Games to Watch - Week of Nov 17

Preseason Tournaments:

NIT Season Tip-Off (Nov. 17-18, 26, 28)

Teams to Watch: Arizona, Davidson, Oklahoma, Purdue, UAB

Other than the teams listed here, there are others like Boston College and Georgia that I'd love to get a look at. Overall, there's lots of good teams here with a variety of styles of play and strengths, so there should be some good early season match-ups.

My Pick: Purdue. As I've stated before, Purdue's going to be in trouble vs. a team more athletic than them, but there isn't anyone in this tournament that's going to overwhelm them. Blake Griffin and OU will give the Boilers some problems, but solid shooting and defense will lead Purdue to victory.

Paradise Jam (Nov. 21-24)

Teams to Watch: Miami, San Diego, UConn, Wisconsin

A pretty strong field for an 8 team tournament. Not as strong as the Maui Invitational or the Old Spice Classic, but there should be some VERY interesting matchups later on in this tourney.

My Pick: UConn. Can't really go against the #2 team in the nation, although I think Miami could give them a run for their money if they meet in the semis. Neither San Diego nor Wisconsin have the firepower to keep up though (and yes, I am aware San Diego beat UConn in the tourney last year. Ten bucks says A. J. Price gets 2 or more points and Thabeet gets more than 14 points and 6 rebounds in 37 minutes in their next meeting)

Mon, Nov 17th

Purdue v. Eastern Michigan (7 PM, ESPN2) - Finally... some college basketball on a station I have! Oh wait... I'm going to be at that game. Never mind

Florida Atlantic v. Arizona (11PM, ESPNU) - It's been a very tumultuous off-season for Arizona. I thought the Kevin O' Neill situation was handled somewhat poorly, and then Brandon Jennings leaving for Europe, and then Lute Olson's resignation... this Wildcats team has plenty of distractions right now but they're in the NIT Tip-Off, which means there's some quality non-conference wins out there for the taking. And they're still returning some decent players. Don't count out Arizona just yet.

UAB v. Santa Clara - I've been very high on this UAB team. In fact, I'm calling it right here, right now, for everyone... UAB will beat Memphis at least once this season. That's how much I like this team. Robert Vaden is one of the best guards in the country, and the Blazers return most of their backcourt. Watch for lots of 4 guard lineups

Davidson v. James Madison - The Stephen Curry show is back... with Jason Richards, the NCAA's leading assist man. But then again, how difficult is it to get assists when you hand the ball to Curry and let him work?

UMass v. Memphis (Midnight, ESPN) - A good early season test for a young Memphis team.

Miami (OH) v. Pitt, Fordham v. Villanova, Chicago St. v. Marquette - A trio of opening games for three Big East schools. All tournament teams last year, all returning most of their key contributors. If you thought the Big East was good last year...

Tues, Nov 18th

NIT Season Tip-Off Second Round (Likely Matchups: Davidson v. Oklahoma, UAB v. Arizona, Purdue v. Georgia)

Lots of quality early season matchups here. Davidson will try to make an early season statement vs. a quality non-conference opponent, something they couldn't do last year. UAB and Arizona appear to be two programs going in opposite directions but at this point, they're around the same level. And is Georgia the team from last year's SEC tournament, or the team from the entire regular season leading up to that point?

Kentucky v. UNC (9 PM, ESPN) - I was going to mention something here about how maybe UNC is banged up right now, and this is a new, young, hungry Wildcats team, and make it sound like this is going to be a competitive game, but screw it... if you can't slow down VMI, how are you going to stop all the weapons the Tar Heels have? Not happening

Arizona St. v. San Diego St. - One of the prime candidates to take down UCLA at the top of the Pac-10 this year. All five starters are back from last year's team, and with the three teams above them (other than UCLA) in the Pac-10 last year all likely getting worse, Arizona St. becomes the clear #2 in the conference. Will they steal one from UCLA, though?

New Mexico St v. USC - Losing O. J. Mayo hurts. Gaining high school All-American Demar DeRozan... that helps a little. He adds to a solid nucleus of Taj Gibson, Daniel Hackett, and Dwight Lewis to likely make USC a tournament team again.

Plus there's games going on ESPN all day, including Syracuse, Baylor, and a few good small conference teams like UNC-Asheville. Might be worth your while to check some out

Wed, Nov. 19th

UNC-Wilmington v. Wake Forest - Much is expected of this young Demon Deacon team and their outstanding freshman class. Early on I think they could struggle vs. more experienced teams but they will be a serious ACC threat later this season

South Dakota St. v. VCU - Last year's Colonial favorites fell in the conference tourney semis and failed to make the tournament. They look to avenge that loss this time in an even more crowded Colonial conference with lots of teams returning plenty of starters. This game is in the Cancun Challenge, a smaller tournament that includes Vanderbilt, New Mexico, and Drake, last year's Valley champs. It should be decent competition.

Thurs, Nov. 20th

Coaches v. Cancer Semi-Finals:

Duke v. SIU (7 PM, ESPN2) - Tempo, tempo, tempo. On the one hand you have Duke with their plethora of guards and wingmen trying to run the floor and push the pace, and on the other hand you have SIU who is traditionally one of the slowest paced teams in college basketball. Obviously if this game turns into a slugfest Duke will run away with it, but if SIU can slow down the tempo, they may have an advantage. Duke was somewhat sloppy and turnover prone during their first game, and if they come out sluggish again, SIU can control the pace, limit turnovers, and make some threes, this one could go down to the wire. One similarity between the two teams? A variety of scorers. Both have their leaders (Singler for Duke, Fey for SIU) but both also have plenty of guys who are a threat offensively.

UCLA v. Michigan (9 PM, ESPN2) - If Manny Harris goes off big time (and I mean, like, 40 points) then maybe the Wolverines have a shot. But I don't see it. UCLA is too good defensively to allow one guy to beat them like that. And if Manny isn't scoring, Michigan has few other options offensively. Michigan may keep it close early, but look for UCLA to pull away in the 2nd half.

Chattanooga v. Memphis (4:30 PM, ESPN2) - If you missed your chance at seeing Memphis at midnight on Monday, here's your opportunity to see them at a more reasonable time... except for college students, midnight might be a more reasonable time than 4:30 in the afternoon when we have classes/homework to get done

Fairfield v. Virginia Tech, Stetson v. Florida State - The top 4 of the ACC appears pretty solid (UNC, Duke, Miami, Wake Forest). After that, it's a logjam of teams including Clemson, Maryland, Georgia Tech, and these two schools. Last year the middle of the ACC beat up on each other so much a 5th ACC team wasn't able to emerge from the pack and the conference only got 4 in. Will a 5th ACC team emerge this year as a viable tournament contender?

Fri, Nov. 21st

**Coaches v. Cancer Championship** - Preview coming Thursday night! (Hopefully)

Winthrop v. Davidson - Winthrop's absolutely dominated the Big South recently, but if anyone's going to dethrone the Eagles, now's the time to do it. They lost four of their top five scorers and conference runners-up UNC Asheville and newcomers Gardner-Webb appear to be the best options for a new Big South rep in the tourney. AND Winthrop just got pounded by South Carolina on Sunday... and the Gamecocks are a borderline NCAA Tournament team at best. We may see a new Big South champ this year.

Notre Dame v. Loyola Marymount - Luke Harangody and Kyle McAlarney return from last year's very good Irish squad. But in the Big East, there's little margin for error. If these guys aren't scoring consistently every night, who will step up and hit shots?

Southern Miss v. Miami (FL) - Hey, Miami's ranked. No surprise... wait... this isn't football? What?? But yea, this Miami team's good. I remember watching a Miami game last year, and I saw Jack McClinton and I was like, "Woah. This guy's pretty good." Even better... the Hurricanes return four starters from last year's team that gave Texas all they could handle in the 2nd round. Could they compete for an ACC title?

Sat, Nov. 22

Mainly just some Top 25 teams beating up (hopefully) on mediocre schools and a bunch of small preseason tournament games. Nothing really on TV... November Saturdays are still football saturdays. Maybe I'll blog about college football that day...

Sun, Nov. 23

Paradise Jam Semi-Finals (likely matchups: Miami v. UConn, San Diego v. Wisconsin)

Miami and UConn will be a lot of fun to watch. San Diego and Wisconsin should be close, but will probably be a very slow game. Both should be competitive, although the Miami - UConn game really should be for the championship.