Great slate of games tonight. Here are a couple of my favorites.
Minnesota at Illinois
The Gophers actually look like they might be a legit Final Four contender. The Illini are needing to prove that they are the team that people thought they were with their terrific noncon slate. The Illini lost to Purdue, but beat Ohio State in Big Ten action, while the Gophers pounded both Michigan State and Northwestern at home, but this is their first league test on the road.
Florida State at Maryland
The Terps look like a real ACC contender right now, but they have not really proven anything through a cupcake noncon. FSU has struggled all year and could really use a win like this. An interesting early test to see who might be “for real.”
UNLV at New Mexico
The second or third best conference in America – if you are asking me – opens up tonight with four really good MVC games. UNLV in The Pit, though, is the cream of the crop. A true Sweet 16-caliber matchup to open up the Mountain West is not an exaggeration…trust me, this is the best game of the night.
Boise State at Wyoming
The most unlikely of undefeateds, the Cowboys of Wyoming, who are awfully tough at home, host a Boise State team that looks every bit of an at-large tournament team. This game could have wide-reaching ramifications come Selection Sunday.
Iowa State at Kansas
The last two Big XII teams to open their conference slates do so tonight in Lawrence. The Jayhawks are the clear conference favorites and really tough at home, but the Cyclones are one of the more likely teams – if anyone can – to pose a challenge to KU’s supremacy. To win in the Fogg, though, is not exactly an easy task.
West Virginia at Texas
It is rather early to be calling anything an “elimination game,” and I am not doing that here, but let us just say that these two teams have drastically underachieved thus far, including each losing their conference opener, so it is as close to a “gotta have it” kind of game as there is on January 9th – especially for West Virginia, who lost by 10 points at home to a rebuilding Oklahoma on Saturday.
Ole Miss at Tennessee
In a historically bad SEC, it is anyone’s guess as to who the 4th-best team is. If you ask me, I would say that it is probably a toss-up between these two teams. And, I do think that the league should be good enough (or reputationally good enough) to get at least 4 bids, so this game could carry a lot of weight in two months.
Dayton at VCU
As a lifelong fan of the conference, this should be – by far – the most fascinating season in the history of the Atlantic 10. And, tipoff is tonight. Most conference games all year will be fascinating, but there are two that really jump off of tonight’s slate. Dayton travelling to league rookie – and league favorite – VCU should be really good…if the Dayton guards can deal with the VCU pressure. If not, this could be quite the opening statement from one of the two new members.
Butler at St. Joe’s
The other rookie goes on the road to one of the original A-10 teams – St. Joe’s. The Bulldogs have won 9 in a row, including a shocker over #1 Indiana, but they open the conference schedule against Phil Martelli’s squad, who was the preseason pick to win the league. The Hawks have been somewhat disappointing throughout the noncon, but that is no reason to count them out from A-10 contention, as their talent can matchup with just about anyone in the league.
Evansville at N.Iowa
While Bradley-Indiana State is also interesting tonight in the MVC, I will be more focused on this game because I still think that UNI might have the best pieces to mount a challenge at league favorite, Creighton. But, they already have 2 league losses, including a 25-point beatdown at the hands of Wichita State. And, Evansville is no slouch and could be a true sleeper in this league race – if they can win a couple road games.
UTEP at Tulane
Generally, C-USA is going to be only interesting in its awfulness, but these two teams have an outside shot at minor national relevance. Tulane is very under-the-radar, but very solid, and UTEP, who was written off after a 1-4 start, actually has looked really solid against a much tougher schedule than people seem to realize. They have beaten Oregon and New Mexico State, as well as 16- and 20-point wins over Nebraska and Oral Roberts, respectively. They also have tough losses against Arizona, UNLV, Oklahoma, Clemson, and Colorado State. If there is a C-USA sleeper, it might be the Miners.
Valparaiso at Illinois-Chicago
Everyone’s preseason pick – Valpo – travels to Chicago to face the nation’s biggest surprise so far, UIC. The Flames of UIC were supposed to muddle through another dreaful season in the Windy City, but had a 8-game winning streak in November and December that included wins over Mercer, Iona, Nortwestern, and Colorado State. They dropped off a bit at the end of the noncon schedule, but they did beat Youngstown State to open conference play before losing at Cleveland State. Valpo rebounded off of a head-scratching home loss to Loyola-Chicago to start conference play with a trouncing of Cleveland State. This is an interesting litmus test for both teams as we get into the meat of the Horizon schedule.
Hawaii at UC-Irvine
The Big West has gone from one of the most boring leagues to one of the most intriguing, seemingly overnight. Hawaii currently sits atop the league at 3-0, but they have yet to leave the Islands for a league game…until tonight. They go to visit the Anteaters, who, after a stunning noncon that established them as true favorites to win this league, they have actually struggled in the early going – beating UC-Davis in OT before dropping back-to-back road games at UCSB and Cal Poly. Tonight’s game will start to show us if Hawaii has what it takes to win on the road in this league and/or if UC-Irvine is as legit as their noncon would suggest them to be.
William & Mary at Towson
The two most surprising of CAA contenders face off tonight, as the Tribe tries to rebound off of a tough loss to George Mason over the weekend, while Towson tries to build upon a terrific 2-0 start to conference play with a pair of really good road wins, including a win over preseason-favorite, Drexel, on Saturday. Towson is ineligible for the CAA tournament, so they are just playing for pride and a banner in their final year in the Colonial.
E.Kentucky at Murray State
The story of the noncon in the OVC was not Isaiah Caanan and Murray State or even the incredible numbers that Belmont is putting up in crushing opponents. The story was – “what is going on with that EKU team?” The Colonels won their first 9 games before a close loss at Illinois ended their perfection. Everyone thought (and probably still thinks – as do I) that the OVC is really just a two-team battle between Murray and Belmont, but EKU has earned a place in that discussion so far and will almost assure themselves season-long relevancy with a win tonight in Murray. But, even me – an EKU believer – does not see that happening.
