Daily Preview: November 16th, 2010

The first daily preview of the college basketball season features ESPN's 24 hour marathon of college basketball, starting at midnight on Tuesday and continuing until midnight on Wednesday. Obviously, not every game can be a premier matchup, but the majority of the games feature major college programs and a few match up a couple of ranked teams. In addition, the NIT Preseason Tip-Off begins tonight, with the first two rounds taking place from Monday through Wednesday night and the finals on Wednesday and Friday night of next week.

Similar to last year, I'll list a Game of the Night and then a couple of other games I'm looking forward to.

Tuesday, Nov. 16th, 2010

Game of the Night: Virginia Tech Hokies @ Kansas St. Wildcats

There is a top 10 matchup on the slate for Friday, But I personally think this is the more intriguing matchup. Surprised to see VT playing a ranked team out of conference? Same here. Seth Greenberg's Hokies finally figured out it might be a good idea to schedule some challenging OOC games since 8-8 in the ACC with a cupcake non-conference isn't good enough to go dancing. Thing is, the Hokies should be good enough to make it this year regardless of schedule. They return their top 11 scorers, including ACC POY contender Malcolm Delaney. If Tech can find a consistent third scorer to supplement Delaney and Dorenzo Hudson, this Hokies team is very capable of knocking off a highly ranked Kansas St. team.

The Wildcats certainly lived up to expectations last year, reaching the Elite Eight and falling to eventual runners up Butler. Despite losing Denis Clemente and Dominique Sutton, the Wildcats should be better than last year, as they return Jacob Pullen, Curtis Kelly, Jamar Samuels, and a host of sophomores and freshman who should make great strides this year. Kansas St. should be tough defensively again and have enough offensive weapons to make a long run into the tournament. The big question... how will Pullen fare running the point? Will others be able to provide consistent scoring? If they can get consistent scoring from sources and not rely on Pullen to create the entire offense, this could be a NC contender.

Other Games:

Ohio St. Buckeyes @ Florida Gators

Two preseason top 10 teams that both return large portions of last year's squads. Florida returns all five starters, and Ohio State returns all but Evan Turner and brings in an excellent recruiting class to supplement. Both teams have questions, though. Florida relies too much on the three, especially from star guards Kenny Boynton and Erving Walker. Can they find Alex Tyus consistent looks inside? Ohio State struggled without Turner in the lineup last year. Will someone step up and take over as the go-to guy offensively? There's reason to believe true frosh Jared Sullinger could be that man.

San Diego St @ Gonzaga: This is the best Zags team in recent memory, but the Aztecs return four double-digit scorers from last year's NCAA Tournament team. Definitely a trap game for the Zags.

Butler @ Louisville: Good road test for the Bulldogs. The Cardinals have a lot of holes but will pressure and attack defensively.

South Carolina @ Michigan St.: Not the most difficult of matchups for the Spartans, but should be fun to watch anyway.