Turns out, there actually were a few pretty good games last night, the most important being:
UCSB 68 - UNLV 62 = After opening their season with 9 straight wins, some of them against quality opponents, the Runnin' Rebels have now lost 2 in a row. Maybe you can overlook the one to Louisville, but to lose to the Gauchos? Ay caramba! The Rebels have no one to blame but themselves, as they shot 29% from the field, and missed 14 of 34 FTs to boot.
Minnesota 66 - Akron 58 = And the Gophers did manage to pull out the victory, but they sure didn't do it very convincingly.
Eastern Washington 95 - Seattle 91 = This contest for the upper-left corner was one hard-fought battle to the end.
Montana 71 - Oregon State 66 = Plus, this one in the same general neck of the woods . . . well, upper back, anyway . . . was also.
Marshall 56 - Savannah State 47 = If you think your team's got bad luck, look at the Savannah State Tigers. They have not won a Division 1 game all season, but of their 11 losses they've had 8 of under 10 points. And they've played some damn decent teams too, like Dayton, Cincy, Indiana, Georgia Tech, and now Marshall.
Wake Forest 69 - N.C.Greensboro 67 = Meanwhile, the only halfway decent win the Deacs have had all year was their edging of Iowa. Now, they just barely edged a women's teachers college. Sheesh.
Saint Louis 69 - Jacksonville 64 = No more and no less than a tight one from two OK teams.
Presbyterian 74 - Jacksonville State 70 (OT) = And more of the same, from two appreciably less OK ones.
There is still very little going on, but I did find more games of note tonight:
Memphis vs. Austin Peay = This one could actually be closer than you think, at first glance. Sure, the Tigers have more talent, but they have shown lapses and growing pains.
N.C. State vs. Youngstown State = Speaking of growing pains, the Wolfpack's had them in spades. They really need to make some hay about getting their act together, before they take it to the Broadway of the ACC season.
AR Little Rock vs. Rice = I dunno, I really don't, but this one popped out at me for some dang reason.
LSU vs. McNeese State = Same here. Sometimes you just get a feeling.
Weber State vs. Tulsa = This one, I know why it pops. Here are two fairly decent programs, and both will want the W.
American vs. Northwestern = But now, we're back to the
factor. Beats me, I just got a hunch.
Northern Arizona vs. Arizona = I am not convinced the desert Wildcats are back. On the other hand, the Lumberjacks have only lost to Iowa State, Creighton, and USC . . . all at least middlin' teams. Yet they really haven't beaten anybody so far, since the rest of their schedule has been crap. This will at least tell us something about one of these AZ teams.
That's it from me for now. Enjoy.