Small Conference Game of the Day – February 15

STEPHEN F. AUSTIN at SAM HOUSTON STATE, 4:45 PM Eastern, espn3

Stephen F. Austin has begun making some noise nationally recently with a gaudy overall record.  Entering play today, the Lumberjacks are 23-2 overall and 12-0 in Southland Conference play.  They are one of seven teams that remain undefeated within their conference.  While a gaudy record like this would normally have a team sniffing at a Top 25 ranking and in contention for an at-large bid should they slip in their conference tournament, SFA’s wins have come against pretty much the weakest competition out there.  In fact, the only top 150 wins that SFA has to date came over Towson and Sam Houston State both at home.  The only real challenge they have had all season was a game back in November at Texas…which they lost 72-62.

Given the weakness of their schedule, today’s trip to Sam Houston State (18-6 overall, 10-2 in conference) is actually SFA’s toughest game of the season to date (and the toughest they will have before postseason play).  The Bearkats are not by any means a great team this year, sitting with a 186 KenPom and a 113 RPI heading into the day.  However, they have opened up a two game lead over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for second place in the Southland and are the most likely team to knock Stephen F. Austin off.  they will certainly have a chance to do just that today, as well as put themselves back in contention for a regular season title.