HAPPY COLLEGE BASKETBALL SEASON EVERYBODY!!!
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Regardless of what the write-ups say below, all 362 teams are starting off at zero. They really are. On paper, all of the D1 v D1 games are games between two teams that are in a 362 way tie for first place. We can speculate that some games will mean more than others based on how good we are expecting one or both of the particlar teams to be, but technically speaking no one has played yet.
It’s also important to remember that, when it comes to the NCAA Tournament, there are no “One-Bid Leagues” or “Multi-Bid Leagues” yet. The SWAC, MEAC, and Southland could each end up with 7 teams in the field, and the Big 12 could end up with just one. It’s all based on what happens on the court and not on a preseason assumption, and the Selection Committee will be dialed in on the very first night. They watch and evaluate the entire season. If the Big 12 and Big Ten each end up with six teams in the NCAA Tournament and the Southland ends up with just one, then it will be because of what actually happened on the court.
As far as the start of the season goes, there are 184 games today, and I’ve got to say that about 165 of them are complete piles of crap. I say this every year, but the opening of the college basketball season is a bad opening and it does not serve the sport well. Opening Day for MLB, and the NFL, and even college football are huge days on the general sports calendar and everyone around the country, even people that aren’t really sports fans, knows when it’s the first day of the season for those sports. The opening of the college basketball season takes place without anyone other than the diehard fans (like us) really noticing. And for those of us who do notice, we’ve got over 165 games that even most of us diehard fans won’t want to watch. Monday is a bad night to start the season given Monday Night Football, the vast majority of games are bad games to watch even if you’re a diehard fan, and I really count just ONE game (USC vs Kansas State) that would appeal to fans that aren’t diehard college basketball fans. So…
Opening Night!! Umm…yay? I guess??
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-SPALDING (nonD1) AT IUPUI. This game will almost assuredly end up meaning nothing. It is one of the worst teams in the Horizon playing against a nonD1 opponent. But, the single distinction it has is that it is the first official game to involve a D1 team!
-GEORGIA VS OREGON (Hall of Fame Series, Las Vegas NV). Not much is expected out of Georgia this year, and while there are question marks about Oregon as well they are a team that we think could reach the NCAA Tournament. Starting off with at least a somewhat notable win away from home would be good for either team.
-SAMFORD AT PURDUE – this is a buy game, but Samford is one of the top teams in the SoCon and while they’re overmatched, it’ll still be interesting to see what they can do.
-CLEVELAND STATE AT DUQUESNE. This may seem like an odd game to highlight, but I think Duquesne is a dark horse to win the Atlantic 10. They were actually my preseason pick to win the A10. Cleveland State is a team they should beat, but it’s also a team that can do some damage in the Horizon League this year. On a day where most of the games are absolute garbage, this one is actually decent!
-PRINCETON AT RUTGERS. Princeton lost a lot from last year’s Sweet Sixteen team and they appear to be way overmatched in this one. Rutgers right now feels like a team who’s caliber is outside the bubble, but definitely worth keeping an eye on.
-IONA AT CHARLESTON. These were two standout UTR teams last year. While both are going through rebuilds, especially Iona, both still look good enough to have big years. If CofC wants to make another run at both the top 25 and the bubble this year they need to start winning right away.
-SIUE AT DAYTON. This is another buy game, but it’s between two likely conference frontrunners. SIUE is clearly overmatched as they’ll likely be on the 15 or 16 line if they win the OVC, whereas Dayton will likely be inside the bubble if they win the Atlantic 10, but it’s still a good early season game, especially when compared to most of the rest of today’s schedule.
-LIPSCOMB AT WICHITA STATE. This is a buy game (at least I think), but it’s a buy game where it wouldn’t shock me at all if the road team won. Lipscomb will be one of the better teams in the ASun this year, and Wichita State looks like they’ll struggle for most of the season.
-BOSTON U AT NORTHEASTERN (Bean Pot). Neither team is expected to be good at all this year, but we highlight this because of our love for the Bean Pot!!!! And for all mythical conferences!!!
-BRADLEY AT UAB. I know this is an odd game to highlight, but both teams, especially UAB, look like potential dark horses in their leagues this year, and this could be one of those early season games that’s ignored and/or overlooked at the time, but then turns out to be important to the metrics as the season plays out.
-JAMES MADISON AT MICHIGAN STATE. It’s a buy game, but James Madison at least has a pulse, and while they have very little shot at pulling off a huge upset like this on the road, at least Michigan State scheduled a team that is capable of making some noise in a half-way decent conference to open things up.
-NORTHERN KENTUCKY AT MIDDLE TENNESSEE. This is a winnable road game for what looks to be a very good NKU team this year. I don’t know if they’ll land inside the bubble, but starting off with a road win is certainly a very good first step.
-SEMO AT GRAND CANYON. Not a bad UTR match-up between last year’s OVC Tournament winners and this year’s WAC preseason favorites.
-AKRON AT SOUTH DAKOTA STATE. This is one of the spotlight games of the day. Both teams are highly ranked in the UTR Preseason Top Ten, which in and of itself doesn’t mean anything, but they are two teams that we think may be good enough to make a run at the bubble and even land inside of it. That makes this a very important game for both of them, and it should be a fun one to watch.
-EASTERN WASHINGTON AT UTAH. This is a buy game, but Eastern Washington will likely be a standout team in the Big Sky, so it’ll be interesting to see what they can do on the road against Utah.
-USC VS KANSAS STATE (Hall of Fame Series, Las Vegas NV). A rarity for opening night!! Two teams that are likely to land inside the bubble are playing each other!! USC is in the rankings, and while K State isn’t, I think they are being a little undervalued and will be able to exceed expectations. One way to catapult themselves into the national spotlight is to win a neutral floor game against a ranked team.
-LOUISIANA TECH AT COLORADO STATE. This could be a decent game between two teams that might have some potential this year.
-SAM HOUSTON AT PACIFIC. Sam Houston has turned their roster over quite a bit, but they should still be a force in CUSA this year and should be able to get this one on the road.
-IDAHO AT WASHINGTON STATE. Last but not least, it is one of the greatest rivalries in all of college sports!! These two teams are less than eight miles apart!! And, they’ve never met in the NCAA Tournament!! No other rivalry can make that claim!!!
BUY GAMES:
-Saint Joseph’s NY (nonD1) @ Hofstra – Hofstra is a UTR team to keep an eye on
-Northern Arizona @ UConn
-Tennessee Tech @ Tennessee
-NJIT @ Miami FL
-Radford @ North Carolina
-Delaware State @ Penn State
-North Greenville (nonD1) @ Furman
-Malone (nonD1) @ Kent State
-USC Upstate @ South Carolina
-Vassar (nond1) @ Yale
-Winthrop @ Clemson
-The Citadel.@ NC State
-UMBC @ Louisivlle – If Louisville is going to improve they have to at least win their buy games this year
-Niagara @ Notre Dame – The Micah Shrewsberry era begins at ND!
-Columbia @ Providence – The Kim English era begins at Providence!
-Oakland @ Ohio State
-NC A&T @ Pittsburgh
-McNeese @ VCU – McNeese can make some noise in the Southland, but is likely overmatched today
-Missouri State.@ West Virginia
-Tarleton State @ Virginia
-New Hampshire @ Syracuse
-American @ Villanova
-Georgia Southern @ Georgia Tech
-Towson @ Colorado – Colorado is getting a lot of preseason love, and Towson appears to at least be good enough to where we should actually learn something about the Buffs tonight
-Saint Peter’s @ Seton Hall
-NC Central @ Kansas
-UL Monroe @ Houston
-Alcorn State @ Arkansas
-TAMU Commerce @ Texas A&M
-New Mexico State @ Kentucky – New Mexico State’s long rebuilding process will get off to…shall we say…a challenging start
-Incarnate Word @ Texas
-Morehead State @ Alabama – Alabama lost a lot from last year, but is still really good. Morehead State is a likely OVC frontrunner, but is still way overmatched
-Eastern Illinois @ Illinois
-Southern Indiana @ Saint Louis
-Alabama State @ Ole Miss – Chris Beard is back!
-Arkansas Pine Bluff @ Missouri
-Arkansas State @ Wisconsin
-Mississippi Valley State @ LSU
-Central Michigan @ Oklahoma
-Coppin State @ Virginia Tech
-Jackson State @ Memphis
-Elon @ Wake Forest – I really like this Wake team this year
-Robert Morris @ Xavier
-Fairfield @ Boston College
-Loyola MD @ Florida
-Florida International @ UCF
-Green Bay @ Iowa State
-Lindenwood @ Nebraska
-Bethune Cookman @ Minnesota
-Binghamton @ Northwestern
-Northern Illinois @ Marquette
-Dartmouth @ Duke
-Houston Christian @ BYU
-Nicholls @ Tulane – I like this Tulane team this year
-Saint Thomas @ California – It’s a buy game and the Tommies are a transitional school, but this is still a game they can win
-Southern @ TCU
-UIC @ Cincinnati
-Morgan State @ Arizona
-South Dakota Mines (nonD1) @ Utah State
-Texas Southern @ New Mexico
-Stanislaus State (nonD1) @ Saint Mary’s
-Cal State Fullerton @ San Diego State
-Cal State Northridge @ Stanford
-Bellarmine @ Washington – Somehow Washington is receiving votes in the Top 25
-Saint Francis U @ UCLA