(Nov. 6) National College Hoops Summit: McDermott gets career win #500; I'm tired (yawn) of non-competitive games

[SelectionSunday]

I’ll do my best to make this a daily preview/wrap-up throughout the season. The staples will be the Summit League slate, conference records vs. the Power 5/Gonzaga, and national key matchups/results.

My weekly "Field of 68" projection will be updated weekly every Monday both here and on the Golden Gopher Basketball Forum. Embrace the journey, start to finish!

ST. THOMAS IN THE TORVIK (T-RANK) RANKINGS
The Toms remain at #140.

Tuesday Reaching the Summit Results
Oklahoma State 95, Oral Roberts (0-1) 71

Highlights
Stat-sheet stuffer Connor Dow (7 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, 7 blocks), Ty Harper (18 points, 6 boards), Jack Turner (14 points, 4 boards), and Ofri Naveh (11 points, 7 boards, 4 steals) pace the Golden Eagles.

Wednesday Reaching the Summit Slate
South Dakota (0-1) @ Creighton, 7 (Peacock)
North Dakota State (0-1) @ UC-Davis, 8 (ESPN+)

TUESDAY EYE-OPENERS
UT-Martin 86, UNLV 81: New Rebels coach Josh Pastner loses his debut.

Oregon 60, Hawaii 59: Ducks escape on a TK Simpkins layup with 4 seconds left.

MID- & SMALL-MAJOR RECORDS vs. POWER 5 + GONZAGA (through November 4)
American (1-0)
Southland (1-4)
Atlantic 10 (0-0)
Conference USA (0-0)
Ivy (0-0)
MAC (0-0)
Sun Belt (0-0)
WCC (0-0)
Missouri Valley (0-1)
Mountain West (0-1)
OVC (0-1)
Big South (0-2)
Summit (0-2)
WAC (0-2)
America East (0-3)
Big Sky (0-3)
Big West (0-3)
Coastal (0-3)
SoCon (0-3)
Patriot (0-4)
ASUN (0-5)
Horizon (0-5)
MAAC (0-6)
MEAC (0-6)
NEC (0-6)
SWAC (0-6)

Wednesday “Mid/Low Major Banner vs. the Power 5/Gonzaga” Slate
ASUN
North Alabama @ Mississippi State

MAAC
Rider @ Rutgers

MEAC
UMES @ Georgia

OVC
Southern Indiana @ Butler

SWAC
Alabama A&M @ Indiana
Southern U @ Marquette

Summit
South Dakota @ Creighton

WAC
Tarleton State @ LSU

POWER 5/GONZAGA HEAD-TO-HEAD (through November 4)
1 Big XII (2-0)
2 ACC (1-0)
3 B1G (0-0)
Gonzaga (0-0)
5 Big East (0-1)
6 SEC (0-2)

Wednesday Power 5/Gonzaga Head-to-Head Slate
none

WEDNESDAY WORTH A LOOK-SEE GAMES
Tarleton State @ LSU, 7 (SECN+)
North Alabama @ Mississippi State, 8 (SECN)

WEDNESDAY PICK TO CLICK (2-0)
North Dakota State +3.5 @ UC-Davis

WEDNESDAY OURIGHT DRAGON SLAYER (0-2) – +7 or more underdog
USC-Upstate (+9.5) outright over Fresno State

DEEP THOUGHTS, BY BUZZ STUDLEY
I know it was a season opener when teams tend to be particularly sloppy, but I was highly unimpressed by Texas in its 75-60 loss to Duke. Early read on the Longhorns under 1st-year coach Sean Miller is a long season ahead.

 

[SelectionSunday]

NM

 

[SelectionSunday]

DAILY NATIONAL COLLEGE HOOPS SUMMIT (November 6)

ST. THOMAS IN THE TORVIK (T-RANK) RANKINGS
The Toms (0-1) remain at #140.

Wednesday Reach the Summit Results
UC-Davis 80, North Dakota State (0-2) 68
Creighton 92, South Dakota (0-2) 76

Highlights

NDSU goes 3 for 27 (11.1%) from the three-point line. Tay Smith (11 points) had all three of the Bison trifectas, with everyone else going 0 for 24. Western Michigan transfer Markhi Strickland paced the Bison with 17 points and 6 rebounds.

Isaac Bruns (16 points), Jordan Crawford (14 points, 3-for-4 from 3), and Vince Buzelis (12 points, 5 boards, 3 blocks) hit double figures for the Yotes. Iowa transfer Owen Freeman (19 points, 4 boards) and sophomore Jackson McAndrew (13 points, 7 boards) from Wayzata HS (MN) were among five players in double figures for the Bluejays, who earned head coach Greg McDermott career win #500.

Thursday Reach the Summit Slate
UC-Riverside @ North Dakota, 7 (MIDCO)
Omaha @ Abilene Christian, 7 (ESPN+)
Non-Division 1 @ South Dakota State, 7
Denver @ Washington, 9 (BTN)

WEDNESDAY EYE-OPENERS
USC-Upstate 67, Fresno State 66: Losing to an opponent picked to finish last (per Blue Ribbon Yearbook) in the Big South is not a good look for the 2026-27 Pac 12-bound Bulldogs.

MID- & SMALL-MAJOR RECORDS vs. POWER 5 + GONZAGA (through November 5)
American (1-0)
Southland (1-4)
Atlantic 10 (0-0)
Conference USA (0-0)
Ivy (0-0)
MAC (0-0)
Sun Belt (0-0)
WCC (0-0)
Missouri Valley (0-1)
Mountain West (0-1)
Big South (0-2)
OVC (0-2)
America East (0-3)
Big Sky (0-3)
Big West (0-3)
Coastal (0-3)
SoCon (0-3)
Summit (0-3)
WAC (0-3)
Patriot (0-4)
Horizon (0-5)
ASUN (0-6)
NEC (0-6)
MAAC (0-7)
MEAC (0-7)
SWAC (0-8)

THURSDAY “MID/LOW MAJOR vs. POWER 5/GONZAGA” SLATE
ASUN
North Florida @ Florida

COASTAL
Campbell @ West Virginia

HORIZON
Wright State @ Cal

MAAC
Merrimack @ Auburn

NEC
Le Moyne @ Xavier
Saint Francis @ TCU

SO CON
The Citadel @ Boston College

SOUTHLAND
TAMU-Corpus Christi @ SMU

SWAC
Bethune-Cookman @ Miami
Grambling @ Iowa State
Jackson State @ Louisville
Texas Southern @ Texas A&M

SUMMIT
Denver @ Washington

POWER 5/GONZAGA HEAD-TO-HEAD (through November 5)
1 Big XII (2-0)
2 ACC (1-0)
3 B1G (0-0)
Gonzaga (0-0)
5 Big East (0-1)
6 SEC (0-2)

Thursday Power 5/Gonzaga Head-to-Head Slate
none

THURSDAY WORTH A LOOK GAMES
Campbell @ West Virginia, 6 (ESPN+)
Illinois State @ Ohio, 6 (ESPN+)

THURSDAY PICK TO CLICK (2-1)
Campbell (+15.5) @ West Virginia

THURSDAY OURIGHT DRAGON SLAYER (1-2) – +7 or more underdog
Wright State (+15.5) outright @ Cal

DEEP THOUGHTS, BY BUZZ STUDLEY
Three days in and I’m already sick of non-competitive games. There need to be national-level mandates on non-conference scheduling, specifically to minimize Power 5 schools only scheduling each other + the dregs of Division 1, and/or for the mid-major crowd, the gross number of games they schedule vs. non-Division 1 opponents. If the big boys won’t play you (specifically speaking to traditionally strong mid-majors) and you want a fair sniff at an at-large bid (see Saint Mary's, San Francisco, Santa Clara schedules), play each other, and do it a lot.

Feast Week (starting Nov. 20) with all its glorious, bracketed tournaments that come with it cannot get here soon enough.