for the Spartans in their only game of the week, as they dropped an OT heartbreaker to a team they have no business losing to. It's true, Sparty isn't quite back all the way, not yet.
Northwestern (Ess Vee) -- 4-7, 0-0 Big Ten.
12/17/20 at Texas (L 63-57).
12/20/20 at Texas A&M (W 80-55).
A road split for the Wildcats, and actually a better result than expected, as many people had them pegged to lose both games.
Hawaii (B.B. Gunn) -- 4-6, 0-0 Big West.
12/17/20 at LSU (W 73-64).
12/20/20 vs. Murray State (L 59-46).
A split for the Warriors, an interesting split as they win at LSU but lose back at home. They have won 2 of their last 3 though.
Rice (Charlie Shocker) -- 5-3, 0-0 Conference USA.
12/15/20 vs. Lamar (W 88-83, OT).
12/18/20 at Texas A&M Corpus Christi (W 84-71).
2 more wins for the Owls, who have won 3 in a row.
Colorado (Rob Nielsen) -- 6-5, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/16/20 vs. Kansas State (L 81-70).
Just the 1 game for the Buffaloes this week, a loss to a decent K-State team. They have 1 more non-conference test before Pac 12 play starts.
Stanford (Benito Sanchez) -- 3-5, 0-0 Pac 12.
No games this week for Coach Sanchez and the Cardinal, who will hopefully use the extra week of practice to their advantage.
#22 UCLA (Tim Shepard) -- 7-2, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/15/20 vs. #7 Boise State (W 70-64).
12/19/20 vs. Binghamton (L 74-72, OT).
Tough split for the Bruins, who used a lot of energy to beat a very good Boise State team, only to drop a heartbreaker to Binghamton.
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- 7-1, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/18/20 vs. Montana State (W 68-65).
Just the 1 game this week for the Cougars, and it was a hard fought 3 point victory over a 2 win team. Not the best performance, but when you've averaged 12.6 wins a season over the last 5 seasons, any win counts.
Alabama (Roy Rogers) -- 7-3, 0-0 SEC.
12/16/20- Las Vegas Classic First Round vs. (15) Florida Gulf Coast (W 79-75).
12/18/20- Lass Vegas Classic Quarterfinals vs. (10) Cal State Fullerton (W 67-59).
Not the easiest week for the Crimson Tide, but they do get 2 wins to move into the semifinals of the Las Vegas Classic, which they'll play next week.
Kentucky (Patrick Hutt) -- 5-3, 0-0 SEC.
12/15/20 vs. Butler (W 78-67).
12/17/20 at Memphis (W 85-78).
Better effort this week for the Wildcats, who have won 3 in a row going into a tough week next week, with 2 very good non-conference opponents coming up.
Troy (Brett Hawkins) -- 5-4, 1-1 Sun Belt.
12/17/20 vs. Georgia Southern (W 60-48).
12/19/20 at Arkansas State (L 80-78).
The Trojans opened conference play with a split this week. As always, the conference looks wide open early on, it's just a matter of what team shows up on any given night.
Let's take a look at the national top 25 for the week of Dec. 21-27
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. Wisconsin (71) 10-0 1799 1 Big Ten Conference
2. Louisville (1) 10-1 1728 2 Atlantic Coast Conference
3. Illinois 9-1 1620 10 Big Ten Conference
4. Western Michigan 9-0 1552 5 Mid-American Conference
5. Baylor 8-1 1535 3 Big 12 Conference
6. Georgetown 8-2 1343 16 Big East Conference
7. Providence 9-1 1326 12 Big East Conference
8. Georgia State 10-1 1171 15 Horizon League
9. Florida State 7-1 1117 14 Atlantic Coast Conference
10. Iowa 6-1 977 13 Big Ten Conference
11. Arkansas 8-1 974 6 Southeastern Conference
12. Akron 8-1 914 NR Mid-American Conference
13. Rutgers 9-1 878 20 Big Ten Conference
14. Belmont 9-1 756 24 Ohio Valley Conference
15. Oklahoma 5-2 612 4 Big 12 Conference
16. William & Mary 8-1 602 11 Colonial Athletic Association
17. Boise State 8-2 565 7 Mountain West Conference
18. UAB 7-1 534 8 Conference USA
19. Washington State 7-1 509 NR Pacific-12 Conference
20. Syracuse 7-2 486 25 Atlantic Coast Conference
21. Quinnipiac 9-1 420 NR Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
22. Mercer 8-1 379 21 Southern Conference
23. Rhode Island 7-1 356 NR Atlantic 10 Conference
24. Villanova 7-2 356 19 Big East Conference
25. Auburn 7-1 239 NR Southeastern Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Mississippi 6-1 208 Southeastern Conference
Oregon State 7-1 184 Pacific-12 Conference
Colorado State 7-1 104 Mountain West Conference
North Carolina 8-2 100 Atlantic Coast Conference
Georgia 6-2 44 Southeastern Conference
Penn State 7-2 9 Big Ten Conference
Minnesota 7-2 3 Big Ten Conference
These polls are absolutely ridiculous. UCLA beats a top 10 team and loses by 2 points in overtime, and not only do they drop out of the top 25, but they lose all their votes. Yet, Washington State, who granted, is having a great season so far, barely wins their only game of the week, and jumps to 19th? Good for Washington State, but man.
Now for the mid-major poll for the week of Dec. 21-27:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. Western Michigan (67) 9-0 1795 1 Mid-American Conference
2. Georgia State (5) 10-1 1700 6 Horizon League
3. Akron 8-1 1595 8 Mid-American Conference
4. UAB 7-1 1543 3 Conference USA
5. Belmont 9-1 1470 9 Ohio Valley Conference
6. William & Mary 8-1 1393 5 Colonial Athletic Association
7. Boise State 8-2 1390 2 Mountain West Conference
8. Rhode Island 7-1 1358 14 Atlantic 10 Conference
9. Mercer 8-1 1266 7 Southern Conference
10. Quinnipiac 9-1 1208 13 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
11. Colorado State 7-1 1119 18 Mountain West Conference
12. San Diego State 8-2 958 24 Mountain West Conference
13. UC Santa Barbara 7-2 836 25 Big West Conference
14. Harvard 9-2 756 NR Ivy League
15. Davidson 7-2 676 NR Atlantic 10 Conference
16. Fresno State 8-2 664 NR Mountain West Conference
17. Lehigh 8-2 595 NR Patriot League
18. Middle Tennessee 8-2 575 NR Conference USA
19. Richmond 7-2 471 NR Atlantic 10 Conference
20. Wichita State 8-3 426 4 Missouri Valley Conference
21. St. Bonaventure 5-2 383 10 Atlantic 10 Conference
22. UC Irvine 6-2 275 NR Big West Conference
23. Mississippi State 6-2 196 15 Atlantic 10 Conference
24. Cal State Bakersfield 7-2 191 19 Western Athletic Conference
25. Fordham 6-2 166 16 Atlantic 10 Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
UTSA 7-2 147 Conference USA
FIU 5-2 99 Conference USA
Marshall 6-2 63 Conference USA
Utah Valley 6-2 51 Western Athletic Conference
Hartford 7-2 32 America East Conference
Illinois State 7-3 2 Missouri Valley Conference
SMU 7-3 1 American Athletic Conference
No big surprise that UConn loses all their votes after losing 3 games this week. Hartford is in after winning 3 games.
Also, take a look at Western Michigan, in both polls. This is Duke's first round opponent in the Diamond Head Classic next week. They are currently undefeated with wins over Tulane, Wake Forest, and Valparaiso. This might not be such an easy game for the Dukies.