Harvard, UNLV and Teams That Landed on Our Radars After Holiday Tournaments

With Thanksgiving weekend in the rear-view mirror, another round of college hoops’ early-season tournaments is in the books. One of the striking aspects of this year’s tourneys was the number of unexpected teams that stepped up to notch big wins.

None of those victories was bigger than the one scored by UNLV, which stunned then-No. 1 North Carolina in the Las Vegas Invitational. The win catapulted the Rebels into the national rankings (if only briefly) and served notice that the Mountain West will be a factor on the national stage in 2011-12.

Read on for a closer look at the Rebels and the other unheralded teams who came up big in Thanksgiving-week tournaments.

7. Santa Clara

With Gonzaga dominating the headlines as usual, there wasn’t much room for preseason buzz around the rest of the West Coast Conference.

Santa Clara, however, got a statement win in the third-place game of the 76 Classic, topping a talented Villanova squad.

The Broncos had to earn their win over the Wildcats, finishing with a 10-0 run in a 65-64 victory.

With an outstanding backcourt of junior Kevin Foster and sophomore Evan Roquemore (33.8 points and 9.4 assists a game between them), Santa Clara should be able to handle its soft remaining non-conference schedule and make some noise in WCC play to boot.

6. Indiana State

A massive underdog as champions of the 2011 MVC tournament, the Sycamores would love to build on their March Madness experience this season.

After a third-place finish in the Old Spice Classic, Indiana State is set to dive into the Missouri Valley’s deepest pool of NCAA tournament contenders in a few years.

The Sycamores beat both Texas Tech and the tournament’s projected mid-major darlings, Fairfield, in taking third place in Orlando.

A physical backcourt with 6’3” senior Dwayne Lathan and 6’4” sophomore Jake Odum (21 points and 10.3 rebounds a game combined) will make Indiana State a dangerous foe in MVC play.

5. Saint Louis

The Atlantic 10’s presence on the national stage this season was supposed to be all about Tu Holloway and No. 8 Xavier. Another contender looking to throw its hat in the ring, though, is overlooked Saint Louis.

Rick Majerus’ team took the title in the 76 Classic with wins over Boston College, Oklahoma and (most notably) Villanova.

With senior forward Brian Conklin (team highs of 16.8 points and 4.8 rebounds a game) leading the way for underclassmen like Dwayne Evans, the Billikens should easily handle the rest of a weak non-conference schedule and put up some solid wins in A-10 play as well.

4. Stanford

It’s been a season of bad news for the Pac-12, which has seen all of its once-ranked teams fall from the Top 25. One of the conference’s few squads that’s actually exceeding expectations is the Stanford Cardinal, runner-up in the preseason NIT.

Stanford crushed Oklahoma State to reach the NIT title game, then put up one of the toughest fights unbeaten Syracuse has faced all season.

With senior leadership from center Josh Owens (11.9 points and 5.1 rebounds a game) and a host of talented sophomores led by Aaron Bright (team highs of 12.2 points and 3.6 assists a night), the Cardinal looks like a serious contender for a conference championship in 2011-12.

3. Dayton

Few teams in the country have had as much of a roller-coaster start to the season as Dayton. The Flyers won the Old Spice Classic with a convincing beating of Minnesota, then proceeded to lose two in a row to unimpressive Buffalo and Murray State.

However, momentum may be swinging back the other way for Dayton after an impressive home win last night over No. 15 Alabama.

Junior point guard Kevin Dillard (12.4 points, 5.1 assists and 2.4 steals a night) leads a balanced attack that should make Dayton a tough out in the NCAAs.

2. UNLV

For UNLV to win the Las Vegas Invitational wasn’t much of a story, but for them to do it at the expense of the No. 1 Tar Heels was a shocker.

The Rebels had some help from an injury suffered by UNC’s Harrison Barnes, but the win had more to do with one of the season’s most surprising players, UCLA transfer Mike Moser (16.9 points and a national-best 12.6 rebounds a night).

With Moser complementing a perimeter game led by Chace Stanback and Anthony Marshall, UNLV (which was knocked from the rankings by Wichita State last week) should be one of the leading contenders in the Mountain West.

If this team really is going to be more than a one-game wonder, it’ll have a great chance to prove it in a brutal December stretch that features No. 16 Wisconsin and No. 22 Illinois (both on the road) in the space of a week.

1. Harvard

Harvard may not have scored the biggest upset of the Battle 4 Atlantis—that would be Central Florida’s win over then-No. 4 UConn—but Tommy Amaker’s Crimson were the big winners of the Bahamian tourney.

Their title-game triumph over the Golden Knights set the Crimson up for their first-ever Top 25 ranking, and the 8-0 squad still stands at No. 24 in the nation.

After losing a one-game playoff to Princeton last March for a spot in the NCAAs, Harvard has a chance for a much stronger finish this season.

With leadership from veterans like PF Keith Wright (11.4 points and 6.8 rebounds a game), Harvard has a serious chance to finish 29-1 even with a likely loss tonight at UConn.