HAPPY COLLEGE BASKETBALL SEASON EVERYBODY!!!! This season kicks off in what is perhaps the city with the richest history and deepest passion for college basketball in the entire world!! ROME, ITALY!!! If you’ve ever been to Rome, you know that everywhere you go all anyone is ever talking about is college basketball!! And that makes a lot of sense if you think about it. In a city like Rome, there really just isn’t much else to see or do there.
-The write ups at this point are making presumptions because…well…there’s no actual data to analyze yet. Regardless of what any of the write-ups say, technically speaking all the teams are starting off at zero and all of the team-sheets are blank. For all we know a conference like the NEC could blow up in the months of November and December and have 7 or 8 teams positioned to make the NCAA Tournament. It’s all (well…mostly all) decided on the court.
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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-NOTRE DAME VS VILLANOVA (Sunday) (Eternal City Tip-Off – Rome, Italy). Villanova was back in the NCAA Tournament last year after a three year absence and looks to be good enough to make it back this year. Notre Dame has really struggled in recent years and the expectations are not high this year, but a win in a game like this could instantly turn that around (at least for a little while). This is kind of a crazy game, but at the end of the day it counts as a neutral floor game on the team sheets and in the metrics just like any ohter game.
-LIBERTY VS HIGH POINT (Sunday) (Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon – Rock Hill, SC). These are two of the better Under The Radar teams in the country and it’s actually a fascinating game that is worth staying up for. Both teams are good enough to make a run at the bubble, but both have a small margin of error, which makes this a pretty high stakes game right out of the gate.
-MIAMI FL VS FLORIDA (Tampa, FL). Florida is the preseason #1 ranked team and Miami FL is in the top 15. Both are stacked with talent, both are potential protected seeds, and both get the chance to pick up a win that would be huge in their resumes tonight. Even though it’s the first day of the season, the committee is closely watching and these games will be discussed come March.
-MIAMI OH AT JAMES MADISON. We are highlighting this because I think Miami OH might have a better team this year than they had last year, but their margin for error is once again very small and this is not an easy road game to win. If they are good enough to be inside the bubble, then they need to be good enough to win games that are not easy to win.
-GONZAGA VS PURDUE (Las Vegas, NV). Both of these teams are likely NCAA Tournament teams. People are saying Purdue doesn’t look to be quite as good as they’ve been in recent years, and I agree with that, but if they win tonight that will completely change my mind. Gonzaga once again has a highly talented roster that should contend for a protected seed and they can pick up a really notable win tonight.
-OHIO STATE VS BYU (Salt Lake City, UT). Ohio State looks to be a solid NCAA Tournament team and they can really make a statement tonight if they can beat a nationally ranked BYU team in what isn’t a true road game, but is an environment that will definitely favor BYU. For both teams this is an opportunity at a quality win.
-ARIZONA VS UCLA (Las Vegas, NV). The rivalry resumes!!! Sort of. It’s not quite the same as the long time Pac 10/12 series, but at least they still play. Both are in the rankings, I think UCLA could have a really big year this year, and if they somehow take down an Arizona team that’s starting off ranked in the top 5 I believe many people will start to agree with me.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
–Winthrop vs Queens (Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon – Rock Hill, SC) – These are two solid UTR teams that will likely be near the top of their conference standings
–Murray State vs Tennessee State (Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon – Sioux Falls, SD) – these are two super talented UTR teams, both of whom are the preseason favorites to win their conferences
–UAB vs McNeese (Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon – Rock Hill, SC) – UAB has a solid roster and a good coaching staff, so I’m a little surprised they haven’t gotten more respect in the preseason. None of that matters, though. This is a good McNeese team they are facing and it will be a good win for whichever team can pull it off
-Memphis vs Iowa State (Sioux Falls, SD) – Memphis is talented, but I’m not a huge believer in them this year. Having said that, my mind will instantly change if they’re able to pull of a win (or even just play well) in this game tonight.
–Howard @ Yale – It’s not likely that either team will be inside the bubble, but there is a very good chance that both will be in the field. This is just a really good early season game between two solid UTR teams
–Toledo @ Arkansas State – neither team will likely be inside the bubble, but both are solid UTR teams and Arkansas State is good enough to win the Sun Belt
-Montana State @ Colorado State – this is a sneaky good game between a Montana State team that is one of the better teams in the Big Sky and a Colorado State team that I think is undervalued and has a shot at making a run at the bubble.
-Illinois State @ Saint Mary’s – another really interesting game between Illinois State who should be one of the better teams in the MVC and Saint Mary’s who is having to adjust to life without Randy Bennett.
–Seattle U @ Hawaii – I like this Seattle team. I think they can win the WCC. This is not an easy road game, but it’s one that they should win if they’re as good as I think they are.
-Southeastern Baptist (nonD1) @ West Florida – Welcome to D1 West Florida!! That is the only reason we are mentioning this. It’s their first ever official game as a D1 program
BUY GAMES/PASTRY CART (The home teams will get virtually ZERO credit for winning):
-UMBC @ George Mason
-Oakland @ Michigan
-Army @ Duke
-Monmouth @ Saint John’s
-Loyola MD @ Georgetown
-Quinnipiac @ Michigan State
-Jackson State @ Texas Tech
-Bellarmine @ Vanderbilt – I like Bellarmine’s team, but they’re likely overmatched tonight
-Niagara @ West Virginia
-FGCU @ UCF – this is a fun inner-state match-up, but UCF is likely far superior
-Little Rock @ VCU – Little Rock has some talent, but VCU should cruise
-Stetson @ Clemson
-Bucknell @ Maryland
-Eastern Illinois @ Indiana
-Western Carolina @ North Carolina
-American @ Cincinnati – I like this Bearcats team this year
-Charleston Southern @ South Florida
-NJIT @ Dayton
-New Haven @ Syracuse
-Rider @ Pittsburgh
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ Xavier
-Maine @ Providence
-Morehead State @ Western Kentucky – WKU is good enough to make a run at the bubble
-Denver @ Wisconsin
-Saint Peter’s @ Seton Hall
-Le Moyne @ Nebraska
-Campbell @ NC State
-Navy @ George Washington – GW should win, but they better not completely overlook Navy
-Mercyhurst @ Marquette
-Tennessee Tech @ Mississippi State
-NC Central @ Georgia
-Fairleigh Dickinson @ Illinois
-Fordham @ Kansas
-Binghamton @ Northwestern
-Lindenwood @ TCU
-Southern @ SMU
-Lehigh @ Saint Louis
-UMES @ Wake Forest
-West Georgia @ DePaul – I like DePaul’s team this year and think they’ll be much improved
-Kansas City @ Creighton
-East Texas A&M @ Oklahoma
-Alcorn State @ Ole Miss
-Florida A&M @ Florida State
-Gardner Webb @ UConn
-Chicago State @ Texas
-La Salle @ Houston
-Chattanooga @ Louisville
-Utah Tech @ New Mexico
-Incarnate Word @ Oklahoma State
-North Dakota @ Minnesota
-Texas Southern @ Grand Canyon – The Lopes are good enough to land inside the bubble
-Idaho State @ Utah State
-Northwestern State @ Baylor
-Montana @ Oregon
-East Tennessee State @ Arizona State – The Randy Bennett Era begins!
-Radford @ San Francisco – The Dons should be a force in the WCC
-Towson @ Santa Clara
-Robert Morris @ Nevada
-Milwaukee @ USC
