The Players Era delivered just like we expected. Tennessee rolled past Rutgers and showed that the Scarlet Knights may be in for a long season. Baylor controlled Creighton, Kansas handled Notre Dame, and Houston needed Emmanuel Sharp and overtime to escape a persistent Syracuse group. The Orange looked far better than anticipated. Auburn also grabbed a win over Oregon to round out the day’s action.
In the games I highlighted yesterday, the Iowa State Cyclones beat St. John’s in a back-and-forth game. The Red Storm has now lost both games against ranked opponents. St. John’s doesn’t look like a top 15 team. Iowa State looks every bit the part of a top 15 team. The Cyclones have their signature win at this point in the season. The two teams in that matchup are going to be just fine as the year rolls on.
Gonzaga looks vintage this year and finished the job against Alabama, despite a dreadful shooting night for both teams; Tyon Grant-Foster and Braden Huff were excellent. Gonzaga hasn’t been tested yet this year.
In the bad beat of the day, NC State lost to Seton Hall in the Maui Invitational. It was the first loss for Will Wade as the head coach of the Wolf Pack. For the record, Seton Hall won 7 games last year. Finally, Mississippi State narrowly beat New Orleans at home. The Bulldogs don’t look very good right now and might struggle in the SEC.
Players Era day 2 begins today, as does the second day of the Maui Invitational. Here are the three best games of the day, followed by the picks of the rest of the games.
Syracuse Orange vs Kansas Jayhawks - Two teams going in opposite directions meet in day 2 of the Players Era.
The first time I had watched Syracuse was Monday evening when the Orange took Houston to overtime. Syracuse did it by working in the paint, hitting clutch threes, and flying around in their patented 2-3 zone. Syracuse grabbed a lot of clutch rebounds and closed the game on an 11-0 run. The Orange are a team I didn’t think would be this good, but they look like they may finally be good enough to return to the NCAA Tournament.
Kansas beat Notre Dame on Monday at the Players Era, but they still didn’t look like a team that should be ranked or one that can compete for the Big 12 title. Kansas will look better when their star Freshman, Darryn Peterson, returns, but no one truly knows when that will be. Kansas is the more talented team than Syracuse, but will they play well enough to shake the Orange?
No. 17 Tennessee Volunteers vs No. 3 Houston Cougars- A defensive battle from tip to finish
Tennessee beat the brakes off Rutgers to open the Players Era, and now they face a much different level of competition. The Volunteers are a lot like Houston in many ways. The offense and overall talent level are different, but Tennessee also relies on defense to lead to offense, takes a ton of threes, and is an elite rebounding team. That usually leads to a team that messily wins games, but wins are wins.
Houston still hasn’t played at the level they is capable of. When the Cougars finally figure out how to play together, they will start to show the country why everyone thinks they are a legitimate National Title contender. This game is going to feature a battle of top-rated freshman big men in Chris Cenac from Houston and Nate Ament from Tennessee. Always bet on Sampson.
No. 7 Michigan Wolverines vs No. 21 Auburn Tigers- Elite frontcourt against an elite backcourt.
Michigan looked like we all expected them on night one of the Players Era. They were playing elite defense and were getting the ball to their two giants in the post. Yaxel Lendeborg and Aday Mara dominate, and when they are both playing at a high level, the Wolverines are going to be almost impossible to beat. They also protect the rim at an elite level, which could alter the game in a big way, especially if Auburn can’t hit shots.
Auburn played well against Houston last week, but there was still a lot the country didn’t know about them. A lot of those questions will be answered after this game is over. Tahaad Pettiford is a great guard and found his shot a bit in the opening round of the Players Era, but can he keep it up? Keyshawn Hall returned from an injury to beat Oregon and the Tigers are going to need him to be at his best to have a chance in this one