North Texas at Sam Houston State It's great to catch up with our old friends from Texas. At around this time last year, both the Mean Green and Bearkats were burrs in some Big XII saddles -- North Texas beat Oklahoma State by nine, while SHSU took out Texas Tech, both road games. They were impactful enough victories to keep the two teams hanging around the State of the Other 22 ratings, despite the fact that both ran out of gas through league season. We've since adjusted the formula to make more of measurable momentum. Both won at least 20 games (Sam State won 23), and neither made any sort of national postseason. So what now? North Texas returns some key pieces, most notably sophomore Josh White, the 5-10 supershooter that busted OSU for 25 points in just his second college game. He's tallied 17.5 ppg in his first two games, including 23 in the return match with the Cowboys on Monday, which Oklahoma State survived 100-88. That game was notable for the contributions of a newcomer, trickle-down transfer George Odufuwa. From deep in the Arizona State bench, the 6-8 Dallas native sat out a year and reemerged meaner and greener. He notched a 10-and-13 double-double in that OSU game. Sam State did it with seniors last year, and this year it's all about the newcomers. No fewer than six have suited up in orange for Bob Marlin's rebuilding crew, and one to keep an eye on is 6-1 Corey Allmond, a juco transfer from Howard College in Big Spring, Texas. After two games, it's clear that he's the go-to guy, scoring 24 in the 100-42 blowout opener against Schreiner and 23 in the year-after game against Texas Tech. No win this time, but Sam played the Red Raiders to within 11. Both teams have had no trouble scoring, averaging over 87 points a piece. Will there be enough defense to save the scoreboard from blowing up? We'll see tonight. NEW YORK CITY -- I didn't get a chance yesterday, but I wanted to thank all the folks who stopped by during the ESPN SportsNation chat component of the College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon. I ran the anchor leg and I held it down mid-major style for two hours, and I noticed a couple of things. First, having some sort of opening day for our sport is absolutely crucial, an announcement that We're Back. It was obvious that a lot of casual fans noticed, and a lot of people came out of the woodwork and wanted to talk about hoops instead of pigskin. (Later, we'll work on making it an actual opening day and removing the time exemption of a certain preseason tourney that no longer deserves it.) The second is that being connected to the internet via a tethered mobile device creates a magma-hot core in your pocket with the capability of singing the inside of your pants. Just another friendly byproduct of The Future. I love doing the chats, I've done over 60 of them in my three-plus years with the Worldwide Leader. I've been told that I'm one of the few who enjoys it to the point of badgering the SportsNation crew to let me do it more often than I'm scheduled. It's a great way to talk in real time about our favorite subject while downplaying my weaknesses (namely, radio and TV). There are the regulars who always stop by, the power-conference trolls, and as always, the folks who just want to hear something nice about their team.
Charlotte at Appalachian State Tonight in the rarified air of Boone, two very good teams that were out in the cold when the Big Ball started this past March. Charlotte won 20 games and mounted a run to the semifinals of the Atlantic 14 conference, where it lost to eventual champions Temple. App State couldn't convert an 18-7 record into a tourney shot at Davidson, losing in the SoCon quarters to UNC Greensboro in a mild 5-over-4 upset. But you know what they say, that was last year, tomorrow never dies, etc., et al. Both teams have started their 2008-09 campaigns well, but a little unevenly. LaMont Mack, Charlotte's 6-7 senior, is making a successful return from May knee surgery, and his 49ers (1-1) blew out UNCG on Friday by 18 points in a win highlighted by a Mack double-double (18 and 10). Then the team lost a tight battle to Old Dominion two days later, in which they let a late lead slip away. Didn't help that ODU outrebounded Charlotte by 13, a statistic that will bear watching as the season goes on. Houston Fancher's mighty Mountaineers will be making their home regular-season debut tonight. After leading most of the way on Friday against UNC Wilmington, the host Seahawks mounted a late comeback from 18 points down and ran away from ASU in OT, 108-101. App State had six in double figures, including fearless sophomore guard Donald Sims with 23 and slimmed-down giant Ike Butts (10 and 12), but yielded three 20-plus performances by UNCW. Can App State finish a game? Can Charlotte hang in on the boards? Tune in if you're able to. PHILADELPHIA -- This blog has been involved in several pet causes... heck, this entire thing is a pet cause. But TMM is getting involved in a new charitable campaign that strikes to the heart of what's important in Our Game. This is all about getting Drexel students to adopt proper rollout procedures. The rollout is Philadelphia's second-greatest gift to college basketball, between the Palestra (No. 1) and streamers (No. 3). Crepe cascades after first baskets are long gone thanks to no-fun rules and technical fouls, the Cathedral may not last another century, but rollouts are forever. Drexel (which is "my school," after all) had a wonderful epoch-making win yesterday morning, and several of the students' fledgeling missives were very good ("If Ben Franklin was alive today, he'd be a Drexel engineer" was devastating enough to leave the Penn section calling back meekly, "Dre-xel High School").
Nevada at San Diego The Western Athletic and West Coast took completely different paths last season -- the WAC, a perennial multi-bid league despite its allocation of most of its resources to football, languished in the 20's of the RPI scale and squeezed out a champion after that Boise State-New Mexico State final. The WCC grew up fast, going from Gonzaga to gazonga! Three bids later, and even the most casual fans can name multiple teams. The tourney champion, and the owner of the WCC's deepest NCAA run, is San Diego. The Toreros return just about everyone from the team that shocked UConn out of a No. 13 seed, including last year's second-leading scorer, senior guard Brandon Johnson. He scored 14 points in USD's tough season-opening 65-60 loss to UNLV, but it was his 3-for-14 line that was mildly concerning. Taking a hiatus is the top point-producer from 2007-08, all-WCC big man Gyno Pomare, who was suspended by head coach Bill Grier for a team-rules violation. Suspensions are also a big part of the story for the Wolf Pack, which have three players in limbo -- Brandon Fields, London Giles and Ahyaro Phillips, who were cited with petty larceny back in October. But this game will be a great opportunity to see new Wolf Luke Babbitt in action. The 6-9 freshman dropped 20 points on Montana State in his college debut, and added 12 rebounds just to make it more memorable. Can the Wolf Pack make it back to the Dance in 2009? He'll be a big part of the reason why if they do. |
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