Conference play has commenced with a thundersand The Maniac is pretty pumped over the promise of a fantastic season on the horizon. The Missouri Valley pitted some of their top teams last night(Illinois State, Northern Iowa) against traditional powers Wichita State and Creighton; and both won. Throw in Missouri State and you have the makings of one heck of a conference battle.
If you like your conferences with a little more NCAA at-large bids at stake, might I suggest the Big East. West Virginia is undefeated and sixth in the NATION, yet needed OT to beat Seton Hall and a miracle finish to beat Marquette at home to move to 2-0 in the BEast. Neither opponent figured in the top 8 of the conference preseason. Now that's a tough road to sled.
That brings me to my first game of the night. While most people will pay attention to Cincy - UConn (good game) I'll be more interested in South Florida's trip to Lousiville. The Cards dissapointed early but have shown some signs of promise the past few weeks. The Bulls have been impressive early but have never been a factor in conference play since joining the Big East. Losing at the 'Ville would be no shame, but it is the type of game USF needs to win if they want to be in the at-large conversation. Vegas has the Bulls as 13 point dogs; I suspect it will be a decent ballgame. Either way it is a great early litmus test in the BEast.
My other game to watch tonight is one very few people will be able to. William & Mary is 9-2 with quality wins over Wake and VCU. Tonight they get a huge opportunity when they visit College Park and the Terps. A win here makes the Tribe a legit at-large front runner should they play well in the CAA yet get nosed out by VCU or Old Dominion (or even George Mason). I imagine the whole Colonial Conference will have an eye toward College Park tonight.
It feels like we've been writing about Maryland and Grevies Vasquez for about six seasons now. The article always talks about "potential" and how good both could be...and isn't that kind of the problem? If pressed for a real read on the Terps I'd put them sixth in the ACC. Truth is anywhere between third and tenth is a fair guess. The league is that balanced and the Terps are that much of an enigma.
There are some other great games across the nation tonight as the Big Ten and ACC, amongst others, get rolling. The two above are defintly worth the watch.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
No comments:
Post a Comment