Nov. 20-26, 2023
32 games on the schedule this week, and 1 feature game. Let's get right to it.
11/25/23- Brooklyn Classic Championship --
(3) St. John's (Dean Hoo) vs.
(1) #13 Stanford (Benito Sanchez) -- One thing we knew for sure is that we would have at least one FOFC coached team winning a season tournament. This one was a classic throughout, but the three point line proved to be the difference as St. John's made 14 three pointers to just 6 for Stanford, as the Red Storm won the Brooklyn Classic in a tight affair.
Final Score: (3) St. John's- 65, (1) #13 Stanford- 62
Now to the rest of the weekly recap:
Hartford (David Ginsberg) -- 1-3, 0-0 America East.
11/20/23- Paradise Jam 5th Place Game vs. (1) George Mason (L 57-47).
11/26/23 at Quinnipiac (L 63-60).
2 more losses for the Hawks, tough draw in the 5th place game by the top seed.
UConn (Randolph Childress) -- 0-1, 0-0 American.
No games again this week for Coach Childress and the Huskies. They've had a hard 2 weeks of practice and are ready to get back on the court.
Tulsa (Will Brown) -- 3-2, 0-0 American.
11/20/23- Maui Invitational First Round vs. (2) Miami (L 73-58).
11/21/23- Maui Invitational Consolation Round vs. (6) Rutgers (L 62-59).
11/22/23- Maui Invitational 5th Place Game vs. (4) Eastern Michigan (L 61-53).
The Golden Hurricane were at least able to salvage one win in Maui, but definitely wanted more. The next win for them will be Coach Brown's 100th career victory.
Notre Dame (Al Mighty) -- 3-1, 0-0 ACC.
11/22/23- Battle 4 Atlantis First Round vs. (6) Penn State (W 80-76).
11/23/23- Battle 4 Atlantis Semifinal vs. (2) #1 Arizona (L 91-65).
11/24/23- Battle 4 Atlantis 3rd Place Game vs. (4) New Mexico (W 66-53).
11/26/23 at South Dakota (W 79-55).
Heavy week for the Fighting Irish, but not a bad start for Coach Mighty and his new team. They ran up against an absolute buzzsaw in Arizona, but winning 3 of 4 and taking 3rd place isn't bad.
TCU (Bee Mighty) -- 3-2, 0-0 Big 12.
11/22/23- NIT Season Tip-Off First Round vs. (8) UMKC (W 66-50).
11/23/23- NIT Season Tip-Off Semifinal vs. (5) Pacific (W 81-72).
11/24/23- NIT Season Tip-Off Championship vs. (2) Georgia (W 83-48).
Great week for the Horned Frogs that sees them win the NIT Season Tip-Off title after a dominating performance against Georgia. They know the Big 12 is always a grind, so they want to win as many game in the non-conference schedule, but still some tough ones coming up.
St. John's (Dean Hoo) -- 5-0, 0-0 Big East.
11/21/23- Brooklyn Classic First Round vs. (6) Toledo (W 91-51).
11/24/23- Brooklyn Classic Semifinal vs. (2) Memphis (W 80-65).
11/25/23- Brooklyn Classic Championship vs. (1) #13 Stanford- feature game, highlighted above.
Heck of a week for the Red Storm, who remain undefeated as Coach Hoo is feeling good at his new school, so far anyways.
Northwestern (Ess Vee) -- 2-2, 0-0 Big Ten.
11/24/23- Corpus Christi Coastal Classic Consolation Round vs. (8) Cal State Northridge (W 85-57).
11/25/23- Corpus Christi Coastal Classic Semifinal vs. (3) SMU (L 71-69).
A split this week for the Wildcats, who end up taking 6th place in the Corpus Christi Coastal Classic after getting off to a slow start against SMU and not being able to recover.
Hawaii (B.B. Gunn) -- 2-1, 0-0 Big West.
11/20/23 at Mercer (L 90-74).
Just the 1 game for the Warriors, and while many would consider this a bad loss, consider the fact that Mercer beat both VCU and Michigan State in their season tournament before losing to Syracuse, so they are a dangerous team. Hawaii needs to go on a run though, even if all the board seems to care about is conference results.
FIU (Brett Hawkins) -- 1-3, 0-0 Conference USA.
11/20/23- Main Event First Round vs. (4) Fresno State (L 59-58).
11/21/23- Main Event Consolation Round vs. (8) Loyola Marymount (L 70-69).
11/22/23- Main Event 7th Place Game vs. (7) Belmont (W 62-44).
While the Golden Panthers are current just 1-3, they could just as easily be 3-1 after a couple heartbreaking 1 point losses in the Main Event, with 1 of those losses being to the Main Event champion. I don't think they have anything to worry about, but they certainly can't afford any more last second losses.
Rice (Charlie Shocker) -- 2-1, 0-0 Conference USA.
11/22/23- Chattanooga Regional First Round vs. (2) North Carolina Central (W 82-56).
11/23/23- Chattanooga Regional Championship vs. (1) Michigan (W 75-62).
A shocking week for the Owls, as I don't think anybody expected them to win the Chattanooga Regional. They did, and Coach Shocker.. well, he shocked a lot of people this week. The Owls become the 3rd FOFC coached team to win a season tournament so far.
Colorado (Rob Nielsen) -- 3-1, 0-0 Pac 12.
11/20/23- Main Event First Round vs. (7) Belmont (W 72-63).
11/21/23- Main Event Semifinal vs. (3) Nebraska (W 95-69).
11/22/23- Main Event Championship vs. (4) Fresno State (L 78-62).
The Buffaloes ran out of gas it seems, and let's ask UCLA about getting blown out by Fresno St. as they were the victim of it a couple years ago. Regardless, a second place finish will work for the Buffs, and they'll look to build upon that.
#13 Stanford (Benito Sanchez) -- 4-1, 0-0 Pac 12.
11/21/23- Brooklyn Classic First Round vs. (8) Air Force (W 76-62).
11/24/23- Brooklyn Classic Semifinal vs. (4) UMass (W 72-70).
11/25/23- Brooklyn Classic Championship vs. (3) St. John's- feature game, highlighted above.
Nothing to be ashamed of this week for the Cardinal as they lose a tough Brooklyn Classic championship game to a very, very good St. John's team. They are happy with the second place finish and are looking forward to other challenges.
UCLA (Tim Shepard) -- 4-1, 0-0 Pac 12.
11/20/23 vs. Central Arkansas (W 74-61).
Just 1 game this week for the Bruins, but it was a win against really inferior competition. It's still a pretty light schedule for the next month so they should build up the wins.
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- 3-0, 0-0 Pac 12.
11/24/23- Meadowlands Regional First Round vs. (4) Alcorn State (W 79-56).
11/25/23- Meadowlands Regional Championship vs. (3) Wright State (W 85-61).
A couple dominating performances for the Cougars as they become the 4th FOFC coached team to win a season tournament. Let's be honest though, it would have been an upset if they DIDN'T win this tournament, as they were light years ahead of all the other teams. Still though, props to them for getting it done. Coach St. John has his team playing good ball early on.
Alabama (Roy Rogers) -- 3-1, 0-0 SEC.
11/22/23 vs. Longwood (W 53-52).
1 game for the Crimson Tide this week, and they almost, I say almost, suffered the upset of the century. Not sure what is going on there, but they better get it figured out because they have some tough, tough match-ups coming up against ranked teams.
Here's a look at the national top 25 going into the week of Nov. 27-Dec. 3:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. Arizona (66) 5-0 1794 1 Pacific-12 Conference
2. Syracuse (5) 5-0 1717 2 Atlantic Coast Conference
3. Baylor (1) 5-0 1660 8 Big 12 Conference
4. Ohio State 4-0 1566 6 Big Ten Conference
5. Virginia 3-0 1514 10 Atlantic Coast Conference
6. Iowa 4-0 1430 9 Big Ten Conference
7. Georgetown 4-1 1283 18 Big East Conference
8. Providence 3-0 1263 12 Big East Conference
9. Iowa State 3-1 1152 4 Big 12 Conference
10. Gonzaga 4-0 1131 16 Pacific-12 Conference
11. Washington 4-0 1036 17 Pacific-12 Conference
12. Creighton 3-0 984 20 Big East Conference
13. Louisville 3-1 816 3 Atlantic Coast Conference
14. Oklahoma 2-1 741 5 Big 12 Conference
15. Xavier 3-0 607 NR Big East Conference
16. St. John's 5-0 564 NR Big East Conference
17. Vanderbilt 2-1 475 7 Southeastern Conference
18. Villanova 3-1 428 11 Big East Conference
19. USC 5-0 387 23 West Coast Conference
20. Stanford 4-1 316 13 Pacific-12 Conference
21. North Carolina 3-0 311 NR Atlantic Coast Conference
22. Michigan State 3-1 253 NR Big Ten Conference
23. Bradley 4-0 239 NR Missouri Valley Conference
24. Akron 4-0 219 NR Mid-American Conference
25. Florida Atlantic 5-0 218 NR Conference USA
Others Receiving Votes:
Illinois 3-0 205 Big Ten Conference
Ohio 4-0 178 Mid-American Conference
Wisconsin 4-1 157 Big Ten Conference
San Diego 3-0 139 West Coast Conference
Washington State 3-0 86 Pacific-12 Conference
Boston College 3-0 68 Atlantic Coast Conference
Radford 3-0 62 Big South Conference
Georgia Southern 4-0 59 Sun Belt Conference
Delaware 4-0 56 Colonial Athletic Association
San Francisco 2-0 55 West Coast Conference
Central Michigan 3-0 50 Mid-American Conference
James Madison 2-0 42 Colonial Athletic Association
Kansas 2-1 37 Big 12 Conference
Prairie View A&M 4-0 34 Southwestern Athletic Conference
Houston 2-0 25 American Athletic Conference
Mississippi Valley State 3-0 22 Southwestern Athletic Conference
Sam Houston State 3-0 14 Southland Conference
Southern 1-0 5 Southwestern Athletic Conference
Alabama 3-1 2 Southeastern Conference
Good to see Stanford holding on in the rankings, and no surprise to see St. John's move into the top 25. Washington State getting votes, and Alabama sliding in with 2 votes, but no Colorado, no UCLA? Ridiculous.
Now for the mid-major top 25 for the week of Nov. 27-Dec. 3:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. USC (43) 5-0 1697 1 West Coast Conference
2. Bradley (13) 4-0 1614 13 Missouri Valley Conference
3. Ohio 4-0 1523 NR Mid-American Conference
4. Florida Atlantic (9) 5-0 1517 NR Conference USA
5. San Diego 3-0 1490 7 West Coast Conference
6. Akron (1) 4-0 1476 8 Mid-American Conference
7. Central Michigan 3-0 1308 20 Mid-American Conference
8. Georgia Southern 4-0 1286 NR Sun Belt Conference
9. Delaware (5) 4-0 1172 NR Colonial Athletic Association
10. Houston 2-0 1167 12 American Athletic Conference
11. Prairie View A&M 4-0 1078 NR Southwestern Athletic Conference
12. San Francisco 2-0 1027 22 West Coast Conference
13. Radford (1) 3-0 1017 NR Big South Conference
14. Sam Houston State 3-0 977 14 Southland Conference
15. James Madison 2-0 849 NR Colonial Athletic Association
16. Mississippi Valley State 3-0 795 NR Southwestern Athletic Conference
17. Southern 1-0 665 NR Southwestern Athletic Conference
18. Yale 5-1 450 3 Ivy League
19. Memphis 3-1 343 4 American Athletic Conference
20. Fresno State 4-1 285 25 Mountain West Conference
21. Evansville 4-1 219 NR Missouri Valley Conference
22. San Diego State 3-1 203 15 Mountain West Conference
23. Eastern Michigan 4-1 194 9 Mid-American Conference
24. Louisiana Tech 1-1 135 NR Conference USA
25. Indiana State 3-1 117 NR Missouri Valley Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Saint Mary's 3-1 92 West Coast Conference
UCF 4-1 61 American Athletic Conference
Fordham 3-1 54 Atlantic 10 Conference
St. Bonaventure 2-1 52 Atlantic 10 Conference
Drake 4-1 51 Missouri Valley Conference
Colorado State 3-1 44 Mountain West Conference
UC Irvine 2-1 38 Big West Conference
George Washington 2-1 37 Atlantic 10 Conference
Kent State 2-1 36 Mid-American Conference
Middle Tennessee 2-1 33 Conference USA
Hawaii 2-1 30 Big West Conference
UAB 2-1 25 Atlantic 10 Conference
Illinois State 2-1 23 Missouri Valley Conference
North Florida 4-1 22 Atlantic Sun Conference
Robert Morris 4-1 20 Northeast Conference
Colgate 3-1 14 Patriot League
Cornell 3-1 14 Ivy League
Elon 2-1 14 Colonial Athletic Association
Wagner 5-1 14 Northeast Conference
Drexel 3-1 12 Colonial Athletic Association
UNLV 1-1 10 Mountain West Conference
Green Bay 2-1 9 Horizon League
Illinois Chicago 2-1 9 Horizon League
Portland 1-1 9 West Coast Conference
Florida A&M 4-1 7 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
George Mason 2-1 7 Conference USA
Nevada 1-1 7 Mountain West Conference
SIU Edwardsville 2-1 7 Ohio Valley Conference
Texas State 3-1 7 Sun Belt Conference
Norfolk State 2-1 6 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Tennessee State 3-1 6 Ohio Valley Conference
Loyola Chicago 1-1 5 Missouri Valley Conference
Marist 3-1 4 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Idaho State 2-1 3 Big Sky Conference
San Jose State 0-1 2 Mountain West Conference
St. Francis NY 2-1 2 Northeast Conference
Towson 3-1 2 Colonial Athletic Association
Wyoming 2-1 2 Mountain West Conference
Florida Gulf Coast 2-1 1 Sun Belt Conference
North Texas 3-1 1 Conference USA
Southern Illinois 0-1 1 Missouri Valley Conference
Southern Utah 2-1 1 Big Sky Conference
Stony Brook 3-1 1 America East Conference
UTEP 2-1 1 Conference USA
At least Hawaii is still getting some votes in the mid-major polls. None of our other mid-major teams are.