Chicago State vs Troy, Las Vegas Classic Visitors’ Bracket Championship Game, 5:30 PM Eastern, No TV or video
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The Chicago State Cougars only won one Division I game last season, lost 28 times, and captured the HoopsHD Centenary Award for the worst team in D1. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the offseason saw the university coming under significant financial stress, to the point that questions still remain as to whether or not the school will even be able to keep its doors open. With all that, we did not expect much at all out of the Cougars this season. That is why it is surprising to see them sitting at 4-9 on the season already, including having picked up a road win at Western Illinois. Even more importantly, the Cougars have a chance today to win a championship — by defeating Troy and capturing the Visitors’ Bracket title at the Las Vegas Classic. They knocked off Southeast Missouri State yesterday by 9 points, led by Trayvon Palmer’s 18 points and 15 rebounds. Another effort like that today could be just what this team needs.
Troy enters today’s game at 7-6 on the season, including a semifinal win yesterday over Cornell. The Trojans had six players that scored in double figures in the game, led by 19 from Wesley Person. Person also had 19 this past weekend in his team’s loss at USC, a game in which the Troy Trojans had a real chance to knock the USC Trojans out of the ranks of the unbeatens. If Troy can get another solid, balanced scoring effort today, they should prove to be the better team and win this championship. However, given the struggles that Chicago State has had over the past year, we cannot help but pull for the Cougars to take home some hardware.