From 7 PM tonight until the 9:30 PM games end tomorrow, there's non-stop college basketball on your TV. With some terrific match-ups.
7 PM: Miami at Florida, ESPNU
Their first head-to-head regular season match-up in years, and the start of a home-and-home series for the teams. Florida will not only be young, they will be without Chris Walker, and Dorian Finney-Smith will play with a brace in hopes of fighting through the pain of hairline fractures in his hand. Miami has two awesome backcourt transfers in Angel Rodriguez and Sheldon McClellan, and Tonye Jekiri is a better big than anyone Florida will put on the court. No one expects much of Miami this year, but they still have Larranaga as coach, and I expect them to make a push for NCAA Tournament qualification. This is not an easy game for the Gators.
9 PM: WOMEN'S- UConn vs. Stanford, ESPN2
A bit disappointing, considering UConn is stacked yet again and Stanford no longer has Chiney Ogwumike. Stanford will still be good (as always), but I don't really expect them to give UConn a real challenge, especially since UConn kicked their ass WITH Chiney last year.
11 PM: SMU at Gonzaga, ESPN2
This would've been a dynamite matchup with Mudiay. I still expect SMU to be really good this year, maybe even to win the AAC. It'll be an interesting clash of styles: SMU wants to defend ferociously, Gonzaga wants to score score score. I'm inclined to take the more defensive-minded team in matchups like this most of the time... but Gonzaga is *really* stacked in terms of experienced talent, more than they ever have been.
1 AM: Auburn at Colorado, ESPN2
Auburn has Pearl, which gives them a shot, but Colorado may be the second best team in the Pac-12, returning Askia Booker and Josh Scott. If Colorado wants to prove they deserve to be ranked, they should win this game comfortably.
3 AM: New Mexico State at St. Mary's, ESPN2
The Gaels should be interesting this year with a lot of major conference transfers on their squad, but New Mexico State is the favorite in the WAC this year, with Daniel Mullings better than any individual player on St. Mary's and Sim Bhullar's little brother (7'3= little) taking over his spot. Not sure I'd call a New Mexico State victory an "upset" here-- people interested in watching a future potential NCAA Cinderella squad, check them out.
5 AM: High Point at Hawaii, ESPN2
High Point returns a lot of players, including the awesome John Brown, from last year's NIT team. Hawaii loses three starters from last year's 4th place in the Big West team. I'm taking High Point here, though, to be fair, I didn't see Hawaii play at all last year.
7 AM: Iona at Wofford, ESPN2
Both are always near the top of their respective conferences. Tough call, but I may give the nod to Wofford here, if just because Iona lost some key pieces to last year's NIT squad, and Wofford return everybody. AJ English vs. Karl Cochran should be fun. Again, to be fair, I only saw each of these teams play once last year-- hardly expert opinion.
9 AM: Northern Iowa at Stephen F. Austin, ESPN2
Might have to wake up for this one. Northern Iowa won't threaten Wichita State for the MVC title, but they return everyone from the squad that played the Shockers tough at home, giving them an outside chance to win the MVC Tourney and make the big dance. Stephen F. Austin was a Cinderella favorite last year and will be again, as they return most of the team that only lost 3 games all of last season.
11 AM: Manhattan at UMass, ESPN2
Manhattan loses much of the team that almost beat Louisville last year, but they have some talent and they're well-coached. UMass, one of my favorite teams to watch last year, does lose the electric Chaz Williams and Raphael Putney, but they return Cady LaLanne, maybe the best center in the A10, and Derrick Gordon, a quality guard who is also the first openly gay player in NCAA basketball history. They didn't blow out a terrible BC team, which is a bit worrisome, but they still have more talent than the Jaspers.
12 PM: Baylor at South Carolina, ESPN
Baylor isn't a tourney lock for the first time in a while, losing Jefferson, Austin, and Heslip. They still have Kenny Chery and the tough Rico Gathers, but they don't have the sheer talent advantage they usually have over most teams. The best player on either team may be Sindarius Thornwell, but unless their big Lamoinas Chatkevicus (instrumental in the UK upset last year) can play consistently well this season, might be another long year for the Cocks.
2 PM: Wichita State vs. Memphis, ESPN
The first threat to the Shockers' quest for a second undefeated season. Memphis lost a lot though, and despite returning Austin Nichols and Shaq Goodwin, both of whom I really like, I don't know what their answer will be for Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker, the best backcourt in the nation.
4 PM: Utah at San Diego State, ESPN
A lot of people are high on SDSU this year (especially our own KBadds), with good reason-- they're a tough, defensive-minded, and well-coached team. However, they lost Xavier Thames, really their *only* offense last year. They have plenty of talent (Winston Shepard should step up), but there are backcourt question marks. Meanwhile, Utah has maybe my favorite NBA PG prospect in Delon Wright, and I don't know who the Aztecs have that can answer him. SDSU has an incredible homecourt advantage, and Utah didn't close out close games well last year, but don't be surprised to see this one down to the wire.
6 PM: Toledo at VCU, ESPNU
Toledo could win the Mid-American this year, but admittedly I don't know much about them. I do know a lot about Shaka Smart, Treveon Graham, and Havoc, however. This may be good to watch for a half until the Duke game starts.
7 PM: MSU vs. Duke, ESPN
Admittedly biased reporting coming, so keep that in mind. Duke looked phenomenal against two cupcakes, not just because they blew them out, but because they did well pretty much everything they failed to do last year: aggressive and consistent defense, consistent and smart ball movement, post play on both ends. Meanwhile, MSU has a lot of question marks, relying on the oft-injured Branden Dawson and Travis Trice this year, and barely beating Navy this weekend. When you factor in that K is 6-1 all-time against Izzo... I won't jinx it. Let's just say Duke fans should rightfully be far more concerned about the upcoming Wisconsin game.
7:30 PM: Marquette at Ohio State, ESPN2
Marquette had a lot of young talent last year (they were my pick in the Big East to start the season), but Buzz did nothing with them, maybe due to youth or maybe due to the fact that he was looking for his next job. Regardless, Wojo would love to start his tenure with a huge road win against a young Buckeyes team. The Bucks should be defensively savvy per usual, but any team that relies heavily on one freshman for points early in the season could be vulnerable. Ultimately, it's OSU's to lose... but upset could be in the air if Wojo has the Eagles running on all cylinders.
9:30 PM: Texas Tech at LSU, ESPN2
LSU will be quite good this year. Texas Tech will be really bad. Don't bother with this game. C'mon.
9:30 PM: Kansas vs. Kentucky, ESPN
The marquee matchup. Kentucky is young, but Jesus Christ, there are like nine or ten future first-rounders on this roster. Kansas still has the usual point guard questions, and while Perry Ellis and Cliff Alexander make up one of the few frontcourts that could at least compete with UK's NBA-bodied bigs, I don't see Kansas winning this game. Especially not if Oubre plays the way he did in the opener.
