SelectionSunday
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Tommie Talk and the NET/Torvik Gospel
St. Thomas (7-4, 4-6 ATS)
NET -- Tommies stay at #144
Torvik -- Tommies stay at #138
**All rankings used below are NET
Monday Reach the Summit Results
No games
Tuesday Reach the Summit Slate
#163 South Dakota State @ #341 Ball State, 6 (ESPN+)
Doane (non-D1) @ #260 Omaha, 7
#274 South Dakota @ #66 Wyoming, 7:30
Colorado Christian (non-D1) @ #213 Denver, 8
Monday Eye-Openers
None
Dribbles & Scribbles
-- With all teams having played at least nine games, I'm starting to see clarity in the Summit League. As we inch closer to league play, I feel pretty comfortable splitting the league into four tiers:
Tier 1: North Dakota State, St. Thomas, South Dakota State
I will be beyond surprised if anyone other than the Bison, Tommies, or Jackrabbits win the regular season and/or Summit League Tournament championship(s). Right now I'm a little higher on the Bison and Tommies, but in my short time following the league I've learned to never dismiss the Jackrabbits. These are the Summit's three bell cows, and I haven't seen enough in the non-conference from the other teams to put them in the top tier.
Tier 2: Denver, Omaha, South Dakota
Denver easily has the best non-conference scalp of any SL team, an 83-81 win @ #53 Colorado State (7-2). The Pioneers (3-6 vs. D1) are the league's wildcard with new coach Tim Bergstraser and a bunch of portal guys, but for now I'm still in "wait and see" mode. Defending regular season & tournament champ Omaha (2-7) has played three NET top 100 opponents (#41 LSU, #53 Colorado State, #92 Murray State) and has battled injuries, so don't count the Mavericks out. South Dakota (4-5) doesn't have any significant wins (the best one is #258 Western Michigan), but the 'Yotes are solidly in the middle tier.
Tier 3: North Dakota, Oral Roberts
UND (2-8) has shown flashes with promising freshmen Greyson Uelmen (13.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg), Marley Curtis (9.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg), and Anthony Smith III (8.2 ppg, 3.2 apg) joining solid senior holdover Eli King, but with youth comes growing pains for the Fighting Sioux. ORU has the best chance to jump up a tier. The Golden Eagles (2-7) have played a competitive slate (Tulsa, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma), and have had moments of promise, including a win over Montana State (a team St. Thomas lost to) and a 1-point loss to Tulsa, currently the highest ranked team (#46) in the American.
Tier 4: Kansas City
Thus far there has been no evidence offered that the Roos (0-8) will finish anywhere but at the bottom and destined to play in the March 4th #8 vs. #9 game at the Summit League Tournament in Sioux Falls.
-- The best NET win for each Summit League team:
Denver (@ #53 Colorado State, 83-81)
St. Thomas (vs. #121 Northern Colorado, 73-72)
North Dakota State (#149 Southern Illinois, 92-85)
Oral Roberts (#155 Montana State, 72-68)
Omaha (@ #181 Portland State, 60-55)
North Dakota (@ #208 UC-Riverside, 76-74)
South Dakota State (@ #238 Northern Arizona, 75-62)
South Dakota (#258 Western Michigan, 83-78)
Kansas City (none)
Mid- & Low-Major Conferences vs. Power 5/Gonzaga (through Dec. 8)
1. WCC (8-10): (1) Grand Canyon over Utah, (2) Saint Mary's over Virginia Tech, (3) San Diego State over Oregon, (4) San Francisco over Minnesota, (5) San Francisco over Mississippi State, (6) Santa Clara over Minnesota, (7) Santa Clara over Xavier, (8) Seattle over Stanford
2. MAC (3-9): (1) Bowling Green over Kansas State, (2) Buffalo over DePaul, (3) Eastern Michigan over Cincinnati
3. Atlantic 10 (4-13): (1) Davidson over Boston College, (2) Dayton over Georgetown, (3) Dayton over Marquette, (4) VCU over Virginia Tech
4. Mountain West (4-15): (1) Boise State over Butler, (2) Colorado State over Colorado, (3) New Mexico over Mississippi State, (4) UNLV over Stanford
5. American (3-14): (1) FAU over BC, (2) Memphis over Baylor, (3) Tulane over BC
6. Missouri Valley (1-7): Drake over Georgia Tech
7. Big West (1-8): (1) Cal Poly over Utah
8. NEC (2-25): (1) Central Connecticut over BC, (2) Central Connecticut over Rutgers
9. Coastal (1-17): Hofstra over Pitt
10. Southland (1-19): (1) New Orleans over TCU
11. MAAC (1-20): (1) Quinnipiac over Pitt
Ivy (0-6)
Conference USA (0-10)
SoCon (0-10)
Summit (0-10)
WAC (0-11)
Big Sky (0-12)
America East (0-14)
Sun Belt (0-14)
Big South (0-16)
MEAC (0-17)
OVC (0-18)
Patriot (0-19)
Horizon (0-21)
ASUN (0-22)
SWAC (0-36)
Record: 29-393 (6.87%)
Tuesday Mid- & Low-Major vs. Power 5/Gonzaga Slate
Big Sky
Northern Arizona @ Arizona State
Ivy
Brown @ Providence
MEAC
Morgan State @ DePaul
NCCU @ Kentucky
UMES @ Virginia
OVC
Little Rock @ West Virginia
WCC
USC @ San Diego
Power 5/Gonzaga Head-to-Head (through Dec. 8)
1 Gonzaga (6-1, 85.7%)
2 Big XII (38-22, 63.3%)
3 B1G (26-24, 52%)
4 ACC (30-31, 49.2%)
5 SEC (26-39, 40%)
6 Big East (16-25, 39%)
Tuesday Power 5/Gonzaga Head-to-Head Matchups
Villanova @ Michigan, 5:30 (FS1)
BYU vs. Clemson, 5:30 (ESPN)
Florida vs. UConn, 8 (ESPN)
Other Games to Eye
McNeese @ Rhode Island, 6 (ESPN+)
Illinois @ Ohio State, 6:30 (Peacock)
Penn State @ Indiana, 7:30 (FS1)
Tuesday Pick to Click (21-15, 58.3%, W1 streak)
Michigan -16.5 over Villanova
Tuesday Outright +7 or More ‘Dog (7-29, 19.4%, L1 streak)
Long Beach State (+7.5) outright @ San Jose State
Deep Thoughts, by Buzz Studley
There are a pair of preseason top 25 teams that need to get busy livin' if they want their season to include the NCAA Tournament. Preseason #9 Kentucky is 5-4 with a best win of #187 Tennessee Tech, and preseason #25 Creighton is 5-4 with a best win of #174 Oregon.
St. Thomas (7-4, 4-6 ATS)
NET -- Tommies stay at #144
Torvik -- Tommies stay at #138
**All rankings used below are NET
Monday Reach the Summit Results
No games
Tuesday Reach the Summit Slate
#163 South Dakota State @ #341 Ball State, 6 (ESPN+)
Doane (non-D1) @ #260 Omaha, 7
#274 South Dakota @ #66 Wyoming, 7:30
Colorado Christian (non-D1) @ #213 Denver, 8
Monday Eye-Openers
None
Dribbles & Scribbles
-- With all teams having played at least nine games, I'm starting to see clarity in the Summit League. As we inch closer to league play, I feel pretty comfortable splitting the league into four tiers:
Tier 1: North Dakota State, St. Thomas, South Dakota State
I will be beyond surprised if anyone other than the Bison, Tommies, or Jackrabbits win the regular season and/or Summit League Tournament championship(s). Right now I'm a little higher on the Bison and Tommies, but in my short time following the league I've learned to never dismiss the Jackrabbits. These are the Summit's three bell cows, and I haven't seen enough in the non-conference from the other teams to put them in the top tier.
Tier 2: Denver, Omaha, South Dakota
Denver easily has the best non-conference scalp of any SL team, an 83-81 win @ #53 Colorado State (7-2). The Pioneers (3-6 vs. D1) are the league's wildcard with new coach Tim Bergstraser and a bunch of portal guys, but for now I'm still in "wait and see" mode. Defending regular season & tournament champ Omaha (2-7) has played three NET top 100 opponents (#41 LSU, #53 Colorado State, #92 Murray State) and has battled injuries, so don't count the Mavericks out. South Dakota (4-5) doesn't have any significant wins (the best one is #258 Western Michigan), but the 'Yotes are solidly in the middle tier.
Tier 3: North Dakota, Oral Roberts
UND (2-8) has shown flashes with promising freshmen Greyson Uelmen (13.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg), Marley Curtis (9.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg), and Anthony Smith III (8.2 ppg, 3.2 apg) joining solid senior holdover Eli King, but with youth comes growing pains for the Fighting Sioux. ORU has the best chance to jump up a tier. The Golden Eagles (2-7) have played a competitive slate (Tulsa, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma), and have had moments of promise, including a win over Montana State (a team St. Thomas lost to) and a 1-point loss to Tulsa, currently the highest ranked team (#46) in the American.
Tier 4: Kansas City
Thus far there has been no evidence offered that the Roos (0-8) will finish anywhere but at the bottom and destined to play in the March 4th #8 vs. #9 game at the Summit League Tournament in Sioux Falls.
-- The best NET win for each Summit League team:
Denver (@ #53 Colorado State, 83-81)
St. Thomas (vs. #121 Northern Colorado, 73-72)
North Dakota State (#149 Southern Illinois, 92-85)
Oral Roberts (#155 Montana State, 72-68)
Omaha (@ #181 Portland State, 60-55)
North Dakota (@ #208 UC-Riverside, 76-74)
South Dakota State (@ #238 Northern Arizona, 75-62)
South Dakota (#258 Western Michigan, 83-78)
Kansas City (none)
Mid- & Low-Major Conferences vs. Power 5/Gonzaga (through Dec. 8)
1. WCC (8-10): (1) Grand Canyon over Utah, (2) Saint Mary's over Virginia Tech, (3) San Diego State over Oregon, (4) San Francisco over Minnesota, (5) San Francisco over Mississippi State, (6) Santa Clara over Minnesota, (7) Santa Clara over Xavier, (8) Seattle over Stanford
2. MAC (3-9): (1) Bowling Green over Kansas State, (2) Buffalo over DePaul, (3) Eastern Michigan over Cincinnati
3. Atlantic 10 (4-13): (1) Davidson over Boston College, (2) Dayton over Georgetown, (3) Dayton over Marquette, (4) VCU over Virginia Tech
4. Mountain West (4-15): (1) Boise State over Butler, (2) Colorado State over Colorado, (3) New Mexico over Mississippi State, (4) UNLV over Stanford
5. American (3-14): (1) FAU over BC, (2) Memphis over Baylor, (3) Tulane over BC
6. Missouri Valley (1-7): Drake over Georgia Tech
7. Big West (1-8): (1) Cal Poly over Utah
8. NEC (2-25): (1) Central Connecticut over BC, (2) Central Connecticut over Rutgers
9. Coastal (1-17): Hofstra over Pitt
10. Southland (1-19): (1) New Orleans over TCU
11. MAAC (1-20): (1) Quinnipiac over Pitt
Ivy (0-6)
Conference USA (0-10)
SoCon (0-10)
Summit (0-10)
WAC (0-11)
Big Sky (0-12)
America East (0-14)
Sun Belt (0-14)
Big South (0-16)
MEAC (0-17)
OVC (0-18)
Patriot (0-19)
Horizon (0-21)
ASUN (0-22)
SWAC (0-36)
Record: 29-393 (6.87%)
Tuesday Mid- & Low-Major vs. Power 5/Gonzaga Slate
Big Sky
Northern Arizona @ Arizona State
Ivy
Brown @ Providence
MEAC
Morgan State @ DePaul
NCCU @ Kentucky
UMES @ Virginia
OVC
Little Rock @ West Virginia
WCC
USC @ San Diego
Power 5/Gonzaga Head-to-Head (through Dec. 8)
1 Gonzaga (6-1, 85.7%)
2 Big XII (38-22, 63.3%)
3 B1G (26-24, 52%)
4 ACC (30-31, 49.2%)
5 SEC (26-39, 40%)
6 Big East (16-25, 39%)
Tuesday Power 5/Gonzaga Head-to-Head Matchups
Villanova @ Michigan, 5:30 (FS1)
BYU vs. Clemson, 5:30 (ESPN)
Florida vs. UConn, 8 (ESPN)
Other Games to Eye
McNeese @ Rhode Island, 6 (ESPN+)
Illinois @ Ohio State, 6:30 (Peacock)
Penn State @ Indiana, 7:30 (FS1)
Tuesday Pick to Click (21-15, 58.3%, W1 streak)
Michigan -16.5 over Villanova
Tuesday Outright +7 or More ‘Dog (7-29, 19.4%, L1 streak)
Long Beach State (+7.5) outright @ San Jose State
Deep Thoughts, by Buzz Studley
There are a pair of preseason top 25 teams that need to get busy livin' if they want their season to include the NCAA Tournament. Preseason #9 Kentucky is 5-4 with a best win of #187 Tennessee Tech, and preseason #25 Creighton is 5-4 with a best win of #174 Oregon.
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