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HAPPY COLLEGE BASKETBALL SEASON EVERYBODY!!!!!
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-EAST TENNESSEE STATE vs ABILENE CHRISTIAN (Gulf Coast Showcase). Highlighted because it’s the game that officially kicks off the college basketball season!!
-OLD DOMINION AT MARYLAND. It’s buy game, but Old Dominion might have enough of a pulse to make this one semi-interesting
-MEMPHIS VS SAINT MARY’S (Sioux Falls, SD). This is one of the more intriguing games of the day. The preseason rankings seem to think that they are both fringe bubble teams at the moment, so this is the kind of win that will likely look good on a resume. It’s also a chance for us to learn something about both of them.
-NORTH DAKOTA STATE VS NEVADA (Golden Window Classic). This is a pretty decent game for both of these teams to open the season with. Both appear to be in a rebuilding phase, but a good quick start to the season can certainly speed up that process.
-TOLEDO VS BRADLEY (Xavier Invitational). Two quality UTR Teams
-BOWLING GREEN AT MICHIGAN. This is one of the more compelling games of the day. Bowling Green appears to have one of their best teams in decades and is the preseason favorite to win the MAC. They can make a huge national splash and go viral for a day if they can pull off the upset road win at Michigan, who begins the season ranked in the top 25.
-OKLAHOMA STATE AT UT ARLINGTON. Under normal circumstances this would be an intriguing road game for the Cowboys. It would still be a semi decent win to start off the season with.
-WESTERN KENTUCKY VS NORTHERN IOWA (Sioux Falls). These are two of the best UTR teams this year, and both have a shot at making the NCAA Tournament without having to win the conference tournament. Obviously winning this game would be a huge step toward making that happen. This one should be fun!
-LIBERTY VS PURDUE (Melbourne FL). Liberty lost a lot from last year’s team, but this Purdue team is still potentially vulnerable and while they should win they better not sleepwalk through this one.
-VILLANOVA VS BOSTON COLLEGE (Mohegan Sun). BC looks to be improved this year, but not so much improved that they’re as good as a Villanova team that is a legit Final Four and National Title contender.
-COLORADO STATE VS CALIFORNIA (Corvallis, OR). We think Colorado State is a potential dark horse in the Mountain West, so it’ll be interesting to see what they can do against a Cal team that’s trying to rebuild itself.
-DALLAS CHRISTIAN (nondiv1) AT TARLETON. Welcome to Div1 Tarelton!!! (sort of)
-CHARLESTON SOUTHERN AT NC STATE. I know this is a buy game, but Charleston Southern is a potentially dangerous team that returns a lot of talent from last year and has a very talented player in Phlandrous Fleming. NC State should win, but they don’t want to take this game for granted.
-CLEMSON VS MISSISSIPPI STATE (Melbourn, FL). Mississippi State is in a complete rebuild mode with an overhauled roster and the expectations for them this year are low, but as we’ve seen in the past these early season games and tournaments are chances for teams to get catapulted onto the national scene. Clemson is trying to scrape together some quality wins of their own before heading into conference play.
-GEORGIA STATE AT GEORGIA TECH. This is a bit of a Hoops HD special given how many of us (not including myself) think that Georgia Tech is a potential NCAA Tournament team this year. While I think they will be better, I don’t agree that they are quite yet a tournament team. I DO think Georgia State is, though!! This is a really good early season game for both teams that I really wish we could have a full arena for.
-UCLA AT SAN DIEGO STATE. Another fantastic opening day match up between two likely NCAA Tournament teams!! Also another game that I really wish could be played in front of a full arena.
BUY GAMES
-Sacred Heart @ Rutgers
-Florida College (nondiv1) @ South Florida
-McNeese @ Nebraska
-Radford @ Virginia Tech
-Oakland @ Xavier
-Virginia vs Towson(Mohegan Sun)
-NC A&T @ Illinois
-Illinois State @ Ohio State
-Fairfield @ Providence
-Drake @ Kansas State
-Lamar @ Houston
-Northwest U (nondiv1) @ Oregon State
-NC Central @ Iowa
-Tusculum (nondiv1) @ Furman
-UMBC @ Georgetown
-Delaware State @ Wake Forest
-Evansville @ Louisville
-Columbus State (nondiv1) @ Georgia
-Utah Valley @ Stanford
-Morehead State @ Kentucky
-Eastern Michigan @ Michigan State
-Charleston @ North Carolina
-Western Michigan @ Butler
-Coker (nondiv1) @ South Carolina
-Northwestern State @ Texas Tech
-Green Bay @ Minnesota
-Saint Francis U @ Pittsburgh
-High Point @ Davidson
-Idaho State @ Santa Clara
-Oral Roberts @ Missouri
-Saint Peter’s @ Saint John’s
-SIUE @ Saint Louis
-Mississippi Valley State @ Arkansas
-UTRGV @ Texas
-Sam Houston State @ SMU
-Tennessee Tech @ Indiana
-Jacksonville State @ Alabama
-South Dakota vs Colorado (Manhattan, KS)
-UTSA @ Oklahoma
-Houston Baptist @ TCU
-Central Connecticut @ UConn
-Westimnster (nondiv1) @ BYU
-Texas Southern @ Washington State
-CA Bapitst @ USC
-Montana State @ UNLV
-Eastern Illinois @ Wisconsin
-Arkansas Pine Bluff @ Marquette