The list of unbeatens and winless teams has shrunk over the past week or so. The unbeaten teams are as follows:
Clemson--won at Minnesota, Old Dominion, and South Carolina. The other 8 wins have been at home. ACC play will determine how legitimate they are, but before they venture to Florida State on January 3, they have remaining non-conference affairs with Western Carolina, Georgia State, and Georgia.
Connecticut--All 10 wins have come at home, and only 1 of those games was close. Mississippi, Albany, and St. Mary's have been the best they've faced so far. We'll know more about this team on December 30 when they play their first road game at West Virginia. For those who lamely consider Hartford to be a "neutral" court, Consider that the distance between Hartford and Storrs is less than Peoria to Bloomington-Normal.
Oregon--Two of their 10 wins have been on the road, with Georgetown being more impressive than the win at Rice. The Ducks beat Nebraska in Portland. They go to Oregon State on December 30, then get USC and UCLA at home, then Arizona State in Tempe. It could be a stretch, but Oregon has a chance to be 16-0 prior to its game at Arizona on January 16.
UCLA--Won the Maui Invitational and have picked up 6 wins at home, plus a win over Texas A & M in Anaheim. Their next three games are at Pauley Pavilion, but they come against three one-loss teams (Michigan, Washington State, Washington). If they win those and take care of Oregon State in Corvallis, their game at Oregon could pit two unbeaten teams at McArthur Court, one of the great "old time" college basketball arenas.
Iona--The Gaels have gone from NCAA tournament participant to this year's "what the hell happened" team. Currently at 0-10, Iona's closest loss was by 7 at Sacred Heart. They should get a win against Manhattan later this season, but the Jaspers lost earlier this week to St. Francis of New York to help get the Terriers off the schneid (they are now 1-12). MC probably does not want to be the team to give an opponent its very first victory the second time around! The Gaels did lose a lot of talent from last year's team, but who in the MAAC would have thought their recruiting would get this bad? It's quite possible that the Gaels will have a zero in the win column longer than the above four unbeatens will have zeroes in their loss columns.
Delaware--Blue Hens are 0-8, but have had more close shaves than Iona. They lost at Central Connecticut by 3 and at home to Vermont by 2. They have a couple of winnable games coming up, but both are on the road to UNC-Greensboro and James Madison. A Delaware-Iona Bracket Buster matchup could be in the cards?
