Grambling State at Mississippi Valley State, 9:00 PM Eastern, No TV
Tonight is our last chance in the UTR Game of the Day to check in on the most coveted of awards that are given out here at HOOPS HD, the Centenary Award. For those that are new to our site, this Award is given out by our staff here each year to the worst team in Division I. The winner of the Award will by on our Mock Committee’s “Under Consideration” board throughout the selection process, even if the team is otherwise ineligible for postseason play. Four teams have been locked in a battle for the award this season, though Central Arkansas’ home win this weekend over Southeastern Louisiana has cut that number down to three. With San Jose State playing a much tougher SOS than the other two, in the end, it will probably come down to a choice between Florida A&M and Grambling. FAMU does have one D1 win, and if they lose later this week at home to Savannah State will at least enter the clubhouse with a tough record to beat.
Despite FAMU’s woes, my personal current pick to win the award, for the second time in three years, is the Grambling State Tigers. Grambling enters play tonight at 0-15 in SWAC play and 2-23 overall, though both those wins were over non-D1 foes. They rank dead last in RPI and KenPom, though are only second to last, behind FAMU, in the BPI. Grambling has done all of this against the #344 SOS, and enter play today ranked dead last at #351 if offensive efficiency and #349 in defensive efficiency. The Tigers had rebounded somewhat last season from their 2013 Centenary Award, picking up four D1 wins. However, the surprise (and, in my personal opinion, highly disappointing) firing of head coach Joseph Price and hiring of Shawn Walker late in the offseason clearly has not helped this program in its rebuild. The best thing that the Tigers have going for them is that they have three regular season games plus a potential conference tournament game left this year, starting with tonight’s contest at Mississippi Valley State. However, if they play the way they did in a loss last week at #321 Jackson State (72-33!!), they will not have much of a chance in any of those games.
Tonight’s opponent for Grambling is the Mississippi Valley State Delts Devils. MVSU enters the game at 4-12 in conference and 5-24 overall. Their RPI is 343, BPI is 348 and KenPom is 346. The Delta Devils are currently tied with Alcorn State for 8th place and look to be headed to a first round play-in game in the SWAC tournament. MVSU was also the team that came closest to losing to Grambling all so far this season, winning 68-65 at Grambling back on February 2. The Delta Devils have lost 6 out of 7 games since that contest and need to pick up a victory tonight in order to try to begin turning things around as they approach the SWAC tournament. They also do not want to be the team that lost to Grambling this year, no matter how tough of a season they have had.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-VIRGINIA AT SYRACUSE (ACC). Virginia is still gunning for the #1 line and an out right first place finish in the ACC. This would be a big resume game for Syracuse if only they were eligible for the postseason.
-BAYLOR AT TEXAS (Big Twelve). It’s a conference game. It’s a rivalry game. It’s a game that Texas simply must win if they want to get on the right side of the bubble. They are just 6-10 in league play, and if they fall to 6-11 they would end the season no less than four games under .500, and there has only been one team in history to get a bid that was that far below .500 in league play. Baylor, on the other hand, is playing very well right now and should come into this one with a purpose.
-OKLAHOMA AT IOWA STATE (Big Twelve). Like so many Big Twelve games, it’s a game between two teams that appear to be protected seeds and are looking for a chance to add another good win to their profile. Only one game separates them in the standings, so if Iowa State wins they’re tied.
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