College Basketball Tip-Off Marathon: Games to Watch

With the “nuclear winter” now upon us, thanks to the NBA, ESPN’s 24-hour college basketball marathon that is currently in effect could not have come at a better time.

So instead of shedding tears about missing meaningless NBA regular season games, you can sit back and enjoy the “amateurs” go at it, in a quest to prepare themselves for the March Madness run.

Here are a few games in the next 24 hours that deserve your attention:

• Washington State (0-0) at Gonzaga (1-0)

Busting Brackets’ #21 Gonzaga is coming off a poor performance versus Eastern Washington, despite coming away with an 8-point win. Washington State, playing its first game of the season, is expected to be near the bottom of the new Pac 12. This would be a good time for the Zags to deliver a complete performance and convincing victory in order to justify the high hopes placed upon this talented roster. Look for Elias Harris and Robert Sacre to impose their will on the Cougars’ frontline.

• Northern Iowa (1-0) at St. Mary’s (1-0)

You remember Northern Iowa from upsetting top seeded Kansas and the onions of Ali Farokhmanesh a couple years back. Will we ever forget that? Not if you call yourself a college basketball fan. Northern Iowa is still good, as evidenced by their dismantling of a good Old Dominion squad over the weekend. St. Mary’s is a popular pick to unseat Gonzaga as the WCC champion. They have four starters returning from a team that was 25-9 and narrowly missed the big dance. So, this game is more about the Gaels and their ability to live up to advanced expectations and win games they should win, such as this one.

• Kent State (0-0) at West Virginia (1-0)

This is likely to be a highly competitive, if ugly, game. Huggy Bear and West Virginia’s games are always ugly. The Mountaineers didn’t look so hot in their opening night victory over Oral Roberts. They will have to play much better to come away with a win versus Kent State. The Golden Flashes are another team with four starters back from a 25-win team and are a favorite to represent the MAC in the Tourney this spring. Expect a tight game with Huggs finding a way to pull victory from the jaws of defeat.

• Belmont (0-1) at Memphis (0-0)

You saw what almost happened to Duke when they opened their season against the Bruins. A nervous Belmont squad still came within a possession of pulling off the upset at Cameron of all places. Chances are Belmont will not be as nervous in FedEx Forum. However, there is also a chance that Memphis might just have too much talent for Belmont to deal with. Memphis opens the season also with sky high expectations. Many are picking and rooting for the “upset” here, but I don’t see it. Memphis should be ready to come out with guns blazing. And if they do that, Belmont won’t have enough answers.

• San Diego State (3-0) at Baylor (1-0)

Baylor is a must early season see for a couple reasons. One, they are among the most talented teams in the country, perhaps with multiple lottery picks. Two, no one has any idea how good they will be, as Scott Drew’s teams have had talent yet no results in the past. San Diego State and coach Steve Fisher no longer have Kawhi Leonard, so this game is not about them. It’s all about Baylor and whether they will be special or fall on their face, again.

• Michigan State (0-1) vs. Duke (2-0)

Believe it or not, Duke did not actually lose to Belmont, though much of the college basketball chatter would have you believe that they did. Michigan State, on the other hand, did lose handily to the other team on Tobacco Road, but this time the talent discrepancy won’t be as great. The Spartans should be able to play with the Dukies in a way they were unable to with the Tar Heels. Both of these teams will be a lot better towards the end of the season, but it will be fun to see who is better tomorrow at Madison Square Garden.

• Florida (1-0) at Ohio State (1-0)

Now this one should be fun. Busting Brackets’ #3 and #9 teams get together and, naturally, there will be a lot of talent on the floor, especially at the guard positions. The Gators come to Columbus with more guards than a Bin Laden hideout (literally) and definitely more fire power. Walker, Boynton, Rosario and Beal will surely test the Buckeyes. But, what will Florida do with Jared Sullinger and Deshaun Thomas down low? And the Buckeye guards ain’t bad either. This one’s a must-see.

• Kansas (1-0) vs. Kentucky (1-0)

Wait, you thought we were done? You thought there couldn’t possibly be another must-see game on the schedule for tomorrow? Ahh, so silly of you. Instead of seeing Carmelo and Amar’e play “Olé” defense for Mike D’Antoni at the Garden, you get the pleasure of seeing about 5 or 6 other pros. Fortunately for John Calipari, most of those pros will be on his side. As you know, Kentucky is absolutely stacked with talent, young and younger. Bill Self and Kansas have a good one in Thomas Robinson. But, he might be outmanned.

Wait, you thought we were done again? Well, we are this time. Apologies to the games I left out. I’m sure they’ll be quite entertaining as well. No apologies to the fans though, as this should be a fun 24 hours of basketball.

It sure beats the gloom and doom coming from David Stern & company.

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER
@bustingbrackets (site feed)
@theblakelovell (Blake Lovell)
@Blacketologist (Jamal Murphy)
@joedexter (Joe Dexter)