Detroit Mercy vs. Oakland: Preview and storylines of 2021 matchups

Notes to the matchup

Who:  Detroit Mercy Titans 3-7 (2-4) vs. Oakland Golden Grizzlies 5-12 (5-5)

When: Friday, January 22nd at 7:00 pm ET and Saturday, January 23rd at 5:00 pm ET

Where: Athletics Center O’rena in Rochester, Michigan

TV Schedule: ESPN +

Rankings:  Oakland:  #279 Net Rankings and #250 Kenpom

Detroit Mercy: #260 Net Rankings, and #209 Kenpom

Both Oakland and UDM won their games this past weekend and hope to continue to climb the Horizon League standing in hopes of winning both games this upcoming weekend.  The two teams first faced off against each other on the weekend of December 26th where Oakland won two very close games at UDM as mentioned already.

These two games should be exciting ones as it will be the first time that both teams have played each other four times in a season this season. Both head coaches publicly have stated that they don’t want to play each other again until possibly the conference tournament but this may intensify the rivalry further having played four games against one another.

From the outside looking in, it could be assumed that both teams were both being labeled as having a “rebuilding” year but that doesn’t seem to be the case thus far. Their records may not indicate it after poor starts to their seasons by both teams UDM and Oakland have shown in recent games that they are ready to compete in the Horizon League. In order to make it to the NCAA tournament, either team like many mid-major teams must win their conference tournament.

This year is even more unique as certain conferences like the Ivy League has canceled their seasons and the minimum amount of games to qualify for the NCAA tournament is 13 games this season. It gives teams like the Titans and Golden Grizzlies a slightly better chance of making the NCAA tournament this season if all goes well.

Knowing that coach Kampe puts a lot of emphasis, time, and energy into this rivalry, Oakland is bound to win one of these two games. Coach Davis should have defeated Oakland the first time they played but lost a very close game. UDM is improving too much and getting swept again and going 0-4 is unlikely. So with that being said look for both teams to win a game each this weekend.

Predictions:

Jan. 22nd: Oakland 78 Detroit Mercy 74

Jan. 23rd Detroit Mercy 81 Oakland 70