Under the Radar Game of the Day: Middle Tennessee at South Alabama

Middle Tennessee at South Alabama, 8:00 PM Eastern, usajaguars.com

The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders are making their fourth appearance in the Under the Radar Game of the Day this season tonight, and we are less than a month into the season.  The reason for this is twofold.  First, the Blue Raiders are a very good team that we have not yet ruled out of contending for a potential at-large bid should they need one in March.  But more importantly, it is because head coach Kermit Davis has put together a non-conference schedule that deserves a ton of respect.  The Blue Raiders are not playing a bunch of sub-300 rated teams at home.  And they are not out on the road with a ton of buy games at power conference teams.  Instead, they have a solid blend of home and road games against teams that entered the season expecting to contend for their league titles.  Entering play tonight, Middle Tennessee has already scored wins over Murray State, Toledo (twice) and UNC-Wilmington, while suffering only one loss, at a strong-looking Tennessee State team.  Tonight, the Blue Raiders travel to Mobile, Alabama to take on South Alabama, in a battle of two teams with only one loss each so far.

Middle Tennessee’s 7-1 start so far this season has been led by Jacorey Williams, whose season highlights to date were an impressive 31 point effort against Toledo and a 25 point, 10 rebound showing against Evansville.  However do not overlook Giddy Potts or Reggie Upshaw, both of whom can take over at any time for the Blue Raiders.  Upshaw almost registered a triple-double in their last game, against Ole Miss, when he had 15 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists.  All three will have to step up on the road tonight against South Alabama.  The Jaguars are 6-1 and have several very strong players including Shaq Calhoun and Ken Williams.  Calhoun had 21 points last time out against Southern Miss, while Williams averaged 21 points per game over the three games before that one.  With the home court behind them, USA should be one of Middle Tennessee’s toughest tests yet this season.