Highlighted Games for Saturday, December 3

NEWS AND NOTES

-The ACC, Horizon League and Colonial Athletic Association are all playing conference games this weekend. Most will not get into a regular conference schedule until January and are just playing games this early to help balance out the schedule later on, but they will count in the standings.

-Kansas and Marquette, who were both in the top ten, fell to unranked teams who had done absolutely nothing impressive whatsoever until today. There were a lot of other big games as well. A much more detailed rundown will be given when the new bracket projection is posted either late tonight or early tomorrow.

-Wichita State blew a 23 point lead against Syracuse, but still held on to win. That is the second time they’ve beaten a top 15 team on the road this season, which is a bigger statement than anyone else has made.


ACC

-NORTH CAROLINA STATE AT VIRGINIA. NC State is unbeaten and just got a bit win at home against Michigan. Virginia has looked good this season as well, but is coming off a loss to Purdue. They are still unbeaten at home though. This is a conference game between two teams that are trying to establish themselves as NCAA Tournament teams, so this is a very big early season game.

-GEORGIA TECH AT MIAMI, FL. Georgia Tech has just one loss this year and has played very good basketball, but this is one of their biggest games so far. It’s on the road against Miami, who is 4-3, but has played well at times and is certainly good enough to pull the upset. It is a great opportunity for Miami because it is a chance to begin conference play with a win.


OTHER HIGHLIGHTED MATCHUPS

-BRADLEY AT MICHIGAN STATE. Bradley has lost their last two games, including a somewhat surprising loss in their last game at Tennessee Tech, but at the same time they nearly upset Illinois so they are capable of playing some pretty good basketball. Michigan State still has a lot of improvement to do and this would be a good win for them, especially since they need to rebound from their loss to Boston College.

-EVANSVILLE AT MISSOURI. Missouri has yet to play a game on the road, but they are 8-0 on the season and looked very impressive in their blowout win against Arkansas in their last game. They should win this one rather handily against Evansville.

-BUCKNELL AT GEORGE MASON. Bucknell just played a game yesterday against Northern Iowa, which they lost to fall to 2-4 on the season. They are off to a disappointing start and have missed some chances to get some good wins. George Mason is sort of in rebuilding mode as well, so this is a game between two teams that have a lot of potential, but are still looking to find themselves.

-DRAKE AT IOWA STATE. Iowa State lost to Northern Iowa in their last time out to fall to 6-1, but that is really the only good team they’ve played so far. They aren’t necessarily as good as their record. Drake is 2-2 on the year and could compete since this is an in-state game, but they appear to be overmatched.

-PITTSBURGH AT AUBURN. Auburn has several wins against low caliber teams, but they haven’t looked all that good when they’ve been tested. They’re at home, but they are also way overmatched. Pitt has looked like one of the best teams in the country and should win this one easily, which would keep them undefeated.

-NEW MEXICO AT UTEP. This is New Mexico’s first test away from home, and it could be a struggle. They’ve looked fantastic this season, but they’ve yet to leave their campus. UTEP can be a very tough place to win, so it will be interesting to see how the Lobos respond.

-VIRGINIA TECH AT GEORGE WASHINGTON. GW is unbeaten at home, but really hasn’t won against a big team yet. For that matter, neither has Virginia Tech. Both are trying to make a case that they are NCAA Tournament teams, but although they have the potential, both are still unproven for the most part.

-TEXAS TECH AT STANFORD. Stanford has just one loss and other than that blowout loss to Air Force has looked pretty good, but really hasn’t beaten anyone yet. Texas Tech also has a loss to Air Force and another to Marquette, but has also looked impressive. Other than a win against UTEP for Texas Tech neither them or Stanford have any notable wins, so this is big. Both have good records early, but neither have any big wins.

-NOTRE DAME AT MARYLAND. Notre Dame has just one loss to Butler, which was a game they almost won, but they have not played any quality opponents other than that. Maryland already has some big wins and will not be easy to beat at home. Notre Dame really needs a big statement win, and beating Maryland on the road would do a lot for them. Maryland just keeps looking better and better. Both will get their chances at big wins once they begin conference play, but this would still look nice on either team’s resume, and considering how both teams have missed the tournament the last few years, the more statement wins each has the better.

-FLORIDA AT FLORIDA STATE. Florida State has just two losses, but both were decisive losses to teams that aren’t nearly as good as Florida. This is a big rivalry game so that can level the playing field somewhat, but Florida clearly appears to be the dominant team. Still, FSU has played well and won against highly ranked teams at home in the past, so they could end up giving them a game. If they do win it would likely end up being one of the best teams FSU beats all season.

-NEVADA AT CALIFORNIA. Cal has just one loss to San Diego State, but other than that they have pretty much looked like a tournament team. They blew out Kansas State in their last game, but have another very tough challenge tonight. Nevada is talented, unbeaten, and although they haven’t played any top notch teams yet they have the core of last year’s team back. Nevada’s schedule is weak, so a win on the road in a game like this would be one of the few chances they have to really make a statement for themselves. At the same time Cal is trying to build up their own NCAA Resume, so both teams have a lot to play for.


BUY GAMES

-TEXAS SOUTHERN AT CONNECTICUT. A win gets UConn to 7-0.

-UC RIVERSIDE AT UCLA. UCLA will improve to 6-0 with a win today.