{"id":3435,"date":"2012-11-07T07:00:06","date_gmt":"2012-11-07T11:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=3435"},"modified":"2012-11-07T08:24:50","modified_gmt":"2012-11-07T12:24:50","slug":"opening-weekend-games-to-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=3435","title":{"rendered":"Opening Weekend: Games to Watch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here we are, opening weekend of the college hoops season. \u00a0There are some great games all over the country (and the world&#8230;). \u00a0Here are some highlights of the weekend.<\/p>\n<h1>Friday<\/h1>\n<p>Opening day of the college hoops season starts with a huge bang, as there are games all over the country (and the world).\u00a0 There are three games on aircraft carriers, one in an aircraft hangar in Germany, and the college hoops debut in the Barclay&#8217;s Center in Brooklyn.\u00a0 This is the\u00a0best opening day in my memory.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">#9 Syracuse vs #20 San Diego St.<\/span> <\/strong>&#8211;\u00a0One of the few<strong> <\/strong>times in the preseason that the &#8216;Cuse steps out of the Carrier Dome, and it happens to be WAY out of the Carrier Dome, as it is on an aircraft carrier in the San Diego harbor. \u00a0This is the only game all weekend that pits two nationally ranked teams. \u00a0Don&#8217;t get me wrong, I <em>love<\/em> the event, but I hope the outdoor game doesn&#8217;t affect what could be a terrific opportunity to see what Steve Fisher&#8217;s got this year at SD State.<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Georgetown vs. #10 Florida<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; Another game on another aircraft carrier (again, AWESOME) &#8211; this time off the coast of Jacksonville, FL. \u00a0The elements may favor the more physical Hoyas, who rely less on perimeter shooting, but the Gators are the more talented team. \u00a0Should be a good one.<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Marquette vs. #4 Ohio St.<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; The third aircraft carrier game is in Charleston, SC, where the 4th-ranked Buckeyes open their season against the Golden Eagles of Marquette.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Connecticut vs. #14 Michigan St.<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; The dawn of the Kevin Ollie Era in UConn happens in Germany &#8211; not on an aircraft carrier, but in an aircraft hangar &#8211; where the undersized Huskies will try and deal with the oversized Spartans. \u00a0A tough travel schedule for both, particularly the Spartans, who have a quick turnaround before a date with Kansas.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">#3 Kentucky vs. Maryland<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; This is neutral site game in Brooklyn, at the new Barclay&#8217;s Center. \u00a0I don&#8217;t expect it to be all that dramatic, as UK is supremely talented, but the first game of the year for Kentucky is always interesting because, well, it&#8217;s a <em>whole new team<\/em>.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Miami (OH) at #6 N.C. State<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; It&#8217;s been a long time since there was this much hype surrounding an N.C. State team. \u00a0And, I have been calling for their breakout (incorrectly) for two years now. \u00a0But, finally, they have put that talent together with a really good coach. \u00a0Miami (OH) doesn&#8217;t pose all that much of a threat in Raleigh, but it&#8217;s nice to see the &#8216;Pack back in ACC contention again.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Indiana State at #13 UCLA<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; There is a lot of promise in Southern Cal this year, as Ben Howland has the #1 recruiting class in the country, and maybe the most highly-touted class he has ever recruited (and this is a guy who took the Bruins to three straight Final Fours).\u00a0 Indiana State is a decent team in the great Missouri Valley, but the story here is (a) which of these elite freshmen will actually play, and (b) will they all mesh right away?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">North Texas at #16 Creighton<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; The Blue Jays of Creighton enter the season with Sweet 16 (at worst) expectations, led by their incredible superstar, Doug McDermott. \u00a0But, get this. \u00a0McDermott might not be the best player on the floor on Friday night. \u00a0North Texas has a guy named Tony Mitchell, who was projected to be a mid-first round pick in the NBA draft if he had left North Texas last year, after his <em>freshman<\/em> year. \u00a0That&#8217;s right, a Sun Belt team has a sophomore who will probably be a lottery pick in the next NBA draft.<br \/>\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Lehigh at Baylor<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; If you&#8217;re ever read anything on this site, you probably know my love affair with C.J. McCollum since his monstrous freshman year at Lehigh. \u00a0Well, he is now a senior, and it&#8217;s time to shine. \u00a0Picked by some as a preseason 1st-team All-American, McCollum leads his Mountain Hawks into Waco, to take on an interesting Baylor squad. \u00a0This might be the most interesting game played on dry American soil all weekend.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">&#8220;The Battle of the Boulevard&#8221; &#8211; Belmont at Lipscomb<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; Belmont left the Atlantic Sun this year for the Ohio Valley, but they will never leave one of the most underrated rivalries in any sport. \u00a0These two teams &#8211; walking distance apart in downtown Nashville &#8211; have a heated, heated rivalry. \u00a0Previously, they were conference games, so they would happen in the middle of the season &#8211; it should be really interesting to see it kick off the season for each team.<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Virginia at George Mason<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; Just a quick, early measuring stick to see where each of these programs are this year. \u00a0UVa lost a lot off of last year&#8217;s team, while George Mason continues to recruit really talented, under-the-radar kids.\u00a0 And, the Patriot Center has become a pretty tough place for anyone to win these days.<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">South Dakota State at Alabama<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; The Nate Wolters Legend should continue to grow here in his final collegiate season.\u00a0 He actually should be the best player on the floor at Alabama when they tipoff on Friday, and he has a supporting cast of Jackrabbits good enough to potentially pull off an upset of a pretty good (albeit overlooked) Alabama team this year.\u00a0 This should be one of the better under-the-radar games of the weekend.<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Drexel at Kent State<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; Drexel is loaded this year, and they are hoping it will finally end with a trip to the Dance.\u00a0 It all starts with a trip to Kent State, where the Golden Flashes are always tough, with this year being no different.<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Bucknell at Purdue<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; Watch out for the Bison this year.\u00a0 This Bucknell team is a bit overlooked in the Patriot League because of all the hype surrounding Lehigh, but Bucknell returns 4 starters from a 25-win team a year ago (three of who started for a 25-win team two years ago).\u00a0 Purdue is in a bit of a transition year, so they could be pretty ripe for an upset here if they take the Bison at all lightly.<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Tulane at Georgia Tech<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; Tulane was poised to prove all the naysayers wrong last year, until they were hit by a slew of injuries that derailed their surprise season.\u00a0 This year, the expectations are a little higher, so it should be interesting to see if they can make a splash in their season opener against a down Tech team.<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Morehead State at Long Island<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; My 2013 irrational love affair begins in Brooklyn against Morehead State.\u00a0 I am all-in on the LIU Blackbirds this year, led by an amazing frontcourt of Julian Boyd and Jamal Olasawere and a gritty backcourt of Jason Brickman and C.J. Garner.\u00a0 Morehead is in a bit of a rebuilding period after losing Kenneth Faried to the NBA two years ago, but they are still no pushovers.<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Robert Morris at Rider<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; The one team that might derail the Blackbirds this year in the NEC is the highly-touted Robert Morris team.\u00a0 It should be interesting to see if LIU can hold serve at home and then to see if RMC can go on the road and beat a decent MAAC team.<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">USC-Upstate at Saint Louis<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; The best team in the brief D-I history of USC-Upstate is the first opponent for a Frank Martin-led Gamecock squad.\u00a0 I am interested in both of these teams, as Upstate is a real contender in the A-Sun, and St. Louis is the preseason favorite in the 16-team A-10 this year.\u00a0 The Billikens have the talent to be one of the better teams nationwide this year.<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Montana at Colorado State<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; Tim Miles bolted for Nebraska in the offseason, after doing a simply masterful job at Colorado State.\u00a0 But, the Rams made a big splash in replacing him by hiring Larry Eustachy away from Southern Miss.\u00a0 And, Miles left a boatload of talent for the former Iowa State head man, who was named the 2000 AP National Coach of the Year before leaving the Cyclones in personal scandal.\u00a0 But, Eustachy&#8217;s first test is a tough one, as a really good Montana team comes calling with one of the nation&#8217;s most underrated backcourts in Will Cherry and Kareem Jamar.<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Oral Roberts at UTEP<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; Oral Roberts switched conferences this year, but brings with them a long history of mid-major success.\u00a0 They open their season against an interesting team at UTEP.\u00a0 They could be really good or they could do what they did last year and, essentially, go through the motions of mediocrity.<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Northern Illinois at Nebraska-Omaha<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; NIU is one of D-I&#8217;s worst teams, but the reason I highlighted this game is because it is the D-I debut of Nebraska-Omaha.\u00a0 And, at home, against a really bad team, they might actually start their D-I career 1-0.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1>\u00a0<\/h1>\n<h1>Saturday<\/h1>\n<p>Because of the craziness of Friday (and still being in the heart of college football season), Saturday is a bit of a light slate, but there are still some games worth paying attention to.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">SIU-Edwardsville at #15 Missouri<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; The Tigers lost a ton from last year&#8217;s incredible team, but they also added a TON of experienced talent back to join the great Flip Pressey.\u00a0 It should be interesting to see how they all gel together on this team.\u00a0 Nothing should really be learned in this game, as they should roll a bad OVC team, but it&#8217;s worth taking a note of the rotations employed by Frank Haith and the effectiveness of guys like Alex Oriakhi (UConn transfer) and Lawrence Bowers (coming off an ACL tear).<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Evansville at #22 Notre Dame<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; There is a lot of hype coming out of South Bend these days, and it&#8217;s only mostly because of the football team&#8217;s renaissance.\u00a0 The basketball team should be really good, too.\u00a0 However, if Mike Brey and company aren&#8217;t careful, they could get nipped in their first game, as the Purple Aces of Evansville are not to be overlooked.\u00a0 In fact, they have a dynamic superstar guard named Colt Ryan, who might be the best player on the floor in this game.<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Central Florida at South Florida<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; How can USF follow-up an amazing season which saw them win two NCAA tournament games?\u00a0 I guess a Sweet 16 is the only way to top it (or maybe a Big East title?).\u00a0 They open their season with a mitigated excitement about this team.\u00a0 They expected to have 4 of their 5 starters back, but they thought that they would have Marcus Jordan and not Keith Clanton.\u00a0 Instead, Jordan gave up his final year on the team, while Clanton returned.\u00a0 While Clanton doesn&#8217;t have the &#8220;Jordan&#8221; name, I think they are better off this way, though there will always be the thoughts of &#8220;what could have been.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Princeton at Buffalo<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; Princeton is supposed to take back the Ivy League this year, mostly on the strength (actually, size) of their frontline.\u00a0 They have four guys at 6&#8217;10&#8221; or bigger, including a pair of 7-footers.\u00a0 They open with a Buffalo team that really believes this might be their year to break through in the MAC, despite the immense talent at schools like Ohio and Akron.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h1>Sunday<\/h1>\n<p>Sunday is a little more interesting than Saturday, with a couple of the nation&#8217;s best tipping off against some solid mid-majors.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Manhattan at #2 Louisville<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; It is the ole &#8220;teacher vs. student&#8221; battle here in Louisville to open the season for each of these teams.\u00a0 Manhattan, who saw a very quick rejuvenation thanks to Pitino-disciple, Steve Masiello, last year has all 5 starters back and should make a serious run at the MAAC title.\u00a0 Louisville is obviously on the short list of national title favorites, so a home game against the Jaspers shouldn&#8217;t bother them, but they&#8217;d better be careful because this team can play.<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Florida-Atlantic at #11 North Carolina<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; The exodus of talent from last year&#8217;s UNC roster was devastating, but they do have a load of talent still there and more coming in.\u00a0 Two freshman, Marcus Paige and Joel James, are slated to start at PG and C, respectively, for the Tar Heels, so they will open their careers here at the Dean Dome against an FAU team that is decent, for Sun Belt standards, but shouldn&#8217;t pose much of a threat to the Heels, no matter how quickly the freshmen develop.<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Charleston-Southern at #12 Arizona<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; Another team with a massive influx of talent this year is the Arizona Wildcats.\u00a0 They added senior point guard Mark Lyons (Xavier transfer) and a stable of monster freshmen bigs, led by Kaleb Tarczewski, the 7&#8217;0&#8243; center, who was ranked as the #4 recruit in the country.\u00a0 Charleston-Southern has one of the best teams in their program&#8217;s history, so they shouldn&#8217;t be overlooked, but on the road at UA might be too tall of a test, despite the &#8216;Cats massive turnover.<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Marshall at Villanova<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; We could find out really quickly just how good (or bad) Jay Wright&#8217;s Wildcats are going to be this year.\u00a0 I still can&#8217;t understand why Malik Wayns and, especially, Dominic Cheek decided to forgo their senior seasons for pro ball, but it certainly transitions this &#8216;Nova team from the typical Villanova style of reliance on the backcourt to more of a frontcourt-dominated team.\u00a0 I really like Mouphtaou Yarou (and not because I spent two years just miles outside of the African village in which he hails) and James Bell, Maurice Sutton, and JayVaugh Pinkston are all decent frontcourt players.\u00a0 This team will be interested and will be tested right off the bat by a very talented Marshall team that is trying to erase the underachievement of last year.<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Milwaukee at South Carolina<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; The Frank Martin Era begins here against UW-Milwaukee.\u00a0 He brings in a rather slender roster, by SEC standards, but we all know that the guy can flat-out coach.\u00a0 Milwaukee is decent &#8211; as we have come to expect from this solid Horizon League program &#8211; and should at least show us a little of what Martin has to work with in Columbia.<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Loyola (MD) at Washington<\/span><\/strong> &#8211; UW rarely loses at home, particularly to non-conference teams.\u00a0 And, they almost never lose to mid-major non-conference opponents that have to travel 3,000 miles to get there.\u00a0 But, if it is going to happen, it might happen here because the Greyhounds of Loyola are the favorites to repeat as MAAC champions, as they return their top three scorers, and are not the type to be intimidated.\u00a0 This should be the classic constrast in styles, as UW likes to get out and run, while Loyola loves a slow, plodding pace.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here we are, opening weekend of the college hoops season. \u00a0There are some great games all over the country (and the world&#8230;). \u00a0Here are some highlights of the weekend. Friday Opening day of the college hoops season starts with a &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=3435\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-college-hoops"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3435"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3463,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3435\/revisions\/3463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}