Saint Mary's and South Alabama headline a light Sunday of College hoops

The first official Saturday without wall-to-wall college football featured all-day college basketball, with ranked games across the schedule.  Arkansas beat Texas Tech in Dallas, and some are starting to sound the alarm on the Red Raiders.  I am not yet ready to write them off, as they have Christian Anderson and JT Toppin, two of the best players in the country and the Big 12.   Arkansas looks very good and should be one of the SEC's best teams this season.

Greg McDermott has his work cut out for him in Omaha; his Creighton team doesn’t defend, and they have to do some soul searching before Big East play begins.  Kansas State came into Omaha and beat Creighton. It was the first half, when the Wildcats built an 18-point lead, that decided the game. The Bluejays just couldn’t quite close the gap; however, on a positive side, coach McDermott may have found something with his new starting lineup.

The Big Ten had some interesting results today.  Michigan State escaped Penn State in State College.  The Nittany Lions forced a ton of turnovers but didn’t make nearly enough shots to beat the Spartans.  Nebraska had the win of the day as they used a Jamarques Lawrence buzzer-beater three-pointer to beat Illinois in Champaign.  The Huskers are now 11-0 and will be ranked in the top 15 on Monday.  Finally, Michigan turned it on late and blew out Maryland in College Park.  The Terrapins played very well but lost star Pharrel Payne for a while and could never recover.  I don’t know when Michigan will lose.

Oklahoma State is no longer undefeated; the Cowboys lost the Bedlam game to Oklahoma in Oklahoma City.  Oklahoma made a ton of threes in that game and was the better team from tip to finish. Kansas went to Raleigh and beat NC State by 1 point in Overtime.  Melvin Council made 9 threes for Kansas, and Darrion Williams and Ven-Allen Lubin were almost too much for Kansas.  The Wolfpack has a loaded roster but needs to start winning games against power-conference schools.

Last but certainly not least, the Arizona Wildcats, the top team in the country, blew out Alabama in Birmingham.  It has been a while since Alabama has gotten beaten like that under head coach Nate Oats. Arizona looks unbeatable. I have watched them play a lot, and there is not one way to beat them.  They have everything and score a ton of points by getting to the rim, getting out in transition, and making their free throws.  The Wildcats rarely shoot threes.

The Sunday schedule isn’t great and will have a ton of blowouts, especially with the power conference teams in action.  There are still two games on the schedule that are very intriguing, and they will likely be competitive.  Here is a preview of those games, along with a pick for the remaining games.

North Texas Mean Green at South Alabama Jaguars - Defensive battle in Mobile

If you like offense, this game is not going to be the game for you, especially if you are a North Texas fan.  The Mean Green have been one of the better defensive teams in the country since current Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland graced their sidelines.  North Texas plays at one of the slowest paces in the country and loves to get in the lane to get fouled.  The Mean Green live at the line, and that is how they are going to win most of their games.

South Alabama doesn't play overly fast, but it will play faster than North Texas and will shoot more threes.  The Jaguars, one of the favorites in the Sun Belt, never foul and currently allow the fewest free throw attempts in the country.  That is going to be something to watch for here, as their opponent loves to get downhill and to the free-throw line.  Something has to give in this one.  South Alabama at home should be the team that will win, but keep an eye on the free-throw line in this one.

Saint Mary’s Gaels at Boise State Broncos - The Gaels travel to one of the Mountain West's favorites.

The Gaels have been one of the better teams on the West Coast for a long time, and there is a reason for it.  Head coach Randy Bennett is a huge factor, but you always know what you are going to get from Saint Mary’s.  They are going to be one of the best defensive teams in the country and will be incredibly physical on that end.  They play slow and dictate the pace, and finally, the Gaels run an efficient offense and make some threes every night.  They are hard to beat because of that, and never deviate from how they play.  

Boise State has had an interesting year.  The Broncos head into the game with the Gaels at 7-3 with a loss to Hawaii Pacific on the ledger.  Boise State has been playing much better since that loss on opening night, but they still don’t look like the normal Broncos teams under head coach Leon Rice. The Broncos have a chance to win this game if Andrew Meadows gets going and they start making threes consistently.  A win over Saint Mary’s would go a long way towards gaining some confidence for Boise State.

Here are the picks from the rest of the games on a light Sunday: