Bracketville

Texas Tech departed the Mohegan Sun (Uncasville, CT) on Sunday night with a pair of neutral-court wins on its resume.  The latter, Sunday’s throttling of Northwestern, was particularly impressive.  Last season, the Red Raiders struggled to win away from home, thus adding a potentially important footnote to their successful weekend.  Whether TTU can win on the road remains to be seen – their first true road game isn’t until January 2 at Kansas.  But Sunday’s triumph gives the Red Raiders an early surge of momentum and a victory that should still look good in March.

Additional Quick Takes from Sunday:

• For whatever reason, Northwestern has looked a bit out-of-sync at times; they certainly did Sunday against Texas Tech.  Perhaps it’s preseason expectations; the Wildcats are no longer an underdog.  Most likely, its nothing more than an early hiccup.  There’s too much returning talent to think otherwise at this point.
• USC rallied behind Jordan McLaughlin to beat Vanderbilt in Nashville.  Non-conference road wins against quality opponents are always in style.  A tough upcoming stretch will tell us even more about the Trojans.  Beginning next Sunday, USC plays a trifecta of Texas AM, SMU, and Oklahoma.
• Temple finished off Clemson Sunday to complete a strong weekend in Charleston, SC. The Owls have early wins over Old Dominion, Auburn, and the aforementioned Tigers.

A strong week of hoops gets going today in Maui, Brooklyn, and Kansas City.   It continues later this week in the Bahamas and Portland.  We’ll gather some early feedback about a host of teams in the coming days.  Enjoy!