Northeastern took a commanding lead in the CAA last night, handling George Mason somewhat easily. The slate of games tonight is rather weak, so the SCGD is going to be returning to the bottom of the SWAC and the bottom of Division I hoops as we revisit our friends at Grambling State.
While Grambling lost in its last appearance in the SCGD, and suffered yet another defeat this weekend, they once again have a chance to pick up that elusive first victory tonight when they host Mississippi Valley State at 8:30PM Eastern. While Grambling is dead last in RPI and KenPom ratings, MVSU is not that far away. The Delta Devils rank 341/347 in RPI and 340/347 in Pomeroy. While they do have 2 wins, they were victories over another pair of 325+ RPI teams from the SWAC, Prairie View and Alabama A&M. By the numbers, MVSU is currently the second worst team in the SWAC after Grambling, meaning this is their best shot at a victory tonight — though given how weak the entire conference is after front-runner Southern, there will be a few more chances if they don’t win this one.
As a side note, also of interest to the SCGD today is the announcement of the matchups for the 2013 BrackBusters. Some key home teams in this year’s pool are Long Beach State, Valparaiso, Akron, Indiana State, Wichita State, Belmont, Davidson, and St. Mary’s. The top road teams are Montana, Detroit, Iona, Ohio U, Creighton, Stephen F Austin and South Dakota State. It would be great to wee at least half a dozen matchups among these teams, such as Creighton at Belmont, Stephen F Austin at Akron (or at St. Mary’s), and South Dakota State at Wichita State. (UPDATE: Announcements will be next Monday, Feb. 4 now.)