11-11-12
South Alabama 76, #25 Florida State 71
Florida State returned the core of an ACC championship team. With Michael Snare and Ian Miller back, they should've been able to patch over the few losses and come back as strong as ever. Despite the great guard play, they were assaulted in the paint, because they lost a very good center to graduation. This lack of an inside presence will surely hurt them in ACC play against the Plumlee's of Duke and the many other great interior players of the ACC. They shouldn't look ahead to the ACC though, they have a very tough challenge coming up with Buffalo on Tuesday. If they don't wake up in play, they could be right back in this article on Thursday.
George Mason 63, UVA 59
The George Mason Patriots play in a weaker CAA (without VCU), which holds no chance of producing quality victories to boost them into the tournament at large. This victory over UVA definitely puts them in the category of bracketbuster. Between Mason, Delaware, and Drexel, the CAA could earn 2 bids (though Drexel and Delaware haven't been helping the cause). This victory could end up not being an upset as the season goes along, because UVA lacks an inside presence (no Matt Scott), and Mason (even without Luke Hancock) could end up being a top 25 team, just as it was in early 2011. Also, watching the late stages of this game, I realized that George Mason has one of the most underrated home field advantages in the nation. The Patriots of George Mason are some loud people.
Kent State 66, Drexel 62
This is a big blow for Drexel's NCAA tournament at-large hopes. Kent State is vastly underrated though. They contended in a MAC that included sweet 16 team Ohio, and very talented Akron. Watch out for the Golden Flashes of Kent State as the season goes on. The MAC could end up with 2-3 bids if all the cards fall right. Drexel is in desperate need of a quality win, to help out themselves, and their conference.
Bucknell 70, Purdue 65
This is a classic upset by an undderated team over an overrated team. Bucknell won the Patriot League's regular season championship over Duke slaying Lehigh and C.J. McCallum. Purdue lost Robbie Hummell, who'd been a constant factor in Purdue's sucess for the past 10 years or so. This is a great win for the Patriot League, which should be a fun one to follow this year. Bucknell by no strech of the imagination will get an at-large bid, but this win will pump up their seed should they get in by winning the Patriot League.
Saint Peter's 56, Rutgers 52
At the end of last year, I though Rutgers would be a sleeper team in the tournament. Now I'm wondering if they'll even make the tournament at all. The transfer of Biruda has really hurt them. Talented sophmores Eli Carter and Miles Mack and a boat load of freshman recruits couldn't provide the spark they needed to beat a pretty bad Saint Peter's squad. At this point, Rutgers needs to start winning, or just get experience and reload for next year. However, St. John's of a couple years ago showed that no matter how awful of OOC losses you have, you can still get into the tournament with a great Big East performance.
Rider 79, Robert Morris 54
Transfer Nuri Lindsey has Rider contending in the MAAC this year. They simply hammered Robert Morris, a strong contender in the NEC. I wasn't surprised that Rider won, I was surprised by the margin. Rider is now preparing for their 6 AM game against a decent American East team Stony Brook on Tuesday.
Troy 56, Mississippi State 53
Mississippi State did a crappy job of building momentum for a re-building program. Their isn't a good excuse for a team with SEC talent to lose to a middle-class Sun Belt team. South Alabama and Troy have represented the Sun Belt well so far.
UTEP 69, Oral Roberts 49
UTEP is a conteder in the C-USA. They can beat Memphis. They return a majority of players for a solid young team, which generally leds to a talented experienced team. Oral Roberts is a good mid-major, the margin of victory shows what kind of team UTEP can be this year.
Princeton 57, Buffalo 53
Like real estate, upsets are all about location, location, location. At home, this win would've been meaningless, but going on the road, it's a mild upset, that will help a tournament resume. Ian Hummer of Princeton will play in the NBA one day. This team should make the tournament this year. Buffalo has a good chance to rebound by beating Florida State on Tuesday.
La Salle 73, Delaware 66
La Salle is in the toughest mid-major conference ever to exist, and they enter it with some returning talent. However, some key losses may prevent them from being a tournament team. A win of CAA rising power Delaware and Jamale Higgins will prove to be better and better as the year goes along, and could help La Salle make the NIT, if not the NCAA tournament.
UCF 74, USF 56
This is a killer for USF's tournament hopes. The loss of Augustus Gilchirst has really hurt this team, despite bringing everyone else back. They did a terrible job defending in the paint and defending the 3. UCF would have a shot at making the tournament, if they weren't postseason inelligble due to recruiting violations. Remember the names Keith Clanton and Isiiah Skyes (UCF), they could be playing in NBA one day in the near future. The loss of Marcus Jordan (Michael Jordan's son) for UCF, who chose to quit basketball, but stay enrolled at school, hasn't seemed to hurt UCF. If USF wants to have a good tournament resume, they need to get their act together, and beat UCF in the rematch in December.
Coastal Carolina 74, Akron 70
The return of Zeke Marshall should have Akron in the tournament. If they want to make the tournamnet, they better win out in down in Puerto Rico. They just can't afford to lose to middle class mid-majors like Coastal Carolina. This win could be something to build off for Coastal Carolina, who can win the Big South this year.