Games of Interest, Friday 11/23

[shaunguth]

Bradley opponents coming into today.......

Non-Conference: 28-28 (.500)

Missouri Valley: 29-8 (.784)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Appalachian State (1-3) @ Virginia Tech (4-0), 1:00pm CT (ESPN3)

Northern Iowa (3-1) vs. Stanford (3-2), 2:30pm CT

(4)Michigan (4-0) vs. Kansas State (5-0), 4:00pm CT (ESPN)

illinois state (4-0) vs. UAB (3-1), 5:00pm CT (WJBC Radio)

Central Michigan (2-1) @ Utah (2-1), 6:00pm CT (Pac-12 Network)

(14)Creighton (4-0) vs. Wisconsin (3-1), 9:00pm CT (ESPN2)

Drake (1-2) vs. Rice (1-3), 8:30pm CT (ESPNU)


---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[shaunguth]

Virginia Tech wins 87-76 to start the season 5-0.

Northern Iowa and Stanford tied 30-30 at the half.

Michigan and Kansas State about to start.

[Braves4Life]

Virginia Tech wins 87-76 to start the season 5-0

I've seen them play; they're not that good. I expect them to finish under .500 in ACC play and go to NIT (at best) once again.

[Braves4Life]

Vanderbilt is getting thumped by Marist 50-30 with :45 seconds to go IN THE GAME.

[shaunguth]

I've seen them play; they're not that good. I expect them to finish under .500 in ACC play and go to NIT (at best) once again.

Yeah....they haven't beaten anyone of importance to this point, but they have won those 5 games by an average of 14+ points/game.

It'll be interesting to see what they do against Iowa on Tuesday.

[shaunguth]

Disappointing way to start the day for the Valley.....Stanford defeats Northern Iowa 66-50.

[tornado]

Indeed that qualifies for the UGLY game of the day...Vandy losing to Marist 50-33
Vanderbilt scores just 33 pts in the entire game against Marist - doesn't even hit 20 pts in either half
they went 2-20 from 3-pt..and Marist was previously 1-3 - their only win a close one over Columbia

[Bravesfan]

Disappointing way to start the day for the Valley.....Stanford defeats Northern Iowa 66-50.

Speaking of Virginia Tech, Stanford hadn't beat anyone of importance either until today. They were 3-2 going into today's game, with a home loss to Belmont! Yes, Belmont has made the NCAA Tournament five of the last seven years, including the last two years in a row. But that was still a bad home loss as far as Stanford was conerned.

[Bravesfan]

Indeed that qualifies for the UGLY game of the day...Vandy losing to Marist 50-33
Vanderbilt scores just 33 pts in the entire game against Marist - doesn't even hit 20 pts in either half
they went 2-20 from 3-pt..and Marist was previously 1-3 - their only win a close one over Columbia

I don't even know how good Marist is, but one of two things will happen. First, Marist could win 6 games all year, but they'll be happy they were able to beat a great team. Or this spurs them to win their conference and make the NCAA Tournament. Either way, this would qualify as a REAL bad loss for Vanderbilt unless Marist makes the tournament.

[shaunguth]

Speaking of Virginia Tech, Stanford hadn't beat anyone of importance either until today. They were 3-2 going into today's game, with a home loss to Belmont! Yes, Belmont has made the NCAA Tournament five of the last seven years, including the last two years in a row. But that was still a bad home loss as far as Stanford was conerned.

I thought UNI would win that game. In fact, Drake was the only team I could see losing today.....but we'll see.

[Bravesfan]

I thought UNI would win that game. In fact, Drake was the only team I could see losing today.....but we'll see.

Yup. It will be a fun night watching how the rest of the games play out.

[tornado]

a couple interesting situations...

DePaul lost in Cancun to Western Kentucky, who are not particularly good this year....
- the fans & boards are melting down --
3 years in now with Purnell at the helm - he's 21-46, doing no better than Wainright even tho the bottom of the Big East is really a bunch of mid & low-majors, and losing consistently to mid-majors - WKU, Gardner-Webb...
Purnell is (possibly unfortunately) locked up thru 2017 already with a 7-year deal he signed in 2010, paying him almost $2 million per year, which puts him among the elite even at the top of the Big East!!
Remember - DePaul was one of those schools where the AD was unhappy and forced the head coach (Wainwright) to fire two of his assistants and hire two new ones...could that happen again?
Their incoming recruiting class for 2013 again contains (per Rivals) just 3-Star & Unrated guys.

http://xfinity.comcast.net/slideshow/sports-overpaidcollegecoaches/9/

I find it intriguing that Indiana fans are so furious and cursing the NCAA for docking their guys a few games...geez...they are already 5-0 and their guys will be back eligible in a few days - even after taking THOUSANDS in impermissible benefits from sleazy AAU guys who are on the take....


Illini are hot after Charles Matthews - brother of BU recruit Dominique Matthews...and they have a lot of articles now tracking him...
St. Rita has historically been a good but not great program often overshadowed by other cChicago schools.. but this year they are knocking off some of the TOP teams in the nation -
In the win over Hazel Green Dominique scored 31 points, 8-15 from the floor, 10-11 on FT.
Charles had 5 pts, 6 asst, 5 blk, 5 stl, 8 rebs on Friday & 9 pts, 11 rebs, 5 asst, 5 blk, 4 stl on Wed.

Another St. Rita player - Victor Law - who visited from Chicago when we had the whole busload of players here...
...scored 15 pts, 8 reb, 4 asst, 2 blk on Friday and had 20 pts, 7 rebs on Wed.

http://illinois.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1440270

[Braves4Life]

DePaul lost in Cancun to Western Kentucky, who are not particularly good this year....
- the fans & boards are melting down --
3 years in now with Purnell at the helm - he's 21-46...

I've always liked Purnell and thought he was a decent (not great) coach. I really thought he would be the guy to turn things around at DePaul. Why does DePaul have such a problem turning this thing around when they play in the Chicago market? Is it too high of an academic standard? Poor facilities? Why would good Chicago players rather play at Illinois, Notre Dame, IU, etc. ?

[tornado]

I agree - there's no reason DePaul couldn't be the Gonzaga or Xavier of the midwest - in fact they have the HUGE advantages of an enormous market & in a BCS conference.
Had they hired better with Chicago connections they wouldn't find themselves settling for unheard-of juco recruits...guys who are avergaing 5 pts or 4 rebs a game at juco!!!

http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=8&c=1&nid=6612383

http://depaul.scout.com/a.z?s=430&p=2&c=1237265&ssf=1&RequestedURL=http%3a%2f%2fdepaul.scout.com%2f2%2f1237265.html

[Bravesfan]

I agree - there's no reason DePaul couldn't be the Gonzaga or Xavier of the midwest - in fact they have the HUGE advantages of an enormous market & in a BCS conference.
Had they hired better with Chicago connections they wouldn't find themselves settling for unheard-of juco recruits...guys who are avergaing 5 pts or 4 rebs a game at juco!!!

http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=8&c=1&nid=6612383

http://depaul.scout.com/a.z?s=430&p=...2f1237265.html

That's awful! I thought Purnell was a better recruiter than this. Apparently not!

Speaking of being the Gonzaga of the midwest, I always thought they had no business in the Big East in the first place. C-USA would be a much better fit for them. DePaul, Tulsa and Memphis would be the core of that group. But with the Big East fighting for scraps next year, and Memphis joining them (someone correct me if I'm wrong), the Big East may be somewhat easier.

But if they can't beat the likes of Gardner-Webb at home, it doesn't matter what conference they are in. As I said yesterday, the way they are playing, they would probably finish last in the Valley this year.