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Friday, November 9th Highlighted Match-ups

Friday, November 9th Highlighted Match-ups
Nov 09, 2007, 01:38 pm
HIGHLIGHTED MATCH-UPS

-BUTLER AT BALL STATE. This is an in-state rivalry, but Ball State should be overmatched despite the fact that they are at home. Butler is an NCAA Tournament caliber team, and Ball State does not appear to be, so Butler doesn’t want a loss like this on their profile even if it is early in the season.

-HIGH POINT AT CHARLOTTE. High Point appears to be one of the better teams in the Big South. Can they go on the road and win against an Atlantic Ten team to open the season??

-NEW MEXICO AT COLORADO. Both schools underwent coaching changes in the offseason, but New Mexico appears to be much more solid at this point. This would be a nice road win for Steve Alford’s new team, and a great way to kick off the season.

-FORDHAM AT COLUMBIA. This is an inner-city rivalry that should be an interesting start to the season. Fordham returns five starters and appears to have one of their best teams in quite some time. Columbia looks to be an up and coming team in the Ivy League and should make a little bit of noise this year as well.

-DE PAUL AT CREIGHTON. Both teams have undergone quite a few changes on their roster, and it’s hard to say for sure how good either team is. A win for either team would be a nice way to start the season. It’s never too early to start thinking about the postseason because every game counts, and these are two teams that are hoping to be in the mix.

-VERMONT AT GEORGE MASON. George Mason appears to be one of the better teams in the Colonial, and should be in the mix for an at-large bid. Their schedule isn’t exactly stacked with tournament caliber teams though, so the margin for error is small. Even though it’s early they don’t want to start dropping games because it will be hard to recover from. Vermont once again looks to be one of the better teams in the America East.

-COLORADO STATE AT MONTANA. Montana appears to be a very solid Big Sky team and has a chance to win the conference and make the NCAAs come March. There is quite a bit of enthusiasm around the program, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see them win tonight.

-NEW MEXICO STATE AT OHIO. This is a rather tough road test for NMSU. They made the NCAA Tournament last year and should be in the mix to get back in it this year. This should turn out to be a decent road win on their profile if they can pull it off. It would be a good start to the season for Ohio as well, so it’s a chance for both teams to get a good start out of the gate.

-DENVER AT OKLAHOMA. The winner of this game advances to the semifinals of the Coaches vs Cancer Classic, where they’ll join Memphis, Connecticut and Gardner Webb.

-DREXEL AT PENN. This is a Big Five rivalry. The schools are actually just two blocks from one another. Both teams have quite a few new players on the roster, so it’s hard to say how good either team is. Expect Penn to be in the mix for the Ivy League title, though. It seems that they always are.

-TEMPLE AT TENNESSEE. Tennessee looks to be a top ten team and although Temple has a history, it still looks like their program is in rebuilding mode. It would be huge for the Owls if they could pull off the upset. It would immediately bring quite a bit of enthusiasm to a program that hasn’t had much to celebrate in recent years. Tennessee loves to push the pace, and Temple is known for their defense, so it’s interesting from an X’s and O’s perspective as well.

-AUBURN AT TULANE. This strikes me as an odd road game for Auburn, but they should be able to start the season off with a road win. Auburn has both talent and experience, and I expect them to be in the mix for the NCAA Tournament come March. A win on the road would be a good way to start things off.


BYE GAMES

-TROY AT ALABAMA. Alabama appears to be a tournament caliber team and should start their season off with a win tonight.

-WOFFORD AT ARKANSAS. The Razorbacks officially kick off the season under a new head coach. They are talented, experienced, and should make some noise come March.

-BELMONT AT CINCINNATI. Cincinnati is still in rebuilding mode, but they do have some young talent. Belmont should be a big player in the Atlantic Sun and could stay with Cincinnati for a little while tonight, but I’m still expecting the Bearcats to win.

-EMORY (nondiv1) AT DAVIDSON. Davidson appears to have one of their best teams in school history, and should have little trouble getting past Emory tonight.

-NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL AT DUKE. NCCU plays their first game as a div1 program, and they’re really jumping into the fire. Duke appears to be a solid pod system team and should have little trouble winning.

-NORTH DAKOTA STATE AT FLORIDA. NDSU was a 20+ win team a season ago, and Florida is very young, but even though the Gators aren’t nearly as experienced they should be able to win this one.

-NICHOLLS STATE AT FLORIDA STATE. The Seminoles look talented this year, and shouldn’t have too much trouble winning tonight.

-PORTLAND AT FRESNO STATE. Fresno could be a sleeper in the WAC this year. This is the first of a three game round robin tournament Fresno is hosting, and they shouldn’t have too much trouble winning all three games.

-JACKSONVILLE STATE AT GEORGIA. Suspensions have hurt Georgia, but they should be able to start their season off with a win tonight.

-UNC GREENSBORO AT GEORGIA TECH. Georgia Tech is once again very young, but very talented. They should have little trouble getting off to a 1-0 start.

-MOREHEAD STATE AT HOUSTON. Houston has continuously improved under Tom Penders, and the Cougars believe they can be in the mix for the NCAA Tournament this year. They shouldn’t get much of a challenge from Morehead State tonight.

-IDAHO STATE AT IOWA. Iowa could be in for a long season, but they should start off with a win tonight against Idaho State.

-LOUISIANA MONROE AT KANSAS. The Jayhawks look like a Final Four team and should absolutely blow out ULM in this one.

-SACRAMENTO STATE AT KANSAS STATE. Kansas State lost coach Bob Huggins to West Virginia, but they still appear to be very talented and should be dancing this March.

-RADFORD AT MICHIGAN. The John Beilein era officially begins at Michigan tonight.

-PRARIE VIEW A&M AT OKLAHOMA STATE. This game should be a blowout. Okie State got off to a good start last year, but couldn’t win on the road down the stretch and that kept them out of the NCAAs. They shouldn’t have any trouble getting off to a 1-0 start tonight.

-HOUSTON BAPTIST (nondiv1) AT PITTSBURGH. This is the first game of a round robin tournament Pitt is hosting. Saint Louis and North Carolina A&T are the other two teams. Pitt may get a challenge from SLU, but shouldn’t have too much trouble winning tonight.

-SOUTH CAROLINA STATE AT SOUTH CAROLINA. South Carolina struggled in conference play last year, but looks to be slightly improved this year. They should win this one in a blowout.

-HARVARD AT STANFORD. This is the game in a round robin tournament for Stanford. They shouldn’t get too much competition out of any of the teams they’re facing.

-MCNEESE STATE AT TEXAS A&M. The post-Billy Gillispie era is underway at Texas A&M. Right now Gillispie may be wishing that he was back. TAMU should win this one big time.

-PORTLAND STATE AT UCLA. UCLA looks like a Final Four caliber team and should win this one going away.

-SOUTH CAROLINA UPSTATE AT UTAH. Utah was getting votes in the Coaches’ Poll, so someone must think they’re good. They should look pretty good tonight against a SC Upstate team that is new to div1.

-SOUTHERN UTAH AT UTAH STATE. Utah State is among the best in the WAC, and looks like they can contend for an at-large bid. They should be able to win tonight rather easily.

-MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE AT VCU. VCU made the second round of the NCAAs last year and has high expectations for this year. They shouldn’t have trouble starting things off with a win tonight.

-STONY BROOK AT VILLANOVA. Nova could probably sleepwalk and win this game.

-ELON AT VIRGINIA TECH. The Hokies are a very young team this year, but they still have quite a few players with potential. They should be able to win with ease tonight.

-FAIRFIELD AT WAKE FOREST. Wake begins the post-Skip Prosser era tonight. They are a young and talented team and although they may struggle in the ACC, they should be able to get a win tonight.

-EASTERN WASHINGTON AT WASHINGTON STATE. Wazzu is a solid team that should make the NCAAs and earn a high seed. Eastern Washington will likely struggle in the Big Sky this year, so this shouldn’t be much of a game.

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