Wait, it’s college basketball season already? You know it! The campaign has been underway for a few days. Indiana and Michigan have already tucked away wins in their own version of the Big 10-Atlantic Sun Challenge with the Hoosiers toppling Florida Gulf Coast and Michigan taking care of business against something called South Carolina Upstate. No stopping these clubs. They are headed for a showdown in the 8/9 game of the Big 10 tournament come March. Sorry, Penn State and Iowa.
Have you heard anyhing about a 25-hour college hoops marathon going on at ESPN? The question is why are we even at our respective offices today? While we were sleeping and taking morning sales calls, we’ve missed quite a bit. We’ve already seen St John’s lose in Steve Lavin’s debut as head coach, falling 76-71 to a rebuilt, new-look St. Mary’s team. Red Storm fans should probably get used to that. We almost had our first top-25 upset, but 18th ranked Memphis, despite poor shooting, eased past Miami Florida 72-68. We learned why losing Trey Ziegler to his father at Central Michigan was such a recruiting blow for the Univeristy of Michigan. Ziegler was the best player on the floor, dropping in 24 points, as his Chips fell short 65-62 at Hawaii. Still, it’s pretty clear there is a MAC POY candidate in Mount Pleasant. As we post this, a Colonial-Missouri Valley showdown is underway between Northeastern and Southern Illinois, and at high noon, it’s the Battle of Tulsa as city rivals Tulsa and Oral Roberts hook up. But those are appetizers. Here’s a look at some of the main courses as this marathon hits the afternoon and evening sessions.
Virginia Tech at Kansas State (KSU -6.5)…..Both clubs will feature heavily during the heart of Feast Week. KState 
plays in the CBE Classic beginning Monday against Gonzaga with either Duke or Marquette the next night. The Hokies trek out west for the Anaheim 76 Classic beginning on Thanksgiving, along with Oklahoma St, Stanford, Murray State and UNLV. We’ll see how much game these teams have when they meet up today in the Octogan. With the mid-afternoon tip-off, clearly ESPN hates the American worker. Does Kansas State have any chance at meeting the lofty preseason expectations that comes with their #3 ranking? How does Jacob Pullen play without his running mate Denis Clemente for the first time in a couple of years? Will Wally Judge finally live up to the hype? Can one of the last year’s best moneymakers–the Wildcats were 19-10-2 ATS a year ago–pick up where they left off. As for Virginia Tech, the storyline for March is obvious. Knocked, to the point of exclusion, in recent years from the brackets due to their schedule, that wont be a talking point this year. This game, next week’s invitational and games next month with Purdue and Mississippi State ought to shield them from that stigma. But, can they win any of these games? Tonight is a chance to begin doing something that last team’s team didnt really have a chance to do: Build their tournament resume. Dont doubt a Virginia Tech basketball game to entertain. They play close games almost every time out and, accordingly so, the underdog is on a 35-20-1 ATS run the last two years in Hokie games.
Ohio State at Florida (Florida -1.5)…..Both teams are in the top-10 of the coaches poll. It’s tipping off right around dinner time. Perfect entertainment. Neither team is involved in any of the Feast Week Tournaments, so this is one of 
the few early season tests we’ll see either of these clubs take. For Ohio State the dueling headlines are how the Bucks play the game now that Evan Turner is gone and how does their sterling band of freshmen recruits look. I have not seen Jared Sullinger play just yet, but he’s already a card on Twitter. Sullinger will be tested tonight by active Gators in the frontcourt like Chandler Parsons and Vernon Macklin. Let’s see just how ready to wear he is at this level. Ohio State has a size advantage in the backcourt with William Buford, David Lighty and Jon Diebler, so look for the Gators to run and push tempo to negate that with their quicker guards Kenny Boyton and Irving Walker. A key stat to watch is how Diebler shoots. He really struggled a year ago when Turner was out with an injury.
South Carolina at Michigan State (MSU -16)…..Ohio State is not the only Big 10 team participating in this event as Michigan State is hosting South Carolins tonight in a quirky 10 pn start at the Breslin. Tune in to see what a sell out looks like at an MSU sporting event. Hey-O, I’ll be here all night! The Spartans are trying not to get too cocky as heavy 16-point chalk tonight, in a game that many folks think will just be a tuneup in advance of playing in Maui against a uber-tough field beginning next Monday. The Spartans are already off and running on the season after playing a 90-possession game in a 30-point win over Eastern Michigan last weekend? Against a South Carolina team that might be undermanned, but has always played tough defense, it’ll be interesting to see how much pace is brought to this contest.
Butler at Louisville (L’ville -1.5)…..Good luck impressing anybody with your encore, Butler. The Bulldogs are getting a lot of hype, and rightly so in many regards, in the wake of their run to the title game a year ago. But now they’re playing without Gordon Hayward, a first round NBA pick in June and Willie Veasley, a player in the team photo for best defensive guard in America. There are plenty of leftovers to maintain the winning Butler way with Shelvin Mack, Matt Howard, Ronald Nored and Shawn Vanzant. This will still be one of the county’s best lockdown defensive outfits. It’s looking like another roller coaster basketball season for Louisville. The Cards might be a year away from legit national contention, but if the tone from the Cardinal Chronicle link is any indication, this might be a more fun to watch than past editions, but will it be seasoned enough to play the insane uptemo that Pitino–and the fans–want? Big test with Butler, an experienced half court defensive squad, invading Freedom Hall this evening.
San Diego State at Gonzaga (Zags -4.5)…….Some might say the middle of November is way to early to talk about games with bubble implications. But tonight’s game between between two of the best teams along the Pacific coast fits 
that bill. We’ve spent a lot of time the last two years weighing the merits of how many at-large bids the Mountain West Conference should receive. The able Aztecs return almost intact from their NCAA team a year ago. Coach Steve Fisher expects to win big with this team. The leading 5 guyss and 7 of their first 9 in the rotation a year ago all return, including Kawhi Leonard and three others who scored in double figures a year ago. If the Aztecs can pull out a win, it will serve as a year long trump card when weighing their at large merits. I’ll have a fresh cup of coffee ready to go when this one tips off later tonight. I’ll also be keeping an eye on UCLA’s game with Pacific, tipping at about the same time. Was last year an aberration in Westwood? The Bruins cant be that bad again, can they?
Do I have picks? No. Not yet. We’ll branch off into the prediction game as we get into the holiday tournaments later this week. If I get restless and bite on anything, I’ll spread the word via the JCB Twitter.
By Feast Week Day One: Puerto Rico Tip-Off, Preview Part I | Just Cover November 18, 2010 - 9:31 AM
[...] Note: And so it begins. With all due respect to the 25-hour hoops marathon earlier in the week, the college basketball season begins for us with Feast Week and the dozen or so [...]