Nov. 25-Dec. 1, 2019
There are 2 feature games this week, both in season tournaments, and both on the same date. Let's take a look.
11/28/19- Battle for Atlantis Semifinal-
(3) Florida (Noah Oppenheimer) vs.
(2) Kansas (Dave Johnson) -- A tight one throughout, as neither team shot very well, but the Jayhawks used a big rebounding edge to overcome that and squeak out a victory to advance to the Battle for Atlantis Championship.
Final Score: (2) Kansas- 65, (3) Florida- 62
11/28/19- Orlando Classic First Round-
(6) Monmouth (Thomas Carrano) vs.
(3) Rice (Charlie Shocker) -- The Owls used 57.1% shooting to take a big first half lead, as Monmouth shot 31 three pointers, really living there. It wasn't near enough though as Rice advances.
Final Score: (3) Rice- 77, (6) Monmouth- 67
Now for the rest of the weekly recap:
Hartford (David Ginsberg) -- 0-2, 0-0 America East.
No games this week for Coach Ginsberg and the Hawks.
ECU (Al Hutt) -- 1-1, 0-0 American.
No games this week for Coach Hutt and the Pirates.
Tulsa (Will Brown) -- 3-2, 0-0 American.
11/25/19- Main Event First Round vs. (4) UTEP (L 78-65).
11/26/19- Main Event Consolation Round vs. (8) Duquesne (L 64-57).
11/27/19- Main Event 7th Place Game vs. (2) Illinois State (W 73-47).
Interesting week for the Golden Hurricane who get beat by the #8 seed but absolutely blast the #2 seed in their season tournament. This is easily their worst tournament finish in the Coach Brown era.
Davidson (Randolph Childress) -- 1-1, 0-0 Atlantic 10.
11/30/19 vs. Ole Miss (L 67-66).
Great effort for the Wildcats who held a 5 point halftime lead. They'll be kicking themselves for letting this one slip away.
Clemson (Charles Johnson) -- 2-2, 0-0 ACC.
11/27/19- NIT Season Tip-Off First Round vs. (8) Niagara (L 76-73).
11/28/19- NIT Season Tip-Off Consolation Round vs. (5) Cal St. Fullerton (L 113-107, OT).
11/29/19- NIT Season Tip-Off 7th Place Game vs. (3) Valparaiso (W 78-57).
Almost the exact scenario for the Tigers in their season tournament. Lose 2 games they should have won, including a game against the #8 seed, then defeat the #3 seed in easy fashion. This marks their second 7th place finish in an 8 team tournament.
#18 Duke (Dean Hoo) -- 6-0, 0-0 ACC.
11/29/19 vs. Butler (W 65-57).
12/1/19 vs. Gardner Webb (W 70-54).
The Blue Devils continue to roll, although it didn't come as easy this week. Probably still feeling a bit of jet lag from their tough week last week.
Kansas (Dave Johnson) -- 3-1, 0-0 Big 12.
11/27/19- Battle for Atlantis First Round vs. (7) Kent State (W 62-55).
11/28/19- Battle for Atlantis Semifinals vs. (3) Florida- feature game, highlighted above.
11/29/19- Battle for Atlantis Championship vs. (5) Washington (W 73-45).
Congrats to Coach Johnson and the Jayhawks. They are the second FOFC team to win a season tournament this season. They got a break from not having to face the top seed, but you still gotta beat who is in front of you.
TCU (Bee Mighty) -- 3-1, 0-0 Big 12.
11/25/19- Hall of Fame Classic Semifinals vs. (8) New Mexico (L 90-76).
12/1/19 at Bethune Cookman (W 91-58).
No shame for the much improved Horned Frogs, as they lost to the eventual Hall of Fame Classic winner in New Mexico. A nice bounce back game though against Bethune Cookman.
Michigan (Cillian Tribble) -- 1-3, 0-0 Big Ten.
11/25/19- Las Vegas Invitational First Round vs. (6) Auburn (W 63-37).
11/28/19- Las Vegas Invitational Semifinals vs. (2) #25 Texas (L 60-52).
11/29/19- Las Vegas Invitational 3rd Place Game vs. (1) #16 Louisville (L 65-50).
12/1/19 at Providence (L 75-51).
Brutal week for the Wolverines, who had to play 3 NCAA tournament quality opponents that are either ranked or soon to be ranked. The week started off good but it was all downhill from there, as Coach Tribble notches his 4th, count em, 4th 4th place finish in 8 team tournaments. At least he's consistent.
Michigan State (Al Mighty) -- 1-3, 0-0 Big Ten.
12/1/19 vs. High Point (W 81-59).
The Wolverines get back on the winning side of things, and it was a much needed win after going 0-fer in their season tournament.
Northwestern (Ess Vee) -- 4-2, 0-0 Big Ten.
11/27/19- Great Alaska Shootout First Round vs. (4) Akron (W 75-65).
11/29/19- Great Alaska Shootout Semifinals vs. (1) Gonzaga (L 79-64).
11/30/19- Great Alaska Shootout 3rd Place Game vs. (3) Pittsburgh (L 72-62).
Good start for the Wildcats this week, but they ran into a couple very good teams. Still Coach Vee's best finish in an 8 team tournament so far.
Hawaii (B.B Gunn) -- 2-1, 0-0 Big West.
11/27/19- Chattanooga Regional First Round vs. (4) Chattanooga (W 56-54).
11/28/19- Chattanooga Regional Championship vs. (2) Drake (L 86-78).
The Warriors struggled a little bit in Chattanooga, barely getting by the host team before falling to a much improved Drake team. Next up, a string of 4 games that should be easy wins before the non-conference schedule gets much tougher.
Charlotte (Timmy Tribble) -- 0-4, 0-0 Conference USA.
11/25/19 vs. Virginia Tech (L 82-61).
Give credit to the 49ers, they schedule tough. At some point though, you gotta think more about getting your team wins and confidence. It doesn't get easier, although there are a few winnable games in the non-conference schedule. Not many though.
Rice (Charlie Shocker) -- 2-2, 0-0 Conference USA.
11/28/19- Orlando Classic First Round vs. (6) Monmouth- feature game, highlighted above.
11/29/19- Orlando Classic Semifinal vs. (7) Tennessee Martin (L 70-42).
12/1/19- Orlando Classic 3rd Place Game vs. (8) USC Upstate (L 77-68).
Yuck! The Owls had it all set up for a nice run in the tournament after beating Monmouth in the First Round, but layed an egg against the 7th and 8th seeds. Coach Shocker is definitely not a happy camper at the moment.
Monmouth (Thomas Carrano) -- 2-3, 0-0 MAAC.
11/28/19- Orlando Classic First Round vs. (3) Rice- feature game, highlighted above.
11/29/19- Orlando Classic Consolation Round vs. (2) James Madison (W 69-52).
12/1/19- Orlando Classic 5th Place Game vs. (4) Arkansas Little Rock (W 62-51).
Great recovery for the Hawks after losing their first game, as they knock off a couple solid opponents to claim 5th place. This could be a good momentum builder.
Norfolk State (Payten Carrano) -- 1-3, 0-0 MEAC.
11/25/19- Toledo Regional First Round vs. (4) Eastern Illinois (L 57-45).
11/26/19- Toledo Regional 3rd Place Game vs. (3) UNC Greensboro (W 68-57).
3rd place seems to be the number for the Spartans in 4 team tournaments. They've played in 3, and taken 3rd place in all 3.
Colorado (Rob Nielsen) -- 1-5, 0-0 Pac 12.
11/25/19- Maui Invitational First Round vs. (6) Stephen F. Austin (W 77-59).
11/26/19- Maui Invitational Semifinal vs. (2) Harvard (L 77-74).
11/27/19- Maui Invitational 3rd Place Game vs. (8) Santa Clara (L 73-63).
The Buffaloes kept up a trend this week of FOFC teams winning their first game of an 8 team tournament and dropping the next 2. To their credit, the 2 they dropped are to a couple mid-major teams with storied histories.
Stanford (Benito Sanchez) -- 2-1, 0-0 Pac 12.
11/25/19 at North Dakota State (W 61-50).
The Cardinal are getting it together after an embarrassing loss to Navy. The competition gets steeper, but the next few games are still very winnable.
UCLA (Tim Shepard) -- 1-1, 0-0 Pac 12.
No games this week for Coach Shepard and the Bruins.
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- 2-3, 0-0 Pac 12.
11/25/19- Gulf Coast Showcase First Round vs. (4) Texas Tech (L 80-49).
11/26/19- Gulf Coast Showcase Consolation Round vs. (8) East Tennessee State (W 60-52).
11/27/19- Gulf Coast Showcase 5th Place Game vs. (2) St. Bonaventure (L 73-50).
Well the good news is that the Cougars had their best finish in an 8 team tournament so far. The bad news is, when your first 2 finishes are 7th and 8th place, there's really nowhere to go but up. And the other bad news is they got absolutely hammered in their 2 losses.
Alabama (Roy Rogers) -- 1-1, 0-0 SEC.
No games this week for Coach Rogers and the Crimson Tide.
Florida (Noah Oppenheimer) -- 3-2, 0-0 SEC.
11/27/19- Battle for Atlantis First Round vs. (6) Green Bay (W 86-75).
11/28/19- Battle for Atlantis Semifinals vs. (2) Kansas- feature game, highlighted above.
11/29/19- Battle for Atlantis 3rd place game vs. (8) Yale (W 77-72).
After winning their first three 8 team tournaments, the Gators have to settle for 3rd place in this one following a tough loss to Kansas. They'll be a little disappointed that Yale played them so tough though.
#9 Kentucky (Patrick Hutt) -- 3-0, 0-0 SEC.
11/26/19- Cancun Challenge Semifinals vs. (5) Middle Tennessee (W 79-66).
11/27/19- Cancun Challenge Championship vs. (3) Buffalo (W 97-67).
Congrats to the Wildcats for winning their second 8 team tournament, and being the 3rd team this season to win a tournament. Let's be honest though, there was no reason why they shouldn't have won this tournament. There was only 1 other Power 5 conference team in this tournament, that being Minnesota, and they lost in the semifinals. The other 6 teams were mid-major and low-major teams. Still, take nothing away from Kentucky, you still have to beat who is put in front of you, and they did, convincingly.
Troy (Brett Hawkins) -- 3-0, 0-0 Sun Belt.
11/27/19- Utah Tournament First Round vs. (2) Incarnate Word (W 76-56).
11/30/19- Utah Tournament Championship vs. (4) Alabama State (W 86-84).
A huge congrats to Coach Hawkins and the Trojans, who are playing much, much better basketball this season. Granted, the competition in their tournament wouldn't be considered big league competition, but for a team who's best season was .500 in the Coach Hawkins era, this is a huge start.
Now a look at the national top 25 heading into next week:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference
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1. North Carolina (70) 5-0 1798 1 Atlantic Coast Conference
2. Maryland 4-0 1708 4 Big Ten Conference
3. Iowa State (2) 4-0 1665 6 Big 12 Conference
4. Connecticut 4-0 1446 13 American Athletic Conference
5. Syracuse 3-0 1397 7 Atlantic Coast Conference
6. Kentucky 3-0 1339 9 Southeastern Conference
7. Ohio State 4-1 1313 14 Big Ten Conference
8. Florida State 5-0 1097 10 Atlantic Coast Conference
9. Baylor 5-1 1092 19 Big 12 Conference
10. Indiana 3-0 1069 17 Big Ten Conference
11. VCU 1-0 1033 12 Southeastern Conference
12. Texas 4-0 953 25 Big 12 Conference
13. Duke 6-0 938 18 Atlantic Coast Conference
14. Arizona 3-1 919 15 Pacific-12 Conference
15. Gonzaga 5-0 736 NR West Coast Conference
16. Oregon 3-1 657 3 Pacific-12 Conference
17. Vanderbilt 3-1 525 5 Southeastern Conference
18. Providence 5-0 524 NR Big East Conference
19. Notre Dame 4-0 523 NR Atlantic Coast Conference
20. New Mexico 4-0 378 NR Mountain West Conference
21. Wake Forest 4-0 341 NR Atlantic Coast Conference
22. Marquette 3-0 248 22 Big East Conference
23. UTEP 4-0 230 NR Conference USA
24. Virginia Tech 4-0 200 NR Atlantic Coast Conference
25. Iowa 1-1 184 NR Big Ten Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Rutgers 4-0 167 Big Ten Conference
FIU 4-0 107 Conference USA
UC Santa Barbara 3-0 97 Big West Conference
Ohio 3-0 89 Mid-American Conference
Mississippi State 3-0 88 Atlantic 10 Conference
Furman 4-0 66 Southern Conference
Illinois 2-1 66 Big Ten Conference
UT Arlington 3-0 63 Sun Belt Conference
San Jose State 3-0 51 Mountain West Conference
Florida A&M 4-0 50 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Louisville 4-2 48 Atlantic Coast Conference
Kennesaw State 4-0 38 Atlantic Sun Conference
Samford 3-0 38 Southern Conference
South Dakota State 2-0 37 Summit League
Northern Arizona 3-0 32 Big Sky Conference
Howard 3-0 25 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Troy 3-0 18 Sun Belt Conference
Coastal Carolina 2-0 7 Big South Conference
Nice jumps in the polls for Kentucky and Duke, and take a look at who is getting national votes! Good for Troy. That just shows it pays to win a season tournament.