Jan. 4-10, 2021
1 feature game this week, as we go to the Pac 12:
1/9/21-
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) @
Stanford (Benito Sanchez) -- Three point shooting and free throws were the difference in this one, as Stanford got to the line a few more times for extra points, and hit a couple more threes to get an important home victory over a much improved Washington State.
Final Score: Stanford- 59, Washington State- 48
Now to the rest of the weekly recap:
Hartford (David Ginsberg) -- 12-3, 3-1 America East.
1/6/21 at Binghamton (W 68-60).
1/10/21 at Albany (W 83-66).
2 more wins for the Hawks who keep rolling along this season. They've won 9 of their last 10.
UConn (Randolph Childress) -- 8-8, 3-2 American.
1/6/21 at UCF (W 60-41).
1/9/21 vs. South Florida (L 78-72).
The Huskies split this week, winning on the road and losing at home to a much improved South Florida team. Still though, UConn has too much prestige to be having those kind of losses.
ECU (Al Hutt) -- 9-6, 3-1 American.
1/6/21 vs. Temple (W 89-54).
1/9/21 at UCF (W 81-49).
2 more wins for the Pirates, who didn't just win this week, but they crushed 2 opponents by an average of about 33.5 points. This is impressive, but ECU still has an uphill climb.
Tulsa (Will Brown) -- 7-6, 1-2 American.
1/6/21 vs. SMU (L 89-75).
1/9/21 at Memphis (L 90-44).
A week to forget for the Golden Hurricane, who get absolutely demolished by a Memphis team that has the ability to make a long run in March. Coach Brown needs to get it figured out again.
Duke (Dean Hoo) -- 12-3, 3-0 ACC.
1/6/21 at Miami (W 60-58).
1/9/21 at Georgia Tech (W 76-63).
2 gritty road wins for the Blue Devils going into next week. What comes next week you ask? Oh, just the in-state rivalry matchup at North Carolina. No big deal!
TCU (Bee Mighty) -- 12-3, 3-0 Big 12.
1/4/21 vs. Kansas State (W 70-52).
1/9/21 vs. Texas (W 60-40).
Another solid week for the Horned Frogs, who have started undefeated in conference play and have won 8 of their last 9.
Michigan State (Al Mighty) -- 9-5, 1-1 Big Ten.
1/6/21 at #9 Iowa (L 78-71).
1/9/21 vs. Maryland (W 81-50).
A split this week for the Spartans, who gave top 10 Iowa a game, but couldn't quite beat them. Good recovery win against Maryland though, but now they go into a stretch of 7 straight games with opponents that have already won at least 10 games. Ay yi yi!
Northwestern (Ess Vee) -- 5-9, 1-1 Big Ten.
1/6/21 vs. #24 Indiana (W 71-52).
1/9/21 at #5 Illinois (L 81-77).
The Wildcats were just a couple baskets away from a shocking week. Good win against Indiana though, and almost pulled off the upset against a top 5 team. Was this just a rare good week, or is Coach Vee getting it figured out? We'll see.
Hawaii (B.B. Gunn) -- 8-7, 2-0 Big West.
1/5/21 vs. Cal State Fullerton (W 79-68).
1/9/21 vs. Long Beach State (W 57-51).
A promising start for the Warriors, at least in conference play. They are above .500 overall for the first time this season, let's see if they can stay that way.
Rice (Charlie Shocker) -- 7-6, 0-2 Conference USA.
1/7/21 vs. Middle Tennessee (L 73-58).
1/9/21 at Marshall (L 107-82).
Tough start to conference play for the Owls, who drop the ball this week and lose by double digits twice.
Colorado (Rob Nielsen) -- 7-7, 1-1 Pac 12.
1/7/21 at Washington (L 82-52).
1/9/21 vs. Gonzaga (W 88-79).
Weird week for the Buffaloes, who get hammered at Washington, but get a win over new conference member Gonzaga. That win broke a 3 game losing streak.
Stanford (Benito Sanchez) -- 7-7, 1-1 Pac 12.
1/7/21 vs. Arizona (L 47-39).
1/9/21 vs. Washington State- feature game, highlighted above.
A split for the Cardinal, as the conference appears that it is still going to run through Arizona.
UCLA (Tim Shepard) -- 10-4, 1-1 Pac 12.
1/7/21 at Arizona State (L 74-73, OT).
1/9/21 at Washington (W 62-48).
Heartbreak for the Bruins this week, as they lose on the road to Arizona State on a buzzer beater, in overtime no less. This one was made even more painful by the fact they led by 9 at halftime.
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- 10-4, 1-1 Pac 12.
1/7/21 vs. Oregon State (W 80-57).
1/9/21 at Stanford- feature game, highlighted above.
The Cougars complete our Pac 12 mediocrity week, as all 4 of our Pac 12 teams split their games this week.
Alabama (Roy Rogers) -- 8-6, 1-1 SEC.
1/6/21 at Texas A&M (L 80-69).
1/9/21 vs. Florida (W 75-55).
The split trend continues for our FOFCers, as the Crimson Tide lose on the road, win at home.
Kentucky (Patrick Hutt) -- 9-4, 2-0 SEC.
1/6/21 at Tennessee (W 83-71).
1/9/21 vs. Georgia (W 104-83).
The Wildcats start conference play in a good way, breaking the split trend by winning both their games this week by double digits.
Troy (Brett Hawkins) -- 7-8, 3-4 Sun Belt.
1/5/21 vs. Oral Roberts (L 61-59).
1/7/21 at UL Monroe (L 63-45).
A bit of a surprise this week, as the Trojans fared better against their tough non-conference foe than they did their conference foe this week. While both were losses, they almost upset Oral Roberts. There is something about conference play that Coach Hawkins just hasn't been able to get over the hump yet.
Let's take a look at the national top 25 going into the week of Jan. 11-17:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. Louisville (69) 15-1 1797 2 Atlantic Coast Conference
2. Wisconsin (3) 13-1 1731 1 Big Ten Conference
3. Baylor 14-2 1654 4 Big 12 Conference
4. Georgetown 13-3 1565 3 Big East Conference
5. Syracuse 11-2 1476 7 Atlantic Coast Conference
6. Providence 14-2 1368 10 Big East Conference
7. Quinnipiac 15-1 1363 8 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
8. Iowa 12-2 1257 9 Big Ten Conference
9. Villanova 12-3 1169 21 Big East Conference
10. Boise State 12-3 1167 15 Mountain West Conference
11. San Diego State 14-2 1159 12 Mountain West Conference
12. Wichita State 14-3 1022 19 Missouri Valley Conference
13. Illinois 12-2 984 5 Big Ten Conference
14. Rhode Island 12-2 838 6 Atlantic 10 Conference
15. Middle Tennessee 12-2 783 NR Conference USA
16. Penn State 12-3 632 11 Big Ten Conference
17. Mississippi 11-3 603 14 Southeastern Conference
18. Georgia State 14-3 521 13 Horizon League
19. FIU 11-2 505 NR Conference USA
20. Duke 12-3 376 NR Atlantic Coast Conference
21. Oklahoma 9-4 268 20 Big 12 Conference
22. Western Michigan 12-3 268 16 Mid-American Conference
23. Arkansas 11-3 151 17 Southeastern Conference
24. Memphis 11-3 137 NR American Athletic Conference
25. TCU 12-3 118 NR Big 12 Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Texas A&M 11-3 118 Southeastern Conference
Harvard 13-3 84 Ivy League
Indiana 10-3 82 Big Ten Conference
William & Mary 12-3 52 Colonial Athletic Association
Fresno State 12-3 50 Mountain West Conference
Oregon State 11-3 40 Pacific-12 Conference
Belmont 13-3 22 Ohio Valley Conference
UC Irvine 11-3 22 Big West Conference
Mercer 12-3 10 Southern Conference
Illinois State 12-4 6 Missouri Valley Conference
Hartford 12-3 1 America East Conference
UAB 11-3 1 Conference USA
Now this is more like it! Good weeks for Duke and TCU have them in the top 25, while Hartford managed 1 vote.
Now for the mid-major top 25 going into the week of Jan. 11-17:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. San Diego State (42) 14-2 1752 2 Mountain West Conference
2. Wichita State (22) 14-3 1700 5 Missouri Valley Conference
3. Quinnipiac (7) 15-1 1676 3 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
4. Boise State (1) 12-3 1612 6 Mountain West Conference
5. Rhode Island 12-2 1508 1 Atlantic 10 Conference
6. Middle Tennessee 12-2 1439 13 Conference USA
7. Georgia State 14-3 1351 4 Horizon League
8. Memphis 11-3 1270 16 American Athletic Conference
9. FIU 11-2 1217 14 Conference USA
10. William & Mary 12-3 1104 7 Colonial Athletic Association
11. Western Michigan 12-3 1047 8 Mid-American Conference
12. Harvard 13-3 1010 17 Ivy League
13. UAB 11-3 898 9 Conference USA
14. Belmont 13-3 890 10 Ohio Valley Conference
15. Fresno State 12-3 813 21 Mountain West Conference
16. Mercer 12-3 732 11 Southern Conference
17. UC Irvine 11-3 690 12 Big West Conference
18. Detroit 14-4 603 NR Horizon League
19. Illinois State 12-4 496 NR Missouri Valley Conference
20. Colorado State 10-3 416 15 Mountain West Conference
21. Hartford 12-3 336 NR America East Conference
22. Kent State 10-4 235 19 Mid-American Conference
23. UC Santa Barbara 11-4 173 18 Big West Conference
24. Davidson 10-4 115 NR Atlantic 10 Conference
25. Lehigh 12-4 91 20 Patriot League
Others Receiving Votes:
South Florida 9-4 49 American Athletic Conference
Northern Illinois 10-4 40 Mid-American Conference
George Washington 9-4 37 Atlantic 10 Conference
St. Bonaventure 8-4 23 Atlantic 10 Conference
UTEP 8-4 18 Conference USA
Cal State Bakersfield 10-4 16 Western Athletic Conference
Massachusetts 10-4 15 Atlantic 10 Conference
Richmond 10-4 14 Atlantic 10 Conference
Presbyterian 11-4 12 Big South Conference
Eastern Michigan 11-4 2 Mid-American Conference
Hartford jumps back into the mid-major top 25 and continues to be the only FOFC mid-major (even though there aren't many) to represent in the polls.