NEWS AND NOTES
HAPPY COLLEGE BASKETBALL SEASON EVERYBODY!!!! Today, we celebrate the start of the season with a slate of games that’s…well…not all that much better than the exhibition games we’ve been watching for the last two weeks.
-I think one of the things that’s a little broken with college basketball is how the season typically starts. Most power programs have a tendency to want to easy in to their seasons, so right out of the gate it’s predominantly buy games. Whereas the NBA and MLB have compelling games to kick things off, college basketball gives us a schedule of games that even most people who are big fans would not want to buy a ticket to go see. And, there seem to be more and more games against nonD1 opponents, which even if a team wins those they don’t mean anything. So, instead of starting off with a bang, we typically start off with a little popgun pop.
-Technically speaking, though, everyone is starting off at zero. Presumptions don’t matter. For all we know, we could see the SWAC, MEAC, and NEC go undefeated today and win 90 percent of their OOC games, and the ACC and Big 12 could turn out to be one bid leagues. It’s all about what happens on the court.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
There are at least a smattering of games today that are worth watching. Below is the rundown…
-MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE AT BAYLOR. We start the season off with what may end up being the worst game you’ll see all season between two D1 teams. In fact with 361 teams this year, by the end of the year it’s possible that this will end up being the biggest mismatch in history that actually featured two D1 teams. It’s technically a buy game, and we’d almost never highlight a game like this, but we always highlight the first game.
-HARVARD AT MOREHOUSE (nonD1). Highlighted simply because Harvard is on the road at a non-D1 school.
-LA SALLE AT VILLANOVA (Big Five). It’s a historical rivalry, a bit of a current rivalry, but more of a huge mismatch.
-VALPARAISO AT TOLEDO. This is technically not a buy game, but it may end up seeming like one. If Toledo is going to make a run at the bubble, they pretty much need to hold serve in all their games, especially ones like this one.
-SOUTH DAKOTA STATE AT AKRON. This is actually one of the better games of the day. Both teams are good Under the Radar programs, and both appear to be solid this year. If the goal is to land inside the bubble, then this is the kind of game both teams need to be able to win. At least we get ONE decent game tonight!
-NJIT AT SAINT PETER’S. I highlight this game only to highlight how much Saint Peter’s has lost. This could have been a spotlight year for them, but instead their top six scorers and head coach from last year’s magical Elite Eight run are gone.
-COLGATE AT BUFFALO. I like this Colgate team, and although the bubble may be a bit of a long shot for them, if they’re going to get there then this is the kind of road game they need to be able to win.
-KENT STATE AT NORTHERN KENTUCKY. The bubble may seem like a long shot for Kent State, but if they want to make a run at it then this is the kind of game they need to be able to win.
-MANHATTAN AT VCU. This SHOULD HAVE been a really good game and a nice opportunity at a notable road win for Manhattan, but with all the distractions at Manhattan with them losing their coach it may end up looking more like a buy game.
-PENN AT IONA. A nice match-up between two Under the Radar conference frontrunners.
-MARSHALL AT QUEENS. Welcome to D1 Queens!! They get to host a pretty good Marshall team at home in their D1 debut.
-HOFSTRA AT PRINCETON. It’s not likely that either team will land inside the bubble, but both could end up being pretty good Under the Radar teams this year, and who knows? Perhaps one or both of them are good enough to string together quite a few wins. It’s a good game for both teams to open with.
-OHIO U AT BELMONT. Both programs are really solid, but the teams that they each have this year appear to be in a bit of a rebuild mode, so it’ll be interesting to see what they do against each other.
-NORTHERN COLORADO AT HOUSTON. This is a buy game, but it’s actually got a halfway decent storyline to it. Northern Colorado should be one of the better teams in the Big Sky, and Houston is arguably the best team in the nation, so…we’ll highlight it!
-NORTH DAKOTA STATE AT ARKANSAS. North Dakota State is normally a Summit League frontrunner, but they appear to have taken a step back this year. Arkansas is stacked with talent, but the roster is so new that it may take a little bit of time as they get used to playing with one another. They’re at least starting things off against a semi-decent team tonight.
-CENTENARY AT LOUISIANA. We will ALWAYS highlight any game where Centenary is playing a D1 opponent. This is the program the Centenary Award is named after!!
-MURRAY STATE AT SAINT LOUIS. Murray State had a great year last year, but they’ve gone through so much turnover that it’s a completely new team and completely impossible to forecast. Saint Louis looks to be a Tournament caliber team, and at least has a somewhat decent game to start their season off with.
-MEMPHIS AT VANDERBILT. This game has some appeal. It’s possible that Vanderbilt is better than what some of us are expecting, and they’re at home, and while Memphis is talented, they also have a recent history of being rather inconsistent. It’s a great test for both teams to kick off the season!
-LONGWOOD AT ALABAMA. This is a buy game, but since Longwood is a Big South preseason favorite we will go ahead and highlight it. They’re probably overmatched in this one, though.
-SOUTH DAKOTA AT WISCONSIN. I think Wisconsin is undervalued in the Big Ten, and I think South Dakota could be a dark horse to win the Summit League. This is a buy game, and a likely mismatch, but the game at least has a storyline.
-MONTANA STATE AT GRAND CANYON. This is yet another match-up between two teams that are favored to win their conferences and who should be really good Under the Radar teams this year. You like to see teams like this open their seasons with games like this.
-ORAL ROBERTS AT SAINT MARY’S. Oral Roberts is picked to finish toward the top of the Summit League, and while Saint Mary’s looks to have the better team they better not totally overlook ORU. This could end up being a pretty good game.
-LONG BEACH STATE AT CAL BAPTIST. I’m highlighting this because I think The Beach is really good this year and this should be a winnable road game for them.
BUY GAMES:
-Pacific @ Stanford
-Howard @ Kentucky – another unbelievably mismatched game
-Purdue Fort Wayne @ Michigan – PFW is expected to be a player in the Horizon League, but they’re probably overmatched in this one
-New Orleans @ Butler
-Merrimack @ Saint John’s
-Jacksonville @ Duke
-Tennessee Tech @ Tennessee
-Morehead State @ Indiana – both teams are the preseason picks to win their conferences, but one plays in what appears to be a slightly stronger conference than the other
-Lindenwood @ Dayton – welcome to D1 Lindenwood!
-Guilford (nonD1) @ Davidson
-Chaminade (nonD1) @ Cincinnati
-Albany @ Towson – it’s probably technically not a buy game, but it will probably seem like one
-Wagner @ Temple – Temple’s been down for a while, but I like their team this year
-Saint Francis PA @ Saint Bonaventure
-Regent (nonD1) @ Liberty
-VMI @ Richmond
-Northern Arizona @ Michigan State
-Tarleton State @ Arizona State
-Columbia @ Rutgers
-Winthrop @ Penn State – Winthrop is normally pretty good, but it’s hard to say what they’ve got this year. In most years they’d be able to give Penn State a game
-Robert Morris @ Ohio State
-Niagara @ Maryland
-Bethune Cookman @ Iowa
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ West Virginia
-UT Marin @ Pittsburgh
-Stetson @ Florida State
-The Citadel @ Clemson
-Texas State @ Washington State – can one of the better teams from the Sun Belt hang with Wazzu?
-TAMUCC @ Mississippi State – TAMUCC is favored to win the Southland, but they are overmatched today
-Central Connecticut @ UMass – Angry Frank’s UMass debut!!
-Alabama State @ UAB
-Morgan State @ Xavier
-Stonehill @ UConn – welcome to D1 Stonehill!!
-Lafayette @ Miami FL
-Loyola MD @ DePaul
-Omaha @ Kansas
-Arkansas Pine Bluff @ TCU
-George Mason @ Auburn
-Little Rock @ Southern Illinois
-Fairleigh Dickinson @ Loyola Chicago
-Sam Houston @ Oklahoma
-IUPUI @ Iowa State
-UL Monroe @ Texas A&M
-Southern Indiana @ Missouri – welcome to D1 Southern Indiana!!
-Western Carolina @ Georgia – Mike White’s debut at Georgia
-Stony Brook @ Florida
-Fairfield @ Wake Forest
-Lehigh @ Syracuse
-Austin Peay @ NC State
-Saint Thomas @ Creighton
-TAMU Commerce @ SMU – welcome to D1 TAMUC!!
-UMBC @ Tulane – we are REALLY big on this Tulane team this year
-Radford @ Marquette
-UC Riverside @ Colorado
-UNC Wilmington @ North Carolina
-North Florida @ Gonzaga
-UTEP @ Texas
-NC Central @ Virginia
-Eastern Illinois @ Illinois
-Northwestern State @ Texas Tech
-Colorado Christian (nonD1) @ Wyoming
-UT Arlington @ Oklahoma State
-Idaho State @ BYU
-Utah Valley @ Utah State (Beehive)
-Gardner Webb @ Colorado State
-Western Michigan @ Minnesota
-UTRGV @ Kansas State
-Alcorn State @ Ole Miss
-Delaware State @ Virginia Tech
-Nicholls @ Arizona
-FGCU @ USC
-Cal State Fullerton @ San Diego State
-Florida A&M @ Oregon
-Texas Southern @ San Francisco
-Utah Tech @ Nevada
-Southern @ UNLV
-Weber State @ Washington
-Long Island @ Utah
-UC Davis @ California
-Sacramento State @ UCLA
