For the rest of today’s highlighted games, CLICK HERE.
Stephen F. Austin at Central Arkansas, 8:00 PM Eastern, No TV
In 2010-11, the Centenary Gents played their final season as a Division I team — a very un-noteworthy year in which they went 1-29, with only a late season win over Western Illinois keeping them from having one of the worst seasons in Division I history. In honor of their final season at the D1 level, we here at HOOPS HD kept them on our mock committee “Under Consideration” board, despite the Gents not even qualifying for the Summit League tournament. We then went one step further the next season, christening the annual “Centenary Award” in honor of the worst team in Division I.
In 2012, Towson won the award, thanks in part to a huge first round America East tournament win by Binghamton. The win by Towson was not without controversy, but in the end, the Tigers were chosen. In 2013, an 0-28 Grambling team ran away with the award. Last season, Southern Utah claimed the crown with a 2-27 performance. This season, the preseason favorite for the award was Florida A&M. FAMU is presently 0-16 and appears well on their way to the title. However, the Central Arkansas Bears are right on their heels, sitting at 0-14 heading into tonight’s game. And, given who their opponent is tonight, it may be a bigger upset than Texas Southern winning at Michigan State for the Bears to not be 0-15 after tonight.
Central Arkansas will be hosting the clear favorite to represent the Southland Conference again in the NCAA tournament, the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks. SFA enters tonight’s game on an 11 game winning streak, which includes a win at Memphis and a home win over Long Beach State. Despite the 12-4 record and a legitimate chance to run the table in the Southland (a game January 24 at Sam Houston State may decide if that happens), SFA most likely will need to win the SLC’s automatic bid if they want to return to the NCAAs. Perhaps the biggest reason is that any loss in conference play, including a loss in the conference tournament, would be a bad loss on their resume. Given that the Lumberjacks lack any truly noteworthy wins,, it is difficult to imagine an at-large bid coming their way should they falter. Obviously, a loss tonight to one of the worst teams in D1 would be devastating to any slim chance for an at-large bid that may exist.