NCAA Basketball: Memphis, Kentucky, and FSU headlines Sunday Mailbag
By Bryan Mauro
3. Favorite under-the-radar non-conference matchup? – Chris Thedinga – @CThedinga
This question was asked twice and normally I would have picked another question to answer but I am going to answer both. One will be the most under-the-radar non-conference matchup between mid-majors and the other will be the best under-the-radar game within the power fives.
There are a lot of intriguing matchups this week between mid-major teams but the most intriguing game happens on opening night. It is a game between two mid major schools who are both projected to make the NCAA tournament and both going to have great seasons.
The Belmont Bruins are going to Athens, Ohio to visit the Ohio Bobcats. Ohio made the NCAA tournament last year and upset Virginia before getting beat by Creighton. The Bobcats have a great roster returning even with losing their star player Jason Preston to the NBA. Ohio is deep, has a prolific offense, and loves to run up and down the floor. They are one of the favorites to win the MAC, have a ton of experience, and are awfully tough to beat in Athens.
Their opponent the Belmont Bruins are once again a threat for an at large bid into the NCAA tournament. They likely will win the Ohio Valley again and have a great chance to go undefeated for a while as they did last year. The Bruins have one of the best players in the country in center Nick Muszynski who is the preseason favorite to win Player of the Year in the Ohio Valley. The Bruins score a ton of points and play good defense.
The game against Ohio is going to be one of the best games of the early slate because of the ability of both teams. The teams are coached extremely well-coached and this game may be really high scoring as both teams have a ton of weapons. Tuesday, November 9th at 6:00 PM CST on ESPN Plus is when it all goes down between two good mid-majors.