Nov. 27-Dec. 3, 2023
We have 25 games on the schedule this week, with 1 feature game. Let's get right to it:
11/29/23-
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) @
Hawaii (B.B. Gunn) -- This one was ugly, very ugly. The Warriors just didn't come to play, as they trailed by 16 at halftime, and shot just 34.4% for the game. Washington State put it on and kept it on all game to get an easy road victory.
Final Score: Washington State- 86, Hawaii- 55
Now for the rest of the weekly recap:
Hartford (David Ginsberg) -- 2-4, 0-0 America East.
11/29/23 vs. Sacred Heart (W 69-62).
12/3/23 vs. San Diego (L 87-67).
A split this week for the Hawks in a pair of road games. San Diego is a pretty good team, but still wanted to keep it closer than that.
UConn (Randolph Childress) -- 1-2, 0-0 American.
11/27/23 at #2 Syracuse (L 78-62).
12/1/23 at Boise State (W 80-78).
A split for the Huskies, who renewed an old Big East rivalry by going to Syracuse. They'll keep it going next week as they face 2 more former Big East opponents.
Tulsa (Will Brown) -- 3-2, 0-0 American.
No games this week for Coach Brown or the Golden Hurricane. He has to wait until next week to go for career win #100.
Notre Dame (Al Mighty) -- 4-2, 0-0 ACC.
11/28/23 at Green Bay (L 73-70).
12/1/23 at Lamar (W 78-67).
A split this week for the Fighting Irish, who can't be losing to teams like Green Bay, even if it was a road game. Now they go back home for the next 4, but some of them could be battles.
TCU (Bee Mighty) -- 6-2, 0-0 Big 12.
11/28/23 at UTEP (W 86-74).
11/30/23 at Missouri (W 89-81).
12/3/23 at Illinois State (W 74-62).
Very successful week for the Horned Frogs.. 3 road games, 3 victories. They did it against some pretty name opponents too. Good momentum boost for Coach Mighty.
#16 St. John's (Dean Hoo) -- 6-1, 0-0 Big East.
11/23/23 at St. Bonaventure (L 82-71).
12/2/23 at Dartmouth (W 102-76).
A split for the Red Storm this week, tough loss at a very good St. Bonaventure team, but still a game they shouldn't be losing.
Northwestern (Ess Vee) -- 2-3, 0-0 Big Ten.
11/27/23 vs. Illinois State (L 89-81).
Just 1 game this week for the Wildcats, but it was a loss to a decent Illinois State team. Still work to do if they are going to be competitive in the Big Ten.
Hawaii (B.B. Gunn) -- 2-3, 0-0 Big West.
11/29/23 vs. Washington State- feature game, highlighted above.
12/2/23 vs. Bowling Green (L 87-78).
Not a good performance for the Warriors this week, getting hammered by a Washington State team that hasn't been great over the years, and then losing to Bowling Green. I guess it's a good thing, at least right now, that the board of directors is mostly worried about conference play. The fans.. now that's a different story.
FIU (Brett Hawkins) -- 1-4, 0-0 Conference USA.
11/27/23 vs. Oakland (L 70-57).
Things continue to go south for the Golden Panthers, who lose another one and just aren't meeting expectations. They better figure it out soon because a trip to East Lansing, MI awaits next week.
Rice (Charlie Shocker) -- 4-2, 0-0 Conference USA.
11/27/23 at Kansas State (L 59-47).
11/30/23 vs. Texas-Rio Grande Valley (W 93-74).
12/3/23 at SMU (W 79-60).
2 out of 3 this week for the Owls, who are very excited to be in the position they are in right now, with more winnable games coming up.
Colorado (Rob Nielsen) -- 3-3, 0-0 Pac 12.
11/28/23 at San Diego State (L 84-76).
11/30/23 vs. Tulane (L 74-63).
Not a good week for the Buffaloes, who drop 2 games. They've got a brutal stretch coming up in which 5 of their next 7 games are on the road against teams either in the national top 25, or receiving votes.
#20 Stanford (Benito Sanchez) -- 5-1, 0-0 Pac 12.
11/29/23 at St. Mary's (W 77-67).
Just 1 game this week for the Cardinal, but they get back on the winning side of things, with many more winnable games coming up.
UCLA (Tim Shepard) -- 5-2, 0-0 Pac 12.
11/27/23 vs. Loyola Chicago (L 85-82, OT).
11/29/23 vs. Cal Poly (W 88-78).
A split at home for the Bruins, but that OT loss to Loyola hurts. Fortunately, they should, I say should, be able to pad the win column over the next few weeks.
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- 5-0, 0-0 Pac 12.
11/29/23 at Hawaii- feature game, highlighted above.
12/1/23 at Eastern Washington (W 74-57).
2 more wins for the Cougars, including a dismantling of Hawaii. Are the Cougs for real? Or just taking advantage of a light schedule. Either way, they have a very good chance to get to 9 or 10 wins before Pac 12 play starts.
Alabama (Roy Rogers) -- 3-2, 0-0 SEC.
11/27/23 vs. Florida State (L 62-59).
A much more respectable loss this week for the Crimson Tide, as Florida State could be a postseason team. Unfortunately, 2 of the next 3 games for Alabama are against top 10 teams, all before they go to their season tournament. It doesn't get any easier.
Here's a look at the national top 25 going into the week of Dec. 4-10:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. Syracuse (61) 7-0 1788 2 Atlantic Coast Conference
2. Virginia (9) 6-0 1724 5 Atlantic Coast Conference
3. Baylor (2) 5-0 1662 3 Big 12 Conference
4. Ohio State 5-0 1574 4 Big Ten Conference
5. Iowa 5-0 1435 6 Big Ten Conference
6. Georgetown 6-1 1406 7 Big East Conference
7. Arizona 6-1 1389 1 Pacific-12 Conference
8. Providence 6-0 1347 8 Big East Conference
9. Iowa State 5-1 1203 9 Big 12 Conference
10. Gonzaga 5-0 1106 10 Pacific-12 Conference
11. Oklahoma 4-1 1043 14 Big 12 Conference
12. Louisville 5-1 1012 13 Atlantic Coast Conference
13. Xavier 5-0 862 15 Big East Conference
14. Vanderbilt 4-1 751 17 Southeastern Conference
15. Villanova 5-1 741 18 Big East Conference
16. Michigan State 5-1 607 22 Big Ten Conference
17. Washington State 5-0 572 NR Pacific-12 Conference
18. Illinois 4-0 548 NR Big Ten Conference
19. Florida Atlantic 6-0 481 25 Conference USA
20. Wisconsin 5-1 479 NR Big Ten Conference
21. San Francisco 5-0 445 NR West Coast Conference
22. Sam Houston State 6-0 365 NR Southland Conference
23. Boston College 4-0 267 NR Atlantic Coast Conference
24. Bradley 4-0 258 23 Missouri Valley Conference
25. Central Michigan 4-0 170 NR Mid-American Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Washington 4-1 61 Pacific-12 Conference
Creighton 4-1 33 Big East Conference
Memphis 5-1 24 American Athletic Conference
St. John's 6-1 20 Big East Conference
Stanford 5-1 14 Pacific-12 Conference
St. Bonaventure 4-1 12 Atlantic 10 Conference
San Diego 5-1 1 West Coast Conference
Let's welcome Washington State to the national top 25 for what might very well be the first time in this entire dynasty. Can't say for sure, but I believe so. And how tough were the voters on St. John's and Stanford? St. John's splits this week, but drops all the way from #16 down to basically #29. Meanwhile, Stanford WON this week and drops out of the polls, dropping from #20. I do not get these rankings at all.
Now for the mid-major top 25 going into the week of Dec. 4-10:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. Florida Atlantic (36) 6-0 1714 4 Conference USA
2. San Francisco (22) 5-0 1700 12 West Coast Conference
3. Sam Houston State (12) 6-0 1692 14 Southland Conference
4. Bradley (2) 4-0 1610 2 Missouri Valley Conference
5. Central Michigan 4-0 1526 7 Mid-American Conference
6. Memphis 5-1 1328 19 American Athletic Conference
7. Yale 6-1 1261 18 Ivy League
8. Indiana State 5-1 1152 25 Missouri Valley Conference
9. San Diego 5-1 1065 5 West Coast Conference
10. Fresno State 5-1 993 20 Mountain West Conference
11. St. Bonaventure 4-1 962 NR Atlantic 10 Conference
12. Drake 6-1 917 NR Missouri Valley Conference
13. Louisiana Tech 3-1 896 24 Conference USA
14. UAB 4-1 809 NR Atlantic 10 Conference
15. UC Irvine 4-1 711 NR Big West Conference
16. Akron 5-1 673 6 Mid-American Conference
17. Delaware 6-1 507 9 Colonial Athletic Association
18. Colorado State 5-1 455 NR Mountain West Conference
19. Robert Morris 6-1 423 NR Northeast Conference
20. Houston 3-1 353 10 American Athletic Conference
21. Tennessee State 6-1 335 NR Ohio Valley Conference
22. Green Bay 3-1 321 NR Horizon League
23. North Texas 5-1 305 NR Conference USA
24. Florida Gulf Coast 4-1 212 NR Sun Belt Conference
25. Ohio 4-1 197 3 Mid-American Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
UNLV 3-1 191 Mountain West Conference
Southern Utah 3-1 123 Big Sky Conference
Radford 4-1 120 Big South Conference
Florida A&M 4-1 114 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
UT Arlington 3-1 109 Sun Belt Conference
Colgate 4-1 108 Patriot League
Wyoming 3-1 95 Mountain West Conference
James Madison 2-1 93 Colonial Athletic Association
Drexel 3-1 79 Colonial Athletic Association
Oakland 2-1 75 Horizon League
Northwestern State 4-1 70 Southland Conference
Towson 3-1 65 Colonial Athletic Association
Alabama A&M 2-1 41 Southwestern Athletic Conference
Pretty ugly here, no representation from our FOFC teams.