(Ed 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 tournaments between now and next Sunday. We’re just a sucker for basketball teams on a bracket line, I guess. We’ll have all sorts of previews, running commentary and, of course, picks as we get reacquainted with the college hoops over the next 11 days. We begin this morning with the first part of SteveY’s preview of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, which begins today with teams like West Virginia, UNC, Vandy and Minnesota in the field. Enjoy)
It’s not even Thanksgiving, but college basketball has already started up and there are plenty of early season match-ups to watch. ESPN just finished its 24-hour hoops marathon and now it’s time for a slew of preseason tournaments. Since it’s never too early to start your due diligence for March (or get a primer for some in-season bets), let’s take a look at the field for the Puerto Rico Tip-Off and throw in some predictions for good measure. The field is headlined by North Carolina and West Virginia, but has plenty of teams worth getting to know. The action starts this morning at 11:30 ET with Davidson and West Virginia. Here’s a closer look at the top half of the bracket, with the rest of the field and predictions coming in Part II.
West Virginia- The Mountaineers firebombed my ‘always pick against Bob Huggins’ policy by gritting their way to the Final Four last season. Despite the losses of De’Sean Butler, Devin Ebanks, and Wellington Smith WVU should contend in the uber competitive Big East once again. Like most Final Four teams who lose some talent, they return plenty as well. PG Joe Mazzulla will lead the way as a tenacious defender and one of the nation’s top floor generals. For scoring, junior Kevin Jones will need to pick up most of Butler’s load. Jones showed flashes of brilliance last season, but will need to develop a dribble drive threat to pair with his excellent range to be consistently productive. Truck Bryant returns in the backcourt and will need a scoring boost from his 9 ppg last season. The final starter with significant experience is senior forward John Flowers. Flowers suffered dwindling playing time last season, but started the 2010-11 campaign off with 16 points against Oakland.
The Mountaineers find themselves outside the top 25 to start the season, meaning…well, nothing really other than the pollsters give them something to prove. With all the returning experience, I think the loss of Butler and Ebanks will be blunted and WVU will have another successful year. WVU comes into this tournament as the most seasoned team and has a great shot to make it to the final, hopefully setting up a great match-up with UNC.
Davidson- Hard to forget Davidson’s run through the NCAA Tournament in ’08, but the rebuilding process from losing Steph Curry and Andrew Lovedale serves as a reminder to Wildcats fans. After going 16-15 a season ago, their worst record since 2000-01 coach Bob McKillop will look to get his team back to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in his tenure. Still, the Wildcats are very young with McKillop’s son Brendan as the only senior. Top scorers JP Kuhlman and Jake Cohen return as well. Look out for freshman guard Tom Droney. He is going to start from day one and should take some pressure off Brendan McKillop. McKillop posted more than 4 assists to every turnover last season, so he is a fantastic point man, but he can also score and if Droney can lighten the ball handling load, it should pay off for Davidson. The Wildcats are probably a year or two away from a return to the big dance, but they are well coached and should not be overlooked. Read more »
What a perfect idea for both the soccer programs of Brazil and the United States to play this match so soon after the World Cup. Brazil will give fans a look at some young players they expect to play major roles in the 2014 World Cup they are hosting, while the United States capitalizes on World Cup fever by playing the world’s most famous team just a month after the World Cup ended. On that note, tonight’s match at the New Meadowlands Stadium has sold over 65,000 tickets. Kickoff is scheduled for 8PM and can be seen on ESPN2.
